Lifestyle

Self-help books are extremely popular. They’re a great friend of New Year resolutions, but with so much help around it’s a wonder that there is still so much help needed.

Turns out a lot of these publications and workshop handouts become what’s termed in the industry as ‘shelf help’ books. That’s because people buy them, collect them and then store them… never to look at them again. Read more

The latest technology revolution isn’t just under way, it’s about to get bigger.

Hot on the heels of the “consumerization” of IT is a new uprising, one poised to forever change how we use technology at work. Known as “Bring Your Own Device,” or BYOD, it promises to provide the workforce with increased flexibility and mobility while possibly lowering costs for IT departments.

The consumerization-of-IT revolution took place after technology devices marketed for personal use—most notably, smartphones and tablets—began being released and adopted faster than corporate IT groups could test, deploy and support them. People bought these devices in droves and brought them—iPhone and Android, iPad and Kindle Fire—to the office. Read more

Flowers? Chocolates? A day of pampering? Not on my birthday wish list today… Nope, this year, I’ve decided that for my birthday, I’m doing the giving.

During my Grateful in April campaign last month, I really love the feeling of regularly giving to others. I felt happy, invigorated and had a renewed sense of meaning.

As a pleasing side effect, the benefits of feeling so good also translated into some great business opportunities. Read more

Where do you get inspiration from?

Over the course of running my Grateful in April campaign, I’ve been inspired (and humbled) daily by the thoughts, expressions and honesty of the people taking part.

People are unbelievably grateful for everyday things that most of us take for granted.

How often are you thankful for the legs and feet that carry you around? For being able to access clean drinking water and fresh food? Being able to operate your business in a country that enforces transparency? For your own health and wellbeing – and that of your family and friends? Read more

So for 2012, it’s quarter time. The first three months are done and it’s time to assess where things are at.

Of course for most businesses, it means there’s only one quarter left in the financial year.

As seasons chance and lurgies fly around workplaces everywhere, for some it’s hard to maintain motivation.

For others it’s a time to push the pedal down hard and race to the line. Read more

Sorry ladies, I’m going to focus on the men here, mainly because I’m a guy and that’s what I know.

You know that old saying?

You never get a second chance at a first impression.

Clichés are clichés because they’re often true.   It’s really important that when you dress – and I’m not just talking about a formal client meeting here or a job interview.  I’m addressing the whole activity of relationship building.  When you need to speak to someone to get advice or arrange an introduction, or pitch for new business the best thing to do is to wear a suit.  You may not want to wear a tie but, you know, it’s probably better to have a tie than not. Read more

A guy goes to an airline counter and checks in for his flight. He asks if one of his bags can be sent to Melbourne and the other one to Perth.  Definitely not, is the answer. “Why not,” he asks – “you did that for me last week”.

Okay, so maybe it’s a joke, but it was not much of a laughing matter for me recently when I flew to Sydney and my luggage didn’t follow.

While at dinner awaiting a call from the airline to see if they had located it, our waitress accidentally tipped an entire cabbage salad over me – soiling my only outfit. Read more

As people all over the country are heading off on their Easter break, now is a good time to remember that for many small business owners, time off for a holiday is a luxury they just don’t have.

Our most recent MYOB Business Monitor found that 58% of New Zealand small business owners said they were routinely taking fewer holidays in order to work in their business.

Many small business owners will be working through the break, battling to keep their businesses running smoothly.

For small business owners, finding a work/life balance can be incredibly difficult, with so many things needing to be done, and needing to be done now.

There are a few things however, than can help you get some of that time back, and get more balance in your life:

Get help from the experts

Having a business mentor or a financial advisor involved in helping you run the business can be a huge help. Read more

Last year, after being overwhelmed by global happenings, I made a decision – what if I decided to change that? What impact might that have on my life?

In order to find out, I created Grateful in April, a m.a.d.woman initiative to get people focused on what’s already good in their lives.

Grateful in April is a global campaign to get people focused on feeling good about what they’ve already got in their lives. It’s amazing what can occur when you find ways to be grateful for what you have.

By noticing and acknowledging all the great things that currently occur in your life, you will focus on creating more of the same. Seeing the good around will allow you to look at situations and people in a different light and experience them more positively. Read more

I forgot to write my blog post this week. Yup.  Forgot.

It’s a permanent item on my To Do list but somehow it slipped through. It was “one of those weeks”, if you know what I mean.

Here’s the thing. We all have “those weeks” at some time or another, where *stuff* happens and best laid plans go awry. Unexpected events pop up. Normal deadlines accelerate to become urgent and sometimes things get missed.

Luckily I have processes in place which meant that I was still able to get something written in time to be published, albeit after my official deadline. But it’s made me think – what else might have slipped through the cracks? Read more