Monthly Archives: August 2013
On Saturday 24th August 2013, I took part in the Frank Duffy 10 mile race, Phoenix Park, Dublin. I was the only visually impaired athlete out of 5,000 runners.
I was nervous but also excited because this was my first time running in a 10 mile race. My goal was to complete the race in 1hour 30mins but I came in at 1hour 24mins. Hence, I was pleasantly surprised that I came in 6 minutes early.
Being visually impaired I had a guide run with me – Kieran O’Reily. The training for the race made me value team work. If it wasn’t for my guide I wouldn’t have been able to navigate around the course. The two of us worked very hard to accomplish the shared goal of completing the race. The first goal was to finish the race and the second goal was to try and do it in a good time. At the 8.5 mile mark my body was aching and my brain kept telling me to give up and stop. Thankfully, my guide gave me some words of encouragement and reminded me of all my hard work in training. For many athletes they get an extra boost to finish when they see the finish line. Yet, because I am visually impaired I cannot see the finish line which means I have to visualise in my head the finish line to give me that extra burst of energy to finish. I have often said it that it is our ‘mindset’ and how we think about things that will get us to complete our goals.
Here are some pics.
Sinead Kane – The Kane Ability, Motivational Speaker
Exam disappointment – My life is over or is it?
Disappointment with exams can be one of the most devastating experiences for a student, especially when they were not expecting bad results. I have been there. I know the feeling and it’s awful. Over the past few days young friends of mine have told me that: ‘their life is over’ because they didn’t get what they wanted in the leaving certificate. A lot of tears have been shed and I have been doing a lot of listening. It’s important to remember how you perceive notions of failure dictates how you behave in response to bad news. There are two ways to fail.
- One way is to make a mistake or judgment call that turns out to be wrong. For example, a coach may make a mistake in putting a wrong team player on the team which may cost his team the game. Or another example would be a CEO of a company may decide to launch a new product that he thinks will bring dramatic growth for the company, but instead the product may flop on the market. You are making hundreds of decisions a day so inevitably some of those decisions are going to be wrong. This type of failure revolves around what you did wrong.
- The other type of failure is when you do everything right, put all of your efforts and energies into your pursuit of success, and even do everything to prevent something from going wrong, but in the end, you still come up short. These kinds of letdowns are particularly hard to handle because of the feelings of helplessness associated with them. However, some people take this type of failure as a cue that they are close to reaping their reward. They view it as a matter of time NOT a matter of their ability to perform what is needed to achieve what they want. Although these failures are hard to take, they are not impossible to overcome. Everyone experiences these defeats and everyone handles them differently.
Bouncing Back
- Talk to your family and friends and discuss your options. Don’t bottle up your emotions.
- Change your perception of the ‘Failure’ to seeing it as a ‘Setback’ – Once you begin to look at your shortcoming as an event that knocked you back instead of one that knocked you down, you’ll begin to see that it is very possible to recover from the letdown. This also helps you acknowledge that bumps in the road are common but they are also manageable. I’m a big believer that we learn the most when we fail, if we have the right mindset about failure. If you failed at nothing, would you ever have succeed at anything? Pick yourself up and move forward with your new insights. Focus on lessons learned. Try objectively to assess what you could have done better, more specifically, what you will do better next time.
- Persistence – The only real failure is to give up too soon. It’s important to think of previous successes in exams, tests, and other challenges, and the strategies you used in those situations.
- Avoid generalising – When we get frustrated we tend to generalise our situations and make broad statements that are not necessarily true. Saying “this always happens….” or “I never….” are detrimental to your recovery process because what you are really doing is setting yourself up for another loss. Understanding that the setback that took place is a solitary event helps you recover quicker. Instead of generalising your statements prepare yourself for the future by making saying what you want to happen.
- Balance – Successful people are those who strike a good balance between optimism and reality. They see opportunities but do not ignore risks or mistakes. Above all, they rely on themselves, not others, to strive for their goals – although they also know when to ask for help.
- Potential – Take pride in your strengths and achievements. Remind yourself of your enormous potential. Learn from your experiences, identifying the factors that contribute to both your successes and disappointments.
- Self- belief – Believe in yourself but stay grounded. There is always room to improve. Make changes to what you do and how you challenge yourself otherwise you will go on getting the same results.
Lessons Learned
An overwhelming majority of life’s failures are not life threatening. This means that life goes on even though you came up short. We sometimes over analyse our setbacks to the point of making them larger than life. Try to remember that even though you’ve experienced a setback, there are still many more opportunities ahead even if you do not see them right away.
Sinead Kane – The Kane Ability, Motivational Speaker
Sitting exams isn’t fun but waiting for the results does not bring much to laugh about either. Thousands of students will get their much anticipated leaving cert results tomorrow. Some students will be happy but some won’t. It’s important to remember there is life after the leaving cert.
Career Choices
If you are unsure about what route to take, remember you have choices. Here are some tips to help you find the right career for you:
Choose a career that fits with who you are – If you think about your strengths, passions, skills, values and dreams, you will have a much better chance of finding a career that you enjoy. Take some time to think, and discuss this with the people you know and trust.
Do the research – Visit your school career guidance counsellor. Talk to people who are working in careers that interest you; find out what they do, how they got to where they are and what they like and dislike about their job. Look on job seekers websites to see what is offered. There may be jobs there you haven’t even heard of. Note the qualifications required.
Gain a qualification – As you progress with study, you will discover areas that you may not have known existed. Taking the first step can often lead on to some very interesting and fulfilling possibilities. If you don’t feel ready for university or college now, you can always return later as a mature student. This is an increasingly popular option and is worth thinking about.
