Long live long summers and lack of routine.

Although the weather is currently cold, grey and wet in London, I was just thinking today about how much I love the flexibility that running my own business gives me.

During term time, I am in much more of a routine tending to work from 7.00 a.m. if I have early clients through to 5.00p.m. Sometimes I am in the office, other times I am at networking events, meting up with clients or colleagues or training but I try to keep evenings free for the family and I do not, as a rule, work weekends.

It has taken me a while to get to this point and it is only when something urgent needs delivered or a deadline looms that I work late or am away from home. I work hard but it also means that I can be there for school events and if we have guests I can take some time off and catch up on other occasions.

Actually without realising it, I do more work outside my hours that I realise because I am often reading - either books on my own personal development or business building or I am researching walks and catching up on events etc that I feel we should be part of.

In holiday time it is different and I am well aware that the long summers will draw to an end as my daughter gets older and does not need, or want, as much of my time. That makes it all even more precious.

Since she has been at school we have tried to take the summer off. However, it is not completely off, it is more about knowing that there are a few things I want to do and then doing them when the time is free. Hence the reason I am blogging now. I worked in the office this morning planning for September and then we had friends and their children for lunch. On Monday, I took Ellie to meet up with other friends and we visited the British Museum and planned to climb the Monument but sadly it is closed. Yesterday Alan took Ellie to the cinema and we have entertained other friends, organised sleep overs, gone swimming etc. We have had some great family time and of course had over three weeks in the States too.

There is no alarm to wake us up, breakfasts are leisurely and long and it's doing us all so much good. Tonight my mum arrives so I will be entertaining her too. I know, however, that the conversations will spawn thoughts relevant to work, we will try out some new walks and I'll use the down time to catch up on my emails, blog and read as the flow suggests.

Get ahead

I came across a new website today which those of you looking for new jobs or careers might be interested in.

One of the things that I often stress to my career devleopment clients is the need to invest time and effort in their job and carer searches so that they are ahead of the rest. This is also what www.targetchances.co.uk suggests and offers you the chance to do so by attending one of their events. Have a browse at the site and see for yourself.

They offer you "an expenses-paid taste of working life that give an opportunity to meet recruiters and talk to representatives from the industry."

Sounds good to me.

The Importance of good friends.

We had a dinner party last night with 5 really good friends and their children.

When planned, we had hoped that we would be able to enjoy a balmy summer evening on the patio while the kids, especially the boys could run off their excess energy on the lawn. Instead it was grey and wet and the children took over the house apart from the dining room and kitchen.

Alan cooked a fantastic 4 course meal with the theme of lemons running through; conversation and laughter, like the wine, flowed freely and as we climbed into bed about 2.30 this morning, we considered ourselves very blessed to have such great friends whose company we value over and above many other things in life. People who help us out in a crisis and vice versa, people whose company is so easy and comfortable and people who we can debate and discuss all issues with and still raise a glass together.

Travelling light?

Have you had your holiday yet? Is it on the horizon? Are you planning the next one?

One issue re holidays is the amount of luggage you take with you. I always have this plan to travel light and I recall sitting in the sun on holidays last year , making a list of what I would take this year. I was taking on board that once again I had packed too much. Of course when this year's packing came around, could I find my list? Of course not and of course I packed too much.

My justification was the fact that I was travelling around and wasn't sure how much chance I would get to wash things out but I did get the chance and I also bought new things as it was all so cheap. Wherever you go anyhow, it is nearly possible to buy a new t-shirt or toiletries.

It also depends how long you are away for. I do recall travelling very lightly once on a long weekend and I felt so smug only having hand luggage and being so co-ordinated that it all worked.

Vicky White looks at the whole packing light issue as a metaphor for life. She says "Travel lightly through life, and you'll be more present, more passionate, more on purpose, and open to your inner journey in a whole new way."

Now this puts a whole new perspective on it and it's one that I like. That needs to be kept somewhere safe for my next trip no matter how long it is for.

Happy travelling.

Job satisfaction - what gives you yours

There have been a number of surveys regarding job satisfaction recently and I would just like to mention two.

