Sunday, April 10, 2022

How to deal with micro and macro uncertainty in life, sport and business.

 

 How to deal with micro and macro uncertainty in life, sport, schooling, the military and in business.

 

The only things certain in life, is death and uncertainty. If you do not get mechanisms to deal with uncertainty , you will not get far in life.

This blog can give you a few empowering suggestions on how to deal with  micro and macro uncertainty.

Micro uncertainty: The immediate threat in front of you:  The exam: Unknown questions, In sport the unpredictable ball, The military: The unknown threatening situation.  

Macro uncertainty:  How to deal with life in its entirety.  



Here are a few pointers:

(i)                  Attitude:

The first thing to change is you attitude about uncertainty. Uncertainty is good. Live would be incredibly boring and monotonous if everything was certain.

(ii)                Uncertainty is part of the human condition

There are two reason for uncertainty:

We are not all-seeing: We cannot see into the future - we do not know what is coming.  

We are not all powerful: We do not know if I can handle something or if it is too big for my capacity.

(iii)               Uncertainty is  the mother of creativity

Creativity comes into action, where the is some uncertainty that must be handled. Because of our ability of creative response, we must know that uncertainty can be dealt with successfully.

(iv)               Your certainty does not lie in predictability, but in ability: Learned survival skills, and predictive preparation

There are two more reasons for  uncertainty:  One: we do not have basic learned survival skills to fall back onto. Two:  We didn’t do enough of what I call  ‘general predictive preparation’ We are under the impression that we can just do life and forget we must prepare and train  – just as you prepare for a match, or an exam. Obviously we can pre-learn survival skills, and do predictive preparation to handle whatever life throws at us in an unpredictable mannor.

 

The wrong methods: Trying to look in the crystal ball?  Not working. Bad futurists where their guess is as good as yours? Not a good plan. (Seek out good futurists such as Clem Sunter that could actually point out beforehand that something like 9/11 could happen).  Another wrong method is to try to make the world predictable in an obsessive compulsive way. Perfectionism is never a compliment – it is very often a dead giveaway for deep seated lurking feelings of inadequacy in uncertainty. The mistake here is that they break the first rule of successful stress management. The mistake is that they try to handle stress by taking the threat away, instead of focussing on their ability to handle the threat. British adventurer Bear Grylls, does not rely on the certainty of what he may encounter, but on his ability, and his survival skills, such as making shelters, and starting a fire, getting food from unique sources. He finds his security and survival in predictive preparation.

The problem with over controlling people and perfectionists, is that  focus on what they have very  little or no control over namely the threat.    They create enormous stress for themselves, because they try to control the unpredictable. Instead we all  should focussing on what we have full control over, namely your reaction  to the threat. Instead of efforts of obsessive manipulation, we must rather go for predictive preparation, focussing on train your overall abilities.  

Let’s make it practical: How should we deal with micro and Macro uncertainty? First Micro uncertainty:

1.       Take control of your involuntary stress response: The automatic stress response in your body kick-starts in a series of physical manifestations , bypassing your thinking: Fast breathing, hyper-ventilation, muscles tense up, heart rate increases, impulse to run away. You first step is to break that cycle. How do you do it?   Through: Box Breathing. An American speaker friend mine of  Robert Owens, Navy Seal trainer, says he is training his students Box breathing: The four sides of the square:

Up: Inhale for 5 counts.

Sideways top to the right: Hold your breath for 5 counts,

Down: Exhale for 5 counts,

Sideways bottom to left: Hold it for 5 counts,  before you inhale again.

Then repeat all of the above.

You do this, just before you start your speech, or start to write your exam

2.       Self-talk: You brain kicks now in again: You talk yourself up by saying something like: I know I can, and I will. If you are a spiritual person, then  add: I am not alone in this, God is with me (Psalm 121).

3.       Visualize your trained steps:  Obviously this presupposes training. This is whuy sports coaching is important before the game, military training important before you hit contact, and life coaching is important before you try to do life. The navy seal being parachuted into a unknown military situation will visualize the trained steps: land, release or roll up the parachute, hit deck, crawl to the first ground cover,  etc etc

4.       Execute micro steps and small goals.  The student in an exam will quickly glance through the exam questions; immediately start with answer you know best, then the second one, and then give a shot at those answers you don’t really know. 

These are the four steps to handle Micro uncertainty.