Apprenticeship –You can take an apprenticeship. This means learning while working, in professions such as carpentry and mechanics. Unfortunately, since the economic downturn, there are not as many apprenticeships available and it is much harder to get onto an apprenticeship scheme. There is still a specific female apprenticeship scheme in place to encourage the entry of women into male dominated professions.
Entrepreneurship – You can start your own business. Sure, why not!
PLC – Post Leaving Cert courses – These are a good choice for getting a taste of the career you are interested in. A range of courses is available, including childcare, accounting, computers, beauty, catering, secretarial and media. PLC qualifications can also be used to help you get a place in university in Ireland and the UK. Contact your careers office or local VEC for more information.
FAS – provides a range of services to help people find work and learn new skills. The FÁS website has information on a huge number of options for anyone looking for work or qualifications, from crafts to computers to farming to finance. Details of all training courses are available online.career is not going to set you in concrete – there will be many options and many more decisions to make along the way.
Travel and volunteering – Not everyone wants to jump straight into more study after school and even more people don’t want to get a job right after school or university! Travel and or voluntary work can be the perfect way to decide what the next step is for you: be it education, work or taking over the world!
Art, Crafts, and Entertainment – If none of the above options appeal to you then why not consider starting a band, joining religious life, pursuing acting, opening an art gallery, joining a circus, starting a blog, writing a book, doing gardening work etc.
Develop transferable skills – Employers are prepared to train you and keep you updated in the specific knowledge required for their business if you can show that you have skills and traits such as reliability, punctuality, positive attitude, efficiency and organisational skills. Other notable pros include computer skills, adaptability, the ability to take initiative and honesty.
Find a mentor – The key is to find someone you trust, and who is already very successful at what you want to accomplish. Talk to them, discuss different options and try to get some clarity, direction or first steps to take. Everyone needs a wingman at times, and there’s no shame is asking for a little guidance.
Goals – Your goals at this stage may not be completely clear but that’s okay – career development is a process. As you keep thinking, talking, reading and researching, the fog of uncertainty will clear! Just remember, the first decision you make about your
Lesson learned
There are many ways to cross the bridge from the teen years into adulthood, and many different pathways to working out and doing what you want with your life. Sometimes it can be confusing to know what to do but as you learn more about yourself and what you’re interested in the easier the decisions become. Congratulate yourself for getting through school. No matter what results you got endless possibilities lie ahead. Be sure to savor every moment. Be sociable, have fun, but be diligent. You’re embarking on the best years of your life – make the most of them!
Sinead Kane – The Kane Ability, Motivational Speaker
Student-led movements driving for social change hold plenty of lessons about innovation for businesses and the government. Recently, I met a wonderful young man called Daithí de Buitléir. Instantly, I found myself able to engage with him because he was interesting, funny and had energy. Daithi is part of RAG {Raising and Giving) which was set up in DCU in September 2011 and is going from strength to strength. Soon after DCU RAG was set up, the University of Limerick then came on board and were empowered to start their own RAG society. DCU RAG have been approached by students from a number of other universities and third-level institutes who have heard about what they are doing. They have been inspired by RAG’s vision.
Making ideas happen
RAG’s work hasn’t gone unrecognised. They have become the youngest ever Irish awardees of the prestigious Arthur Guinness Fund, a seed capital fund for aspiring social entrepreneurs. RAG believes by engaging, equipping and empowering the youth of today that they create a critical mass of young Irish people striving to create something great, something RAG are proud to call Ireland. Daithi dreams that his generation will be remembered as the generation which rebuilds Ireland. What I found most interesting about Daithi is that he had a simple idea which has really blossomed. People who were not doing anything to improve their communities and country are now positively active and promoting change. They are fundraising, volunteering, establishing social enterprises and setting up community initiatives. They are proud to be Irish but not happy with Ireland and they are keen to do something about this.
RAG believes – Engage, Equip, Empower.
Engagement: Ireland needs to proactively engage young people. RAG shows people that they can get involved and encourages them to do so. For example, they run large events which attract students, like UL’s “Nearly Naked Mile” where 100s of students ran around the beautiful Castletroy campus in their underwear and DCU’s “RAG Rumble” where students dusted themselves down for an old fashion dust up. Once students have shown support RAG attempt’s to build a relationship with them where they facilitate them to take an action, getting them out there doing something to improve their community.
Equipping: Many young people in Ireland have massive potential once they realise they have a role to play in the future of Ireland, but they must be supported to fulfil this potential. Very few people can start up a social enterprise with little or no experience working with social organisations. However, if someone has developed a history of action working with a series of organisations on a series of projects with various commitment levels they are much more likely to be able to take the next step and start up their own initiatives.
Empowering: It can be a daunting task to set up your own social project or community initiative. Even with all the passion and experience in the world many young people just don’t know where to start. RAG believes by providing a support network of young people who have been there and started up projects, as well as access to networks and practical supports in areas such as finance, law and marketing, can make it easier for young people to turn their dreams of a better Ireland into a reality.
Lessons learned
RAG’s model is working and their movement for student-led social change is spreading. What I learnt from Daithi is that young people can bring about transformative change in Ireland if they are properly supported. RAG is helping young people realise they can play a role in making Ireland a better place whilst having a lot of good craic along the way. Encouraging students to reach out to each other to solve problems and share knowledge not only builds collaboration skills, it leads to deeper learning and understanding. In turn, creating positive social change led by young people. If you want anymore information or would like to get involved make sure to contact RAG at ragireland@hotmail.com.
Sinead Kane – The Kane Ability, Motivational Speaker
