Blog
A Lesson in the Art of Saying ‘No’
I had a strict Italian father, who rarely (make that never) praised me. If you grow up with strict European parents you spend your life trying to please them. That’s like getting blood out of a stone. Unfortunately you end up with a people-pleasing personality and spend the rest of your life trying to win
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How to Be More Organised Even During Times of Chaos
I have a friend who works for a creative agency. She is one of those creative-chaotic types. She works in an open plan office and her desk is a nightmare. There are always a few unwashed dishes at her area, sometimes even a dirty takeaway container. Pink, yellow, blue and green post-it notes are stuck
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How to Let Go of Shame and Guilt and Embrace the Future
There is not a single person on this planet who has not done something they are ashamed of. Part of the human condition is feeling shame and guilt … to a degree. However, you have a problem if you are so overwhelmed by these sentiments that you can no longer function in the present. Have
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What to Do Before Visiting a New Place
It’s high summer in Australia and many people are either returning from holidays or planning trips away. Do you like to travel? Are you good at it, or are you a reluctant tourist? I’ve been thinking about the best way to prepare for trips away. How do you prepare before visiting a new place? In
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The Most Popular Self-Improvement Books in Australia
According to the highly reputable, Nielsen BookScan the best-selling book in Australia last year was Scott Pape’s The Barefoot Investor. Australians bought more than 500,000 copies of The Barefoot Investor. It is a financial self-improvement guide, teaching us how to become wealthy, and was first released in December 2016. It also topped last year’s best-selling
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The Most Popular Self-Development Books in Australia – Part 2
In my last blog I looked at the Nielsen BookScan of best-selling books in Australia. The most purchased book in Australia was Scott Pape’s The Barefoot Investor – a financial self-development book.It is a financial self-improvement guide teaching people how to become wealthy. In number three was Mark Manson’ The Subtle Art of Not Giving
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The Secrets to Building Instant Rapport With Strangers
It is a reality of life that we jell more with some people than others. It is also one of the joys of being human that sometimes we feel instantly at home with another person. We just seem to like and understand some people more than others – after all we are only human! But
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How to Get Your Priorities Right
I am often over-committed. I frequently find myself working across more than a dozen projects simultaneously. I risk burning myself out. People think I work across so many projects at once because I’m an over-achiever, but I will tell you a secret. I struggle to prioritise my workload. I can’t commit to the most important
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How to Master the Art of Having Interesting, Engaging Conversations
In a recent blog I looked at how to create a rapport with people you’ve just met. I covered a lot of ground. I suggested doing your research prior to meetings to learn more about individual and their interests – research the person on social media (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn). I also suggested using positive body
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Who Should You Invite to Your New Year’s Eve Party?
Have you ever thrown a New Year’s Eve party? Who do you invite? Friends, family, neighbours, work colleagues? Coming up with a list of invitees can be difficult. You don’t want to go too big but inevitably people won’t be able to come. Have you considered also inviting people you want to get to know
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Is ‘Retirement’ a Dirty Word?
When my friend’s father was a middle-aged man he gleefully waited for the years to tick past and for his 65th birthday to come around so he could retire and go on the old aged pension. For his generation it was the ultimate pay-off after years of hard work, but these days no one wants
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Sacrifices we can make for our friends
‘Tis the season to be merry and on the weekend I went to a brilliant Christmas party at the house of friends. There was lots to drink, lots of wonderful people to talk to and the food was divine, but the hostess spent the entire party in the kitchen churning out hors d’oeuvres. People offered
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