When is enough enough?
Let me paint the picture so that you get a feel for what one of my clients shared with me the other day. You see he was suffering a challenge that many small businesses face very early on in their growth. It is a catch 22 situation and depending on what he did next would either make or break his business. It is a situation that we have faced in our business and I would imagine you have faced this as well.
What I am alluding to is……. (more…)
I would imagine that like me you too get sent inspirational emails. I was fortunate enough to have been sent the following from many of my readers. As I read it my heart is pulled in many directions and I can see it from every angle. I decided to share this with you because as a mother I needed the reassurance that I aren’t as bad as I sometimes appear to be, if you get my drift.
Why is it that some people have trouble accepting acts of kindness?
We all like to be appreciated, so why is it that some people have trouble accepting acts of kindness?
I recently witnessed a situation where a client had spent quite some time bitching about being taken for granted, she felt like she was the household slave to her husband and children, with a similar belief in her working environment. I was fortunate enough to witness one of her children say to her “Mum, you’re the best, I love you so much.” To which she immediately responded “What do you want?” sound familiar…….?
What is it that makes people so cynical?
· Is it the way you are bought up?
· Is it a reflection of your values and belief system?
· Is it that you are so busy that you don’t have the time to get to know people on a personal level before they are perceived and then judged?
· Or is it that you just don’t care about anyone but yourself?
If truth be known it is probably a combination of all the above. Should it be like that NO WAY? What can you do about it? There are lots of things you can do to change the way you react, but first you have to understand why you do what you do.
It is all in the way that you accept yourself. If you do not believe in yourself or believe that you are not worthy of thanks, then of course when someone gives you a compliment you would fob it off or be suspicious of their motives.
Grab a pen, paper and a cuppa and take a moment to write down the answers to these questions, be brutally honest with yourself:
· Am I aware that I react with suspicion when someone pays me a compliment?
· What makes me react this way?
· How long has this been happening?
· When did I first decide I was going to react in this way?
· What is this choice costing me?
· How would I like to react instead?
· What can I do to make the change?
· What would my life look like when I sincerely accepted acts of kindness?
When you have a sense of certainty about who you are and what you stand for, the decisions you make as a result of the choices presented to you take on an entirely different perspective. This is where your values come into consideration. I will discuss values in another article.
Awareness is the first step to change, being aware that you are ‘doing that old thing’. Once you acknowledge that you are doing a particular process the easier it becomes in determining why you do it, because your uncertainty about what is important to you will lead you to have feelings of doubt about your self-worth. Until you change this belief you will not be able to experience a profound level of fulfilment in your life.
Your Destiny Unfolds with
Rodney & Vicki Williams
Are you trading your hours for dollars and feel that you are getting nowhere fast?
Do you even like what it is that you do that pay the bills? I’ve asked a lot of people over the last few months if they like what they do and I can count on one hand how many of them like, not love mind you, but like the jobs they are currently employed to do.
This led me to ask them “Why do you spend your precious time working a job you don’t like?” This is some of their responses:
Do these excuses sound familiar….? I must admit I stayed in a previous job because of one of these excuses, but it didn’t take long before I realised that by doing so was detrimental to my health and happiness.
Let’s look for a moment at the negative side of staying stuck in a dead end job that you don’t like. Over time you may start to notice the following:
There are lots more but do you see that by being unhappy in where you work or what you do, that over time it will have a detrimental effect on your health.
By spending a few hours a week you could invest in learning new skills that would then give you the opportunity to choose another line of work or lifestyle. At the very least you will become aware that there is another option.
I appreciate that there are generally two types of people:
The people that do. These positive people want to improve themselves and their lifestyle they will have an open mind and will see the possibilities of learning new skills. Most of these people will follow through once they have learned these new skills.
The people that don’t. These people are generally negative and have a limited view of life. They are the people who will set about to prove you right, you know who I mean, the people who say things like:
These people are happy to experience life as they know it and that is ok, but don’t let them bring you down.
If you get nothing else out of this, please just accept that there is always a choice, another option, another way of doing things. Life is never meant to be simple, but it doesn’t have to be hard.
Vicki Williams
Your Destiny Unfolds
People always come into your life for a reason, a season, or a lifetime.
When you figure out which it is, you know exactly what to do.
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Sometimes they die. Sometimes they just walk away.
Sometimes they act up or out and force you to take a stand.
What we must realize is that our need has been met, our desire fulfilled; their work is done.
The prayer you sent up has been answered and it is now time to move on.
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When people come into your life for a SEASON,
it is because your turn has come to share, grow, or learn.
They may bring you an experience of peace or make you laugh.
They may teach you something you have never done.
They usually give you an unbelievable amount of joy.
