International Women's Day - are you celebrating?

What a great day for us women, let's make sure that we celebrate all that's wonderful about being a women but not forget that all women are not equal and we must continue to strive to make being a woman a cause for celebration for all. It may take some time but step by step, there's still a long way to go.

When I called my dear friend Karen Knott for permission to include her article in my blog she was discussing wishing that she'd got more organised and planned to do something more to celebrate today. I can agree with that so we've pledged to get our act together more for 2012.

Well, even if you haven't managed anything yet here in Karen's article are some action points that you can take which get you thinking about being a woman and what you have achieved. Recognising our achievements and celebrating them are so important but in working with my many female clients, I see many who never celebrate and often do not even think what they've done is worth noting. One new client has been warned by me that regular celebrating is something we'll be concentrating on. Do you celebrate?

Read on and enjoy and have a go at the questions for yourself, I intend to.

Celebrating All That You Are!

When was the last time you revelled - yes, revelled - in your personal achievements and successes? A while ago, I'll bet!  We aren’t particularly good at even recognising our skills, talents and accomplishments, let alone throwing a spotlight on them in order to simply rejoice!

Well, no more hiding your light under a bushel because TODAY, March 8th, is International Women’s Day with hundreds of events,  throughout the world, marking the achievements of women . Yes, that's right, women just like us! It's also about supporting and nurturing the next generation of women by calling for changes to ensure they have a brilliant future in which they are able to reach their full potential.

The 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day is a global event but it's also the perfect opportunity for us as women, to highlight our individual accomplishments and reflect on our individual purpose and contribution.  (And don’t even think of uttering anything along the lines of, ‘what accomplishments?’ .... or assume that ‘anyone’ can do the things you can do, because that’s just not true!) 

Let’s actively rejoice in being female and take some time to celebrate those things which we seldom acknowledge or express:

What are you proud of?
What makes you grateful to be a woman?
What do you consider to be your greatest achievements so far?
In what ways do you enhance the lives of others?
 

Take a moment to acknowledge how good it feels to celebrate achievement, success and each other. But let’s not stop there…. whilst we’re in the groove, let’s also look to the future and think about how we can create the changes which will ensure it’s one in which we reach our full potential.

In what ways can you build on your successes?
What are you passionate about but have yet to fully express?
What can you put right?
What do you want your children to see you succeed at?
What one thing can you change which will impact on YOUR future and those around you?

I wish you all a very happy day, celebrating your personal successes as well as those of women in general. Here's to all of us.

This is a great article and thanks Karen for letting me use it. If you want to find out more about Karen and how she can enhance you then check her out at her website http://www.midlifematters.co.uk/

1st 'Athena Angels ' walk

My focus has been on the training plans for Athena Angels over the last few days. Firstly as I threw out the challenge to the group pf a walk this morning just to get things started off and secondly, once I'd done that I stated on Thursday that I would have a time table of all dates completed by the end of the day!

Now this had been something I'd been meaning to do for a while and I know me, publicly acclaim that I'll do something and there's no way I'll not to it.......It took me till about 11.00 p.m. but it was really worth it and now we have a time table of walks that I'll run as well as a self training plan which include those walks for those who may not be able to get to them and have to train on their own.

So even with short notice 6 Athena Angels including me met up at Mile End tube at 10.30 this morning and walked up the canal to Islington covering the 3 miles in 85 minutes. A well earned coffee and loo stop and the sun was shining as 4 of us did the return 3 miles - a total of 6 miles. Well done.

Above, en route on the canal.

To the right - art work in Hackney on a soon to be demolished building.

Stretches were discussed at our stop so that hamstrings and quadriceps could be eased and I recommended my usual 10-15 minutes lying on the floor with your legs up against the wall. This really drains away the lactic acid that can cause pain and discomfort the next day - wonder how many of you are doing this?

 As well as raising money for a great cause , one of the reasons for doing this walk is to develop and build on a great sense of bonding and belonging and to network. I for one got to know Nikki much better though having a great chat on the walk and look forward to targeting Nicola next time so watch out.

