Future Proof Your Spirit:
7 strategies to reconnect, to protect and to nurture your true self.
Andrew Griffiths
Author Hannah Trotter
One of the biggest challenges we face in business (and in life), is managing our spirit. Our spirit is what drives us and gives us passion – it’s imperative to us so how do we reconnect, protect and nurture it?
Introducing Andrew Griffiths – an entrepreneurial futurist.
Andrew wrote the book(s) on business, is an international speaker and is here to spread his knowledge about how we can future proof our spirits.
Here are his 7 strategies to do just that!
1 - It's Time To Let Go
Who of us are hanging on to something we should let go of? Most of us are.
Our lives are shaped by holding on to old, lingering beliefs and experiences. We have to make decisions not to let these beliefs and experiences define us and choose to let them go.
When we hang on to things they become our comfort.
Andrew spoke of the dive shop he owned as an 18 year old and an experience he had when his business partner did away with the whole business while Andrew was away.
Andrew spent years seeking revenge on this person and focused his life around bringing him down. One day, he was finally ready to enact his revenge when he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror. He was losing his hair, he was covered in boils, he didn’t recognise himself. His lingering anger had physically changed him into a person he didn’t like.
That day, Andrew let that anger go and things immediately turned around.
Often, to let things go we simply need to change our perspective. When we change our view on the situation, we are given the opportunity to let it go.
This starts with empathy – it’s easy to feel anger and resentment towards a person or situation.There are times where life gets on top of us, and we hold onto that unless we consciously decide to let it go.
How good are you at letting things go that simply don’t matter?
2 - Know Thyself
How well do you know who and what soothes your soul and feeds your spirit?
It’s not just about knowing what they are, it’s about making TIME to do them.
When we don’t plan for things properly, we don’t find the time for them. So make a plan and make it a priority!
Think about the people who recharge your spirit. Make a conscious decision to spend time them and make them more prominent in your life.
Identify them. Write them down. Make them a priority.
3 - Power of Curiosity
How curious are you about this incredible world and all that it contains?
Curiosity isn’t passive, we have to be aware of it. We live in a world where it is easy to be curious.
When we become excited, dive deep, and become passionate and curious about everything we can be, the whole world changes. We miss out on incredible things when focus inwards.
Curiosity keeps the ‘imagine if’ mentality alive.
Don’t lose it – look for things that are inspiring, that make you laugh and put the world in a positive light.
4 - Let Time Work For You
How often do we feel completely overwhelmed by a situation that simply hasn’t played out?
Andrew encouraged us to let situations go a little further. When we are in the middle and circumstances are unfolding around us, we can’t see beyond the middle. When we let it play out, we are given the opportunity to see the big picture. “Play the long game”.
5 - Live Intuitively
Have you lost your connection to intuitive self?
We find ourselves in the habit of muffling the little voice inside our heads.
Often, we know when we are making mistakes but we ignore the intuition telling us.
Intuition’s purpose is to keep us alive. It plays the drums, cymbals and screams at us – and while we can usually hear it, we choose not to listen.
Your decision making process should be driven by intuition.
The more we listen to it, the louder it becomes.
6 - Find Your Passion
Our spirit is so dependent on passion.
Have you lost your passion for life?
We are all inspired by amazing people doing incredible things and we have the opportunity to be among them.
If you find yourself not feeling passionate about anything, then TRY EVERYTHING! There is so much to be passionate about, find your thing.
7 - Create Meaningful Connection
Do you go through life missing opportunities for meaningful connection?
Make every interaction with another human meaningful – whether it be your Uber driver, a stranger in the lift, or the person sitting next to you on your flight.
“The spontaneity of being brave is how we create connection”.
It should be our mission to be fully present, engaged and being making a difference for someone else.
“The most important time for meaningful connection is when you don’t have time”.
The Take Home
It’s safe to say that this was a pretty impacting presentation from Andrew. I can tell because as I look around the room, almost everyone has their iPhone out taking pictures of his slides and madly scribbling each of his off the cuff quotes in time to catch the next one.
My favourite take home was Andrew discussing that 99% of the things we worry about never happen. The way we deal with the 1% is to make a rainy day plan. Prepare for what would happen if that thing really did happen. It helps us take the fear out of those worries.
“This is not a passive process. It takes conscious effort – every single day.”
Thank you to our partners for helping us bring The Retreat 2019 (a law conference like no other!) to you!
THIS SESSION WAS SPONSORED BY
My friends over at Vincents Chartered Accountants— aka John Thynne and Peter Haley are joining us for the 2 days of business and law innovation fun! John and I have been working together for many many years now and the value, knowledge and bad dad jokes he brings to my clients and their matters is just incredible. John and the team at Vincents specialise in the provision of expert evidence into the Family Law arena.
Vincents are expanding their “Vin-link”— a support network for accounting and legal firms to give them access to knowledge of Vincents specialty services they don’t have in their practices such as business valuations, forensics, taxation, superannuation, financial advisory, insolvency or audit. The program gives members free telephone access to the specialists, webinars, seminar and events. More importantly, the programs puts members together who can benefit from each other.
John and Peter invite you to join the Vin-link program and if you mention #theclubretreat they will waive your monthly membership fee for the first year.
PLATINUM PARTNER
Hi there! I’m Hannah and I am a law student currently in my third year at Queensland University of Technology. I graduated high-school in 2014 completely clueless about who I was, what I wanted and how I intended to get there. To many people’s surprise (including my own) I moved from my family farm on the Sunshine Coast to Brisbane to start my law degree in 2016.
Following my first year I commenced work as the Receptionist at Brisbane Family Law Centre. Having worked with this amazing team for nearly 2 years, I have been given a learning opportunity that goes beyond lectures and tutorials by providing a practical experience of the world of Law. My experience as part of the BFLC team has taught me that a Law career does not have to fit into a traditional box which has ignited a new passion for my studies as well as my future career in the legal profession.
In the meantime, I’ll stick to writing musicals, drinking coffee and playing board games.