Maybe you need to check out the latest [INFOGRAPHIC] from Submit Edge™  and   Data Visualizations   explaining the demographics, psychographics and buying patterns or it’s users.

Did you learn anything new? Will any of these points help you and your business? Other thoughts?

TEST YOUR HOTEL MOVIE TRIVIA….HOW MANY DID YOU KNOW!

I was thinking about what to write for today’s blog post and it struck me that perhaps I should write a little bit about what coaching actually is and how it works. So I sat down and started to poder the best way to express the benefits of coaching and how I, as a coach, support my clients to achieve their goals.

After a little while of mulling over the various ways I could express it, I did my usual and hit Google and YouTube. And a fantastic video called How Coaching Works by the Wellcoaches School of Coaching popped up. So I watched it, loved it, and felt that it expressed the process and potential of coaching far more eloquently with its stick figures than I ever could with words.

Here’s the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UY75MQte4RU Why not have a watch and a think about if there are any outcomes in your life that you’d like to achieve, like the client in the video?

It’s probably a good time for me to mention that we are currently offering the first coaching session for free, so if you are inspired to try it for yourself, get in touch! We offer face to face coaching as well as coaching by Skype or telephone – whatever best meets your needs. Plus I have a hat exactly like the coach in the video wears!

I’m sure everyone who writes knows the importance of a good Opening Scene (if you don’t, I’d like to know which planet you live on), and there are loads of advice out there on the Internet on what to do, and what not to do. So is there really a need for one more post on the subject? Not really. That’s why I’ve found this superb blog post to guide you to the perfect Opening Scene. I’m telling ya: this is brilliant stuff!

Remember: it doesn’t matter how good the rest of the novel is, if you don’t manage to keep your reader reading past the first scene. Oh, and another thing, before I go:

It was 2008. The lure of writing fiction was becoming hard to resist. I joined a writers’ group. And when I asked them, “How does one write a novel?” they gave me a weird look and said, “You just write.” It did not make much sense to me. There surely must be more to novel-writing than just writing it. I was a voracious reader of novels and did not think it was that easy to write one.

But in 2009 I discovered that it was. I also discovered NaNoWriMo while surfing writing resources online.  To the uninitiated, NaNoWriMo which expands into National Novel Writing Month, is an online novelling event which begins on the 1^st of November and ends on the 30^th of the same month, every year. And in those thirty days, millions of writers all over the world write novels. They just write. Fifty thousand words of a novel if they want to be winners and get yummy goodies for their efforts.

You do the math and realise that if you have to write almost 1700 words a day, it doesn’t make much sense to dilly-dally and wait for the muse to turn up. You just write. You pour out the story that’s within you and this is especially easy when it is your first NaNo. 

Did I just say it’s easy? Maybe it is. Or then, maybe it is not. It was very easy for me. I loved the exhilaration of writing words that literally fought to break out of the prison of my mind and onto the vast open expanses of the word doc.  What pleasure it was, gulping down cups of semi-warm tea, hot enough to lubricate the flow of words onto the page but not hot enough to scald the tongue and distract the words as they tumbled out. Their energy and their vivaciousness enchanted me and pulled me in deeper and deeper to write.

Yes, I won NaNo in 2009, and then in the following three years too. For two years my focus was only on myself and my writing. It was terrific fun. But it was in 2011, when I became Municipal liaison(ML), India region, for the first time that  I realized how much I loved to motivate other writers to achieve their authorial ambitions. 2012 was the same fun and learning but in much larger quantities.  There have been on-line write-ins, and even on-line TGIO parties. There have been pep-talks by Indian authors. Friendships have developed and flourished. A community of NaNoWriters has been built, a group on Facebook where wrimos meet and display their writings and review others’ writings.

NaNoWriMo has many avatars. One of them is Camp NaNoWriMo which  is in full swing, now, in April.

Are you a Wrimo, too? What has been your experience as a wrimo?

Come, meet us on the Wrimo India page on Facebook.

(This post is part of the A to Z blog challenge as well as Ultimate Blog Challenge. Look out for further posts on NaNoWriMo and writing).