Activity on the canal.

Well done to everyone. "It was a lovely way to spend a Saturday morning," was Sonia's comment. Next walk, next Saturday. Details will come out through the week.

Want to build your confidence and self esteem, go walking!

Walking is invigorating - it raises your energy levels and expands your creativity; it gives you space to think; you’re amongst nature and it can be done by nearly everyone from your own front door and all over the world. You also need no special gear, just a comfortable pair of shoes.

The other great thing is, that when you’re walking, you’re away from the situations and the people who may be the cause of you lack of confidence or self esteem. They may be the people and situations who cause you angst, stress, trauma and the desire for change, so in this type of environment you are able to think more clearly and widely. I’ve yet to go for a walk and come back feeling down or in a bad mood.

We often lack confidence or have low self esteem because we don’t believe in ourselves; because we are always comparing ourselves with others; because we set ourselves up to fail by trying to do too much; because we lack direction and are not too sure where to go, because we are at the ‘beck and call’ of other people.

If you walk alone it provides you with plenty of time to think, something we don’t always give ourselves the gift of. Often we don’t want to as we are scared of what we might find but in my experience the reality is never as bad as the fear we imagine. Walking has definitely helped me to work through challenges and issues in my life be they business or general life related.


As well as my own confidence and self esteem, I use walking to great affect with my clients when, I believe, even more is achieved through being out in the fresh air and in a space where only the person you’re with can hear what you have to say.

Walking has saved my sanity because at a very challenging time in life, I was able to walk in the hills and escape; it’s enabled me to help others; it’s the best de-stressor I know and it’s shaped me to be who I am where I have confidence in me.

Small firms given help to compete for public contract

Thanks to Cooper Paul, the Loiughton based accountants, I bring you some up to date news relevant to those of you in small firms. Pass this on if it can help others.

The Prime Minister David Cameron has outlined a series of reforms aimed at helping small and medium-sized businesses compete for public sector contracts.

Under the new system, entrepreneurs will be able to pitch directly to Whitehall buyers as part of the Government's efforts to make public procurement more accessible to smaller firms.The requirement for businesses to complete a pre-qualification questionnaire (PQQ) before bidding for contracts worth less than £100,000 will also be abolished - a move welcomed by many business groups.

In addition, Mr Cameron announced the launch of a new website which enables firms to search for public sector contracts worth more than £10,000. A similar type of website already exists in Scotland and is reported to be a success, with around 50,000 members registered to the site.
'Too many contracts are signed off behind closed doors with little or no public scrutiny. That can be good for the contractors who can charge over the odds without being properly challenged but it is not good for the taxpayer who is being short changed and denied value for money,' commented the Prime Minister.

The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), which has been campaigning for the Government to remove the red tape surrounding public procurement, hailed the decision a 'victory' for small enterprises.'The FSB is pleased that the Government has recognised that these barriers exist and has committed to making the process simpler,' it said in a press release. 'The initiatives, such as the reform of the PQQ process and more transparency through a new contracts website, as well as providing a dedicated voice for small firms' views to be heard, will mean more small businesses having the potential to access work'.

However Susan Anderson, CBI director for public services, said the plan 'could be much more radical by opening up all government contracts and public services to a range of innovative and expert providers.'

The Institute of Directors (IoD) added that the changes were 'long overdue', but it questioned whether the move would deliver real change. 'It remains to be seen whether today's changes will benefit small businesses or whether risk-averse bureaucrats will soldier on with safe choices of big brands,' said the IoD's Alexander Ehmann.

Facebook pick me up.

We all have days that are not so great and I seem to be in a mass of days of challenge at present. I can't seem to get into my groove and find myself irritated by my feeling of disorganisation. For someone who usually is very organised perhaps you can sense why the frustration.

I had hoped that this half term week would be one that I could use to catch up and it's working - a little..... For as well as work catch up I'm trying to get my daughter settled back into her new room after building work and redecoration which has impacted the whole house. We have lots of people coming to stay at the weekend so there's a time limit both good and bad.