Here are some steps to handle Macro uncertainty in life:

1.       Ask and prepare:  Early in life you are given parents, teachers,  coaches. Have a teachable spirit and a willingness to learn: Ask questions and seek answers

2.       Gather information – as much as possible. About yourself: about your personality, test your muscles, get to know your talents. This includes watching the weather forecast before you travel to a destination.

3.       Develop your unique talents: Thinking skills, ability to control your own emotions (Emotional intelligence), action skills in sport and business.  Get yourself a life coach, a sports coach, and a business coach.

4.       Explore and get to know the world – see what is there to face.

5.       Develop the right attitude: Pessimistic? The worst! Optimistic? Second best. Rather be an Opportunistic Realist – the best attitude to my mind. (See my other blog about attitude).

6.       Get an overall life plan to crystalize your focus, and to narrow down variables ( Come do my live or online, life planning workshops, where you get an architectural plan for your life. Obvioulsly not everything will work out as planned, but at least you will have the methodology to design a new life plan, once the previous one was torn up by unexpected circumstances.

7.       In every micro situation: Take control what is within your control  (your stress response, your thinking, feelings and actions). 

8.       Surround yourself with a support network or system: (e.g.  Get your short term insurance with roadside assist, if you go on a road trip;  make back-up plans to be ready if your original plan is disrupted).

9.       Don’t be shy to ask for help, as far as you go, and from every expert who have travelled the life journey before you.

Remember: Life is the permanent creative tension between uncertainty and certainty.  One part of our being longs for certainty. But that soon becomes boring – then we need uncertainty again, that will activate our creativity and lead to new stimulating roads and solutions.

The answer to uncertainty is not predictability (although pre-information, a little organization , structuring and planning can eliminate a lot of variables).

The answer lies in skills training – to upskill yourself in coping mechanisms and life skills. That is why life coaching is the name of the game, if you want to be a winner in the game of life.



If you want more information on corporate interventions or how to make counselling/coaching appointments or book dr Gustav Gous for motivational talks, contact admin@gustavgous.co.za  or gustavgous@gmail.com or send a WhatsApp to +27825657451 
If you want  interventions for your team: Contact +27 12 3455931   0r  0825657451) or email gustav@gustavgous.co.za to discuss possibilities. 

Disclaimer:    Important notice to you as the reader:  Although the life coach (dr Gustav Gous) provide certain recommendations, the sole and final responsibility for decision-making remains your own and that the life coach or anybody associated to him and his company Short Walk Seminars Pty Ltd cannot be held responsible for any of your choices and reactions. You, the reader, must take full responsibility for your life, reactions and choices.  

www.gustavgous.co.za
gustav@gustavgous.co.za

 

Sunday, January 2, 2022

Wish you a happy new year? Never. Rather a reminder to create one. - dr Gustav Gous.

Wish you a happy new year? Never. Rather a reminder to create one.  - dr Gustav Gous.

I do NOT WISH you a happy new year full of good things happening to you, as if you sit passively waiting for good or bad things coming your way, and my wish must help keep the misfortune  away. Good and bad things will happen - as always every year before.

You can have a good year, if you remember two things and act upon it:



1.  Re-active: The goodness and happiness of the year will depend om how you react to what happens. It depends on the swinging of the bat or the racket, and not the difficulty of the ball (to use cricket/baseball/tennis/badminton examples). So I do not wish the bad and difficult balls away - they will be always be there. They are part of the game, called life. I would rather like to inspire you to ask for coaching to empower you to play life better. May personal empowerment be part of your life plan for this year and beyond. Coaching in every aspect of life is always available. Invest in empowering yourself. From handling the inevitable death of loved ones, to recreating broken relationships and marriages, to rebuilding unprofitable businesses, regaining health, etc.

Coaching is available. Contact me: gustav@gustavgous.co.za WhatsApp +27825657451

2. Pro-atively. Why always wait for life, and re-act? Rather act pro-actively in the year ahead. There are so many aspects of life that are within your control: 

- What you plant/sow;  

- how much food you put in your mouth, 

- how much you exercise ; 

- they way you control spending

- the methods to make money

- the ways to create wealth.  

You can act on these. The world rewards action. 

Want flowers in 2024? - then plant flowers!

If you want muscles - go to the gym, or use the old Cadian Airforce Fitness program to exercise - no need for gym fees. (You need a body en 3 sq metres of space). 

Want health? - then cultivate healthy habbits.

