Do you travel for business in the UK?

Just heard about the following site from a contact on Ecademy

'Ladiesaway.com is a new networking concept designed for businesswomen who travel.
Have you ever thought of the number of occasions you’ve stayed in a hotel and there may have been someone else also staying there that you could have done business with, or perhaps someone who shares the same interests as you, and would have appreciated some company at breakfast, dinner or in the gym.

Well now you can meet those people because the ladiesaway.com network aims to put like-minded travelling businesswomen together.

All members of ladiesaway.com have access to our database of travelling businesswomen. So if you’re away on a business trip or travel around the UK on a regular basis, you can easily arrange to meet in advance.

Become a member of Ladiesaway and make all your business trips enjoyable and productive - let the ladiesaway network work for you.'

Sounds good to me and it's free to join!

Springwise.com

Springwise.com, which is based in Amsterdam, has a global network of 8,000 spotters in 70 countries who scan the globe for smart new business ideas. It's a fun site that will really get you thinking and, who knows, might spark that million dollar idea that will fund your retirement. You can submit your own ideas or become a spotter. I particularly liked the following ideas: http://www.springwise.com/food_beverage/urban_farming_update/ http://www.springwise.com/nonprofit_social_cause/mobile_schools/

The Breast Cancer Site

Did you know that http://www.thebreastcancersite.com/ provides mammograms for those who can't afford them from corporate sponsors, and at no cost to you, every time you click it? Add it to your favourites and click every day...

New Courses from Barnes and Noble University

Have you heard about Barnes and Noble University? For those of you who are not familiar with them, Barnes and Noble is a massive company which sells books on-line and in-store in the US. Their B&N University offers a range of free on-line courses - all you need to do is buy the book on which the course is based. New courses and reading groups starting June 5th are listed below:

LIBERAL ARTS

The Art of the Short Story with Gotham Writer's Workshop
Being Jewish in Today's World
The Civil War Era
Discover Dungeons & Dragons
Everyday Ethics
Forensics with Court TV
From Planets to Pulsars: Astronomy Basics
Grammar Fitness
How to Read a Film: The Technology of Art
Italian for Beginners with Living Language ®
Picasso, Braque and the Dawn of Cubism
Thinking Like an Editor: How to Get Published
Understanding Poetry
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Genius at Work
Writing Mysteries with Writer's Digest Books
Start Writing Science Fiction with Gotham Writers' Workshop

LIFE IMPROVEMENT

All About Your Dreams
Beauty: The Basics
Become Your Own Pilates Trainer
The Best Year of Your Life with Debbie Ford
Caring for Your PC
Discover What You're Best At
End Your Addiction Now!
Find a Job You Love
Give Your Lawn a Makeover
Golf Basics
Homeschooling Your Children
How to Grill Well
Learn to Play Guitar
Money Management for Women
Total Memory Workout
Unpuzzling Your Past: An Introduction to Genealogy and Family History

ONLINE READING GROUPS

Meet Kate White
Paulo Coelho on The Alchemist
Rebecca Wells on Ya-Yas in Bloom
Javier Sierra on The Secret Supper
Elinor Lipman on My Latest Grievance
Frank McCourt's Angela's Ashes
Bob and Melinda Blanchard on Live What You Love
Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy
Ian McEwan's Saturday
Anthony Trollope's The Way We Live Now
Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin

COURSES ON CD-ROM

Foreign Languages with Living Language®
Foreign Languages from Pimsleur
Portable Professor Series

Women in business

I had a message in my email box this morning telling me about a new UK website which advertises local services and businesses which are all owned by women. I know that many women living alone say that they would feel more comfortable being alone in the house with a female plumber or tiler, so if this is your preference, or, if you just enjoy giving female-owned companies a hand up by giving them your business, have a look at www.ladyskill.com.

What motivates you - purpose, passion or profit?

What motivates you as far as your work is concerned? Purpose, passion or profit? Try the following short quiz devised by David Batstone, a professor of ethics at the University of San Francisco. Just click the link below (but you will need to submit your name and email address to get the results).

http://www.triplepquiz.com/quiz.aspx

The Office of the Future?

