I’ve just spent the last week travelling around Australia speaking at different conferences, including one with Business Chicks at Uluru in Australia's outback (I posted some pics to Facebook yesterday - it was pretty spectacular!) A common thread that weaves through...
A woman recently came up to me after a talk to tell me how miserable she is in her job. "But it's been impossible for me to get a new job," she said "There's just nothing out there. Absolutely nothing." While I had no way to validate her situation my strong sense was...
I’ve made it a focus of my life to teach others how to be braver. Courage and bravery aren’t fixed qualities about yourself that can’t be changed. Much like building muscle, you can learn to have more courage and build your “bravery muscles.” Just imagine in your own...
A friend recently shared with me how she'd heard via her teenage son that one of his friends had been dabbling with drugs. She knew his parents would want to know but was nervous about how they'd react. She considered sending a text - it seemed easier. But the brave...
We are all prejudice is some way. Every single one of us. All of us hold conscious and unconscious beliefs about other people - particularly those who are different from us in some way. Different heritage or ethnic background Different social class Different religion...
Do you need to ask for more help, more often? Last week I received an email from a woman I know professionally, asking if I would do her a favor. Her son moved from Australia to New York a year ago to pursue his ambition of working in media, but has had a hard time...
There’s no doubt that the Ebola virus is deadly. It has buried thousands of helpless victims in the western region of Africa and challenged the world’s best health specialists in how best to contain its spread. News of the tragic death of the first US Ebola victim,...
Saying yes is easier (at least in the short term) than saying no. It gives us an immediate hit of people-pleasing gratification. If it were easy to say no when we need to, everyone would be doing it. If it were easy to say no, there wouldn’t be so many busy people so dissatisfied with their lives. But whether in our work, relationships or how we manage our daily lives, sometimes we are called to make a change, to let go the familiar, and say no to something that is “good” to open up the possibility for something better.
Perhaps your Facebook status updates reflect what’s really going on in your life. However if not, then I encourage you to be more courageous in connecting with those around you, dropping your guard, letting go the need to show you’ve got it all together, and sharing how you really are (i.e., the stuff you might never post on Facebook). While our fears drive us to avoid situations that put us at risk of rejection or ridicule or criticism, only when we have the courage to do just that can we forge the rich, and incredibly rewarding relationships that help to buoy us over life’s bigger waves, and retain our sense of humour as we go.
Real love is a verb. Poetic words of love are nice, but real love is about doing things that make others feel loved – it takes courage, it takes compassion, it requires generosity. So as you go about your day today, I invite you to think about what you could do differently to make those you interact with feel more valued, more appreciated, more acknowledged… more loved in some way, large or small.
Sir Richard Branson is a man I’ve admired as long as I remember. His books – jammed with stories of his entrepreneurial exploits and intrepid adventures on earth, sky and space – sit atop my bookshelves, their pages underlined with insights on taking risks, managing...
Change is never easy, even change for the better. It’s why so many people choose to stay in jobs they loathe, in relationships that chip away at their self-confidence or sticking to habits that rob years from their life, rather than embrace the uneasiness, uncertainty...
Walk with people who make you think bigger, feel bigger and act bigger. Yesterday I had the privilege of dining with movie director Oliver Stone at a Game Changers Symposium in Melbourne. If you're under the age of 30, like my kids, his name may not ring a bell. If...
Yesterday my 15-year-old daughter Maddy emailed me to say she’d just received a rejection letter from McDonald's where she’d applied for part time work. She was feeling deflated. I emailed her right back. “Maccas Shmaccas,” I said. “One day you’ll look back on this...
If we aren’t growing and changing then we cannot possibly thrive in this magnificent and mysterious experience we call life. If you do a quick audit of your life right now (your work, relationships, well-being, finances, home life, social life & daily joy), any...
Last Friday my eleven-year-old son Matthew had a spill off his bike, broke his arm and needed surgery to realign the bend in his arm! He’s now in a full arm cast for the next six weeks and then has to wait another six weeks before he can get back to his...
So early this morning I kissed my sixteen-year-old son Lachlan goodbye. He has left our nest; he has spread his wings. Despite steeling myself for months for this moment, it didn’t lessen the wrench on my heart as I waved him goodbye. I am not worried about Lachlan...
What you focus sets off a ripple effect that filters into every corner of your life. It’s not about white-washing those things which need your attention. It’s about not wasting your precious energy focused on things that amplify negative emotions, smother positive ones and fuel your misery.
We all like to be liked. Nothing wrong with that. But too often we let what OTHERS think matter more than what WE think. Next time you find yourself at a moment of indecision, ask yourself what you would do if you had didn’t need to impress or be liked; if you were being really courageous.
Of course I also want you to have a happy year ahead also. But we human beings live along a spectrum of emotions as diverse as all the shades in a rainbow. To wish only to feel ‘happy’ would be to deprive us of the full human experience, living only on a very superficial level, and unable to infuse the tapestry of our lives with the contrasts of human experience that make it truly meaningful. – See more at: https://margiewarrell.com/?p=7812&preview=true#sthash.4yG4VKvn.dpuf
