GRAHAM SNOWFIELD

Unintentionally (at least initially), from July 1, 2021 to March 26, 2024, I have spent at least 4 hours moving outside. Every. Single. Day.

This never started as a goal. I took all of July and the first week of August 2021 off work to rest & recover, to explore location options for Wild Walks and spend some time with my wife before our daughter was born.

Fast forward about 580 days and I started to do some math.

I knew I was spending 3+ hours outside every day with our dog and either another 1+ hour outside with my horse or another 1+ hour every day on the phone. Often it would be both.

February 2023, I thought I might be approaching 500 consecutive days. I realized I was closing in on 600. Speaking with a friend, I knew that it was realistic for me to get to Thanksgiving 2023 without breaking the streak. From there, it would be a question of the winter from November 2023 to March 2024.

Ironically, the worse the weather, the more likely I am spending 4+ hours outside. This...

NLP Weekly: Making achieving your goals & being a great leader second nature.

March 22, 2024

Performance: Do Less. Say No. Achieve Faster.

Many of us feel an obligation to say yes to too many projects, people, commitments, etc. We aren't great at creating filters or boundaries that quickly eliminate options or ensure we stay focused on our most meaningful goals.

Oliver Burkeman in Four Thousand Weeks, writes about how we cannot possibly do all of the things that we say we want to in our lives. We simply do not have enough time. We are mortals who are not going to live long enough. We need to get clear about what is most meaningful and important.

Yes, you can pursue multiple things simultaneously, however you need to recognize that adding more to your plate means it will either take you longer to finish or some things will inevitably go unfinished.

So how do we gain clarity, prioritize, and achieve faster?

• Warren Buffett recommends writing out your top 25 goals, identifying...

NLP Weekly: Making achieving your goals & being a great leader second nature.

March 8, 2024

Performance: Consistency Isn't Sexy. 

The results definitely are though. Many of the things we want to achieve, change, improve, or create require consistent effort and habits.

This consistency can seem monotonous. It can feel boring. Motivation doesn't come easily, if it even comes at all. Worse, it may never seem like you're making progress.

Cultivate consistency by:

• protecting the time needed to being consistent; block off and prioritize the time necessary to take meaningful action towards your goal
• taking consistent action leads to seeing progress; communicate your goal to others that will support your consistency or will be impacted by your dedicating time to something important to you
• establish recognition benchmarks; acknowledge and reward yourself for the consistency of the behaviour on your way to the overall goal.

In general, it takes 66 days for a new habit or...

NLP Weekly: Making achieving your goals & being a great leader second nature.

March 1, 2024

Performance: Clarity’s Quick Wins 

A common theme in client coaching sessions this week was a gap in the amount of clarity people have in their life and / or work. It’s not so much that people felt they were directionless rather they are operating and trying to “make it to Friday” rather than acting with intention. They’re closer to surviving than thriving.  

Actively bringing intention to how you want to “be” and “show up” each day can have a profound impact on:

• moving you towards your goals,
• experiencing fulfillment,
• bringing the best of yourself to your relationships and interactions with others. 

Which values provide the foundation for how you want to show up each day?  

Pick 1 – 3 values or words that define the best of you are and want to be. Set an alarm in your phone so they pop...

The past two weeks have felt heavy and I’ve been struggling.

I’ve been trying to find the right words or the right message.

“The truth is that we are not yet free; we have merely achieved the freedom to be free, the right not to be oppressed. We have not taken the final step of our journey, but the first step on a longer and even more difficult road. For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others. The true test of our devotion to freedom is just beginning.” – Mandela

I’m 6’2”. Blue-eyed. Blonde, with a shaved head. I’m white. I went to private school. My dad was my Headmaster. I went to one of the top 3 universities in Canada. I’ve had just about every opportunity imaginable. I don’t find what is going on in the world right now easy or possible to ignore. I don’t believe I can or should be silent, but I also don’t really know...