This morning as I pondered what I could achieve today I received the message below on Facebook.

 

Sarah's Profile · Heather's Profile · Sarah's Wall

Sarah BatesHeather Waring

I love all your blogs! As well as being a wonderful friend for many years you never cease to inspire me! Kisses xxx

Now how lovely is that and how it lifts my spirits. 

It's great to feel appreciated and useful and I thank Sarah so much for her kind words. We don't always know when people are down so let's all get into the habit of telling people how we feel about them. A tweet, a message on Facebook, an email, a note in the post, a card, a text, a phone call. There are so many ways and it only takes a minute

Who can you contact today? Let me know, by posting a comment, how you get on.

Are you making the most of your weekend?

This is just what you need to focus you on a Friday so read on.....

In getting my monthly update in Zest magazine I came across the following information and although I do not have all the elements of the feature the Friday evening stop rang true. It doesn't matter where you are placed just take note that if it takes you until lunch time Saturday to get into your weekend and you start planning your week on a Sunday about 4 then start a new practice.

"Get your most dreaded tasks done early in the week and set an alarm for 5.30 p.m. on a Friday to make your Monday to do list....then get outta there"

Roll on the warmer weather as my get outta there will then be onto the verandah outside the office to open that chilled white wine! Of course a nice fruity red beside the fire could do until then.

Wow, what a lot of opportunity.

No matter how much you have to do, and I hope you're all busy, put aside some time to revisit your past contacts and to have a look at what opportunities you might have been overlooking.

I've been through a very interesting exercise in the past week which has been transferring files from my old PC to my new MacBook and I've been trying to trim down the files as I go. This has meant setting aside time to focus on these files and as I've been doing this, I've been amazed at how much potential business is out there.

Now getting current or past clients to spend more is much more cost efficient than having to engage brand new clients so choose a few hours and have a look through some files. I bet you'll find people to follow up with too and then, as Nike say 'Just do it'

If you haven't done this for a while, you may want to set a system in place to make the whole process more regular and efficient.

Persistence has many benefits

I'm a great believer in one to one meetings and invest time in these regularly also encouraging my fellow Athena members and visitors to do likewise. But why?

Well at networking meetings and other events, there is often not the time to really get to grips with people's business in detail. In a one to one meeting over a coffee, lunch or drink, you get a chance to get to know the person's business; what kind of clients they are looking for; how you can help them and they of course,  can find out the same about you. We women also have the edge here of getting to know the person behind the business too so we get a real holistic picture and through this we, I believe, excel at building that relationship.

From this point, we may use services, hopefully will tell others and in some cases may have discovered a potential partner in some aspects of our business. Don't however always expect that it will all fall into place immediately.

In November attending a Cappucino Connections for the Athena City group I met Sasha Kader from Sakr Design Ltd and we hit it off really well. We both wanted to meet again but Christmas was getting in the way and we committed to a January date. Then in mid December I met Sasha again at another Athena event and we talked further. At this stage she was no longer a stranger and I felt I was truly starting to build this relationship so when we met for our one to one in January, I was there to really get clear about her business and had in mind being able to tell others about her and find her clients.  In this meeting we had no people distractions, no sound distractions and as she spoke I realised the breadth of her offering and her expertise and it became clear that not only was I now able to tell others about her but she was also a very serious contender as someone that could deliver the integrated service that I was looking for for MediaCoach

Today, Alan Stevens and I met with Sasha and are delighted to be working with her to develop the next stage of business.


The moral, well,  always invest the time and it will pay off. Will keep you posted as to how things develop. I know it's going to be a great experience.

Take this forward to next week and the year ahead.

Ali Brown who I have followed for years always come out with great words of wisdom and inspiration. I found the following noted down in one of my note books and wanted to share it with you.

'Success is both keeping an eye on where you're going and knowing exactly what you need to do right now to move your business forward.'

Are you on target with both of these? If not, give some thought to them and I believe these are the sorts of things we should come back to time and time again.

Blogs, blogs and more blogs!

Having been through a time of clarification recently, I've spent many hours recently sorting out my blogs.

