OMG, my business cards are

gonna be ready tomorrow...

and i know to some of you that will not be remotely exciting and of course it won't be the first time i've had a business card, but it will be the first time i've had a business card for my business!

woo hoo - i'm pretty excited....website is not far behind and then it will seem very real! not that it isn't now, as i have 2 amazing clients - it is such a thrill to be working with people in this way and getting paid for it...and i have some fabulous opportunities in the pipeline which is going to make for a fantastic and varied working life!

some days i have to pinch myself!

and all because i was patient and didn't jump into the first job that might have come along! guess i have never been one for showing patience before now, and it's true, that in some areas of my life i still don't, but i think it has been (at least in the working sense) a lesson well learned, and a time i will look back on and be really thankful for!

enough said (to borrow mitch's phrase!)

nite
xx

i'm getting better...

at a couple of things - i'm not saying it's easy but i am getting better...

lots of soul searching, a desire to change some things that for 40 years have held me back, a supportive therapist and a real committment to moving forward, and i'm seeing some results

i won't say things are perfect, they never are, but they are better, a whole lot better!!!

on a more positive note, a lot of great opportunities are starting to come my way and some are much closer than others to being converted into great work! my 2nd personal coaching client signed up this week, i have a big opportunity to do some corporate consulting work thru an old friend (he's meeting up with the client tomorrow and doing our 'pitch'), a fabulous opportunity to work with an amazing lady who i met just over 2.5 yrs ago is now very real and we are at the stage of discussing logistics, and a variety of other 'pipeline' opportunities for me to follow up....

so, all good really!

ok, bed is calling and it's gonna be a big week...not the least of which because as friday night draws near my stress levels will be high as i anticipate a tough game of footy between my bullies and the hot to trot parramatta for a place in the GF...

nite
xx

networking...

i used to think that 'networking' just wasn't my cup of tea...how wrong i was!

see since i've worked out what i want to do when i grow up, i have been networking like mad - and you know what? it doesn't feel like a chore - i'm not talking to people about stuff i'm not remotely interested in, and it's actually kinda fun to be hanging out with people who share my passions and my visions...

see when i was in finance, i NEVER did networking - i never went to work drinks, i never went to functions for networking, i had NO desire to meet up with a bunch of accountants (no offense to you - since i share your qualification i feel i can say that without fear of being shot down in flames) and talk about balance sheets or capitalisation or ratios...yuk!

so, the trick to networking is this:

• you gotta want to do it;
• you gotta have a vested interest in it (not meaning that you use people, but that you are genuine and authentic in networking with them, rather than having an 'end' in mind)
• you share some values and passions and talk about them
• you have to be willing to give something back (it's not just all about you)

soooo today i did some networking and it was great - i met up with this amazing guy who i really enjoyed talking to and even though i'd approached him about a possible role in his organisation (albeit paying WAY less than i am interested in working for) which ultimately we decided wasn't right for me, he was happy to give me 90 minutes of his day and by the end we'd come up with a possibility of how we might be able to work together - on my financial terms!

amazing!

so, this post is really a thank you! thank you to everyone who's helping me as i put my business together, thank you to all those people who believe in me (especially me) and thank you universe for helping me 'see' all these fantastic opportunities that keep coming my way

xx

life is so precious....

and on a daily basis it's very easy to let silly little things make us think otherwise, and get all 'down' about nothing...

not to say that certain things really are something, but mostly, they are nothing...

see i spoke to my big sister tonight and she was telling me a sad story about a friend of hers, who not only lost his wife this week but also they lost their 3rd baby too...we spent a fair bit of our conversation talking about how he must be feeling...

so you see, life really is precious, and sometimes it will feel like things aren't going our way, but the fact that we are still here and healthy and that those we love are also still here, is something we need to remember to be grateful for not just every day, but every minute that we have with them...

so my big sister - i'm thinking of you and hoping that your friend has plenty of love and support through this most difficult of times, and i'm thinking of you too and thinking how nice it is to have you in my life, even if you are a 4 hour plane ride away!!!

so it's not just me who thinks i'm not writing

enough!!!

turns out one of my best friends, who occasionally looks at the blog (mainly to see what's happening in my life if we are too busy to catch up) told me tonight that he didn't think i wrote as often as i used to...

you know what: he's right! and the funny thing is that for the last 5 months i haven't had a job so one might ask 'what the f#$% have i been doing'?