Reading it now, I’m reminded of that night, just before Christmas and how my son and I sat by the Christmas tree. It was such a peaceful moment. I felt so close to him.

Going back over the pages in my notebook gives me a glance into a moment of happiness or peace, sometimes even of frustration and anger and it shows me how far we’ve come together, how all the little day-to-day changes add up to new relationships, different relationships with slightly older children and slightly older parents. It kind of makes me sad that my little guy has grown so much since Christmas even though it was barely four months ago. But then it makes me happy thinking of how much he has grown and learned in those short months. He has recently started snapping his fingers and oh what a joyful feeling burst from my heart when he showed me. I’m not sure it was the snapping fingers that excited me as much as the look on his face; the look of pure pride and joy in finally having made a snapping sound.

But I digress. Here’s what I found in my notebook:

I sat down to write and started with this:

“Not feeling particularly motivated here of late. It’s Christmas and I have a ton of things to do (but who doesn’t?)”

It was not an inspired beginning. But then my little guy woke up and sounded distressed. So to his cribside I scurried. I hushed him for a  bit and tickled his back. Then I noticed that his face looked darker in the dark room than it should have. I opened his door a little wider and, from the light coming from the bathroom, saw what can only be described as a bloody mess. Poor little guy. He’s prone to nighttime nosebleeds. They don’t always wake him up, but this one did.

It took two of us to clean him and the bed up. But in those moments of washing him and cuddling him and reassuring him that everything was going to be fine, I felt calm and comforted in the knowledge that I could take care of this little guy; that I would make it right for him and he would drift back to sleep feeling clean and safe.

We sat quietly by the Christmas tree, looking at the lights and rocking back and forth to the tune of Frère Jacques. He asked me to tickle him and we sat like that for what seemed like forever but was really just a few moments of quiet.

Enter blogging. I decided to stop boring my friends by telling them my stories and start writing them down so they could choose to read them at their leisure.

What this resulted in was a clearer mind for me. One that was more able to focus on what really matters to me in my life. Yes, I now have an extra “responsibility” to my readers to write on a regular basis and to give them content that is entertaining and thought provoking, but that responsibility is a joy to me. I love writing. And in so doing, I get to connect with so many other people.

I digress. This is supposed to be about the mommy blogger’s mind, not what I’m getting out of the experience personally.

It starts with desire (probably life-long) to write. It grows into stories about the kids, about life lived one load of laundry at a time, about husbands late from work, about schedules juggled and carpools executed. It’s funny stories and sad stories and really-really-hard-to-put-into-words stories. It gets watered and nurtured and it continues to grow and the mommy blogger grows along with it, ever stretching and changing just as she did when she carried her child and nurtured it with her own body, ever changing and ever growing until it was ready for the world.

And that’s where the mommy blogger’s mind hits fear. What if I can’t protect my baby? What if I can’t continue to help it grow? I don’t have the skills. I don’t have the know-how.

And the mommy blogger’s mind steps back from this great thing called blogging. The mommy blogger shrinks from the connections she’s making and worries that her blog isn’t good enough to be friends with that other mother’s blog. She worries that she will be asked to do something that she is not capable of and then what?

I have been there. In my short blogging life (November 2011 – present) I have blogged furiously and with love and fun, enjoying every single second that I get to put fingers to keyboard. I have also drifted away from it, afraid, shy, worried that I’m not good enough or witty enough or technically savvy enough to compete.

But who am I competing with? I didn’t start this blog to compete. I started it to share stories and connect with others who might understand the funny, the hard, the tiring, the pain, the happiness, the joy, the suffering, the frustration of this journey called motherhood. Or did I start it because I wanted to share my journey through this thing called Life? The lines are blurred now.

The time has come (and maybe this should have been the first step, but I am a novice blogger) to create a mission statement. What is this blog about? Where will I go with it? Ideas are becoming clearer. A path is being chosen. Action will be taken. It’s time to frame the work.