I believe it's true to say that when I starting blogging I decided to have one blog which allowed me to talk about everything I do. However, that doesn't really suit anymore so I now have three blogs.

This one, Heather Waring's Business Pazazz! is the blog for my business which includes my networking and work through Athena, my one to one clients, my work as Business Manager to MediaCoach and all other business related issues.


Heather Waring and the East End Girls is where I get to talk about all the great walks and adventures I do with my fabulous walking group, the East End Girls. This year, we have yet to decide on a challenge as such but some of us will be going to France in early September to celebrate our 5th birthday in Burgundy at Les Cerisiers, run by Mark and Janice of http://www.thereallybigdreamcompany.com 

Finally Heather and Teresa walk the Camino is just what the title says and you can find out what we've experienced so far as well as following us as we walk further and get closer to the French/ Spanish Border. Next trip is in May.

A word of warning though, as all of these blogs are about different aspects of my life the content is likely to overlap as one often informs the other. Which ever blog you choose to read or follow, do enjoy and please comment. You can of course follow all three and if you gain insight, information, entertainment and joy, please encourage others to follow too.

Thanks.

An investment in you and your business

When I feel good, I am a much stronger asset to everyone.

When I feel good, I am more confident, more productive and more assertive. I get things done, I am in my flow and I have loads of Pazazz and I'm sure many of you can relate to that.  So what brings me that 'feel good' factor? Well, eating well and healthily, exercising, having me time, seeing people who inspire me etc. Some of this will be the same for you I'm sure but there may be other things too and I believe that it's really important that we spend some time reminding ourselves what makes us feel good and then ensuring that we integrate that into our diaries and into our lifestyle.

Sometimes, when I'm really busy I forget the importance of the above and it can result in making me sluggish, less efficient and sometimes downright irritable (not with clients or colleagues of course). I'm always striving to have less of these experiences in my life so when my beauty therapist, the wonderful Tracey Virginia-Williams made the following offer at the start of the year I snapped it up -

'Get a free Express Facial while I Scrub, Wrap & Speed up the removal of those pesky toxins – no doubt built up over the indulgent holiday period!'

I went along at 4.00 yesterday and emerged 2.5 hours later ( I had some basics done too) floating and with skin that looked and felt fantastic. I slept so well last night and I swear that I lost a little weight into the bargain as things feel looser today.


When I got home last night I had no intention of working but I did choose to do dabble on my blogs and I got so into them and figured things out that I'd been stuck on for ages, it was just a dream. Today I feel lighter and freer and have been so productive.

So, yes it is an investment in you but in turn that is an investment in your business. Rather like fitting on your oxygen mask first so you can then help others, look after yourself and then you are much more use to all.

If you live in the South Woodford area of London, get in touch with Tracey info@virginia-williams.co.uk or 020 8536 4031 and try her out, her attention to detail is fab. If you're not, then my suggestion is to find a beautician like her and make them part of your vital support list. Put you in the best place to benefit you and your business.

A little smile in the midst of the working day

My dear friend Teresa forwarded this to me and it made me smile so have a smile on us too

 

 

Dear God,

 

All I ask for in 2011 is a big, fat bank account and a slim body… please  don’t mix these up like you did last year.

 

Amen.

Athena Networking is the best

Today I attended the Chingford Athena meeting which brings it to a total of 4 Athena meetings this month. It's not my usual practice but it's been a real privilege to visit all the groups in my area this month to do the Business Support Topic (BST) and on the back of that launch our Athena Walking Initiative.

I've been talking about 'Bonding and Belonging' and the importance of both of those and then taking the opportunity to remind members how we can make it all happen and grow our business on that back of it. It's all been very well accepted which is great and I can honestly say that all our groups, that's those in West Essex and the City, are really good at bonding and belonging. On my visits, it's been great to see some familiar faces and to meet new ones too. I now need to do the follow up, that will be one of my targets for next week.