Want wealth? Then put plans in place to create it. 

Want a loving parter? - put yourself out there and date actively (partners don't fall through the roof into your lap.). 

Want a better marriage? Then create one with your partner. (Use my 10Thing 2Ring plan for a happy marriage). 

Enroll for a workshop: 

https://www.gustavgous.co.za/index.php/attend-a-seminar/how-to-build-a-happy-marriage-the-plan-for-next-level-new-or-existing-marriages-pretoria-saturday-27-january2024 best way to guarantee the future is to create it. 

Or order the PDF . www.fiksvirdielewe.co.za

So,  I do not have a wish for you for this year, but a call to action. 

- Control what is within your control. 

- Leave the things outside of your control in the hands of God, who will provide enough open doors for you to walk through; people to meet, for you to relate to in a loving manner, opportunities for growth and gain. 


Spiritual people pray for strength, but they know that proverbially a small ticket will fall out of heaven - a gym membership ticket! 

They pray for wisdom, but know they wil soon thereafter experience a big challenge or problem that will force them to cultivate wisdom. And if they struggle they can pray for wisdom in the moment and it will be given. They will not always get out of the situation, but will be empowered in the situation. 


A person with wisdom knows the difference between  what you can't control, and what you can,  and focuses on the latter.


How do you create a good new year? With the 3 P's :  

- Picture (New vision)

- Plan (Architectural plan)

- Program (Implementation plan to build the future). 


In summary. I do not want to wish you a happy new year. 

I want to remind you of your ability to create one!! 

Interested to do it? 

The 'Get-a-Life' program is your tool to do it. 

In person.

Pretoria, RSA.  Saturday 20 Jan 2024

https://www.gustavgous.co.za/index.php/attend-a-seminar/get-a-life-workshop-pretoria-saturday-20-january-2024

Strand/ Cape Town/Somerset West, RSA Thursday 8 Feb 2023

https://www.gustavgous.co.za/index.php/attend-a-seminar/get-a-life-workshop-strand-gordon-s-bay-thursday-8-february-2024or corporates: Work/Life integration

Corporate teams: 

Companies book tables of 10 or 15 to ensure work/life balance for greater productivity.(Also online programmes for personel and bursars. 

Tables of 10 or 15: 

Pretoria 1 February and Cape Town 8 February

https://www.worklifeworkshop.co.za/

Feel free to enroll! 

If you want more information on corporate interventions or how to make counselling/coaching appointments or book dr Gustav Gous for motivational talks, contact admin@gustavgous.co.za  or gustavgous@gmail.com or send a WhatsApp to +27825657451 
If you want  interventions for your team: Contact +27 12 3455931   0r  0825657451) or email gustav@gustavgous.co.za to discuss possibilities. 

Disclaimer:    Important notice to you as the reader:  Although the life coach (dr Gustav Gous) provide certain recommendations, the sole and final responsibility for decision-making remains your own and that the life coach or anybody associated to him and his company Short Walk Seminars Pty Ltd cannot be held responsible for any of your choices and reactions. You, the reader, must take full responsibility for your life, reactions and choices.  

www.gustavgous.co.za
www.worklifeworkshop.co.za
www.fiksvirdielewe.co.za
gustav@gustavgous.co.za

www.gustavgous.co.za   www.worklifeworkshop.co.za   www.fiksvirdielewe.co.za


Sunday, December 26, 2021

A 17 year old meets Bishop Desmond Tutu for the first time

 