15 Things You Didn’t Know About Star Trek [INFOGRAPHIC]—”LIVE LONG & PROSPER”!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Life is so busy, and often the busy work of home life can be mundane and dreary. I have to admit I find it hard to get excited about making beds, washing and ironing, cleaning, cooking, getting children organised for school, activities, and bed. Then the fact I have to get up the next day and do it all again. If that all their was to life it would be so boring.

I am fortunate I do work a little bit out side of the home in a job that has lots of variety and challenge. I am also fortunate in that I seek out ways to add joy into my daily life. It doesn’t matter if you are a stay at home Mum/Dad, or if you have a mundane job, it should be a priority to find the simple things that add joy to your life. It could be that special pen, or even lunch in the park. For me the simple things that add joy to my life are the sound of relaxing music, and the aroma’s of burning candles and oils. Walks in the park or around the lake where I live, which can often become walking adventures. Simply taking time out to sit on the couch, sip tea, and read a book. In the morning I receive much joy from simply journalling. In the evenings I may take some time to sit down with my son and watch a favourite Television show, at the moment we are enjoying watching the voice.

Life can be full of drudgery and monotony  if you let it be. However joy can be found in the ordinary. It can be found in the feeling of fresh sheets, the aroma’s of cooking or simply siting on the couch, sipping tea and staring out a window. Joy can be found in the thing we  add to our life, like music, reading, conversations, and hobbies.These simple things that bring joy into our lives make life more interesting and enticing. I don’t look forward to the washing, however I always look forward to my cup of tea or a walk in the Park.  I encourage you to seek out simple ways to add joy to your life.

What ways can you bring more joy to your everyday life?

Wishing you all a great day!

]]> http://millerandmillerconsulting.wordpress.com/2013/04/16/boston-marathon-atrocities/ Tue, 16 Apr 2013 20:26:42 +0000 millerandmillerconsulting http://millerandmillerconsulting.wordpress.com/2013/04/16/boston-marathon-atrocities/ It doesn’t feel appropriate to blog today without mentioning the atrocities of yesterday’s Boston Marathon bombings and their impact, both on the world at large and on the individuals that have been directly affected.

We switched to the American news channels yesterday to watch the coverage – something that wasn’t available to me during the 9/11 attacks or the 7/7 London bombings – and I was struck by just how graphic the reporting was, which really hammered home the deep, lifelong, human impacts on many of the people that were caught up in the bombing.

Not being particularly familiar with American news reporting, I can’t say whether it was a fairly standard approach for that type of horrific event or whether, for some reason, this event evoked a more graphic reporting style than usual.

What I do know is that it was far more graphic in style than British reporting and that many of the phrases used simply would not be used on British news reports, and the images would not be shown without standard “warning, this report contains upsetting images” messages, which I didn’t notice in the American reports (although they were following events live so that could have had an impact).

My immediate reaction was that the reporting approach was shocking and inappropriate. Having had time to dwell on it, however, I wonder whether the use of that sort of shocking language that we don’t get in Britain is, in some way, a positive, as it serves to highlight the real and terrible losses brought about by the events.

I’m still not sure on that one, but I do know that it didn’t fail to hammer home the horrific nature of what happened, which I guess can’t be a bad thing.

My thoughts are with all those who ran, spectated, organised, or otherwise worked on the marathon, all those who have lost their lives or been injured and their loved ones, and all those working hard to treat the injured, or find out what happened and bring the perpetrator(s) to justice.

Whatever the reason, fish is one of my favourite foods.

But good fish can be expensive. And since my kids are picky eaters, I tend not to spend too much money on food if I know it’s likely going to end up in the compost.

Tilapia filets are a dinner standby in my house. Luckily, both my kids love it. It’s economical and versatile (I buy it frozen, not fresh). But I get tired of eating the same kind of fish all the time, and attempts to introduce my children to other kinds fish have ended in wasted food.

And I’m not nearly as creative with fish as I am with other meats like beef or chicken. Despite my love of fish, I just don’t know what to do with it.

So, I was excited when I was offered the 200 best Canned Fish & Seafood Recipes cookbook for review. I was hoping it would be just what I needed to inject a little creativity into my very limited fish prep repertoire. Not to mention the fact that canned fish is cheaper than fresh fish and it never even occurred to me to cook meals with canned fish except maybe tuna melts or a tuna salad for lunch.