and well you might ask! for one i had to get over nearly 20 years of the corporate treadmill - that took some doing...then, even though i desperately wanted to leave and would probably have done so myself (ie without retrenchment) in december this year, i found it really hard to adjust to - not earning any money, not having a 'title', not having a place to go every day and frankly missing some of the nice people i used to work with...

added to that my grandfather passed away and what ensued was to put it mildly, a bit of a depression...i felt lost and stuck and frankly pretty miserable - not really feeling that i had any direction whilst left me feeling without motivation...

in the middle of all that i had to deal with not getting a job - see when i left 'said employer' i had a plan and when it became apparent (some 8 or so weeks into my 'leisure time') i didn't really know how to deal with it, and between you and me, i didn't have a plan b...

so after a little while, maybe 8 or 10 weeks, of feeling sorry for myself and not making any headway, i finally perked up...

and now i am in the throes of setting up my own business! to date i am nearly finished with business card design, website is a work in progress, i have one paying client who i'm loving working with, he obviously likes working with me coz he's referred me someone who i hope will become my second paying client...i have a couple of leads to do some corporate work - i've picked up an 'associate coach' role with an organisation, and i have been approached by a lady who runs her own leadership development practice to go and work with her...

so, it's been a great five months really - i've had a fantastic break, i've learned (on the whole) how to be patient and stick to my dream - see even though i didn't have a plan b or c, i did have a vision - and it's now coming together - i've enjoyed a winter for virtually the first time in my life - i've tried hard to learn a lesson i probably should have learned years ago, and i'm feeling really positive about my future...

so, that's what i've been doing and in the moments of soul searching, blogging just didn't feel right, and in my creative moments (when they came) blogging also wasn't right and frankly, there didn't seem to be much of a middle ground between despair and creative for a while...

sooo next time you read dear friend, hopefully this will explain why you haven't had much to read lately!

nite
xx

i really am a good writer...

and i should really do more of it! i have just had reason to re-read some of my very early posts and they are good! maybe i should just sign up for that 2 hour a week writing course at the wea in oct/nov and get back into it...

things are really falling into place - i had a bad start to the day (you know this already is you regularly read my blog) but it's gotten a lot better as the day has gone on!!

so, i'm going to close with some gratitude as it's something i used to practice more regularly and it really does help!

sooo three things i'm grateful for today are:

• i am really in the middle of a massive universal lesson, one i probably should have learned by now, but for whatever reason i haven't and i'm grateful that rather than shying away from trying to work through it, i am being courageous and working through it;
• i am grateful for all the amazing opportunities that are coming my way right now - who would have thought that leaving a high paying job and pursuing your dream (and of course telling people about it) would open up so many avenues and leave so many people wanting to help you succeed;
• and i'm grateful that even though it's been tough letting go of that 'corporate veneer' (you know the one i wanted to ditch for years...some sort of irony there) it's absolutely worth it...

of course i digress, this was supposed to be about writing! what i wanted to say was that not only do i need to write some more, but i need to blog some more too and about things that matter - the best posts are ones where my heart is really in it and i feel really passionate about it - not the stupid little ones that just fill the page...note to self perhaps??

thank you universe, and thank you too if you are one of the many people who are trying to help me succeed - i do appreciate it xox

having a mean reds sort of a day...

which to those of you who have never watched breakfast at tiffany's probably won't mean a thing...

see i've been battling with something for a while and despite my asking over and over, it's just not changing and i'm now sad about it and worried what it means for the longer term...

and it's difficult enough that i find it hard to ask for things, but then when i feel unheard and nothing really changes, it makes me feel worse...

so it's kind of a cycle and i don't know why today i'm choosing to write about it but i guess it's just no longer easy for me to manage my emotions without getting really sad about it...

anyway, this post is cryptic and hasn't really made me feel any better, so i'm gonna end it here!

lost opportunities...

is the only way i can describe what carlton let happen lastnight - i am gutted :-(

to think at some early stage of the 4th quarter we lead by 29 points, to see it unravel was simply awful..

don't get me wrong, the lions played well, they clearly wanted to win and they have had more finals experience than a very young blues team..

but let's not get all maudlin! the blue baggers are definitely back in town and even though they have bowed out of september early, they have played well this year - they have fought hard and they have showed promise - there have been moments of promise and they have a young talented team who will continue to improve...

devastating yes, lost opportunity definitely, but no hopers, most definitely not!

as my dad pointed out to me this morning (and he too is gutted) at the start of the season to even have thought we might make it to the finals would have been more than we could have hoped - so really, not the worst outcome!

go blue baggers! they still know we are coming, just not in 2009...