The story of a 17 year old meeting Bishop Tutu. 1979. South Africa was in a mess. The heyday of Apartheid. As a young student in my first year at Varisty, (University of Pretoria), we needed voices to speak up to show the country out of the impasse. My psychologist father taught me to be inquisitive and curious about alternatives, to respect all people, and to talk to people, and not only about them, or behind their backs. I joined the SRC (Student Representative Council) committee (called Forum) that stimulates debate and invites high profile speakers to our campus. We needed more than one voice, because the voices showing the way to the future were contradicting each other. And a uniting factor. More than 70% of South Africans rate themselves in censuses as Christian. Therefore the church had an obvious task to play to show the way forward. Some politicians were in jail. As a church leader you had some freedom to speak. But even Christian leaders differed greatly on the way forward and their role to play. Therefore I suggested that we invite 4 theologians for a simposium on the Campus of the University of Pretoria: Bishop Desmond Tutu, Prof Jimmy Loader, Prof Carel Boshoff, and Rev Frans O'Brian Geldenhuys (Head of Ecumenical Relationships of the Dutch Reformed Church). My suggestion was approved by Mattie Kruger SRC member for the Forum committee. Now I had to invite them. The latter 3 invitations was easy, but for Bishop Tutu, I had to drive with an invitation letter in the hand to Johannesburg to Khotso House, the Head Office of the SACC (South African Council of Churches) where he was the General Secretary. Problem was: I didn't have a a driver's licence, but I anyway booked out a SRC Volkwagen Combi, to drive to Johannesburg. The gears were difficult - I could only get it as far as 2nd gear, so I drove in 2nd gear the 60 kms to Khotso House. The second problem was that I could barely speak English. So I took a friend of mine, Irmela Aab, along who was proficient in English. We arrived unannounced, and I asked if we could see Bishop Tutu (in broken English - my friend Irmela helped me out). His secretary obviously asked whether we had an appointment, and because we didn't have one, the reply was: No, not possible. I said that we just wanted to deliver a letter of invitation. She said she would give it to him. I said No.(fearing the the letter would disappear between a heap of other letters). I said that I would wait to give it to him personally when he came out between two appointments (obviously with Irmela correcting me where necessary). The secretary saw our resolve and said we could wait. We were standing outside his office for almost 30 minutes. I remember vividly the poster on his office door: A poster of a big desk with a smug guerilla sitting behind the desk, smoking a cigar, with the inscription on the desk: The Boss is in. Later in life I realised bishop Tutu had a great and unique sense of humour. When he came out, he greeted his guest, and we quickly stepped forward to hand over the invitation. His joy and friendly personalty was immediately evident, and he said he would give the invition his consideration. You can imagine the joy when weeks later we received his letter of acceptence. But there was a further problem. I had to ask permision from the university authorities to invite a black speaker. I had to fill in forms in triplicate to motivate why I wanted to invite a black speaker, and is there not a white speaker available to fill the role?! Thankfully they approved since the invitation was already accepted. When he spoke during the simposium, it was the first time he set foot on the campus of the University of Pretoria.
From the initial hesitancy, it is heartwarming to say that the Univerity of Pretoria later bestowed an Honorary Doctorate on Bishop Tutu, and that an academic chair is named after him. An afterstory, is that Bishop Tutu's successor as General Secretary of the SACC, Dr Beyers Naude, later awarded me a scholarship to help finance my PhD research in Switzerland in Ecumenical Relations (International Studies). A further afterstory is that, the PSASA (Professional Speakers Association of Southern Africa) recognised him, during my term as President (2009/10), with a special Award: Honouring him for his exceptional prowess as a prolific speaker. Everybody that listened to him, know that he was an entertaining speaker, amongst all his other exceptional qualities.

Sunday, August 5, 2018

Had a brush with death lately? I’m glad to hear. You got your golden ticket …! Now make the most of your close encounter with death …


Had a brush with death lately? I’m glad to hear.  You got your golden ticket …!
Now make the most of your close encounter with death …
-          dr Gustav Gous

Had a brush with death lately? I’m glad to hear! Haven’t? I hope you have one soon!  Because it can be the best thing that happened to you ….

We all have our close encounter with death – those situations that we survive miraculouslyI had one this week – hence this blog. And it was not the first time in my life.  I was almost off the field, not being able to continue to play game of life. .  I would love to hear your story of your close-encounter with death story.  But even more I would like you hear what you made of it …

I hope you didn’t just brush it off?   Heaven forbid.  There is an embedded message and you must head the call. My one friend Barry always said: The small accidents help you to prevent the bigger ones – if you learn from them!

Bredan Burchard is known for his story where he survived a motor crash, and in a split second asked: Did I live, did I love, did I matter?  He realised he couldn’t answer this affirmatively and re-organised his life to be in a position to be able to answer these questions affirmatively. He also realized he got a golden ticket on that day – just like in the idols competitions. 

You golden ticket admits you to continue life.   It admits you to the next round. You are still on the stage. Now rewrite the story to stop playing a tragedy, of a victim story, but rewrite the stars and start playing a love store or a come-back-from-behind story.  
Brendon headed the wake-up call and re-organised his life  - and a man with 60 million hits on his YouTube videos, can now claim to make a difference. 