I started by reading the Introduction. (I figured this would be a good place to start given that I really could use all the help I can get).

The book was written by Susan Sampson, an award-winning newspaper columnist and former food editor for The Toronto Star. Her introduction, I swear, was written specifically for me (or more likely, it was written for every tired, working mother in the developed world who had to throw a healthy dinner together in under 30 minutes with only canned fish on hand and a bunch of picky eaters waiting impatiently at the dinner table).

In her introduction, she covers all the kinds of canned seafood you could encounter, the liquids they are canned in and a history of seafood canning. (Very interesting by the way. Did you know that “in the mid-19th century canned food was a novelty and a status symbol”? So different compared to today and how it’s “perceived as a symbol of humble nourishment.”)

When it comes to canned seafood, everyone knows the classics: tuna melts, tuna salad, hot crab dip, clam chowder and a few others.

Well, rather than bury those classics in the cookbook with all the other yummy looking offerings, 200 Best Canned Fish & Seafood Recipes puts them right up front in their own chapter called “The Top 15 Classics”. This is a fantastic idea for a cook like me who hadn’t really considered cooking full meals with canned seafood. I can get to the things I know quickly and then slowly work my way through all the other delicious possibilities.

And that’s what I did.

I have always wanted to try fish tacos, but couldn’t convince my family that they would be delicious.

Well, they were.

And then there was the Personal Pizzas with Crab and Roasted Garlic (oh so delicious!):

Another thing I really love about this cookbook is the substitution chart near the back of the book. The chart lists all the recipes in the book with their main ingredient and then suggests substitutions so you can try the recipe with another kind of fish or seafood.

So, if you’re looking to add more great recipes to your repertoire and you want to do that without adding a chunk to your grocery budget, give 200 Best Canned Fish & Seafood Recipes a try. You’ll love it!

- – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – -

Title: 200 Best Canned Fish & Seafood Recipes
Author: Susan Sampson
Publisher: Robert Rose Inc.
ISBN: 978-0-7788-0415-4

- – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – -

Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of 200 Best Canned Fish & Seafood Recipes for this review. I was not compensated in any other way. The opinions expressed above are my own.

1)      I always want to know ‘why’.

2)      I hate going for parties and events but once I am dragged there, screaming and shouting, I tend to relax and enjoy myself.

3)      I was in depression for three days when Homeland Season 2 ended.

4)      When I was young, my parents harboured ambitions of me becoming a doctor, but I secretly wanted to be an airhostess.  Now, I’m neither, because I was short of marks to get admission into MBBS and I was too short to be an airhostess. Two inches short, precisely.

5)      Robert Pattinson, as Edward Cullen, is my fave-most character and Twilight is the only film I liked better than the book.

6)      Someone asked me what I would be if I was not a writer. I have been a fashion designer and a jewellery designer. I have even been a multi-level marketer. So, now it really is time for me to be a writer. (I’ve been writing non-fiction since a while; it is only in 2008 that I got down to serious fiction-writing).

7)      I am a trained Silva Mind Controller (isn’t that what the graduates are called?)

8)      Have you ever slept next to the window when it rained and the raindrops fell on your face like cold pin-pricks and it was an awesome feeling? When I was a kid, my bed was next to the window. When I grew up, rooms changed, homes changed and never had a bed next to a window.

9)      An important aspect of my role as the NaNoWriMo ML (Municipal Liaison) for India is motivating people and I love doing it.

10)  I‘ve been a vegetarian since many years but when I tell that to people they give me unbelieving looks.  I’ve to still figure out why.

Good advice when it comes to people. And books. One shouldn’t judge – but I have to admit, when it comes to books, I really do. If the cover isn’t one that speaks to me, it’s very rare that I will touch the book, unless I’ve heard about it, and for that reason decide to go against my first impression and give it a go.

Covers are important. It can’t be denied. It gives the first impression, draws the readers in – or pushes them away.

