Sixth online meeting 16 June 2020

Spinnaker met online for its last virtual meeting before returning to our physical venue in July.

Gary chaired the meeting and although we had a few technical hiccups with low bandwidth on occasions, everyone was able to participate without too many issues. We were joined by guests Adam from Canada and Dan from Whitby.

Johanna gave us the word of the day “peculiar” or the opposite “ordinary” and reported back at the end of the meeting how everyone had got on with it, including “peculiar times, peculiar question, verging on being peculiar, maybe it was peculiar, and peculiar – I think not!”

Kathy gave her part 3 of 3 speeches on the Art of Evaluation. She presented a written evaluation of Sam Neill’s speech from part 2 and explained how the commendations and recommendations would help the speaker improve. She invited comment at the end before admitting it was hard for her not to be a “fan” evaluator when it came to Sam Neill! However we should all strive to be a “coach” evaluator to provide most benefit to the speaker and to the club.

Steve started out on Pathways with the first of two speeches, this one on “In search of the best views” – all about a two-week trip around the South Island and the spectacular views he encountered. Evaluator Dale suggested use of some visual aids and embellishing the descriptive words with body language.

Albertus in his speech explained how he has changed recently. “Just do this”. See below for a review of his speech.

Darrell ran table topics with a lockdown alert level 1 theme and all speakers had plenty to say about how things have or have not changed for them during the lockdown levels.

In General Business, Kathy indicated that our next meeting would be at our physical venue in Plimmerton on 7 July, and she also unveiled a prototype of our proposed new website. Dave unveiled his online forward programme calendar and asked everyone to fill in their requests for roles when it is released.

Review of a Speech – Just Do This!

Albertus explains process behind his speech on Innovative Planning, Focus on the Positive, Pathways Level 3. The manual stated: “The purpose of this project is to practice being aware of your thoughts and feelings, as well as the impact of your responses on others.” It basically boiled down to Albertus having to keep a record of his thoughts for 2 weeks and actively replacing negative thoughts with positive thoughts.

Albertus made a journal with 6 columns:

Date – Positive Thoughts – Negative Thoughts – 3 Things Grateful – Change in Behaviour – Reflection

He then diligently recorded his feelings under each heading for 2 whole weeks before reporting his findings to the club.

Question: Did it work for him?

Answer: In his own words; ‘Amazingly well’.

He reported the following:

What I can say is this exercise has been an absolute game-changer for me.

I feel much more calm and relaxed
I’m much more focused on what really matters in my life
I feel much more energized
My productivity has increased significantly
My family is starting to notice the new improved me.
How is this possible in only 2 weeks?

Albertus says: The biggest change brought about by this exercise is the fact that now, as soon as something upsets me I do the following:

I identify and analyse the problem
Can I change it?
If Yes, then I actively implement changes
If No, I bin it and move on
Most important, I also reflect on 3 things I’m most grateful for every single day.
I’ll conclude with 3 things

Sitting down and documenting your thoughts is one of the best forms of therapy you’ll ever experience
This has been a game changer in making me a happier person, and it can do the same for you
Just do this – you’ll forever be grateful to yourself for giving it a go.
I’ve also attached the project Innovative Planning – focus on the positive (pdf) should you know anyone who can benefit from it.