After your near hit, (yes, rather a near hit, than a near miss!) , you realise you are still on the field.  You can now  have the opportunity to change your game plan. You have a second chance, an second half.  Unfortunately not all people use it, but some do.  Bob Buford, when confronted with the harsh reality of death -  the death of his son -  called out half time and changed his game plan. This is also the titles of his two books: Half Time and Game Plan.

This week, after another close encounter with death in my own life, I was just so happy that I am still alive, and here is my few suggestions  how to make the most of your close brush with death:

What not to do:

-          - Don’t fall into the trap of survival guilt. Be grateful that you are still alive. Honour the dead by picking up the baton the people you loved dropped  and live passionately forward, also in their honour
-          - Resist a sorry that I exist attitude – you got the chance – the ticket. The fact that somebody else didn’t get it, is not to say that you must not use your golden ticket. 
-          - Don’t live in fear that it can happen again, this time with final consequences. Come to term with your mortality. All of us will die eventually. All cancer survivors and motor car crash survivors die eventually.  Decide to at least live fully, until that day.

What to do:

Ø  Use the opportunity, to redefine your values. Realize what is important, is important, and what is unimportant is unimportant. Those were the words of my dad after he survived cancer once.
Ø  See purpose in the fact that you survived. Press  the reset button, and find a new purpose in the new situation or chapter in your life
Ø  Reorganise your life to give structure and action to your new-found opportunity. The you will look back after a few more years and can say the you heeded the call, and is now better off after getting the wake-up call. Implement your new plans and show results
Ø  Enjoy every day alive- live intensely and intentionally. Live as if every day  is your last, and plan as if you are going to live for a very long time.
Ø  Share your story with other people – so that they can learn from your experience. Intelligent people learn from their own experience, wise people from the experience and stories of others. Not all will learn, but some will …

Use your  golden ticket! 


If you want more information on corporate interventions or how to make counselling/coaching appointments or book dr Gustav Gous for motivational talks, contact admin@gustavgous.co.za 
If you want  interventions for your team: Contact +27 12 3455931   0r  0845138312 (Speak to Karen) or email gustav@gustavgous.co.za to discuss possibilities. 

Disclaimer:    Important notice to you as the reader:  Although the life coach (dr Gustav Gous) provide certain recommendations, the sole and final responsibility for decision-making remains your own and that the life coach or anybody associated to him and his company Short Walk Seminars Pty Ltd cannot be held responsible for any of your choices and reactions. You, the reader, must take full responsibility for your life, reactions and choices.  


www.gustavgousonline.com 

Dr Gustav Gous  is an International Motivational Speaker and Executive Life Coach with experience on 5 continents. He 
was the in-house counselor for the petro-chemical company Sasol for 9 years. He is known for his Transformational leadership programmes on Robben Island, titled the “Short Walk to Freedom”. 

He is a Certified Speaking Professional (CSP) and past President of the Professional Speakers Association of Southern Africa and a member of the APSS (Asia Professional Speakers Singapore).  Currently he is heading up the Diversity Intelligence Institute, specializing in rolling out Diversity Intelligence interventions for 
international companies. His leadership caps does for leadership what De Bono's thinking hats did for creativity and problem solving. His Coaching programme on national Radio in South Africa RSG FM 100-104 "Fiks vir die lewe" touches the lives of many South Africans.  gustav@gustavgous.co.za    drgous@iafrica.com     www.gustavgous.co.za , www.diviin.com ,

Sunday, July 8, 2018

What they should have taught you in school , to be ready for life…. . The new curriculum for the School of Life


What they should have taught you in school , to be ready for life….

The new curriculum for the School of Life
-          Dr Gustav Gous

Normal schooling didn’t prepare us adequately to be ready to face life and all its challenges. It didn’t even prepare us to capitalize on all of life’s opportunities. There is an odd silence in education about the really important questions. Maths and languages, useful as it is, is not enough.  Geography, history, biology and natural science, is not nearly enough to get us fit and ready for everything life offers.  There is an urgent need for a new curriculum preparing you for real life,  in a new school … the SCHOOL of LIFE.

If the absence thereof,  it is no wonder that there are:
-          brilliant mathematicians, failing in relationships
-          salespeople that cannot communicate well with their teenagers
-          good solid people failing financially
-          intelligent academics neglecting their bodies
-          successful sports people losing their moral compass
-          talented people with lousy attitudes

I asked the question to my Facebook friends: ‘What are those things you wished your teachers taught you,  the things really necessary to help you to handle everything that life presented you with.’ The answers were the real thing - basic but important stuff.  I will share some of it later in the blog, because from these answers, a new curriculum can be born.