I have – as I’m sure we all do - traumatic experiences in this field. I still remember the cover for a book that I got through a book club (you know, the kind where you get two books sent home to you every month. No, it wasn’t Harlequin – but once in my youth I did subscribe to those as well, and I’m not ashamed to admit it). The book was a lovely contemporary suspense novel, with a strong protagonist who was beautifully fleshed out, a good plot with nice twists and turns, and baked into it, a completely irresistible, vibrant love story. Then we had the cover: a hideous close up of a sweaty lady’s face. I suppose she’s meant to look sexy, but it’s a lousy picture, and there is (as far as I can see it) no relation at all to the story itself, or the main character. Fact is, the cover is enough to put me off from reading it again.

Another severe trauma was the cover for the Swedish version of Diana Gabaldon’s Lord John and the Private Matter.

There is a great many English versions of this book. Here’s one:

Rather elegant, wouldn’t you say? Beautiful colours, elegantly balanced and thought-provoking. Nice to rest your eyes on.

Then, you have the Swedish version:

Wtf? What’s the genre of this book? Or… wait… Do we even want to know?? If I saw this book in the bookstore, without knowing that she’s a good author, you’d have to threaten me with a gun to make me pick it up. And not even then, it’s guaranteed that I’d go for the thing – especially not since the translated title reads: Lord John and The Sweet Torture of Love (again: wtf??). What the connection to the story itself is, still remains a mystery.

Admittedly, I was so infuriated by this that I wrote to Diana and asked her who was responsible for this outrageous… cover rape. Level-headed and sweetly cool as usual, she agreed that it was quite horrendous, and she was sad to see it, but unfortunately she had little or no say in the choosing of covers for her books: this was usually decided and dictated by the publishers.

This last statement makes me seriously consider self-pub.

But okay – the above examples are, still, professional covers. They have, despite the obvious lack of appeal, still some kind of a finish to them. What I absolutely do not like and cannot stand – and this is where you’re welcome to call me a right snob – are the books where it’s apparent it’s a homebuild. A photo of a meadow or a forest, and the title in Comic Sans really screams AMATEUR. And not only that: it screams CHEAP AMATEUR. Sorry, but I cannot forgive sloppy covers. And I would judge the book before reading it: AMATEUR.

I say, if you want to go Indie, then invest a few bucks on a cover from a designer that actually deals with this kind of thing. I find nothing wrong with pre-designed covers. If you want to keep down the costs, it’s a good option, and there are some really cool sites out there with some awesome, professional-looking covers. This too, however, is a treacherous area. The below example is, to me, an example of a cover that is way too ”noisy” and unappealing. It looks a little cheap and not very modern with the subtly glowing author name and strangely positioned title. Not quite amateur, but it’s not exactly top notch. Yes: like I said, I’m a snob.

The following links will guide you to some lovely pre-designed cover art sites. I’ve browsed around them all and found some good ones for my WiP’s. I’m a bit bummed that I don’t write erotica, though: there are some simply delicious covers to find there. They range from sizzling hot to subtly sensual, and most of them are fabulously sexy.

You can find those covers and others here: http://www.goonwrite.com/

Some other designs here: http://www.fostering-success.com/

Varied quality on this page, though there’s some really good art to find:

http://www.ccrbookcoverdesign.com/2012/08/pre-designed-book-covers.html

So… Now all I have to do is find a good title for my WiP to put on one of them covers. Alternatively write an erotic story *rubbing my hands together*

This isn’t rocket science. We all know that we should speak kindly to others and to ourselves. But how many of us really, I mean really do it?

What if you could hook up a microphone and speakers to your brain and could broadcast your thoughts (the ones that your personal sports broadcaster is always reporting in your head like a playback of every move you make throughout the day)? What would you hear? What would other people hear?

Would it be like listening to a bully trying to bring you down to their level? Or would it be an encouraging voice, guiding you through your day and reminding you that you are special, that you are worth something, and that you matter?

