Bring your best self to light
When self-care becomes a chore.
Last week I felt thoroughly peed off. I wanted someone to take care of me for a while. I know one of the basic tenets of personal development is to prioritise your self-care often accompanied by that staple of air-flight (put on your own oxygen mask first). Last week, I wanted someone else to put on my oxygen mask for me. I was tired of being responsible, of caring for other people, of being aware, of working to clearly explain my needs to other people and request help. Self-care felt just like one more person to take care of. I so wanted someone to do that FOR ME! . As I explained this to my coach, she suggested I get back to basics. Identify where I was saying YES, when I felt like saying NO and begin setting tighter boundaries. And of course that was part of the problem. However when I thought back on why I felt like this I began to realise that I had been slipping with one major item of self-care...exercise. Because of the amount of rain we get (this is the west of Ireland after all!) I had not been out walking as much as usual. Few things sooth, encourage and inspire me as much as Nature. So I got out walking and immediately began to feel the benefits.
But that got me thinking. Women in particular are familiar with the self-care analogy but if you have children it can seem like just too much hard work (and selfish as well)..to say NO to them after you have been at work all day. Time with them can seem short enough. But then we are brought face to face with our humanity when we feel tired, irritated and frustrated and guess who we take it out on, why our nearest and dearest of course.
It seems to me that women..particularly mothers are under constant pressure to be wonderful colleagues at work, pay attention to their husbands, love their children and yet do all this while on a diet. Of course one solution is just to switch off the TV and stop reading the magazines.....Another is to identify just ONE item of self-care and implement that. I do think that it's worthwhile to also ask others to help...and accept that they will almost certainly not do it exactly as you want...but to choose to live with that. For me, regular doses of solitude are essential if I don't want to turn into SPW (scary psycho woman).
Another thing I noticed was that there were signs along the way that indicated I needed to make a change: reluctance to exercise, feeling resentful at people's demands, feeling self-pity. Of course if I had bothered to pay attention to the signs.
Take Action!
- What are the signs to tell you that you need to begin taking better care of yourself?
- What could you say NO to this week? Identify at least ONE thing you'd prefer not to go to and decline the invitation
- What is the one thing that really makes you feel good about yourself? Could you do more of that this week?
Master Your Money
Workshop - Galway - Ireland
If you want to..
- Learn how to get to grips with your personal finances
- Get saving...
- Set some exciting financial goals...
- Learn about the "latte effect"...or what your daily treat really costs you!
- Learn strategies to help you beat your credit card debt..
- Explore ways to generate more resources in ways that suits YOU!
- Think about some fun things to do with your SSIA
Then this workshop is for you...
And also introducing...
Small business c/a/s/h management...
- The importance of timing or why you'll never hear "sure I'll see you again" at the supermarket
- Terms and conditions apply- what are yours and do you apply them?
- Get computerised!
- Dealing with late payers...
Dates:
- April 25th,(Master Your Money - part 1)
- May 2nd (Master Your Money - part 2)
- May 9th (Small business c/a/s/h management)
Times: 9.30 - 12.30
Venue:
Vision 16, Briarhill Business Park, Galway (beyond Western Motors near Snap Printing).
Map will be supplied to participants.
Price:
€120 for full course.
€75 for Master Your Money ONLY...(April 25th and May 2nd)
Price includes:
- Workshop
- Course notes
- CD with Excel spreadsheet template and instructions.
- 3 follow on phone call/e-mails at 1 month, 3 month and 6 months intervals.
LantzQuest
I have decided to join a MasterMind group with Judith Morgan www.judithmorgan.com) and a group of other people who want to transform their business. We are due to begin at the end of April. If you would like to join a group of enthusiastic committed entrepreneurs for support, fresh thinking and action..contact me or Judith.
Articles
I have been asked by the IFSCOnline website to become a regular contributor...which I'm chuffed about! Some of the articles have been published before but check them out under the Recruit Ireland heading.
Bits & Pieces - Almost No TV
Last month I mentioned we decided to go for Almost No TV...we are still on that regime. And I must admit I'm finding it easier than expected. I think the secret is that we say we can have TV at the weekend and that it's for just 6 weeks. I know that if I said we were going to do it indefinitely..I'd promptly become a couch potato and park myself in front of it!
E-cards
If you like to send e-cards to friends/colleagues etc here are some resources you may enjoy...
http://www.johnsphotos.com/ (Gorgeous photos of nature)
www.gabrielleizen.com Quirky interesting e-cards. A year's membership costs less than €10 and allows you to sell unlimited numbers of cards.
Recommended - what I'm reading
Robert Crais: This guy's hero is Elvis Cole with a strong silent sidekick Joe Pike. His almost latest one is called "The Forgotten Man" and begins with a man dying saying he is Elvis Cole's father.
Sharon Drew Morgan "Selling with Integrity". Want to learn how to sell but want to do it while being yourself? I made a cold call recently using the approach she suggests and got asked to send in a proposal to train 80 staff. Interestingly the man at the other end whom I had never spoken to before and had no contact with told me that he had told me a lot more than the other vendors!
The Grave Tattoo: Val McDermid. An interesting story that proposes that William Wordsworth had written a masterpiece based on the story of Christian Fletcher (Mutiny on the Bounty). It moves away from many of her police based stories.