A.R.T Your Life

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A.R.T Your Life Activate self-awareness. Reshape thinking. Transform. Corporate training & professional development for individuals, teams & leaders.

Training • Coaching • Facilitation • Mediation • Consulting

Founded by Catie Kirke. Trusted by 1,500+ Territorians.

Think about the last time someone at work challenged you. Did you get curious, or did you get defensive?The most emotion...
19/10/2026

Think about the last time someone at work challenged you.

Did you get curious, or did you get defensive?

The most emotionally intelligent thing a leader can say might be "I was wrong."

The image shows six more that matter just as much, from "How can I support you?" to "What do you think?" and "Let's come back to this."

None of them are complicated.

Knowing which one a moment calls for is harder, and it depends on how aware you are of yourself and the person in front of you.

We work on this in next week's Emotional Intelligence and Resilience in Action workshop at Magistrates House, for October Business Month.

Details and tickets: https://events.humanitix.com/emotional_intelligence_and_resilience_2026

You get this email at 9:14am:“Can you review this urgently?”What does urgently mean to you?Within the hour?By the end of...
16/10/2026

You get this email at 9:14am:

“Can you review this urgently?”

What does urgently mean to you?

Within the hour?
By the end of today?
Tomorrow morning?

We use words like urgent, soon, priority and when you get a chance all the time, assuming the person on the other end understands exactly what we mean.

They're interpreting those words through their own workload, experiences and expectations.

You might think you've been perfectly clear.

They might genuinely think they've understood you. Then 3pm rolls around and you're frustrated that it hasn't been done, while they have no idea there's a problem.

Communicating with influence often comes down to leaving less room for assumptions.

"Can you review this urgently?" becomes "Can you review this and send me your feedback by 3pm today?"

It's a small change, and the expectation is much clearer.

Knowing what outcome you want before you speak, and choosing your words on purpose, are two of the six core principles in our full-day Communicate With Influence workshop.

It runs on Friday 23 October at Magistrates House, Larrakeyah, as part of October Business Month.

Final tickets here: https://events.humanitix.com/communicate_with_influence_2026

Wise words from Abraham Lincoln.There’s just one small problem.Abraham Lincoln died in 1865.The internet, as you may hav...
14/10/2026

Wise words from Abraham Lincoln.

There’s just one small problem.

Abraham Lincoln died in 1865.

The internet, as you may have noticed, came along a little later.

It’s funny when the misinformation is this obvious.

It gets harder when something sounds plausible, comes from a source we trust, confirms something we already believe or is repeated often enough that we stop questioning where it came from.

We’re surrounded by information, opinions, recommendations and increasingly, answers generated for us in seconds.

Being able to access information is one thing.

Knowing how to question it, analyse it, recognise our own assumptions and decide what deserves our trust is something else entirely.

That’s critical thinking.

And in 7 days, we’ll be spending a full day getting into this deeply human skill for October Business Month.

We’ll look at how we think, what can get in the way of good judgement, the assumptions and biases we bring with us, and practical tools we can use to approach problems and decisions more deliberately.

Because the aim isn’t to question everything for the sake of it.

It’s to become better at knowing what deserves a second look.

Critical Thinking for Better Problem Solving and Decision Making

21 October | Magistrates House, Larrakeyah

Ever caught yourself preparing your answer while the other person is still talking?You've heard enough to know what you ...
13/10/2026

Ever caught yourself preparing your answer while the other person is still talking?

You've heard enough to know what you think they're going to say, so while they finish their sentence, your brain is already busy.

Formulating the answer, working out what you disagree with, preparing your explanation, deciding how you're going to fix it.

Technically, you haven't interrupted them. But you've probably stopped listening.

Proactive listening means staying with the person long enough to understand the whole message before deciding what to do with it.

> What are they actually saying?

> What might they be trying to communicate underneath the words?

> Is there something you need to clarify before you respond?

Sometimes the most influential thing you can do in a conversation is give someone enough space to finish their thought.

Listen, think, then speak.

Try noticing how often your brain wants to get there first.

Listening is only half of it.

People also don't all communicate the same way, and a message that makes sense to us can miss someone who takes in information differently.

In the workshop, you complete a communication style quiz, work out your own style, and learn to tune in to other people's, including when the conversation is a difficult one.

Communicate With Influence has been running for over seven years and has been delivered more than 50 times to over 1,500 participants across the Northern Territory.

The next one is Friday 23 October at Magistrates House, as part of October Business Month.

If you're interested, we're happy to send more information. Or find us on humanitix.

12/10/2026

Emotional intelligence isn't about learning to be calm all the time.

Stress changes how we process information, how clearly we think and how quickly we react to what's happening around us.

The moments when our stress response kicks in are often the moments asking the most of us at work: a difficult conversation, a decision under pressure, unexpected change, conflict, or too much happening at once.

Recognising what happens for you in those moments is where it starts.

> What do you notice in your body?
> What happens to your thinking?
> What behaviours tend to show up?
> And what helps you move from reacting automatically to choosing how you want to respond?

Nobody gets through work without feeling stressed, frustrated or overwhelmed at times.

Knowing yourself well enough to see what's happening, and having tools to work with it, changes what you do next.

The short video above looks at the parts of the brain involved.

We go further in Emotional Intelligence and Resilience in Action on Wednesday 28 October at Magistrates House, as part of October Business Month.

