Just found out that there is no live training scheduled for 11pm UK time tonight as part of my coaching program with Alex Jeffreys.  The course is so intense I must say I am delighted to be given a bit of a breather!  I plan to use this time instead to take stock of everything I need to do and plan in detail how I am going to get there!  Bonus modules have been put in place for those already up to speed. That is definitely NOT ME.  Thank God for small mercies-now where are my notes…

As I have so little free time to work at my internet business start up, I really try to keep the head down and filter out all the background noise in my head and outside this room I call my office. Well to call it an office is a bit of a stretch! It is also a bedroom, laundry room, room for kids to jump on the bed and dive off, storage room and room for storing bags of supplies to go to charity!

A little crowded don’t you think but if I converted my attic what would I do with all the stuff up there!

Anyway I am getting up to speed with my training on internet marketing and starting to implement some action items for my internet business start up. It is time for action, not re-action any more. I must now step up to the mark and remember the following

1. D’ont get it right-just get it going!
2. Learn as you apply
3. You don’t work forward from the start-you start by planning from the end and working backwards!

Afterall even if I could work 24 hours a day I would still not get everything done….

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Just watched the second episode of a tv series called Aftershock Rising After Redundancy following 6 people who have been made redundant having worked all their lives. They meet with a career coach who takes them on a journey into themselves and into the great unknown. A few things really struck me and which I could personally relate to.

• How vulnerable each person felt
• How their self confidence and sense of self worth had taken a hit
• How they struggled to come to terms with where they now found themselves-out of work, no longer earning money, feeling they were letting themselves and or others down.

Each person came from very different career paths-some were skilled, others unskilled and ranged in age from late twenties to mid sixties.

As they now had to look at ways of re-inventing themselves and possibly looking at totally different career paths, re-training, stepping outside the comfort zone etc, one thing really struck me.
The majority of the candidates wanted to get into a different career; a career they were really interested in and not just one where they earned a living.

Earning a living was the reason they stayed in their job till the were made redundant and now they had tough choices to make. Going outside the comfort zone can really test self confidence especially when self confidence is already low.

The main tasks the individuals were set were to find something

- they are passionate about

- something they are good at

-something that will bring value to others

One very interesting thing I found was that often where the person couldn’t really answer these questions for themselves, they were very good collectively as a group to work out what were the best career choices for each other. That is they saw the strengths in the other person that they couldn’t see in themselves or wouldn’t admit to and thus whole new career possibilities were opened up!

Sometimes impartial third party advice can open up a whole world of opportunities to us we never saw possible. For me it was moving from environmental scientist to stay at home mother and now to working on the internet part-time!

Who ever would have guessed-certainly not me!

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Sitting here on the bed after a lovely evening with family and friends something came into my mind. It was about “work smarter not harder“.

It is so simple yet so profound.

I used to see so many people at work putting in the hours but putting in the hours and productivity are 2 quite different things.  As I had had a young child under 2 at the time and had to leave work every day at a certain time, I had to stay focussed and get  everything done correctly and on time.

Was I under pressure-you bet!

The company got the same amount of work out of me as if I worked full time (go figure)!

This led me to think of the old childrens tale of the tortoise and the hare. It is so beautifully summarised here that I would do the author a disservice to even try to summarise. I encourage you to have a read for yourself and let me know what you think!

http://frugallygreen.org/lessons-from-childrens-tales-the-tortoise-and-the-hare

Talk soon

Stay sane and stay safe!

Orla

Having 2 young kids, trying to get the work-life  balance right is always a struggle. I used to work hard when I had no kids but now that I have two and am home with them, I find that my days are longer but totally worth it. I know that working around them during the day is a disaster. Let me share two incidents with you.

1. I was speaking to somene on skype and I had a camera attached to my pc but  the other person didn’t. I didnt realise my son had sneaked into the room, climbed up on the bed behind my pc and was doing lots of “interesting” things while on camera. I was oblivious as I was concentrating on what I was saying to the other person on skype whom I’m sure was getting a class act from my young  fellow who relished his 2 minutes of fame on camera!

2. My even younger daughter had climbed on my lap when I was on the phone to someone and was jumping up and down till I realised I could smell something quite off. She  had doggie poo all over her shoes and was now all over my clothes. I thought my phone call would never end!

Belive me I have other incidents but who has all day!

Anyway since then I only work by night when they sleep. I found some great music on youtube which really does the trick in getting them wound down and putting them to sleep fast so I can work. Its by a freelance guy called Paul. Type in “paul from stoke”on youtube. His  music is amazing. I have it on in the background and it is really inspirational, uplifiting,  totally unique and my kids love it too. Great for winding down or just gentle unobtrusive background music. He also has a web www.paulfromstokeuk.com . Anything for a peaceful night I’d say!

Have a look at the following.If this isn’t a recipe for the perfect way to life, I don’t know what is.   In my opinion, this goes higher than any religious beliefs. However  that is just my opinion. What do you think?

http://www.thesecret.tv/optimists-creed/optimists-creed.pdf

Please share if you think this would bring benefit to someone elses life!

talk soon

Orla