The first brought to my attention was one carried out by Office Angels here in the UK. They asked office workers what they wanted and what came out over and above money was: - a one hour lunch break; the return of the tea trolly; an annual outing and subsidised canteen. We know that a break helps to recharge batteries, clear your head and therefore make it easier to bring creativity and energy to the fore in what can be a draining 'after lunch slump'. As you know, I am a great advocate of getting out there for a walk at lunch time. Why not try it and see for yourself? Make yourself your own guinea pig for a month and see what happens. Why a month? Well all research says that it takes 28 days to change a habit. Are you up for the challenge? If I can help, let me know. I can send you tips or have a chat with you.

The other things people want, well I would say it is down to feeling cared for and valued. Again they all encourage people to take a break and to socialise. Your thoughts are very welcome.

The other survey was featured in the Atlanta Journal Constitution last weekend. I found out about this through Vicky White's excellent newsletter - Design Your Life. You can sign up to it on her site http://www.lifedesignstrategies.com/.

The newspaper quoted a job satisfaction survey conducted by the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago. As a result, the most satisfying jobs were among professions that involve caring for, protecting or teaching others as well as creative pursuits.

27,500 random workers in 198 occupations were questioned between 1988 and 2006 and those most satisfied were members of clergy, followed by physical therapists and fire fighters then other occupations in the top 10 were education administrators, painters/sculptors, teachers, authors, psychologists, special education teachers and operating engineers.

The people questioned defined job satisfaction as doing work that really mattered to them, being creative, helping others and providing an opportunity for life long learning.

Food for thought indeed. Are you satisfied with your job? How could it be more satisfying to you? What would you need to change? Perhaps you know that you are not doing what you want, what then would you do? Don't you owe it to yourself to have that satisfaction.

I did it again.....

... got involved in other things and ended up not blogging. Now you probably don't notice, it's me being hard on myself so I should just stop it and accept that on some days I may not blog and on other days you may hear from me more than once! Why oh why do we beat ourselves up? Shall we decide not to go there anymore? Great.

A video cam in my home this morning would have given all a laugh as I awoke suddenly to see my husband look out the window and then rush out the door clutching the waste paper bin and muttering something about forgetting the rubbish! Half asleep I leapt out of bed and followed him, gathering up the waste bins from various rooms and heading down the office to get the rubbish from there too. I could hear the bin lorry in the street outside.

Next thing and all the excitement was over as Alan walked slowly back into the house with all bags bar one and a box. 'Sorry mate' the bin man had said 'too late'.

Now what harm would it have done to stop for a minute or two and collect two extra bags. It's all back in our own bin until next week and we consoled ourselves with a cup of tea in the sunshine... and laughed about the lack of customer service.

Now we have been putting the rubbish out for years on a Thursday night so what made us forget? Lack of routine probably. We are working on school holiday time where all days seem the same and I was convinced that yesterday was a Friday. That means today must be Saturday.....

I'm off bowling.

Failure.

"Ever tried? Ever failed? No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better" so said Samuel Beckett.

That makes me feel better as the number of steps I managed yesterday was far far below my total of the day before. I am quite embarassed to say that I only managed 3,130 - how awful is that?

I know why it happened. It was a horrible day so I did not walk first thing due to pouring rain and then, as happens, I got engossed in other work and the weather was still uninspiring. It is scary though that I walked less than 1/3 of what I did the day before.

I will of course keep at it and I am wearing my pedometer as I write but I have decided that the rest of August will be the trial and shape up and I shall start my experiment in September so there is plenty of time if you want to register your interest in being a 'stepper' too.

...and did you know that failure is a crucial part of the creative process? You see again Simple Abundance has given me the info I need when I need it. Sarah Ban Breathnach goes on to say that authentic success arrines only after we have mastered failing better.

Oodles of blackberries.

I passed bushes of soon to be ripe blackberries last week and noted this. Then this morning I passed those same bushes resplendent in bright sunlight and laden with ripening fruit. Some glistened in the sunlight and others have yet to reach their potential.

Must come and pick some I thought and I have.

I have to admit to being propelled by a few lines written on blackberry picking my my friend and colleague in her recent newsletter she mentioned doing it years ago when she first came to Essex and then proceeded to say that she had picked 3 lbs yesterday.

