Margie’s Insights & Interviews
Welcome to Margie’s blog where she shares personal stories, interviews, tools and more for living bravely.
Hope Is A Risk That Must Be Run
In recent months I’ve spent time with several people going through a tough time and struggling to hold on to hope and stay optimistic. Depression is tapping at the door of a few. I know there have been times over the years I’ve felt that way myself. When my brother...
Less hate, more humanity
"When we are no longer able to change a situation - we are challenged to change ourselves." Viktor E. Frankl, Holocaust Survivor "What's the good of hate. It only ruins you," Saba Feniger said to me as she recounted her arrival at Auschwitz and surviving the Nazi...
Slipped Up? Now Get Up & Stay The Course!
It's mid January. Far enough in to the new year that some people have already fallen off the band wagon on their new year resolutions. If you're one of them, commiserations. Just know this: you aren't alone. I resolved late last year that I was going to write in a...
Don’t Major In Minoring
Ask many people how they are and they'll quickly give you an answer that's something like this: "Busy. Really busy." I mean, who isn't right? Being being has become synonymous with being of value. The busier you are, the more important you must be. But the reality is...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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,...
Stop selling yourself short!
Last week I facilitated a two-day communication communication workshop with a global tech company. I’ve run lots of workshops over the years but when I was approached on this one last December, I was a little tentative. The seventeen people flying in from around the...
Grow Your Kids Muscles For Life
Let me begin by saying that I am not an educational specialist, child psychologist, school counsellor, ex-teacher, parenting expert or athletic coach. However as a mother of three teens and one 'teen-wannabee', I often see parents get a little (or lot!) too...
Be Intimidated By No-One
Not long ago a woman in her 40s approached me after a speaking at her company’s annual conference to ask my advice on how to have a ‘courageous conversation’ with a colleague. After our conversation she said, “Before we talked I’d been quite intimidated by you. I...
Who Will You Be In 2016? #ThreeWords
As one year draws to an end and another one begins, there's often a lot of talk of 'resolutions.' Habits people want to start, or end. New goals. Fresh starts. All good stuff. However I think we often get the cart before the horse. You see, if you keep being the same...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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....
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...
