28 Jul 2008 11:05 Lightbulb moment - What are you assuming?
Posted by: nina
This week we're thinking about the many things we assume about each other, ourselves and everything else.
In the shower I started thinking about my career changes and how they affected others - rather than myself.
I remember when I first decided to call myself an author after years of being a graphic designer and the different way people looked at me. I quickly got the feeling that they assumed that I was somehow more important now I wrote books than I had been five minutes earlier when I was a designer.
Now I call myself an entrepreneur and the looks have got weirder again. An author was safe, but an entrepreneur (especially one with grey hair) is open to uncertainty and (if I'm lucky) curiousity.
Entrepreneur, graphic designer, author - I'm still the same person, but your assumptions have changed.
What do you assume about others from the occupation they tell you they have?
And what else are we assuming in our lives that's affecting our view of the world - and our view of ourselves?
This week at Life Clubs we find the lenses we're all looking through and give them a good clean.
In the shower I started thinking about my career changes and how they affected others - rather than myself.
I remember when I first decided to call myself an author after years of being a graphic designer and the different way people looked at me. I quickly got the feeling that they assumed that I was somehow more important now I wrote books than I had been five minutes earlier when I was a designer.
Now I call myself an entrepreneur and the looks have got weirder again. An author was safe, but an entrepreneur (especially one with grey hair) is open to uncertainty and (if I'm lucky) curiousity.
Entrepreneur, graphic designer, author - I'm still the same person, but your assumptions have changed.
What do you assume about others from the occupation they tell you they have?
And what else are we assuming in our lives that's affecting our view of the world - and our view of ourselves?
This week at Life Clubs we find the lenses we're all looking through and give them a good clean.
21 Jul 2008 11:26 Lightbulb moment - Ditching modesty
Posted by: nina
When I meet people who are modest about their achievements it always slightly annoys me. I want to say 'Come on, you're brilliant/successful/creative' and give them a bit of a shake. And yet thinking about why their modesty upsets me so much it's because I've realised that I'm sometimes pretty modest too and it's not a quality that does me any favours.
We've all been told not to 'show off', that talking about oneself and one's achievements is 'not nice' and yet how would I know that 'X' has an exhibition I'd really like to see if they remained modest or that 'Y' is playing in a concert I really want to listen to? I wouldn't.
So, today, I'm coming out of my modesty and letting you know that I'm going to be running a day-long workshop for Alternatives on Sunday 9th November and I'd love you to come along if you can.
The workshop is called 'Create Your Ideal Life' and part of my ideal life creation is going to be to chuck my modesty once and for all.
So see you there.
What really annoys you about someone else and where do you share that same attribute?
I'd like to see you this week at Life Clubs too, where we're discovering all the good qualities we have that we never knew about. What are you waiting for? It can't be modesty.
We've all been told not to 'show off', that talking about oneself and one's achievements is 'not nice' and yet how would I know that 'X' has an exhibition I'd really like to see if they remained modest or that 'Y' is playing in a concert I really want to listen to? I wouldn't.
So, today, I'm coming out of my modesty and letting you know that I'm going to be running a day-long workshop for Alternatives on Sunday 9th November and I'd love you to come along if you can.
The workshop is called 'Create Your Ideal Life' and part of my ideal life creation is going to be to chuck my modesty once and for all.
So see you there.
What really annoys you about someone else and where do you share that same attribute?
I'd like to see you this week at Life Clubs too, where we're discovering all the good qualities we have that we never knew about. What are you waiting for? It can't be modesty.
14 Jul 2008 17:05 Lightbulb moment - Saying no
Posted by: nina
One of the most difficult things for those of us who work freelance is saying 'No' to money-making opportunities. In the past I've jumped at the chance to write books about things I wasn't really interested in (such as stain removal) because it was a chance to make a few pennies.
But over the years I've been realising how no-one appreciates anything unless they have to pay for it and so I've started to get good at saying 'No. I don't work for pennies'. And, even, 'No, I want more money than that'. I've given myself and my time a value and (homage to Naomi Campbell) won't even get out of bed without being paid.
Today alone I've said 'No' to ideas that might have brought me in those same old few pennies, but no more. I'm saying 'Yes' to allowing myself to make some money and 'Yes' to being confident - finally.
What can you say 'Yes' to that you've been hiding away for a while?
This week's Life Clubs are about saying 'No'. Not only to others, but also to those parts of yourself you tend to forget you can say 'No' to.
But over the years I've been realising how no-one appreciates anything unless they have to pay for it and so I've started to get good at saying 'No. I don't work for pennies'. And, even, 'No, I want more money than that'. I've given myself and my time a value and (homage to Naomi Campbell) won't even get out of bed without being paid.
Today alone I've said 'No' to ideas that might have brought me in those same old few pennies, but no more. I'm saying 'Yes' to allowing myself to make some money and 'Yes' to being confident - finally.
What can you say 'Yes' to that you've been hiding away for a while?
This week's Life Clubs are about saying 'No'. Not only to others, but also to those parts of yourself you tend to forget you can say 'No' to.
07 Jul 2008 15:28 Lightbulb moment - Telling it like it is
Posted by: nina
Last week after my club one of my clubbers stayed back to give me some feedback. It was so positive it took me ages to calm down and get to sleep that night. It had really made me feel good.
But what was of most importance to me was how I actually had allowed myself to appreciate those compliments.
For most of my life I've been questioning why people have actually been giving me compliments - sort of 'if you're giving me a compliment there must be something wrong with you' thoughts ... and yet now I was just loving it.
What feedback would you be able to believe about yourself?
Why not go round your Balance Chart - or Wheel of Life - and discover all the places where you'd happily accept (and believe) some complimentary feedback and those where you wouldn't, and think about what the difference is.
But what was of most importance to me was how I actually had allowed myself to appreciate those compliments.
For most of my life I've been questioning why people have actually been giving me compliments - sort of 'if you're giving me a compliment there must be something wrong with you' thoughts ... and yet now I was just loving it.
What feedback would you be able to believe about yourself?
Why not go round your Balance Chart - or Wheel of Life - and discover all the places where you'd happily accept (and believe) some complimentary feedback and those where you wouldn't, and think about what the difference is.
