Hello!

...and Welcome to this 1st anniversary issue of Time to Think - the bi-monthly e-zine for professional women - dedicated to helping you thrive.

To celebrate the first anniversary, I've got an AMAZING extra special offer for 3 lucky readers - check it out!!

Want to feel more comfortable in your "work-skin"? This issue is all about creating a career or a business that works for you at more than just a superficial level. I'll share with you the 4 cornerstones of holistic career planning. These will help you achieve more clarity and purpose about your best way forward.

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A Career Worth Working For

(4 holistic principals for a thriving career or business.)

Have you ever wondered how some people seem to achieve what they want professionally? Why some people thrive while others fade?

Professional or business success is, of course, partly about hard work. The hard work that comes from being motivated to achieve something. (As Norman Augustine said: “Motivation will almost always beat mere talent.”)

So motivation, drive is important. But it’s not sufficient. To achieve, you need to know where you’re going. Without direction, you might as well be spinning your wheels.

Direction? Well obviously that’s about knowing where you’re going, and having a fair idea of a route for getting there.

So far, so good: Drive and direction are essential factors in reaching your career or business goals.

However, thriving implies more than success in achieving goals. It implies prosperity and vigour. Sustainable growth. It implies a rich life as well as a healthy bank balance.

Is it all just about drive and goal setting? I don’t think so.

In a minute I'm going to tell you about the four principals of holistic career/business planning. But first, you need to know why a holistic approach is vital if you want to thrive…

Have you ever set yourself career/business goals, only to find that achieving them was like wading through treacle? Or that when you achieved your goals, they weren't as satisfying as you expected?

Last year a client of mine had exactly these problems. On the face of it, she’d had some business success, but getting there had left her worn out. She was confused and demoralised by feelings of “Is that it?”.

In her own words she was “about as far from thriving as its possible to get”.

As we worked together, she realised that, while she had achieved a lot, she wasn’t particularly fulfilled by it. Partly that was because her goals were based on what she thought she should be achieving. And also because the definition of success she’d been using was narrowly focused on work and on a financial bottom line.

Now don’t mistake me, there’s nothing wrong with financial success. It’s just that there’s more to a successful life than work and money.

For this particular client, the breakthrough came when she stopped trying to define herself through work, and started to define work through who she was.

A holistic approach to career or business planning takes account of ALL of the things that are important to you. So you can build a career or a business that has meaning. That is sustainable. That brings you inner riches as well as the outer trappings of success (whatever those may be for you).

Without a holistic approach, you may be putting in a lot of time and energy only to find that you have achievement, but not fulfilment.

Read on for the 4 cornerstones of creative, holistic, career planning.

Passion:

When you’re doing something you’re passionate about you feel positive, motivated and energised. So take some time to think about where your passion is: What aspects of your job really float your boat? What attracted you to it the first place? What jobs or businesses make your mouth water?

But don’t just stick to work passions – consider your whole life – past as well as present. What interests did you have when you were little? Mindmap your most positive memories together with present interests and inspirations. Look for themes.

Potential: Think about potential from two angles:

• Inner potential: what skills, talents or aptitudes do you have. How might you develop these further? What opportunities could you create to learn something new?
• Outer Potential: What opportunities are there in your company and in your marketplace? What untapped potential exists in your organisation? Think, too, of the future - what's going to be happening over the next couple of years that might create opportunities for you. Get in touch with what’s happening in your industry and what’s happening in the world.

Priorities:

What is essential if you are to thrive? Lots of women exhaust themselves trying to satisfy conflicting demands – to be “all things to all people”. It’s not possible. Try to have it all, and you’ll end up doing it all.

You have to choose your priorities. And remember – what you spend your time on is what you are making a priority. Only YOU can decide what trade-offs are worth it. A place to start is with these questions:
• What is a successful life?
• What does it mean to live and work well?
• What do I want and what am I prepared to give up in order to get it?

Watch out for guilt. It’s a sign that somewhere, something important is not being honoured.

“Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.” (Robert Heinlein)

Power:

Remember that you are in charge of your life. And that includes the third of your life you spend at work. Whatever your friends, colleagues or mother think, YOU are the one living it. Make it the life you want it to be. Get in the driving seat.

Alongside that, remember that trying to do it alone is not a sign of strength. Empower yourself by asking for support when you need it, and by forming alliances with people who can help you.

Try out these principals the next time you're ready for a change of direction. Or apply them to the work you're doing now.

They'll help you create career plans and business goals that work. And are worth working for.

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Relax and Revive

Need to chill out, unwind or re-energise? You've come to the right place...

Well, actually...

This feature is having a rest this issue. It will be back, relaxed and refreshed next time.

Until then, what about putting some empty space in your life?

If you were going to put an empty space (maybe just 7 empty minutes), where would you put it?

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Torch Bearers

New for this anniversary issue!!

Sometimes I feel like I'm travelling a bumpy road in the dark. It's at these times that I turn to other women who've travelled the same road - and can throw some light on the way forward, or the best place to stop for the night. This is the first, in what will be an occasional series, of recommended reading for those times you need a little light...

I recommend:

"Women Who Run with the Wolves: Myths and Stories of the Wild Woman Archtype" by Clarissa Pinkola Estes PhD.

What it's about: Dr Estes retells some old myths and stories, uncovering the bones of the stories to show how, what are regarded as "children's tales" are actually teaching stories of power and wisdom. Meet the wise woman - and find her reflections in your own heart.

Why I'm recommending it: This book didn't change my life. What it did was far more profound: It gave me meaningful metaphors for understanding myself at a deep, intuitive level. It helped me grow into the life I believe I'm meant to be living.

A book I return to over and over again, especially when I feel that I've lost contact with my authentic self. It gives me courage to live with integrity, creativity and juice!

And it can do the same for you - at the very least, you'll never think of "Cinderella" in the same way again.....

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