I woke up a little early this morning, so I thought I'd check out my email and stuff before I started my workout. Whilst I was on Squidoo, I spotted the following and at first I thought it was a joke, (well it was 5.05 am) but apparently not. Here is what the 'lens' (or site) owner has to say about it:

James Levine, M.D. and his colleagues in the NEAT (Non-exercise Activity Thermogenesis) lab at Mayo Clinic have pioneered an "Office of the Future" -- a fully functioning office that bears a marked resemblance to a gym. Complete with treadmills that serve as both desks and computer platforms and a two-lane walking track that serves as a meeting room, Dr. Levine and his entire staff have a unique, active work environment.

and this is the lens itself: http://www.squidoo.com/walkingwhileworking/

Organ recital, anyone?

Do you know anyone who gives ‘organ recitals’? I came across this term in a book I’ve been reading this week. (The only problem is that, since I’ve read three books already this week, I can’t remember which book it came from.) Anyhow, giving organ recitals involves giving everyone you meet a blow-by-blow account of your latest illness, operation or stay in hospital.

There’s an old man in our village (I’ll call him Jim) who gives organ recitals and, to be honest, people dread meeting up with him. On warm, sunny days, he sits on his garden wall and, whenever anyone walks past, he tries to engage them in a conversation which very quickly turns into a litany of his various ailments, his trips to hospital, the amount of time he has spent in the I.C.U. and a verbatim report of what the doctors said to him.

Now I really don’t mean to sound unsympathetic – this man has, undeniably, suffered a great deal and, during the 3 years since he moved to the village, he has probably spent a year of that time in hospital. What I am attempting to do is point out that the kind of result that this man is probably hoping to achieve, (which I imagine would include an alleviation of his loneliness and boredom, the receipt of time and attention from his neighbours and maybe some recognition of and sympathy for his undoubted suffering) is being withheld from him. Because the first time you engage with him, you listen to his sorry tale and feel sympathy and compassion for him, but then, after you have listened to him for about half an hour, you realise that he is showing no signs of running out of steam, he is still very much ‘on topic’, that you (genuinely) have things that you need to do and that, without appearing rude, you need to make your excuses and go off to do them. Eventually, with difficulty, you manage to make your exit and you go home and tell your partner about how much the old man up the road has suffered and how ill he has been and isn't it a pity that he seems so lonely?

The next time you meet Jim, he greets you like an old friend and so you stop for a quick chat with him, and before long, you realise that you are having exactly the same conversation with him that you had before and that, once again, he is showing no sign of ‘drying up’ and that, once again, you could be in for an extended conversation (except that it isn’t really a conversation because a conversation usually implies more than one person taking part).

So, what happens next time you see him? You either turn around before he spots you and take a different, more circuitous route around the village that will get you home in twenty minutes, rather than the five it would normally take you, or you put your head down, speed up your pace, pretend you haven’t seen him until the last minute and then say, ‘Oh, hello, Jim. I’m sorry I can’t stop for a chat, I’m expecting a caller…’

So what is the answer? Would it be kinder to gently explain to him the effect that he has on people? Or would that just be too devastating for him to cope with, coming from a virtual stranger? Should I just stand and talk to him for as long as he needs me to, whilst, at the same time, ignoring my own needs and the things that I have to do to keep body and soul together? Or do I, like everyone else in the village, try to dodge him and politely ‘shortchange’ him whenever I can’t avoid running into him?

I suspect that I will plump for the latter and live in hope that when I get to the same age, I will remember Jim, his attempts to engage with people and the fact that, not everyone enjoys organ recitals.

Happiness is a dry toothbrush...

Chris and I are both a bit fussy about our teeth – twice-yearly check-ups at the dentist, flossing, inter-dental brushing… we do it all. So you can imagine how disconcerted he felt when he came to brush his teeth yesterday morning and found his toothbrush already wet.

We have two bathrooms in our house – one downstairs and one en-suite upstairs. Since Chris, Philip (his 17 year old son) and I all need to get ready at roughly the same time each morning, the two of them use the downstairs bathroom and I use the upstairs one. Consequently, there are normally two toothbrushes in the stand in the downstairs bathroom – one that belongs to Chris and one that belongs to Philip.

Now Philip has been away for a few days. All the toiletries that he took with him have been returned to the bathroom, but his toothbrush was missing from the mug. All that remained was Chris’s brush… and it was wet. Now Chris was the second person to use the bathroom that morning and Philip had already left the house.

What would you have done? Used a toothbrush that you suspected had been used by someone else, even if it was your son? Or go and buy another one?