And you know that moment when you’re standing in line at the grocery store and you admonish your child for some misbehaviour and then you realize that perhaps you were just a bit too loud and a bit to harsh and now people are staring at you and probably judging your parenting tactics? Well, if you hooked up that microphone and speakers to your brain and broadcasted your thoughts, every single one of them—good or bad—how would people look at you then? Would they judge you for being too harsh to yourself? Or would they think you were a kind and understanding soul just trying to do your best?

The voice in my head would probably be nasty most days. I’m forever beating myself up for not doing better, for procrastinating too much, for mistakes I’ve made in the past that I can’t change but that I can’t let go of either.

But some days, the voice in my head is a lot nicer to me. I don’t know why that is. What’s different on those days? Am I more conscious of being nice to myself? Does the sun shine brighter on those days? Or do I just finally get fed up with the bully and decide to do something about it?

Whatever it is, I’m determined to make that nice voice hang around. I’m a happier person when I’m nice to myself. And I think that’s important to the world around me; being happy. If we were all grumps, who would cheer us up?

With that in mind, I’m going to jot down every thought that the voice in my head sends my way for a couple of days. And I’m going to track my moods and my activities that go along with those thoughts.

And just to make sure that I do this and not put it off (like so many other things that I have planned to do), I’m going to write about. You are going to hold me to it. The expectation of my readers that I report back with the details of this project is what’s going to make this happen.

It might be raw and painful, but it’s something I think I have to do to really conquer this bully in my head. It’s time to take a stand and be nice to myself.

Sleep in Sunday, more reading and drinking coffee, followed by a quite breakfast outside overlooking the magnificent view. So quiet and tranquil with only the music of the birds to be heard. Just beautiful living, even if only for a weekend.

The Garden Party

Then it was off to the final event of the Yarra Valley Wine and Food Festival, the Garden Party at Healseville Racecourse. We enjoyed the local music. We tasted the wines,ciders and ales. I am not fond of the sparkling pear however I really enjoyed the sparkling shiraz.We enjoyed the cooking demonstrations on how to make chilli salt squid and salad, and also the Greek cooking class. I learnt so much, I should be much better at cooking now. The racecourse with it’s lovely big shady trees, grass areas and seating provided a lovely relaxed setting. Whilst the weather provided a perfect Autumn’s Day. It was a great day out.

The Local Music Bands Played and Entertained the Crowd

It made me think about what events are happening in my own area, and as I flicked through the local paper I saw a heritage day and a fun festival on. It is a pity I am working that weekend. However when I look there is something always on. I found that since starting this blog and becoming aware of what is on around me, I have become so much more able to find interesting things to do and go. I encourage you to check out your own local newspapers,and local radio and find out what interesting place to go and things to do are happening in your area.

We stayed in a refurbished and renovated early 1920′s cottage. It had magnificent charm and character. It’s special features included a wood fire, spa bath and some entertaining ring tail possums. It was beautifully furnished with traditional old style furniture that had lots of charm.

Friday night we spent the evening relaxing out on the pergola sipping wine, tasting biscuits and dip, listening to music and staring at a rather still ring tail possum. We enjoyed the spa bath full bubbles, so many wonderful bubbles and candlelight. So relaxing! Latter during the night I heard the possums having a party on the roof, I woke for a while to hear them running up and down on the roof, then quickly drifted back into a deep beautiful long sleep.

As a couple it is healthy for our relationship to have a weekend away together. We try to do this at least once a year. It is our very special couple time together.

Here is the full documentary video for the  series and page URL for more reading:

http://realbeautysketches.dove.us/?fb_source=hovercard

Beauty was never an issue for me. I feel comfortable without make up. I don’t remember ever feeling like an Ugly Duckling. Yes, I had moments of feeling geeky or awkward and other self-esteem issues.

If not, I would not be a recovering alcoholic and drug addict for over 26-years and ex-smoker for over 3-years. The real perception change happened when I put on 150-200+ pounds over 26+ years with the majority in the last 7-10 years.  I was always used to seeing myself a certain way until I could no longer deny it.

Fortunately, for the last 2-years, I have been working with my doctor and nutritionist on a healthy lifestyle change. Diet, attitude,  re-educating myself about healthy eating and food, exercise etc. I am determined to get the weight off with surgery unless I absolutely have to. I don’t want to be supplements and medications for the rest of my life.

