Margie’s Insights & Interviews
Welcome to Margie’s blog where she shares personal stories, interviews, tools and more for living bravely.
Sit With Your Sadness
It seems like every day that something pops up on my news-feed telling me how to 'think myself happy.' It's become a cultural preoccupation. But the illusion that we can live with a permanent smiley face does sadness a big disservice. Because while sadness and grief...
My Night With Oprah
Earlier this week I spent an evening with Oprah. Yes, just me and Oprah... and about 12,000 of her other Australian fans. Having admired Oprah for many years, I'd been mildly nervous that I had my expectations set too high. I needn't have worried. What struck me most...
Teach Your Kids To Handle Failure
I can’t think of a single parent who doesn’t want their child to grow up to be happy, healthy and whole. But it requires walking a fine line. The line between protecting our kids from pain and teaching them to handle it; between supporting them where they are and...
Be Kinder To Yourself
Are you always getting down on yourself, forever focusing on where you've fallen short of the person you aspire to be, rather than celebrating how often you actually are? Today is my birthday! Thirty nine. Again. (Yeah, i know, it never gets tired :)) I don’t share...
What are your beliefs costing you?
On Sunday I decided to ‘show up’ at the starting line for the Melbourne half-marathon (21 kms, 13 miles). I’d been on the fence about whether to go ahead with it as, in between all my recent travels, I’d fallen off the rails with my training. But show up I did with...
Name Fear To Tame Fear
Need to find some "Tall Poppy Courage?" If you live in Australia, or have ever travelled here, you’ll have heard of the Tall Poppy Syndrome. It may sound like a medical condition, but it’s actually a cultural one, whereby people who become too successful (or aspire to...
Stop Comparing! It’s A Race You’ll Never Win!
Growing up my mum always told me, "Margaret Mary, never compare yourself to others. It makes you either vain or bitter." It was good advice but, like all good advice, far easier said than done. Let’s face most of we mere mortals can be a bit insecure in our own worth...
The Power Of Daily Rituals
I’ve clocked up a lot of air miles over the last six months and stayed in more hotel rooms than I care to count. I didn’t plan it that way but I’ve had some amazing opportunities (like the chance to spend a week with Richard Branson) that I just couldn’t turn down. A...
Need To Call It Quits?
I recall once holding on to a pair shoes that made my feet ache every time I wore them for no other reason than I paid a lot for them. In hindsight, it was pretty stupid. I only remember thinking, “I need to get my money’s worth!” What about you? Ever stayed the...
Deep Roots, Strong Wings.
“Your children are not your children. They are sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself. They come through you but not from you. And though they are with you yet they belong not to you. You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth....
Resilience: Build “Muscles For Life”
Albert Einstein once said that our problems cannot be solved at the same level of thinking at which they were created. It’s a powerful quote because, let’s face it, life is one long stream of “problems.” And in our increasingly uncertain and pressure-laden lives,...
Challenge Your Default
We are all creatures of habit. The challenge is to create habits of thought and behavior that fuel our success and happiness, not stifle it. Indulge me for just a moment before reading further. Just cross your arms and once you have, uncross them and re-cross them the...
What Makes A Marriage Last?
Yesterday I signed up on the dating website AshleyMadison.com. If you hadn’t heard of it before this week as the place married people go to cheat on their spouses, then you probably did this week after a cyber attack by some morally righteous online vigilantes hacked...
Forget Doing It Perfectly. JUST-DO-IT!
Over the last week I've been traveling around Australia speaking at numerous events - to bankers and realtors and, just this weekend, at the Business Chicks Movers and Breakers Conference in Australia's outback at Uluru (I posted some pics to Facebook yesterday - it...
For The Sake Of What?
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...
Forgive Yourself. It’s Cheaper Than Therapy.
If you've never backed your car into a garage door, then I can highly recommend against it. However having done just that earlier this week, I can tell you that beating yourself does little to help. My latest blog & home-cooked video message (complete with all its...
Five Leadership Lessons From A Week With Richard Branson
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...
The Agony Of Indecision
• Stay or go? • Expand or consolidate? • Rent or buy? • Have a baby or get more sleep? • Wait or act? • Say nothing or speak up? • Android or iPhone? It’s long been said that any decision is better than no decision at all. But decisiveness, like so many admired...
Are You Living By Design, Or By Default?
You and I have been born into a time where we have more opportunity and choice than ever before in history. But with the benefits of abundant choice comes with the responsibility to make wise choices – ones that enable us to live deeper and richer lives, not just more...
Your Words Create Your Reality
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...