It’s a good thing that the only shop in our village opens at 6 am…

Step-parenting issues

I've written before about being a step-parent and the fact that I haven't found it easy, by any stretch of the imagination. (Chris's kids were 13 and 15 when I first met them and I previously had a relationship with a man who had a 10 year old daughter.)

I was looking around the SAGA website yesterday in my other role as a retirement coach, and the following article caught my eye - you might find it interesting if you are in a relationship with a man who has children or think that you might someday form such a relationship:

http://www.saga.co.uk/magazine/article/A6529345-47E3-408D-B66E-7DD1F0DA52BA.asp?bhcp=1

Do you hate packing?

Here in the UK, the holiday season is starting to ramp up. It began with the Easter holidays (when kids have a 2 week holiday from school), then, two weekends ago, we had our first Bank Holiday of the season (May Day) and, at the end of the month, we have Spring Bank Holiday, when schools will close for a week. The weather is warming up nicely and people are starting to dig the fake tan out from the back of the bathroom cabinet (you do use fake, rather than frying yourself to get the real thing, don't you?).

Anyhow, if all these holidays are turning your mind to the thought of getting away for a break, you may want to check out the following sites for ideas to help ease the burden of deciding what to take with you and how to fit it all into your baggage allowance:

www.travelite.org
www.smartpacking.com
www.onebag.com

Life Expectancy Calculator

Check out the Life Expectancy Calculator at
http://www.bbc.co.uk/health/interactive_area/calculators_lifeexpectancy1.shtml. (90, in case you were wondering...)

The Cost of Fear (for women)

I came across the following, thought-provoking article by Denise Michaels, author of "Testosterone-Free Marketing".

Fear can be incredibly expensive.

Over the last five years I've mentored a lot of women in marketing in their businesses and I've discovered that fear is very often a much more important hurdle to be overcome than deciding on a marketing strategy. Fear takes up more time than deciding what you're going to say on your website or when sitting across from a customer. If you don't overcome fear your strategy really doesn't even matter.

Fear causes women to hold back from being as fabulous as they can be. It rips them off and allows others to step out right in front of her and take all the goodies that her business could have to offer - but doesn't because she's trying to satisfy the mythical "they."

Fear means that she won't tell others about who she is and what she offers with confidence, passion and gusto. Fear means that she will say, "Oh, I couldn't possibly do THAT! People might think that I'm being pushy or I'm being too 'out there.'"

Fear stops us from going for what we want. It waters women down to milquetoast and keeps us in the bondage of living a boring life without the financial gain you deserve. Fear causes us to make excuses like, "I didn't REALLY want that." And, "I'd rather be happy than rich." As if the two are mutually exclusive. Duh! (smile)

Fear keeps us wearing beige, black and gray rather than hot pink, bright yellow or tangerine orange. Fear says, "I don't want to reach out until I have ALL my ducks in a row." Fear also says, "I don't want to put myself out there until I know everything humanly possible about my product and I can answer every question that anyone might ask." Fear keeps us dressing like a girl or a boring banker instead of a brilliant, creative and savvy woman.

Ladies, I've had some time to think and think some more the last couple weeks as I've been recovering from surgery (finally got my laptop back today too after nine days without it). I've been resting, watching TV, sitting on my porch with a cup of tea, feeling the summer breeze in my hair and just thinking.

It seems to me that the women who succeed and really make it in the the world of business are the ones who aren't afraid to be out there and fabulous and wonderful and while they may not SAY that they are - they show everyone by their actions that they are.

Think Madonna.
Think Jennifer Lopez.
Think Martha Stewart.
Think Kimora Lee Simmons.
Think Suzanne Somers.

Madonna started it by embracing the idea of being a fabulous brand. One that's constantly re-inventing itself but still true to herself and yet she expresses a piece of us that many women would like to be but they don't quite have the nerve to be. Like her or hate her - she still makes waves after two and a half decades.

Jennifer Lopez is a triple threat - a dancer, singer and actress. As well as a new mogul in fashion, fragrance, sunglasses and I'm sure that there will be more to come. Yeah she wore a dress cut below her navel to the Grammys and she's got the business acumen to be a force to be reckoned with.

Martha Stewart has an empire in publishing, the Internet and on TV. She redefined what it means to do homemaker things making them glamorous and lovely. Even after a prison stint almost two years ago she's come back stronger than ever.

Kimora Lee Simmons was modelling for Karl Lagerfeld of Chanel in Paris at the gentle ago of 13. Now in her 30s she commands a fashion business called "Baby Phat" that's urban, hip and accessible to millions while helping women aspire to a lifestyle they may have never imagined. She happily admits she's a diva AND takes no guff in her business.