It's a full-day, hands-on session on what stress does to how we think and respond, and how to regulate your reaction in the moment.

Which OBM workshop is for you?If you've been looking at our workshops and wondering which one best fits what you're deal...
11/10/2026

Which OBM workshop is for you?

If you've been looking at our workshops and wondering which one best fits what you're dealing with at work right now, start here.

Critical Thinking for Better Problem Solving and Decision Making - 21 October

This one is for you if you're regularly dealing with problems where the answer isn't obvious.

You're weighing up information, making decisions with competing priorities, working out what actually matters, or questioning whether the way something has always been done is still the best way forward.

You'll work with structured models like SWOT and Six Thinking Hats on real workplace problems, and learn to spot the shortcuts your own thinking takes.

https://events.humanitix.com/critical-thinking-for-better-problem-solving-and-decision-making

Communicate With Influence - 23 October

This one is for you if you know what you mean, but getting that message across to other people is the harder part.

You're working with different personalities, asking people to get on board with an idea, giving feedback, having difficult conversations, or dealing with those moments when what you said and what someone else heard seem to be two completely different things.

You'll find out your own communication style, learn to work with other people's, and practise tools like the CLEAR model and the Influence Triangle.

https://events.humanitix.com/communicate_with_influence_2026

Emotional Intelligence and Resilience in Action - 28 October

This one is for you if you've noticed that certain people, pressures or situations change the way you show up at work. You might get frustrated more quickly, overthink something, react before you've had time to process it, or find it harder to think when there's a lot going on.

You'll look at what stress does to how we think and respond, and practise ways to stay composed in the moment.

https://events.humanitix.com/emotional_intelligence_and_resilience_2026

If you can see yourself in more than one, that's not surprising.

Critical thinking, communication and how we handle pressure all show up in the same place: working with other people.

All three are practical, full-day workshops at Magistrates House, Larrakeyah, 8:30am to 4:15pm.

Organisations can arrange direct invoicing through [email protected].

#

10/10/2026

Sound familiar?

In many workplaces, people are promoted because they're really good at what they do.

They know their field, they've built experience and they've proven they can deliver.

With that progression comes a different set of expectations.

There are more complex decisions to make, different personalities to navigate, conversations that call for influence rather than instruction, and moments when staying clear-headed under pressure matters as much as technical expertise.

For many people, these are skills they pick up as they go.

As roles change, how we think, communicate and respond needs to keep pace.

That's the focus of our three October Business Month workshops this year.

Each is a practical, full-day session built around situations people are dealing with in real workplaces.

THINK - Critical Thinking for Better Problem Solving and Decision Making, Wednesday 21 October

COMMUNICATE - Communicate With Influence, Friday 23 October

RESPOND - Emotional Intelligence and Resilience in Action, Wednesday 28 October

All sessions run at Magistrates House, Larrakeyah, from 8:30am - 4:15pm.

Bookings are open, and organisations can arrange direct invoicing through [email protected]

Booking links in comments.

AI has made it very easy to outsource our thinking.It can summarise a document, analyse information, suggest an answer a...
07/10/2026

AI has made it very easy to outsource our thinking.

It can summarise a document, analyse information, suggest an answer and help solve a problem in seconds.

It's useful, and we use it ourselves.

It's also worth thinking about what happens when convenience starts replacing effort.

Our brains look for the easiest route, and when we're offered a quicker one, most of us take it without much thought.

That isn't necessarily a problem. The question is whether we still know when we need to do the thinking ourselves.

Critical thinking is a skill.

Questioning information, challenging assumptions, considering alternatives and using judgement when the answer isn't obvious all take effort.

If we routinely hand that work over, our ability to do it well ourselves can slip.

At work, we're constantly making judgements with incomplete information, solving problems we haven't met before and making decisions where there may be no obvious right answer.

AI can help with that.
It just shouldn't be doing the thinking for us.

Did we use AI to write this post?

Working out how you'd know is a good critical thinking exercise in itself.

We've been running Critical Thinking for Better Problem Solving and Decision Making for three years, and it runs again on Wednesday 21 October at Magistrates House, as part of October Business Month.

07/10/2026

“They REALLY know how to push my buttons.”

Most of us have said it about someone at work.

It points straight at the other person, and... we can't change them.

The more useful question is what's happening for us before we respond.

What is it about this situation that gets such a strong reaction?

Noticing that early gives us more say in what we do next.

We work through exactly this in Emotional Intelligence and Resilience in Action on Wednesday 28 October at Magistrates House, for October Business Month.

If you’d like the details, comment OBM and we’ll send them through.

Professional development isn't always about filling a knowledge gap.Many people who walk into a workshop already have ye...
06/10/2026

Professional development isn't always about filling a knowledge gap.

Many people who walk into a workshop already have years of experience.

That experience gives us knowledge, and it also gives us habits: familiar ways of making decisions, communicating and responding under pressure.

A new framework or a different perspective might challenge an assumption you've held for years.

You bring your experience with you, then add to it, question parts of it and see what you might do differently.

Our three October Business Month workshops run at Magistrates House, Larrakeyah: Critical Thinking on 21 October, Communicate With Influence on 23 October, and Emotional Intelligence and Resilience in Action on 28 October.

Details and tickets: https://events.humanitix.com/host/a-r-t-your-life

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2 Kahlin Avenue
Darwin, NT
0820

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