GNLP Newsletter Please leave your email to receive our newsletter. Get our free report "10 Essential Things You Have To Know About Making Decisions" when you subscribe We value your privacy What do you want? | How Can I Win The Cooperation Of Others Easily?1 February 2008 | Admin My 4 month old daughter helped me learn this lesson while cooking along live to Gordon Ramsey on the TV the other week.Funny how a learning suddenly sinks in. (What's that saying about being able to take a horse to water .... ;->)Anyhow, thanks to a drive to get the nation cooking and my daughter's presence, I've learnt that being intentional in my actions elicits cooperation from others. Let me explain ...It was a Friday night, 9 pm, when the British public had the first-time-ever opportunity of cooking along live with Michelin star chef, Gordon Ramsey. The TV and radio did a grand job of promoting the event in the week leading up to it, so by the time Friday arrived, a frenzy of excitement permeated the air in my house!. I'd gone to the supermarket earlier in the day and bought the ingredients that Channel 4 said I'd need. The fridge was stocked, the TV was on in the kitchen, and I was ready to rock and roll. The plan was that my husband would care for little one while I was cooking. However, because of the feverish speed with which Gordon Ramsey cooks and talks, I fell behind within minutes (and messed up how to cut the potatoes). Charlie realized that if he wanted dinner that night, he'd have to roll his sleeves up and get cooking with me, so baby was put in her chair in the middle of the kitchen. So picture this. Both of us running around the kitchen, executing tasks in real time as Gordon Ramsey was giving them, the TV volume on 80 (that's really loud on our telly!), and baby Moore was in her chair in the midst of it all. The starter (scallops with a tomato salsa) were dished up and ready to be eaten while the main course was underway. A commercial break gave us 5 minutes to wolf down this delectable dish. Before the last mouthful of starter was barely swallowed, the frenzy began again. The steaks were frying, home made chips were cooking in the oven, and the chocolate mousse for desert was underway. Another commercial break gave us 5 minutes or so to eat our main course. With lightening speed we finished our steaks, chips and salad, just in time to follow along to the instructions for pud. Pour, whisk, fold-in, dish-up, done. Phew! We sat and ate our chocolate mousse amidst a bomb-site. Every utensil we own seemed to have been used. The washing up bowl was over flowing with dishes, and the long task of clearing up dawned upon us! All the while Zoe had sat contentedly in her chair. We were amazed. For 1 hour (that was the length of the show) she watched us, played, sang (well more of a gurgle really) and smiled! This was a momentous event because up until then, she'd only been willing to spend a maximum of 10 minutes in her chair while I cooked. The moral of the story What I took from this experience is that when I'm intentional in my actions (as I was about cooking along with Gordon that night), it communicates a message of intentionality to others, and seems to invoke a level of cooperation that may not have otherwise been there. Ok perhaps this was a some what unique scenario what with the live-cook-a-long, but the experience got me thinking ...
I've realized that being un-intentional in my actions, often results in tension, so now I do my very best to act with intention. In summary, I believe that it pays off to: Communicate what you intend. Be purposeful in the way in which you go about it. Commit and Follow-through. Since I've been doing this, there's been a synergy and a level of cooperation that has made home life all the more sweeter. ‘till next month. Janice Find out about the next The Mythogenic Self Experience training.
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