Past Lessons Future Gains

By Paula Bell

As we travel along life’s journey we encounter many obstacles, changes, and roadblocks that challenge us and our way of thinking. In this book, the author shares the experiences and lessons she has learnt along the way which will help you put your own challenges into perspective. You will gain a deeper insight into the journey of life as well as learn tips on being more resilient, dealing with change and diversity, avoiding negativity, and much more.

-About the Author-

Paula Bell was born and raised in the UK. Aged 24, she moved to South Africa to work, live and explore. Paula is a learning and training executive, business and life coach. With a passion for learning and training, at a mature age she achieved a degree in Human Resource Development. Being a sought after facilitator, coach and mentor, Paula has worked and travelled locally and internationally sharing her expertise, knowledge and experience. Working for four years in the Maldives inspired her to write and share her experiences with others. She has combined her passion for learning, training and coaching whilst raising two daughters in her home city of Durban, South Africa.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Paula Bell
• Release date: Jan 30, 2018
• ISBN: 9781370340804

Paula Bell

Please feel free to contact me on Twitter @Paula_Bell_69 .

Book preview

Past Lessons

Future Gains

Past Lessons

Future Gains

Improve your future by learning from past experiences.

Paula Bell

Copyright © 2017 Paula Bell

Published by Paula Bell Publishing at Smashwords

First edition 2017

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage or retrieval system without permission from the copyright holder.

The Author has made every effort to trace and acknowledge sources/resources/individuals. In the event that any images/information have been incorrectly attributed or credited, the Author will be pleased to rectify these omissions at the earliest opportunity.

Published by the Author using Reach Publishers’ services,

P O Box 1384, Wandsbeck, South Africa, 3631

Edited by Vanessa Finaughty for Reach Publishers

Cover designed by Reach Publishers

Website: www.reachpublishers.co.za

E-mail: [e-mail]

Table of Content

Preface

What Are Life’s Lessons Teaching Us?

Resilience: Learn Every Day

Memory: Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

Change: Embrace It

Negativity: Remove It

Fit and Healthy: No Short Cuts

Name, Blame and Shame: Don’t Do It!

Empty Nest Syndrome: It Will Happen!

Friends: Reason, Season or Life

Teenage Monsters: Love Them

Gratitude: Appreciate What You Have

Pay It Forward: Be the Change You Wish to See in the World

Preface

"If you hear a voice within you saying, ‘You are not a painter,’ then by all means paint and that voice will be silenced."

Vincent Van Gogh

I have been fortunate to be in the learning and development field for the last 20 years of my career. A career that I love and that encourages me to learn and teach every day. These learnings have fared me well in my life. Attending many training sessions, conferences, seminars and webinars, and networking with people who want to help me to learn and grow has encouraged me to be a better person. I enjoy researching, reading, exploring, questioning, networking and learning from everyday experiences. All of this makes us who we are today.

I was brought up in England and moved to South Africa at the age of 24 to begin to explore the world. My initial intention was to stay in South Africa for a couple of years, then to move on to another country and discover new experiences. However, I fell in love with the country, the people and, of course, the warm climate. I am still living in South Africa, but currently working in Maldives. Many of my experiences and lessons learnt are in this book to share with everyone. I hope you find the lessons as valuable as I did.

Many experiences and lessons learnt include my two beautiful daughters. When I entered the training and development field, it opened my eyes to a world of research, knowledge, information, models, theories, great speakers and like-minded people who wanted to learn and develop others. Whenever I attended a seminar, conference or training course, I would practise the techniques on my daughters when I got home. My first experience of using my girls as ‘guinea pigs’ was early on in my training career. In learning how to be an effective trainer, we learnt about basic questioning techniques and how to get more information from the learners. During dinner, I started practising my questioning techniques: ‘How was school?’, ‘What was the best part of your day?’, ‘Why was it the best part?’ and so on. Eventually, they said (with kindness), We know you are practising this new thing you’ve learnt today on us. It’s okay; we don’t mind, but can you stop now so we can eat? This process continued throughout my learning and development career. They were reluctant ‘guinea pigs’. I still do it now; if there is a questionnaire handed out that I had to fill in during a training session, I will ask them to also fill it out, and then we share and discuss the meanings.

I learnt early on that lessons are all around us; we just need to keep an open mind. Teaching is in my blood. Both of my sisters are teachers, my niece is a teacher and my youngest daughter is in her final year of achieving her teaching degree. Training is a field of giving and sharing all your knowledge with others and watching people stretch their thinking and grow.

One principle I firmly believe in is that we connect the dots looking back; that’s when things start to make sense. At times when we go through certain experiences, we cannot understand it, but, in the future looking back, the clouds begin to clear, and I firmly believe every cloud has a silver lining – although we cannot see it when we are going through the storm.

We all have choices in life, and we can choose to stay miserable, confused and grumpy, or we can make the choice to be happy and fulfilled and lead enriched lives. I have met a few ‘bad apples’ as I like to call them, who are miserable and try to make everyone around them miserable. We are who we attract, and we are the sum of the five friends and family members we spend most of our time with. So, to break out of the negative mode of thinking, surround yourself with friends and family who are on your side and who will build you up, not break you down. People can be mean, pessimistic and depressing; make the choice and do not associate with them. This is not easy and