Ivar Raav

Is work/life balance enough?

Is work/life balance enough? Not enough…

Below is a picture that I occasionally draw in training courses, and that’s where the photo comes from. Anyone who has been to my training courses knows that I draw a lot of triangles, and that one very important triangle is the work+life+recreation triangle.

If anyone remembers from 6th grade math, the sum of the angles of a triangle is 180 degrees, and if the angles are equal, they are all 60 degrees. As some angles get larger (for example 100 degrees, others get smaller).

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To share or not to share the names of the organisations I work with?

My policy has been that if the client doesn’t share, I don’t share the names of the clients I work with. There are a few specific situations where I need to list ‘work done’ for procurement purposes, but mostly I leave out the organisations where I train, run a development programme, where I am a management consultant. Especially in public channels such as social media, your website, etc.

To share or not to share the names of the organisations I work with? Read More »

Why is praise bad?

In my trainings, leaders are often surprised to learn that praise is not a good technique for leadership or for any kind of relationship with adults or children. After all, we are used to a lifetime of praise and seeking external recognition. How else? I was reminded of this theme again at the Song and Dance Festival at the weekend, where I heard such lines repeatedly: “You were such a good boy!”, “Good girls!”, “Good!”.

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Proof that holistic regression therapy is not scientifically proven after all

Some time ago I heard the admission that the holistic regression therapy I do in addition to leadership training is not scientifically proven.

It’s true. A thing becomes scientific the moment the first academic paper is published, and an “unrecognised” thing thereby becomes “recognised”. But it doesn’t matter. It’s all about experience and my experience with this style of therapy has been life-changing:

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What you tell yourself and where you put your energy, that’s what happens.

In December 2020, I wrote down my so-called ideal life phrases in a notebook, because I had heard that what you tell yourself and where you put your energy, it will happen. It sounded absurd to a rational person, but I thought I’d give it a try. After all, there was nothing to lose, because there was no satisfaction in life anyway. I was supposed to earn money, and the opposite (money earns me) sounded like a nice idea, but far away. I wrote down the things that at the time were totally dream level.

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We must first make peace with our past in order to come to terms with the present.

“I’m happy and grateful to be able to give people the opportunity to shine a light into their true depths.”

This is the sentence I have formulated as my MIKS. A phrase that inspires me. It brings together my work as a deep-dive leadership trainer and therapist. At one point, when I was choosing between coaching and therapy, I chose therapy because I sincerely believe that we must first make peace with our past in order to come to terms with the present. And it is only when we have been able to be present in the present that we can create the future.

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I don’t think it is possible to motivate people.

Last week, I spoke at a conference at the Estonian Training and Conference Centre for management assistants about motivation and inspiration. It was a lovely half hour with nice people!

I don’t think people can be motivated. But you can inspire people if you do what you do with passion and inspiration. Through it, we can unintentionally draw other people in as we shine and enjoy our own lives in our work and activities.

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