Believe, Achieve, Inspire
Anyone who has ever been on a ‘Lead Like Mary’ Leadership programme with Barry Dore will I’m sure, remember the ribbon exercise. This is perhaps one of the reasons why Barry’s approach to Leadership is so authentic and inspiring. It’s not just about how you approach the work environment and realise ambitions, it’s about how you approach life in general with a focus on the impact you can make on the world and those around you.
It goes something like this:
Take a length of ribbon - hold from hand to hand when stretched out either side of you. Now cut off segments of the ribbon to signify how much time you spend on the things you spend your life doing.
Let’s start with sleep - The average person spends about 26 years sleeping in their life which equates to 9,490 days or 227,760 hours. That’s one third of our entire lives spent asleep in bed.
Then there’s work - Whether it’s your dream job or a way to pay the bills, our jobs take up a lot of our time. 13 years on average - that’s 24% of a typical working period of 50 years.
Now cut off segments for eating - we spend almost 4 and a half years eating, or 1583 days -queueing, almost a year (especially for the ladies), and screen time - a whopping 11 years scrolling social media and television.
So, how much time is left for the things we love? When your mind focuses on the things you want to achieve in life, and with the time in which you have to do it, it really does make you re-evaluate. At this point, one of my favourite quotes springs to mind:
‘Buy the shoes, eat the cake, take the trip.'
Back in 2016, the ribbon conversation with Barry led to a question about what the next five to 10 years looked like for me, and I clearly recall my list of ambitions:
Travel more
Volunteer more
Raise more funds for charity and, internationally
Spend more time with those I love
Now, eight years on and it’s comforting to know that I’ve done just that. But perhaps most exciting is that this October/November will see me trekking 100 kilometres in Cambodia fundraising for Alzheimer’s Society with some of my best friends, and combining all of my ambitions in one experience. We’ll be camping with very basic facilities including bucket showers and walking eight hours a day in hot and humid weather - so it’s really not a holiday but an experience for sure.
Sara, Charlotte, Kanan and I, all have first hand experience of living with Dementia and Alzheimer’s and how the conditions devastate lives. See my ‘Lives on Hold’ blog for more.
I’ve been fundraising now for ten years and raised over £8,000 for a number of charities. If you’ve thought about sponsoring me in the past, but never actually made the pledge, now’s the time to do so. Not only will you help me achieve my overall £10,000 charity fundraising target, but more importantly, you’ll be helping Alzheimer’s to fund vital support and life-changing research to give help and hope to those living with dementia.
You can donate via the Just Giving page Lyndsey Nassim is fundraising for The Lockton Charitable Association (justgiving.com)
One in three born in the UK today will develop dementia.
Dementia and Alzheimer's disease was the leading cause of death in Britain for the last 10 years.
For my Nan, Michael and all my friends and family living with Dementia and Alzheimer’s.
Thank-you.
(I still carry the small piece of ribbon I had left after cutting off all the segments. A constant reminder that life is short and to always ‘Believe, achieve and inspire’).
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