I looked at the dark clouds and thought about the forecast warning of rain to come. It seemed wrong to let the fruit get damaged by the rain so I now have a large container full of fresh glossy black fruit and am planning blackberry puree to have with baked peaches, blackberry crumble and anything else that comes to mind.

More meaningful messages.

Wow, the first piece of paper I pick up after writing my blog and it says:
"Within each of us is a hidden store of energy. Energy we can release to compete in the Marathon of life"

Mine is being released and I believe that it is an unending supply. There is all the energy there that I need for all I need and want to do and more. This is also true for you, so what are you waiting for?

Such a buzz!

My energy is so high today, I feel a bit like Tigger. It feels so good to have had all the insight from my recent readings and to feel that everything is coming together again.

I was dancing around the kitchen as I made breakfast and I have been so productive in my decluttering.

I wish you energy and clarity too. Have a great day, I am.

Just what I needed.

Thanks to the Universe for serving me exactly what I needed, yet again.

I have been letting my gremlin sew seeds of doubt, I have been lacking in self belief and in the confidence of my ability and although I had hoped that it would all come together again when I was on leave, it didn't.

I now know that I was meant to begin reading 'Simple Abundance' again the other day as the dated insights had the messages I needed to read.

As I commented earlier today, first there was the need to rediscover my personal gifts which I have started work on and now I read that to explore my talents and to discover or recover my creativity, I just need to offer and open heart and a willingness to serve and I do. I welcome in whatever the Universe wishes to give me to make me that creative conduit and to manifest my dream which is my walking business, the lifestyle it will bring to me and the many, many benefits it will bring to others. Yes, please bring it on now.

The responses to my ideas for walkers' coach that I received when in the States plus my own belief will now be concentrated on and just watch what happens.

As Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe says -
"Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it;
Boldness has genius, power and magic in it."

I am there.

Do it at the time.

How did I manage not to blog yesterday? I even read something fairly early in the day that was meaningful and that I wanted to share but somehow it never got on the blog.

I kept thinking 'I'll do it when I have done 'x'' or 'after lunch I'll set aside time to blog'. My new mantra has got to be to 'do it at the time' - then it is done and I feel better and I have also given you something new to read. If 'the time' is not ideal then I need to write it down on a post it note and give my blogging the next priority. Let's see if it works as the following week pans out.

So what was I going to share?

It was a line out of August 9th's Simple Abundance - a great book by Sarah Ban Breathnach which I have just gone back to reading. In it she writes - "Commit to discovering, acknowledging, appreciating, owning and honouring your personal gifts."

This was very meaningful for me as I have recently been questioning what my personal gifts are? I seem to have got lost in the fog a little and have a lack of focus.

As Sarah writes " it is hard to be true to our gifts if we do not know what they are". From my experience of all my clients, I know that I am not the only person who is a little lost concerning my gifts. What are yours? You will have loads.

Get out that pen and paper and start writing and if you are struggling ask others what they think. As people you trust who you know will be honest with you and ask then what they feel you are good at? What they would say your skills are? What is it about you that they envy? etc. Put aside some questions and ask face to face or telephone or even email them - this is how I am going to do it as I believe the email approach gives people time to think through the question and respond with thought and consideration. I shall do mine next week and will report back. I would love to hear how you get on, email me on heather@waringwell.com or heather@walkerscoach.com

You'll find out some wonderful things so step out of that comfort zone and give it a go; it could change your life.

Life Organisation

I bought a book in the States (who am I kidding, I bought lots of books) but this particular one - The Life Organiser, was bought in a beautiful minimalist shop that had only been open for two weeks. Holly the owner, was a lovely lady who suggested her favourite winery as one we should visit (we were in Sonoma at the time) and more about that later but she also stocked a few carefully chosen books and the most wonderfully soft shawls from Nepal and the most divine candles which sadly, were far too heavy to carry home.

I started to work through the book today and had to smile as I was reading it. The term 'Life Organisation' in the sense of 'let's sort life out' has been one I have used for ages and one of my closest friends used to get quite agitated when I would say this. She always felt she was in for a deep and serious session on the state of her life when it was often my way of saying 'OK, let's give some thought to the present situation and where we want to go'. Often it was about deciding what to do for the rest of the day. When I became a coach I think she felt that I had found an outlet for my 'let's sort life out' needs.

