Dear %!subscriber!%, Welcome to your February newsletter from Mindworks,

Mindworks, seeing things from a different perspective...

A Man playing a horn?  Or a woman's face?

STOP PRESS:     WE HAVE LOCKED IN DATES FOR ROCKHAMPTON & TOWNSVILLE "MAXIMIZE YOUR TRAINING IMPACT" WORKSHOPS - BOOK NOW!

THE MINDWORKS MUSINGS

Greetings Everyone and welcome to 2006....

Tell me, how did you return to work after your Christmas break?  Did you dive right in, like a chocoholic into a bowl of smarties, and revel in the return to routine and all the possibilities that the new year offered you?

Or did you and your staff drag your feet, wondering where the holiday went so quickly, and a little worried at how much work had piled up in your absence?

Well, I have to admit to both....and I LOVE my job, but after a decent break over Xmas I was totally out of my working routine and quite used to sleeping in, thank you very much.  It only took one day of snacking on those Mindworks "smarties" to get me once more primed for the year and I am now raring to go...further proof that we all need to balance our time between work and play.  A good break recharges the batteries like nothing else and using the Mindworks techniques soon gets you back on track and ready to take on the world!

So, how DO you motivate your staff and rekindle their enthusiasm?  Well, that's what we do at Mindworks - our seminars are designed to help you understand how you think, how you work and how to get the best from your staff and colleagues.

One example in particular stands out in my mind from 2005.  We ran a public workshop for Trainers and one of our participants had just been thrown into the deep end in a training position - she came to us with no idea of how to move forward and take on the job, no experience in the field and not without a little fear and worry thrown in for good measure.  One thing she DID know, though, was exactly how this awful training day she'd been forced to attend was going to pan out, from go to whoa, she had it all timetabled in her head and was resigned to another boring lecture.

Well, to her astonishment, nothing happened the way she expected it to from the moment she set foot in the door. 

She was swept up in the ideas, hands on exercises, laughter, technique sharing and the wealth of information on offer - she couldn't have enjoyed her day more.  And as we were winding down for the day, all I could hear were these little gasps of "oooh" and "yessss" coming from behind me, as more and more of what Laurie had taught her over the course of the day became applicable to her own situation. You could almost see the lightbulbs flashing over her head. It was the end of the workshop, but the cries of dismay, and not only from her, heralded a very successful day that no-one wanted to end, and yet, THIS WAS AT 4:30 P.M. ON A FRIDAY AFTERNOON! 

Was she motivated?   Do I like Smarties?   

It is so rewarding to see how people open up to what we teach; to see the motivation and enthusiasm grow as our participants understand just how relevant to their own environment, both professionally & personally, our techniques can be.

Motivation is only part of our range of seminars - did you know that we offer courses on dealing with change in the workplace (and this extends to your personal lives too), we teach study skills to students (little ones and big ones), we help you monitor stress hardiness, help with team development, we offer a range of tools to use in the meeting room to gather information effectively and efficiently, and dealing with the inevitable information overload we suffer from in the modern working age?....but wait, there's STILL more.  Have a look around our website - we may have helped you in one area in the past and may yet be of assistance in another! 

2006 offers Mindworks all sorts of changes too, not to mention wonderful opportunities, and we will face them all with eager enthusiasm hoping to learn as much as we teach along the way.

All the best to you for 2006 and we wish you a very prosperous year....

What we teach you is real.  It’s proven.  It works.   

And people keep coming back for more…

Lindel Smedley - Office Manager

LINK TO MINDWORKS HOME PAGE

P.S.  Are you interested in what Laurie can offer your company, but would like to "try before you buy?"  Our first Showcase/Morning Tea is scheduled for 22 March 2006 - come along as our guest, experience Laurie's delivery first hand and get a sample of the Mindworks Magic!   

LINK TO SHOWCASE  

P.P.S. How are those New Year Resolutions going?  They're not?  Try prioritising via a system of baby steps - plan your target in a series of attainable goals, don't go all out for the big one straight up. Going cold turkey on chocolate can be a bit harrowing!

QUINTESSENTIAL QUOTES

“The only Mission Statement a company needs:  "You shall know them by their deeds."” 

P.K. Shaw

HELLO, GOODBYE & HELLO!

Well, as I mentioned earlier, there have been some changes here at Mindworks. Firstly, Laurie is now a GRANDFATHER as his Daughter has just presented him with his first Granddaughter, the adorable Toni Lily, who manages to bring a cessation of all work whenever she comes near the office!  Secondly, after 5 and a half years at the helm, the irrepressible Shez has decided to wean herself away from the office and take some time to do a little travelling.  She will continue to be involved with us as an independent Trainer and although we will miss her bouncy presence and wealth of experience, we wish her all the very best of luck in any venture she undertakes - and I'm sure we'll see plenty of her in the future!  And thirdly, Benita will return to the office on a part-time basis once more to help out in the void created by Shez's departure, and we welcome her back very warmly.  One door closes (partly) and another door opens (that was never shut to begin with) and the great wheel turns....