I have lost over 2o pounds and 194.5 inches in 9 months. Down 1 pants and 1-2 top sizes and am about to go down another pants/top size soon. Not to mention  change in other clothes. I know I will do it. If I can give up drug and alcohol and smoking I certainly can do this. I still have a long ways to go and am moving in the right direction.

Of course, I have certain motivators–my book, public speaking and training gigs, my trip to Denver later this month etc. I no longer think the scale is possessed, now realizing that whatever the scale reads, it’s just a number. Or laugh with my nutritionist about my doctor who reads my nutritionist’s reports using surgery as a motivator.

Because of the weight loss, my health, energy level are improving and I feel better about myself. It helps going to my 12-step meetings, chanting, and working with a life coach. I accept and love me just the way I am for now.

How do you perceive yourself? How do others see you? Do they both match ? Or do they differ?

On a more positive note, it is time for my Ten Blessings for the Week, and they are as follows:

1. I am so blessed for receiving feedback from clients that I am so kind and caring. I like to think that I am kind and caring. That is my intention when I am working and in my daily life to try and be kind and caring. So it is nice to randomly here that many people are picking up on that.
2. I am so blessed to be able to attend education sessions to improve my professional skills that are provided in my workplace by knowledgeable and friendly people.
3. I am so blessed to have parents who will care for my children when I go to work and also offer to take them extra longer so my husband and myself can go away for a weekend.
4. I am so blessed to be able to go on a free tour through the art gallery which was taken by an amazingly passionate volunteer.
5. I am so blessed to be able to see so many amazing pieces of art, many of them by the worlds best artists.
6. I am so blessed to have a weekend away with my husband, staying in a delightful cottage, going out for meals, drinking nice wine and spending time together.
7. I am so blessed to have time to spend with my son doing homework, so glad I can help even learnt a few new things myself.
8. I am so blessed to have an abundance of food to choose from, so much variety and freshness. So lucky to live in Australia.
9. I am so blessed to be able to attend the Healesville Garden Party at the Racecourse. Lots of lovely wines, food, music and cooking demonstrations. The weather was just perfect. It didn’t start raining until the end of the day when we left.
10. I am so blessed to sleep soundly each night, I love my sleep and it comes so easily to me.

Felling better already, I have experienced another wonderful week. Even though I didn’t do much  writing I have so much to feel blessed by and thankful for.

What were your ten blessings for your week or even day?

Wishing you all a wonderful day!

When thinking about it, I realised that I don’t really set myself specific targets like “be earning £x by y age” or “reach x job title in y years’ time” or even non-work related “bucket list”-type goals like travelling to certain countries by a particular age or taking up a hobby or learning a skill.

For me, part of the pleasure of life is not knowing where it will take you. I was never one of those people who knew what career they wanted since they were knee high to a grasshopper; for me, my career has been shaped by grasping opportunities when they presented themselves to me. I have applied for and accepted roles that look interesting and challenging, rather than those that meet a predetermined career trajectory.

It’s a “strategy” (if it’s not too much of a stretch to call it that!) that has served me well so far. I’ve gained all sorts of valuable and varied experiences that I may not have done had I consciously followed a set path.  For example, it certainly wasn’t part of any plan to be made redundant (not that that’s something that many of us ever have control over or plan for), but had it not occurred, I would never have taken the steps myself to leave my former organisation and set up a business with my wife. But the opportunity presented itself, and we grabbed it, and set up the business and now get to spend a great deal of time together, working towards shared aims, which is fantastic.

Having said all that, I’d like to think that my life is not totally directionless, bumbling aimlessly from one event to the next, reacting with no real thought for where it might take me. Instead, I have a series of high level life goals, or perhaps they’re more accurately described as guiding principles, within which I try to live.

They are:
- To feel fulfilled, stretched and challenged at work
- To feel that I’m adding value at work
- To feel that I’m reaching – or working towards reaching – my full potential
- To constantly learn new things
- To always try to do the right thing, even when it is difficult (tough one!)
- To do some good (through work, volunteering, etc.)
- To build a happy life and home with my wife

No, they’re not SMART, and they don’t lead to a particular end goal (apart from happiness!), but they serve me well.