The book is about tuning in with ourselves by asking powerful questions and really listening to our feelings and our heart when coming up with the answers. I know this is something that I could benefit from as although ruled by my heart and not my head, I do find my brain buzzing with ideas and thoughts and often dragging my concentration away. I often ignore or not give the priority to the messages that my body is sending me. I need to find ways of focusing more so I am hoping that this book and it's insights might help.

There is a website with the book http://www.lifeorganizerbook.com so have a look at it and see if it brings you any useful insights too.

Settling back in........

The holiday we have just had was very different from chilling out in our house in France or round the pool of my favourite hotel in the Costa Brava; both of these are what we have spent the last few summers doing. This USA one was action packed and the longest we stayed in any one place was 5 days. With hindsight, it would have been good to have fitted in a few chill out days - point to take on board for future similar trips.

As a result I am now taking some of that time to chill but also to consider how I want to move on both in terms of future strategy and workload but also how I want my life to look and feel for me. There is so much learning and therefore adjustments to be made as I strive to find the ideal balance for my lifestyle. If this is something that you too are searching for, keep striving and like me, review constantly taking on board what works well and eradicating that which doesn't.

One thing I am very aware of as I write is the tension I get in my neck and shoulders. It is always worse when I return to my desk and I am very aware that I do not keep my shoulders down as much as I should. This is going to be a priority for me over the next few weeks and months. What might your priority be?

Whatever it is, make sure you build in the 'me' time - it really does pay. The investment in you can make you less stressed and hassled and more of a pleasure to be around and if you are a mum in the middle of the school holiday season, we need as much help as we can to remain calm and ready to provide organisation, entertainment etc.

My daughter is currently on a 'High School Musical' theatre workshop so is away from 9.00 - 4.00. Having to get her there has been a blessing as has the car being unwell, honestly. Yesterday I opted to pick her up as I knew it would mean I could fit in a 50-60 minute walk there and today I took her there by cab so I could walk back. It got me back into my daily fitness routine quickly and as the weather here is so great at present it has helped to top up my tan too.

As I left her off this morning I walked past a lovely little cafe which had just opened and decided to take the opportunity of some time out. I spent a glorious hour sitting in the morning sunshine enjoying the most wonderful cappuccino and croissant and watching the world go by. Did I feel guilty? No. I had already got my daughter to her workshop; had done a little unexpected networking with a mum and business woman I met there with her son; I was just about to walk back therefore fitting in my exercise and thinking time and I had also had some me time. This is just the sort of thing I want to be a daily occurrence in my working life. I now feel laid back and productive so bring on more of it. I just need to work out how this will work for me once the pace cranks back up again and I will share any observances.

Have a great day, I intend to.

Long time, no contact!!

Yes, it has been a while, hasn't it? Also my blogging was anything but regular prior to going on leave - still I have now returned from a fantastic trip to California and aim to get right back into the blogging, well I do have loads to tell and as usual, I have returned full of ideas and inspiration. So watch out over the next few weeks.

California was wonderful and we all agreed that one of the highlights had to be the black bear that ambled across the road in front of the car as we drove down from one of the tremendous view points in Yosemite. We had seen loads of animals on our trip but as you might expect most were in the zoo or at Sea World in San Diego. On our first evening in Yosemite we had seen squirrels but there were so many of them I became rather blasé, and they were all grey as opposed to the red one I saw when walking in the Isle of Wight.

We also saw a deer at quite close proximity and on the last day the chipmunks that Ellie so much wanted to see. We also heard about Cougars being spotted by the staff on the Sugar Pine Railroad but here was a wild animal and we were in its territory. I still have to pinch myself.

Throughout the States there are many bears in the wild and they put the coward in me off walking some of these long distance trails as you do have to camp out but perhaps I shall overcome that one. Interestingly when we were away the newspapers ran a story about a number of people who had holiday homes in the Lake Tahoe area arriving to find their homes inhabited by bears! It was all put down to the fact that people do feed the bears although all signs we saw warned against this and also the close proximity of food overall.

I started the year off aware that I needed to blog more and I was very successful, keeping it up until I went off in May to Peru. This time it is my intention to be even more successful - keep in touch to see just how I do.