Thursday, June 22, 2006
What constitutes the perfect stress busting holiday?
Carole Spiers - The Empowerment Guru grows successful people. An International Female Keynote Speaker, Conference Chair and Business Mentor who helps you to achieve step by step success with inspiration and motivation. www.carolespiers.com
Every year thousands of people set forth on their annual summer holiday.
They take a mandatory two weeks and set of on an adventure with their family. This precious time is regarded a chance to recharge batteries and forget about the office. For many it does exactly that and in Europe many companies even have an annual 2 week closure to ensure all their employees get a break and chance to chill out.
Sadly in Britain today many chose not to take their full entitlement of annual leave and at best make do with short breaks whilst still in contact with the office. The fear culture is really biting. If I am away too long will I be replaced – will the company decide they can manage without me and make me redundant – what if I lose business whilst I am away.
The advent of short term contracts and move towards self employed status does make it more difficult for individuals to force themselves to take an annual holiday and so the demon stress is given a chance to breed both within organisations and individuals themselves. Stress is contagious and one individual who refuses to acknowledge that he / she needs a break can cause havoc in an otherwise health organisation
To perform effectively we all need to take a decent holiday!
So what constitutes a really good stress busting holiday?
Well, it is certainly not a long weekend away with mobile phone and computer in constant contact with the office. To truly unwind there are certain ingredients necessary to ensure you return to work refreshed and ready to tackle the pressures of 21 century living and working.
Short breaks are really good for you. Your body needs to recharge its batteries and this should be done on regular basis. So dont just save up all your holiday and think you can recharge your body in one hit.....go away for a couple of nights....a weekend.....and let your body switch off from the frenetic living that we all do.
7- tips for you
1. Choose a holiday that is not going to put you and your family under undue pressure – a
fourteen hour, non stop drive to the South of France is not really a good idea if you have
toddlers.
2. Plan your trip well in advance. Pre book seats on trains boats and planes where possible.
3. If you are driving, research your route and make sure your vehicle is fit to undertake the
journey. Allow for plenty of comfort stops.
4. If you are feeling especially stressed try and take your holiday in a familiar area travelling by a familiar route so reducing the actual stress of the holiday
5. Think carefully before planning a holiday with friends. A day out with them may be fine but do you really want to spend two weeks together? Sitting on the beach recently I overheard a
group of four friends on holiday together discussing the plans for the coming days. One
couple really did not want to spend time on the beach they likes touring around and had great
plans. The other couple just loved being on the beach and wanted to spend more time there.
Already the tension was building between them and it was only day one!!
6. Do not set an ambitious itinerary. Allow yourself time to just relax and read a book, sit on the
beach or just generally chill out. Give yourself permission to just sit and let the clouds roll by if
that is really what you fancy doing.
7. Once away from work stop fretting about it. Enjoy every moment of your leisure time and
when its time to go home go with the knowledge that you have enjoyed every moment of your
holiday.
Carole Spiers - The Empowerment Guru grows successful people. An International Female Keynote Speaker, Conference Chair and Business Mentor who helps you to achieve step by step success with inspiration and motivation. www.carolespiers.com
Every year thousands of people set forth on their annual summer holiday.
They take a mandatory two weeks and set of on an adventure with their family. This precious time is regarded a chance to recharge batteries and forget about the office. For many it does exactly that and in Europe many companies even have an annual 2 week closure to ensure all their employees get a break and chance to chill out.
Sadly in Britain today many chose not to take their full entitlement of annual leave and at best make do with short breaks whilst still in contact with the office. The fear culture is really biting. If I am away too long will I be replaced – will the company decide they can manage without me and make me redundant – what if I lose business whilst I am away.
The advent of short term contracts and move towards self employed status does make it more difficult for individuals to force themselves to take an annual holiday and so the demon stress is given a chance to breed both within organisations and individuals themselves. Stress is contagious and one individual who refuses to acknowledge that he / she needs a break can cause havoc in an otherwise health organisation
To perform effectively we all need to take a decent holiday!
So what constitutes a really good stress busting holiday?
Well, it is certainly not a long weekend away with mobile phone and computer in constant contact with the office. To truly unwind there are certain ingredients necessary to ensure you return to work refreshed and ready to tackle the pressures of 21 century living and working.
Short breaks are really good for you. Your body needs to recharge its batteries and this should be done on regular basis. So dont just save up all your holiday and think you can recharge your body in one hit.....go away for a couple of nights....a weekend.....and let your body switch off from the frenetic living that we all do.
7- tips for you
1. Choose a holiday that is not going to put you and your family under undue pressure – a
fourteen hour, non stop drive to the South of France is not really a good idea if you have
toddlers.
2. Plan your trip well in advance. Pre book seats on trains boats and planes where possible.
3. If you are driving, research your route and make sure your vehicle is fit to undertake the
journey. Allow for plenty of comfort stops.
4. If you are feeling especially stressed try and take your holiday in a familiar area travelling by a familiar route so reducing the actual stress of the holiday
5. Think carefully before planning a holiday with friends. A day out with them may be fine but do you really want to spend two weeks together? Sitting on the beach recently I overheard a
group of four friends on holiday together discussing the plans for the coming days. One
couple really did not want to spend time on the beach they likes touring around and had great
plans. The other couple just loved being on the beach and wanted to spend more time there.
Already the tension was building between them and it was only day one!!