In this blog I want to share first steps to a new curriculum to make us fit for life. The purpose  is to give us all a grid or checklist to construct you own “school of life’. You must take charge of your own life-preparation to become fit for life. The content or ‘classrooms’ of your curriculum in your own ‘life school’ can then be sourced from many people and institutions.

We can get helpful pointers for a new curriculum from:
-          Howard Gardener and his 7 intelligence theory
-          The World Economic Forum: skills list
-          Psychologists such as Ericson
-          Progressive schools
-          Educational expert Sir Ken Robinson
-          normal people in their everyday effort  to play the game of life
-          even my Get a Life in 40 days “Life-design” program
-          wisdom from parents, coaches, gurus, spiritual leaders etc

Howard Gardener broke new ground with his 7-intelligence theory, when he pointed out that we need more than logical/mathematical  and linguistic/verbal intelligence to handle life, but also  emotional intelligence, inter-personal intelligence, musical intelligence, bodily/kinaesthetic intelligence and spatial/3D intelligence. He also mentioned an 8th intelligence namely directional intelligence.  After that everybody jumped on the bandwagon, including myself that many more intelligences needed such as inter-cultural intelligence or wider diversity intelligence. Some even suggested that there is also a need for spiritual intelligence.

An international thinktank compiled a helpful list of necessary skillsets in our day and time.  They surveyed 350 executives across 9 industries in 15 of the world's biggest economies   to determine the top 10 skills that will be most desired by employers by 2020: 

Here they are in reverse order building up to the most important one: 

10. Cognitive flexibility: This entails creativity, logical reasoning, and problem sensitivity and deep listening. Especially being able to tailor and adapt how you communicate based on who you're talking to.
9. Negotiation skills
8. Service orientation:  Actively seeking to help others in you team and across your industry.
7. Judgment and decision-making:  With so much data available, those who  can analyse it and use it to make intelligent decisions, will be in demand. 
6. Emotional intelligence.  Controlling your own emotions, reading those of others, and being aware of your impact on others.
5. Coordinating with others. The social skill to collaborate, adjust in relation to others, and be sensitive to the needs of others.
4. People management:  The ability to motivate people, develop the talents and skills of subordinates,  and to select the best people for the position.
3. Creativity.  Bombarded by new technologies, the world needs creative people who can apply it to new products and services.
2. Critical thinking.  Critical minds who can employ logic and reasoning , who can evaluate the uses or abuses of the power of technology
1. Complex problem-solving.  Intelligently analysing complex data and research results for greater efficiency.

The report shows that 36% of all jobs across all industries will require complex problem-solving abilities as a core skill by 2020.  Social skills is also a recurring theme.

The real tasks that must be mastered in the different stages in life were identified by psycholgists such as Erik Erikson:    (i) Basic trust vs. mistrust ; (ii) Control of own functions/ Autonomy vs. Shame/Doubt  (iii)  Initiative vs. Guilt ;  (iv) Competence : Industry vs. Inferiority (hard work produces results)  (v)  Identity vs. Role Confusion (who am I)  (vi)  Intimacy vs. Isolation (to love and to share) (vii) Productivity and  Generativity vs. Stagnation (what must I do with my life).  (viii) Wisdom: ego integrity vs. despair (legacy).  How to achieve these seven mileposts,  must also be part of the curriculum of the school of life.


My school was old school. Some modern schools are really smart: They have already included in their purpose the real issues that must be taught: Inbetween all the subjects, activities (sport and cultural) they are clear on what they really want to achieve. They want to teach the following skillsets:

Ø  Thinking skills- critical thinking, creative thinking, reflective thinking;
Ø  Social skills- personal behaviour, leadership, collaboration;
Ø  Research - inquiring into, information literacy, media and digital literacy;
Ø  Communication- personal interaction and communication with others, communication in various contexts;
Ø  Self-management - organisational skills, self-reflection, growth mindset and affective skills
This is really a step in the right direction, and it is good to see the overlap with the skillsets identified by the thinktank.