Believe it! It is real! But, only for a season.
And like Spring turns to Summer and Summer to Fall,
the season eventually ends.
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LIFETIME relationships teach you lifetime lessons;
those things you must build upon in order to have a solid emotional foundation.
Your job is to accept the lesson, love the person/people (anyway);
and put what you have learned to use in all other relationships and areas in your life.
It is said that love is blind but friendship is clairvoyant.
Thank you for being part of my life.
Not sure what part of the world you are in when reading this article but for those of you in Melbourne it is getting cold, the start of winter is upon us. I get pretty complacent at the beginning of each season, I’m sceptical of the weather forecast. Well I payed dearly yesterday, let me explain….. (more…)
Creativity and the Workplace
The first thing that comes into most managers minds when they hear the words “creativity” and “workplace” combined is either a) someone is cooking the books (as in creative accountancy) or people are just goofing off.
The reality is something far different
It has been shown that workplaces where creativity is not just tolerated, but encouraged, have not just a more profitable bottom line, but their staff are happier, lower staff turnover, increased business flexibility, reduced leave of absence – in essence those things that a truly motivated and forward thinking business wants and needs to thrive. These are places where discussion is encouraged, boundaries are challenged and everyone is constantly striving to improve those things that impact not just their sphere of influence but the company as a whole. It is a place where these practices are not just given lip service, but they are truly a part of the company’s overall business plan, its ethics and its moral code.
So how do we encourage creativity in the workplace?
A good place to start is to consciously open the lines of communication in all directions, between individual staff, between managers and their staff, and most importantly between the various departments. More money is lost from “misunderstandings” between departments than most companies would like to admit. This communication does not have to be formal. It could be something as simple as encouraging conversation over a coffee, at the water cooler, around someone’s desk or in some other less structured atmosphere. Remember creativity cannot be forced, it has to bubble up out of the unconscious for most people, and often a chin wag over the new widget we are making can turn out to be a major coat saver in the long run.
We are not advocating a completely laissez-faire workplace, but that keeping people in their place, tied to a desk or kept in a box generally does not encourage the flights of fancy from which great ideas come.
During my 20 years of employment in a range of companies, I have seen evidence of these cost savings many times in workplace situations, let me explain……..
As I sit here in my office at 5.30am I know that winter is on its way, why? because I have had to find a cardigan and dust off the control to turn on the heater and I don’t think I will be eating my breakfast outside this morning BURR!! They are advertising a quick getaway to grab one last burst of sun in the Whitsundays, very tempting!
I happened to catch an interesting conversation on Sunrise about the best places to work which got me thinking about all the places I have previously worked and it’s funny, when you think of your workplace in that context, what thoughts do you conjure? It took me back in time and I was flooded with some wonderful memories, mainly people that I haven’t thought about in ages. On a personal note I have loved every place that I have ever worked (what I can remember), although there were times or things I did that I didn’t particularly like, but overall I have no complaints.
I firmly believe that you choose and create your own working environment. Most businesses today are doing what they can to provide their employees with an environment that is safe, bright, happy, friendly and fun. You only have to look at Google to see how this can work. If you want to view a working environment that provides everything an employee could ever imagine check this out and see how the other half works.
But seriously, what is it that makes YOU want to go to work? Find out more…….
How do you know if you have balance in your life?
Merimbula, NSW, Australia
I have just gotten back from a wonderful holiday in Merimbula NSW, what a beautiful part of Australia.
I am not sure about you but when I go on holiday it takes a few days to ‘get in the holiday mode’, if you know what I mean. It can take Rodney about a week to fully unwind, that’s pretty bad ah!! (Maybe he should get coached on it!!).
I think we are all guilty of overdoing certain aspects of our life, I know that as a coach I will ask my clients to take a reality check test to ascertain what areas of their life needs more attention. I appreciate that change is easier said than done sometimes. It then comes down to a choice of how you choose to live your life and what you will put up with as a result of your choices.
The expression work life balance was first used in the 1980’s to help explain the unhealthy life choices that many people were making, they were choosing to neglect other important areas in their lives such as family, friends and hobbies in favour of work related chores and goals.
Many people these days experience burnouts due to overwork and increased stress, this condition is seen in nearly all occupations from blue collar to upper management. Over the past decade a rise in workplace violence and increased absenteeism and compensation claims are all evidence of an unhealthy work life balance.
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I was once told that you are born with two fears, the fear of loud noises and the fear of falling.
I have also been told that you are born with no fears and that all fears are learned so therefore can be unlearned. I will let you come to your own conclusion.
The point I want to make is that I firmly believe that all fears and phobias can be overcome very easily. Rodney is living proof of just how easy it is to rid fears and phobias from your life once and for all. (more…)