So, what about you? Do you agree or do you have monthly/quarterly/annual life goals and an end game in sight? Let me know what you think and be part of the magazine article.

The topics might be in some kind of conflict now that I sit down and lay them out in front of me to help with the writing of this post.

One is a short story, a children’s story about a witch who was bad, but who learned to smile and then became good. I won’t say more than that because it’s still a work in progress.

The other is a presentation I wrote for church this past Sunday. I was invited to speak to the congregation about my faith. For some reason that is very unlike me, I jumped at the chance. This is unlike me because I’m not a public speaker and, like so many other people, public speaking terrifies me. But when my minister asked me if I would like to participate in the series Speak What You Feel (Not What You Ought to Say), I said yes without a second thought.

I’ve spent the last couple of weeks writing and editing what I was going to say. And I discovered that writing a piece that would be spoken out loud is tougher than I thought.

My first draft read like a “boring book” according to my test audience (my 5-year-old daughter). I didn’t take that as an insult. I understood what she meant. When I said the words out loud, it sounded like a written piece being read to the audience. And that was not the goal of this series. The point was to talk about your faith, not read about it.

So I re-wrote and re-wrote until I arrived at a decent final draft. And Sunday came. My first go at the presentation was at the 8:30 am service. I attend the 10:30 am service, so I don’t know anyone at the early service. I spoke too fast. I was incredibly nervous. I managed to get all the words out, but I wasn’t sure I had really conveyed my story about faith…until the service ended and people came up to me to share their words of understanding, of encouragement, of thanks and to share their own stories of faith. I felt like what I had said mattered.

It’s so much different speaking your words and having people connect with them than it is writing your words and having people connect. When I was speaking at church at the 8:30 am service, I didn’t know anyone. I wasn’t sure how they would react to what I had to say. And they were sitting right there, listening to my words. I was taking up their time. Unlike when I write and send stuff out into the world, readers can read it on their own time. And readers can choose to stop reading if they don’t like what I have to say. But sitting in church with a speaker standing in front of you, you don’t have much choice but to listen.

But, because I’m a writer and not a speaker, this experience reminded me that in real life can be so much better than virtually. The outpouring of support for what I had to say connected me to my words in a way that I could not have imagined.

I then made the same presentation at the 10:30 am service where I know most of the congregation. But this time, I was less nervous, more sure of my words. And the response to what I had to say was the same wonderful outpouring of support and understanding from people who really connected with what I said and who had, in some cases, travelled similar paths to their faith. It really was a most incredible experience; one that I’m so glad that I jumped at. And now I understand why I said “yes” without hesitation. God needed to show me that if I just have faith, I’ll get to the top of those hills and mountains that rise in my way.

It might be scary and it might not be what I choose to do, but God is there and his reward is great.

I taught her how to make her bed. I asked her to do it every morning and gave her a star for about the first dozen times that she did it. But then we forgot about the chart and every other chore that went along with it and things returned to chaotic life.

Except the bed making.

She has never given that job up.

I make my bed every morning (with the exception of maybe four times a year). Is the reason for her obsessive bed-making because I am setting such an amazing example by always making my own bed? Is that why my daughter makes her bed to perfection every day?

If that’s the case, why doesn’t she take her dishes to the counter every day? Why doesn’t she put her clothes in the hamper every day? Why doesn’t she sit quietly and read to herself every day? Why, oh why, doesn’t she go to the bathroom by herself every day? These are all things that I do as consistently as making my bed.

I have no insight into what it is that makes this kid tick. She latches onto a task and makes it her own. How those tasks are determined is beyond me. I wish I knew so that I could use it to my advantage and get her to do other things.

Reblogged from Indispensable Marketing:

We've all heard the benefits of branding. But how do you establish and build one? In this post I provide in a clear, concise, and informative format, on how to understand branding in 7 minutes. Armed with this knowledge you'll cut through the noise and chatter and receive the benefits of understanding how to establish and build your brand.

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