2006 PUBLIC & IN-HOUSE COURSE DATES

Our new dates for all Public Workshops scheduled so far have been updated on our website. Check out which dates suits you best and book in early!

We have two dates set aside for Regional Clients in Rockhampton & Townsville - book early and let everyone know we are coming to your area!  Don't miss Laurie whilst he is in town!

We are now booking 2006 conferences and in-house workshops - if you're planning your Training Calendar for the next twelve months, and you want the best in training for your staff - get in early and book Laurie for your In-house training course or Conference.

LINK HERE TO VIEW COURSE DATES

TESTIMONIAL

Laurie came to QSuper to deliver a personal development session called "Possibilities Thinking" to our Member Services staff.

He displayed an innovative and engaging approach to his sessions and all staff thoroughly enjoyed his content and delivery.

Staff commented on his breadth and depth of knowledge about this subject and he brought fun, energy and enthusiasm.

Feedback collected, resulted in comments like...

"We need more sessions like this one!"
"Every new staff member should sit through this session"
"Bring Laurie back for more!!"

Our thanks to Leon Carrall, A/Manager, Information & Education & Grant Chalk, Training & Development Officer, QSuper - Member Services, for sharing their comments.

RETENTION TIPS

Trying to study?  Do you have something you want to learn and it's just not sticking?  Remember

that the brain can only take in so much intense information for so long.  Getting up at the crack of dawn, and hitting the books after work all night, can be quite a waste of effort.  The brain absorbs so much and then rejects the rest.  The conscious brain will work for a certain amount of time and then go "whoa, time out!" and go off and have a drink and a dip in the pool, leaving the unconscious brain to kick in and work on the information and sort it out and file it away properly in the mean time - this is why quite often you simply cannot get the answer to a puzzle, give up, go to bed, sleep on it and then wake up with the answer the next day, all courtesy of your subconscious brain.  Relaxation and fun are integral to good study.  Taking a break is the best thing you can do - go off and have a giggle with the girlfriends and come back to it later.  It'll be far easier to pick up having given the subconscious time to file away the last lot of information.

1.    Take the topic.  Brainstorm everything you already know about it and write it down.

        Take 2 minutes to do this.

2.    Pre-read your text or article on the topic. Takes about 10 minutes.

3.    Attend normal classes or read up on the topic taking normal notes.

4.    Within 10 minutes and up to 6 hours later, spend about 2 minutes mind-mapping what you

       can recall from the class you attended or the research you noted.

5.    Look back over your notes from Step 3. and now do a really good file mind-map copy - use

       plenty of colour.  Takes about 10 minutes.

6.    1 day later, again mind-map what you can recall from Step 3. and check it against your file

       copy you made the day before.  Takes about 5 minutes.

7.    Wait one week and repeat Step 6.  Takes 5 minutes

8.    Wait one month and repeat Step 6.  Takes 5 minutes

9.    Wait three months and repeat Step 6.  Takes 5 minutes

10.   Wait 6 months and repeat Step 6.    Takes 5 minutes.

What you are doing is transferring information from the Short Term Memory into the Long Term Memory where it will stick.  You don't need to spend copious amounts of time on it.  Get down the relevant facts and do short, sharp studies over a period of time, and that stuff will stay where it's put.  Want to know more?  Give us a call, there's lots more we can teach you...

FEEDBACK

Comments

Thank you for your feedback. Below are comments received this month from happy Mindworks participants:

From the Public sector:

• I  realised there’s nothing wrong with me – I’m just right brained!

From the Training sector: 

• I will certainly improve my performance as a Trainer after attending this course.

• Excellent presentation - kept interest all day

From the Education sector:

• Very skilled conference opening presentation - it felt like a day long workshop - not because it was exhausting but because I was taking in so much - Teacher In-Service

• Enjoyable!!  Informative!!  Stimulating!!   Teacher In-service

• This was great - really motivational and enjoyable.  Teacher in-service

From the Local government sector:

• One of the most enjoyable presentations I have ever attended.  Not only did I learn a lot, I had fun doing it.
• Excellent course – gained much info.  Best course I have ever done!!
• We covered a lot of ground and Laurie managed that well – we practised as we learned, could see how techniques work and had FUN!

LINK TO OUR COURSES  

Results

An Evaluation of our programs from you:

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After all, most of our business comes via word of mouth and that fact that we're still here after 20 years means we must be doing something right!

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Thank You.

MINDWORKS - Helping to make you "EVEN BETTER"

407 Cedar Creek Road, Samford  Qld  4520   Ph: (07) 3289 4977  Fax:  (07) 3289 4992 

Email:  Info@mindworksteam.com.au       Website: www.mindworksteam.com.au