Story 1 - Fiona
Theinnergame is not just a program. It's a life-changing experience.
I have always been interested in sport but when I became involved in Theinnergame program I was fairly inactive. The program seemed like a good way to get back into some physical exercise and I was both excited and extremely nervous about the physical challenge. What actually happened was that I learned a lot about myself - beyond simply my physical potential. I also learned that anything is possible.
Challenge: The BRW Triathlon
My manager at MDAV selected Theinnergame for the professional development/team building benefits it offered. We set the goal of training for the Business Review Weekly (BRW) Triathlon in Melbourne in March 2005. Eight women and one man from two departments at my company signed up, enabling us to enter two, three-person triathlon teams.
There were definite advantages in focusing on a specific goal. By having what you want to achieve clear, you can achieve milestones and put plans in place to go about achieving them. If I didn't have the BRW as my goal, I wouldn't have seen the need to do so much swimming, running or cycling. Without a specific goal there's just not enough focus or motivation.
Result: Self awareness
I saw the results of my participation in Theinnergame as excellent, not due to my actual times in each discipline, but more from what I had gained in self awareness since the beginning of the program. This was seen in both the physical aspect and within the business stream.
My participation in Theinnergame was extremely beneficial in that a number of realisations about me became apparent. This included the way I internalise and react to various situations and challenges. It became evident throughout the program that I deal with physical challenges the same way that I deal with challenges within the workplace. Through being aware of this has helped my working environment and my various relationships within the department.
Goals are goals
My own self-realisation was that I tend to become quite frantic and nervous to challenges, as experienced when told about the BRW triathlon. My internal thoughts begin with questioning how the challenge will take place, and self-doubts about my abilities in line with the challenge in question. Realising that this is the way I react has enabled me to develop a new internal system to respond to such goals.
I now stop, take a deep breath, reassess the situation and put milestones in place in order to deal with the issues. These could be milestones of a 2km run for the BRW triathlon or to conduct a needs analysis for a particular project. I now break down the goal, and approach it in much smaller steps.
Setbacks are lessons
Another important realisation I had within Theinnergame program was that often goals or milestones do not always go according to plan and setbacks can be experienced. I first became aware of this throughout my training for the BRW when I received a nasty allergic reaction to a jellyfish sting, which consequently meant that I couldn't go into the water for two weeks when the BRW was only three weeks away. This meant I had to alter my original program (or plan). It became very evident that these types of setbacks can also happen with business goals and plans need to be amended accordingly. The whole process was definitely a valuable lesson in both my work and personal relationships.
Reactions influence results
There is no doubt that by using technique and physical challenges you become aware of your reactions, which just by analysing other situations, you may not have. One of the most valuable lessons I learned, I first became aware by using the physical world as an example. Our team ran twice around a 500 metre track two people at a time. The first time we ran around, team members stood on the sidelines watching with no emotion or reaction, the second time we ran around, our team members cheered us on and encouraged us from the sidelines. Although all of us were tired from running a lap previously, every single one of us ran a faster time in the second lap. This becomes evident in business too. When you have the "right" people around you supporting you and encouraging you, we can all achieve a much better result.
More milestones
I have enjoyed this journey thoroughly. My next physical goal is the half marathon in October. In business, it's to deliver the program I'm working on successfully. For both of these, I have a specific plan and milestones in place to achieve these goals. Probably the greatest lesson of Theinnergame is that no goal is unattainable and anything is possible.