Last night saw the inaugural meeting of the Galley Club online, via Zoom. Although I am suffering from Zoom fatigue, I must admit it was a fun evening.
I logged on at 6.30 for this interactive session, armed with a Bloody Mary (hey, this is pleasure rather than business), and was able to have a brief chat with friends before the talk commenced.
The speaker
Our speaker was coach John Fitzmaurice, talking about ‘Staying Positive’. We all experience times when we feel down, especially during this time of uncertainty. How can we can find ways to boost our mood, and make us feel more positive? John’s advice in his talk was based around the ‘Feed the Good Wolf’ story. To quote John:
One evening, an elderly Cherokee brave told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people. He said,
“My son, the battle is between two ‘wolves’ inside us all. One is evil and negative. It is anger, envy, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, and ego. The other is good and positive. It is love, hope, compassion, humility, and kindness.”
The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, “Which wolf wins?”
The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one that you feed.”
In the first part of the talk, John outlined the attributes we need in order to enhance our positivity. We were then put into Zoom ‘breakout rooms’ to discuss how enhancing positivity might make a difference to our lives.
Strategies
John gave us strategies of how to link our behaviours to positive ways in the second part of the talk. This was followed by another ‘breakout room’ session to discuss, then advice on how to tame our ‘bad wolf’.
After the talk finished, some of us stayed on for a short ‘speed-networking’ session in small groups, followed by a chat in the main ‘meeting room’.
Conclusion
In my view, these online gatherings can never quite replace the fun of meeting in person (and hugging – remember that?) whist being served with food and wine that you haven’t prepared yourself, but they are a very good stopgap. I’m looking forward to the next few sessions online – but not quite as much as I’m looking forward to seeing my friends and colleagues in person at the Water Rats sometime soon.
About the author
Annette Peppis leads the team at Peppis Designworks, a creative hub of established publishing industry experts who create books, branding, marketing material and design templates for leading publishers and businesses. Keep in touch by to Annette’s bi-monthly emails.
About John Fitzmaurice
John Fitzmaurice is the founder of Coaching to Evolve, whose underlying approach to coaching is based on taking small steps that lead to big gains. You can find out more about John here.