The BST has been a great springboard for launching Athena Angels which is our Athena walking team and we're going to do the Maggie's Night Hike in Sept this year.  The response has been fantastic so thank you to all those who have registered their interest, I'll be in touch very soon. Having trained a team of 16 wonderful women in 2006 to do the Breakthrough Breast Cancer Walk, I'm so excited about sharing all my tips and techniques, introducing all these lovely ladies to so many great walks and seeing them experience all the great benefits of training in a team. I know we'll have a ball.

Here are my team on day one of the Breakthrough Walk.

So watch this space for updates of our progress. First step is to find out what everyone is capable of so far!

The best networking group out

Just planning for tomorrow when I'll be attending the first meeting of my Chigwell Athena group from 2011. So looking forward to meeting up with all the members again and hearing their news. I'm also giving the business support topic and wondering what their response will be. If I know my group it will be a great one.

Want to climb Kilimanjaro?

I am delighted to recommend this to you. Simon Madrell, the co-founder of Excellent is a past client of mine and in fact the setting up of Excellent came out of the coaching work that we did.

Simon is one of the most trustworthy people I've ever met, full of integrity and I have followed his charity all through it's existence and delighted in the achievements they have made including increasing their fund raining income year on year and winning a number of awards for their work.

Join the Excellent Development Kilimanjaro Challenge. This is your opportunity to climb Africa's highest peak and raise money for Excellent Development. You will then have the opportunity to go to Kenya and spend a week with a community building a sand dam.
The 2010 expedition leaves on 14th September and they will be signing people up over the next few weeks. However, if you can't make it this year, do not despair as next year's trip leaves on 9th September 2011.


To find out more visit - http://www.excellentdevelopment.com/kili2010.php

Use walking to fix it.

Those of you who have followed me for a while know of my love of walking and how I use it in my work. This is a technique I urge you to try - visualise as you walk, it's a great mood fixer. So if you have some concerns and anxieties and can't seem to move on, get out of the office and go for a walk. See your anxieties been ground into the earth under your feet as you move.

Works for me every time.

You can exercise in a busy schedule

Did you know that walking briskly for only 10 minutes several times a day is just as beneficial for you as doing 30 minutes once a day. For many of us these, small bouts of exercise may be easier to fit into our busy schedules.

What do you think?

Fitness incorporated

An Irish study suggests that walking up stairs & escalators for average of 6 mins per day, can make you 10% - 15% fitter.

Try it out.

How's your year developing?

Can't believe that it's the second week in February already!!

The first few days of January always seem to go slow and then they become turbo charged and whizz through. I'm so trying to make the most of every day this year, really trying to keep on top of stuff and not let time just pass. For us and our business, January was a great month and as I didn't plan to go far over the first few weeks the snow didn't really affect me. I'm planning on February being the same.


It used to be the month I disliked. Unlike many others who dislike January, I find January inspiring and that great new start with the blank canvas and the chance to put things right. I am always energised and looking forward with great intentions. February however tended to be for me, cold and dreary. What was there to look forward to? Spring wasn't on it's way and the excitement of the new year had passed. Stupidly I often found myself picking that month to detox in when I should be nourishing myself and taking a lead from nature and hibernating. One year when I detoxed, I got so depressed and was sensible enough to learn a lesson so no more of that until later on.

Last year I decided to take more action and found a range of different ways to keep upbeat and now it's as good as any other month. In fact today feels rather springlike. The sun is shining out of a beautiful blue sky, in fact it's streaming in the window and I will have to do sometihing to keep it off the computer screen. I can see the days being longer and there are buds appearing on trees and the daffodils and crocus are poking up out of the earth. It's all aking me a little poetic....

Would love to hear how 2010 is working out for you? Tell me how you are coping and let's share some of those strategies and if it's not working too well, has my writing given you any ideas of what you could do differently? I do hope so.

The Quintastics - are you one?

One of my dear friends, member of my mastermind group, fabulous 50+ woman and owner of Midlife Matters - http://www.midlifematters.co.uk, Karen Knott has just alerted me to this fabulous article - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/lifestyle/7084717/Quintastic-50-is-the-new-30.html

Let me know what you think.......

Are you a Quintastic?