Imagine you are walking through a cafe, carrying a full cup of coffee. Someone bumps into you and the coffee spills. You might think that you spilled the coffee because someone bumped into you. But in actual fact, you spilled the coffee because there was coffee in your cup. Had there been chai latte in…
Practice what you preach
The last trait of genuine people, as outlined in a recent article, is that they practice what they preach. Genuine people are not self-righteous. They are comfortable in their own skin, know who they are and what they can do, and don’t set themselves up in judgement over anyone else. Living with genuineness makes it…
How well do you receive compliments?
We’ve all seen it – the false modesty in someone who protests-too-much-methinks when given compliments. You are simply seeking to be complimentary towards them and say something kind, and it gets batted right back at you, seemingly bouncing off the intended recipient. For some people, this can be a very deliberate tactic to be attention…
Don’t take yourself too seriously
How thick or thin skinned are you? Do you easily become uptight and tense, and get stressed when your plans do not go according to your expectations? Don’t take yourself too seriously, because that might be what is going on here. Perhaps there is little space in your day for fun or spontaneity. Or maybe disruption…
Do what you say, say what you mean
Have you ever come across someone who openly behaves in a different way to how they encourage you to behave? I have past experience in a work environment of someone who quite clearly expressed a desire for us to “do what I say, not what I do!” – ie they ignored their own rules and…
Can you tell when people are full of it?
This is another behaviour of people who are genuine – being able to tell when people are full of it. This is where we have got to on our meanderings through traits of genuine people. I like writing series like this as the idea simply serves as a jumping off point for reflection and self…
Do you need to be liked?
How important is it to you that people like you? I know that is quite an opener this week, but be honest with yourself. To what extent does the good opinion of others matter? And more importantly perhaps, whose opinion of you matters the most? Why do you need to be liked by that person?…
To seek attention or not?
What does it mean to be a genuine person? This is the conversation I started last week in my musings. None of us want to be around phony people who present a false front to the world or who don’t live with integrity. It is all relative of course because how you perceive someone and…
What does it mean to be genuine?
When you think of a genuine person, what sorts of characteristics spring to mind? Who are the people you can think of who are genuine? What is it you like about them and are drawn to? And – I guess for where this is going – would others describe you as a genuine person? What…
What home learning have you modeled?
This week marks, in Scotland at least, the end of the school term. And what an extraordinary, challenging, unnatural and demanding term it has been. Who would have ever have thought as we started 2020 that we would have had a whole term of home learning for our young people, with school buildings closed for…