I had an early start this morning ( for me – I  really come into my own about 3.30 in the afternoon when my most productive and creative phase of the day usually kicks in) and was heading for the station to catch my train to Glasgow for a meeting. I took a different bus ( don’t worry – I am not on an Edinburgh transport rant again…) and cut through from the stop past the end of the Union Canal. Now up until a couple of years ago I was only vaguely aware that the Canal existed – and did not realise that it ended in that part of Edinburgh. It is a really interesting part of the City where house barges jostle with brand new office developments. But that’s not my point. Tonight  I am heading to my speakers club meeting which is in a different venue from normal – in a building right beside that same canal only 20 miles away!

This realisation really perked me up.  My opportunity to become a Speakersbank trainer has had an interesting effect on my working life it came along by way of a friend and colleague and me making a couple  of small connections. And today’s meetings – both taking me near to the canal – are part of developing what we have to offer to people in Scotland who want to have their voices heard – but don’t feel they have the tools.

I often speak with people who are looking for opportunities to do something and I ask what connections they already have  that could help them on the journey. Sometimes it is a person . For others it is a skill ( sometimes underused  – or undervalued for that matter). Very often the success stories I hear are full of “coincidences” and being in the right place at the right time – but I am guessing that the storyteller may have just missed the small connections that came to the great result.

Looking for a way to a goal can sometimes be daunting. If it seems to big why don’t you think of the links you can make to small things to help you on your way to that success?