Obviously we must take note of what Sir Ken Robinson, world-renowned education and creativity expert, say bout revamping the whole educational system, but that is a topic for another day. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U&index=11&list=PL39BF9545D740ECFF&t=0s

The 14 year project that I am busy with, to develop the best Life Planning program available, Get-a-Life in 40 days©, is a first step to include everything necessary for life in one comprehensive program. It has helped more than 12000 people to redesign their lives to survive and thrive in life.  In another blog, I will elaborate on this.

From all of the above , I want to de-complicate the issue and give you the first pointers to a 
Life school curriculum under three headings .
What will really be helpful, is,  if people (parents and peers and coaches)  and schools helps us to obtain specific

A Competencies/Abilities/Skillsets
B Foundations/ Tools
C To use the above to do goalsetting and achieve purposeful living in 8 key areas in life

I will add a few topics under each heading (feel free to add to the list)

A.       Competencies/Abilities/Skillsets 
The following “how to’s” must be part of the curriculum:
-          Critical thinking
-          How to handle your emotions
-          The art of self-motivation
-          Good decision-making in a number of fields
Ø  what to do in life (work/career)
Ø  with whom must I do it
o   Friends
o   Love partner
o   Business partners
-          How to do goalsetting
-          How to handle change
-          How to handle relationships (various: Marriage, friendships, colleagues, etc)
-          How to lead people (leadership skills)
-          How to deal with people who really differ from you
-          How to collaborate in teams
-          How to handle a crisis and a calamity
-          How to change your mind (replace an older outdated framework.
-          Teachability
-          …and many more

These competencies need foundations in order to function.
B.      Foundations/ Tools
You can’t make good decisions, if you don’t have  values to guide you. You need to be clear of your identity to be able to make good job-fit or relationship-fit. The following belong under this heading:
-          How to instil solid values in yourself and your children
-          How to find your identity
-          How to develop a good self-image and healthy self confidence
-          How to find your Faith (your chosen truth)
-          How to discover your life purpose
-          How to find meaning in life
-          How to develop a healthy worldview and thinking framework
-          How to develop  functional habits
-          Developing a healthy attitude or angle on life
These foundational tools and skillsets must be used and applied to live a purposeful and effective life in eight areas in life.

C.       Use the above to do goal setting and achieve purposeful living in 8 key areas in life
The eight key areas in life come from my “Get-a-Life in 40 days program. Areas:
-          Physical & Health
-          Family, Home & Love Relationship
-          Social & Recreational
-          Spiritual & connectedness
-          Intellectual & educational
-          Professional & career  (working for money)
-          Financial & wealth  (money working for you)
-          Community & Cultural (making a difference in the world)

A school of life must focus on the above real life issues:  The abilities, foundations and applications in eight life areas.

And every single topic my Facebook friends mentioned in answer to the question:  ‘What are those things you wished your teachers taught you,   ..?’ , found their  place into the above rudimentary proposed curriculum for a school of life.


If you want more information on corporate interventions or how to make counselling/coaching appointments or book dr Gustav Gous for motivational talks, contact admin@gustavgous.co.za 
If you want  interventions for your team: Contact +27 12 3455931  or email gustav@gustavgous.co.za to discuss possibilities. 

Disclaimer:    Important notice to you as the reader:  Although the life coach (dr Gustav Gous) provide certain recommendations, the sole and final responsibility for decision-making remains your own and that the life coach or anybody associated to him and his company Short Walk Seminars Pty Ltd cannot be held responsible for any of your choices and reactions. You, the reader, must take full responsibility for your life, reactions and choices.  


www.gustavgousonline.com 

Dr Gustav Gous  is an International Motivational Speaker and Executive Life Coach with experience on 5 continents. He 
was the in-house counselor for the petro-chemical company Sasol for 9 years. He is known for his Transformational leadership programmes on Robben Island, titled the “Short Walk to Freedom”. 

He is a Certified Speaking Professional (CSP) and past President of the Professional Speakers Association of Southern Africa and a member of the APSS (Asia Professional Speakers Singapore).  Currently he is heading up the Diversity Intelligence Institute, specializing in rolling out Diversity Intelligence interventions for 
international companies. His leadership caps does for leadership what De Bono's thinking hats did for creativity and problem solving. His Coaching programme on national Radio in South Africa RSG FM 100-104 "Fiks vir die lewe" touches the lives of many South Africans.  gustav@gustavgous.co.za    drgous@iafrica.com     www.gustavgous.co.za , www.diviin.com ,

Follow him on Twitter: @GustavGous  or on Facebook and LinkedIn .