6. Do not set an ambitious itinerary. Allow yourself time to just relax and read a book, sit on the
beach or just generally chill out. Give yourself permission to just sit and let the clouds roll by if
that is really what you fancy doing.
7. Once away from work stop fretting about it. Enjoy every moment of your leisure time and
when its time to go home go with the knowledge that you have enjoyed every moment of your
holiday.
Carole Spiers - The Empowerment Guru grows successful people. An International Female Keynote Speaker, Conference Chair and Business Mentor who helps you to achieve step by step success with inspiration and motivation. www.carolespiers.com
# posted by Carole Spiers @ 10:45 PM 
Wednesday, June 21, 2006
How To Exploit Failure!
Carole Spiers - The Empowerment Guru grows successful people. An International Female Keynote Speaker, Conference Chair and Business Mentor who helps you to achieve step by step success with inspiration and motivation.
New strengths and insights that can follow from a humbling experience
If you’ve never known failure, you’re one of the lucky ones… perhaps.
Or does it just mean you’ve never known success either - just trogged along in that middle rut ?
The truth is that a high achiever who has never known failure is almost unheard-of. Time and again, great tycoons make their big leap in the wake of some kind of disaster. It may just be a long grim repair job that steadily builds character. It may be a case of learning important lessons directly from mistakes. Or it may be the famous ‘iron entering the soul’ after a searing humiliation. But you need to view both light and shade in order to form a sharp picture of the world you live in. And you will certainly lead a large workforce with more conviction if you are able to empathise with people on the wrong end of life.
The view from below
When you’re lying at the bottom of a well, that little circle of blue sky seems to you much more beautiful than it looks to people at the top. Those people are the ones who have never known failure.
This tells you that we should be a little wary of those whose path has been too smooth. Although well-qualified, successful and often doing useful work, they tend to mix only with their own kind, and their view of life lacks depth and contrast. And for all their high status, they will tend towards a dissatisfied state, because they take so much for granted.
Your experience of failure - hopefully coupled with other experiences of success - will provide a much more balanced view of the world, in which you can feel active, joyful gratitude for health and strength, light and heat, freedom and privacy. This endows you with a robust philosophy that will stand many tests, and bodes well for the next stage in your journey.
Victory out of defeat
Notice how new parliamentary candidates are always given an impossible seat to fight in their first election. Why do the parties go in for this apparently time-wasting exercise ? Because they want to see how the newcomer copes with failure. Is this the sort of person who gives up at the first setback ? Can they remain gracious and positive under the all-day-and-night pressures of being an MP ? Do they have the stomach for the long, hard struggles that may lie ahead ? One of these candidates - who lost four times running and almost quit - declared “You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it.” And who was speaking ? One of the most ground-breaking politicians on earth: Margaret Thatcher.
Curio Corner
Post-it Notes - prime case of success through failure. That ‘non-adhesive’ fixative on the back was actually a failed version of a permanent adhesive that the 3M company was trying to develop. The failure was the one that succeeded!
Carole Spiers - The Empowerment Guru grows successful people. An International Female Keynote Speaker, Conference Chair and Business Mentor who helps you to achieve step by step success with inspiration and motivation.
New strengths and insights that can follow from a humbling experience
If you’ve never known failure, you’re one of the lucky ones… perhaps.
Or does it just mean you’ve never known success either - just trogged along in that middle rut ?
The truth is that a high achiever who has never known failure is almost unheard-of. Time and again, great tycoons make their big leap in the wake of some kind of disaster. It may just be a long grim repair job that steadily builds character. It may be a case of learning important lessons directly from mistakes. Or it may be the famous ‘iron entering the soul’ after a searing humiliation. But you need to view both light and shade in order to form a sharp picture of the world you live in. And you will certainly lead a large workforce with more conviction if you are able to empathise with people on the wrong end of life.
The view from below
When you’re lying at the bottom of a well, that little circle of blue sky seems to you much more beautiful than it looks to people at the top. Those people are the ones who have never known failure.
This tells you that we should be a little wary of those whose path has been too smooth. Although well-qualified, successful and often doing useful work, they tend to mix only with their own kind, and their view of life lacks depth and contrast. And for all their high status, they will tend towards a dissatisfied state, because they take so much for granted.
Your experience of failure - hopefully coupled with other experiences of success - will provide a much more balanced view of the world, in which you can feel active, joyful gratitude for health and strength, light and heat, freedom and privacy. This endows you with a robust philosophy that will stand many tests, and bodes well for the next stage in your journey.
Victory out of defeat
Notice how new parliamentary candidates are always given an impossible seat to fight in their first election. Why do the parties go in for this apparently time-wasting exercise ? Because they want to see how the newcomer copes with failure. Is this the sort of person who gives up at the first setback ? Can they remain gracious and positive under the all-day-and-night pressures of being an MP ? Do they have the stomach for the long, hard struggles that may lie ahead ? One of these candidates - who lost four times running and almost quit - declared “You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it.” And who was speaking ? One of the most ground-breaking politicians on earth: Margaret Thatcher.
Curio Corner
Post-it Notes - prime case of success through failure. That ‘non-adhesive’ fixative on the back was actually a failed version of a permanent adhesive that the 3M company was trying to develop. The failure was the one that succeeded!
Carole Spiers - The Empowerment Guru grows successful people. An International Female Keynote Speaker, Conference Chair and Business Mentor who helps you to achieve step by step success with inspiration and motivation.
# posted by Carole Spiers @ 11:28 PM
