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Making time for quiet and reflection in my life
On the day this post publishes, I am driving out to a monastic town to spend a weekend with other writers at a retreat. This has been a dream of mine for so long. I am so looking forward to it. What an indulgence to set aside a whole weekend for quiet, reflection and connection! Thanks, family, for this birthday gift. If I am honest though, part of me is also dreading it. You see, I have been drowning out the quiet in my day to day life of late. I have dived deep into numbing behaviour with technology at the forefront. I don’t like the person I have been.…
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My favourite things this winter (and what they reveal)
It’s winter here in Australia. Admittedly, what we consider winter here in Perth doesn’t come close to the experience of winter in many parts of the world! Gloomy, rain-filled days with a chill in the air are interrupted by frequent days of clear blue skies and beautiful weather. I love it! In the midst of this season, I find myself drawn to the same things repeatedly- my favourite things for this winter. I initially wanted to share these with you as a lighter post to ease back in after a two-week break. As I gathered my list of favourites, I suddenly realised that they are indicators of the state of…
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Making hard choices and saying no to good things
This week’s post was going to be called ‘Ready to leap’. It was going to announce the launch of a group coaching program to dig deeper into my book ‘Stepping Up In Leadership’. An invitation to a webinar scheduled for next week was going to be a part of it. This goal has been in my plan since the beginning of the year. I even have a Trello board set up with a whole launch plan complete with due dates for each task. Instead, this post is about making hard choices and saying no to good things. It is about choosing to focus in on fewer goals so that I…
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Midyear reset
We are just about halfway through 2020. I can’t quite process that in some ways. So much has happened. So much has changed. At the end of the first quarter of the year, I reviewed my goals, my rhythms and routines and made some changes. Some things worked. Some didn’t. The second quarter is almost done. I am both looking forward to and dreading this next review. Maybe you need a midyear reset as I do. Before I started doing quarterly reviews, I had a practice of a midyear reset. Sometimes goals need to change partway through the year in response to life events or new opportunities. A routine that…
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Grappling with imposter syndrome over this season
What a year to take on a significant leadership role! There have been moments when I have wondered whether to laugh or cry about it- usually, I end up doing both. The past few months have been filled with intense decision making, learning curves and challenges. I have recognised a familiar undercurrent in the midst of this. “Who am I to be in this role, making these decisions and plans? They’re going to figure out that I’m not who they think I am.” Imposter syndrome alive and well in my mind. I know that a sense of inadequacy is a common experience in leadership. The more I listen to other…
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Growth opportunities or challenges?
Life presents us with challenge after challenge. Some days I feel strong and resilient in the face of these challenges. Other days knock me down. I’m guessing you have experienced the same. The draw is to give up, stay in a negative mindset and play the victim. I am working on a shift in my language. I recognise that growth opportunities are embedded in every challenge in life. Problem or opportunity for growth. Which holds more hope? This concept has grated on me before. I felt that pointing out the growth opportunity in a situation trivialised the pain or hardship and left no space for grief or acknowledging reality. That…
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What I Learned this Autumn 2020 (AKA pandemic intensity)
Before I get into what I learned this season, I want to acknowledge all that I am learning and reawakening to in light of recent world events. I want to be part of change for the long term right here in Australia, not simply get caught up in a short term flurry of passion. I want to raise my daughter to pursue true equality and reconciliation too. #blacklivesmatter At the end of each season, I take time to stop and reflect. I want to remember what I learned. This is a regular practice in my life and yet this one is very irregular. Never before has an entire season been…
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How to build momentum in small pockets
Ever feel like you can’t pursue a dream or get a project happening because you don’t have the time? The juggle of demands in our lives leaves us feeling time-poor. The reality is we do have limited time. We have to choose the priorities for that time. We cannot do it all at the same time. I wonder how often we use that as an excuse not to try because we are actually afraid. I know I have. Instead, I am choosing to use small pockets of time carved out to build momentum in the dreams and projects I am pursuing. This year has thrown plans into disarray, changed the…
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Balancing work and motherhood
Balancing work and motherhood used to be my goal. I searched for that magic number of hours, the flexible work arrangements and the energy to do it all. I never found them. Whether you work simply to pay the bills or because of the passion within you for a particular career, I’m guessing you have experienced this too. Sometimes it can feel like I am dropping the ball in all areas or one is receiving the greater portion of my energy. Honestly, I have given up on balancing work and motherhood. Balance implies an equal divide of time, energy and resources. Instead, I choose to be fully present wherever I…
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How to practise gratitude
Have you ever wondered how two people can go through the same event and yet have completely different memories and impressions of it? Perspective. I am reminded over and over how the perspective we choose to take on situations and circumstances shapes how we feel and act. I don’t mean denial of or ignoring the hard realities around us or what is happening to others. It is seeing those hard things but still holding hope and hunting for the good. Gratitude is the practice that has the biggest impact on this perspective. This is not a new revelation for anyone. We all know the importance of gratitude in our lives.…