For Christmas, my lovely husband bought me a day with a chocolatier in Patisserie Viennoise, Otley (West Yorkshire). A few weeks ago I went in to book my day - ta-dah and I remember feeling so excited about it. Firstly it was all about chocolate …… how could I go wrong?

Some of you may be on the same wavelength here about chocolate. But there are some very good reasons why it is good for you to eat (in small quantities of course!) Eating chocolate releases phenylethamine into your blood stream which is a "happy hormone" you usually secrete in the early and heady stages of a relationship. Looking forward to something also releases a "happy hormone" – dopamine, which is associated with receiving rewards and having a reward to look forward to is good for us on so many levels:

  • Firstly it gives us a nice feeling that may distract us from less than pleasant "stuff" that is going on in our lives
  • Secondly it keeps our attention and helps us to get out of the way any mundane tasks that come before the reward

"So Krys, this is a tenuous link" I can hear you saying “between chocolate and objectives and being and inspirational trainer?"

Absolutely not! Talking to the owner of Patisserie Viennoise about my "Chocolate day" made me think about what I wanted to get out of it. Had I not had the conversation, it would no doubt still have been a lovely day, but knowing what was in store and that it was geared towards my needs, I was keen and eager for the 25th of February. I was going to learn how to temper chocolate and create decorations for my cupcakes. I was also hoping to produce a lovely little chocolate cake (decorated in chocolate of course!) and learn other little tricks which would help me use chocolate as an effective (edible) decoration.

Our learners need to know what is in store for them and if possible we should try to meet their objectives too. If they believe we will meet their objectives, how much more will they look forward to the training? How much more will they be bought into it? How much more are they likely to remember?

So in case you were wondering, the picture above is what I helped to make!

This was an inspiring day for me and one of the key things I have learnt as a trainer is that to be a good trainer/facilitator, you must be able to inspire your learners to learn more - otherwise it feels like it is down to you to pass your knowledge onto them. So in order to keep fresh and inspirational, you need to take do what switches you on to keep you motivated.

I work because I love to inspire others to become better facilitators/trainers, so I need to top-up on the inspiration regularly, so that I stay motivated. Baking and the walking in the countryside inspire me. A day out looking at the fabulous Yorkshire countryside “tops up my tank”.

So if you are a trainer, working day in and day out delivering or designing, how do you stay fresh and stay motivated? What inspires you to inspire others?

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  • I really like how you say that technology is not the focus but the enabler Mike.
  • I'm very impressed with your chocolate creation Krys - very impressed indeed.

    I read this a few days ago and have since been thinking hard about your questions before I posted a reply.

    How do I stay fresh and motivated and what inspires me?

    I have a thirst for knowledge and a desire to continually improve what I do and how I do things. Since I completed my CiTP (old LDP) in 2006 I've been on an interesting journey and absolutely love seeing people coming together to share things and spark ideas that leads to innovation and doing things differently. It is so powerful and this is where I get my motivation from that you can continually learn and develop and with technology you can connect with anyone from anywhere at anytime. Technology isn't the focus but the enabler and through connecting with others I've been able to learn and in turn help and support people unlock potential that they never knew they had. I've been inspired by so many people over the last few years and what keeps me motivated is the hope that I can inspire others in the same way and keep unlocking potential so people can achieve all they can achieve.

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