Suzanne Somers may seems like a has been in the world of TV acting but she's authored 14 best-selling books, she has a business that does $100 million a year in sales of clothes, jewelry, food, skin care and exercise stuff. She's been married to the same man for 30+ years and has a wonderful family life and grandkids at 58.

Can you find something to admire in any one of these women? Or maybe there's another woman in the world of business that you admire. I'll tell you something that they do have in common. They're not running around like chickens with their heads cut off trying desperately to please everybody and homogenize their marketing message so that everyone loves them. They are who they are and oh well, maybe the rest just aren't their ideal customers. No big deal. Can't please everyone.

How much has fear cost you since you started your business?

What would it take for you to embrace the idea of being fabulous? What would it take for you to be a diva - not in the b*tchy sense purely for the sake of being difficult, but in the good sense of getting what you want so that you can help others more? What would it take - and what would your life be like if you played full out to win?

Do you Squidoo?

I’ve been doing a lot of web surfing this weekend and one of the most interesting sites I found was Squidoo. It’s a site where enthusiasts or experts write and blog about their ideas, advertise their services and generally make themselves known. Squidoo is free to join and you can also earn revenue by the various links to Google Adsense, Amazon and Ebay that your site contains.

Oh, and if you click on the links to Squidoo in this blog, and you open a 'lens' (that's a site) with them, you will be joining through my affiliate link - which means that when your lens earns its first $15, both you and I will each get $5 free. Sounds like a win-win to me!

Do you need a new hobby?

If you're on the lookout for a new hobby, check out www.coachville.com/tl/thomasleonard//cli/activities.html - a list of almost 300 sports, hobbies and activities compiled by the late, great Thomas Leonard.

By the way, can anyone tell me what 'bocci', 'bunko' and 'hacky sack' are?

www.successfullysingle.co.uk

Debtproof living

The excellent Mary Hunt, who writes very well-respected books about getting rid of debt and living within your means is offering a free copy of her book, 'The Financially Confident Woman' with every purchase from the Debt-Proof Living Bookstore starting now through until Sunday, May 14. Well worth a look...

Have you been printed?

I’m starting a new course today. This one will certify me to use ‘Print®’ with my clients. Print® is an assessment tool which helps us to understand why we act as we do. It identifies a person’s personality characteristics and gives them huge insights into their ‘unconscious motivators’ and their particular ways of thinking, feeling and behaving.

I used the Print® assessment on myself yesterday for the first time. Whilst I was completing the on-line questionnaire (which took about 15 minutes), I started feeling quite sceptical because at each stage of the assessment, you are asked to make choices between pairs of statements. I had no problem choosing between most of the pairs but some were very difficult and the choice I was being asked to make didn’t feel logical . For example, I struggled with the choice between ‘I am adaptable’ and ‘I am strong’ – in actual fact, I am both strong and adaptable, so which one was I supposed to choose? Anyway, I followed their instructions, made my choices as best I could and then waited for the results to arrive in my email box.

Within one minute, I was opening my ‘Print Survey’ and I couldn’t believe what I read. It was me to a ‘T’. I’m a 5 major / 8 minor and I haven’t a clue what that means – that’s why I’m going on the course (to learn how to interpret the information generated) and I don’t know how they did it, but Chris and I laughed aloud with surprise and delight at the accuracy of the description. Chris is itching to have a go, but I’m not licensed to use it yet, so he’ll have to hang on until I’m trained…

I can’t wait to start the course – there are 72 different Prints® or personality types and I just love finding out what makes people act the way they do… don’t you?

Have you been ‘printed’ yet?

25 signs that you have grown up

Someone sent me the following list of '25 signs that you have grown up' over the weekend. How many can you relate to?

1. Your houseplants are alive, and you can't smoke any of them.
2. Having sex in a twin bed is out of the question.
3. You keep more food than beer in the fridge.
4. 6:00 AM is when you get up, not when you go to bed.
5. You hear your favorite song in an elevator.
6. You watch the Weather Channel.
7. Your friends marry and divorce instead of "hook up" and "break up."
8. You go from 130 days of annual vacation time to... 14.
9. Jeans and a sweater no longer qualify as "dressed up."
10. You're the one calling the police because those %&@# kids next door won't turn down the stereo.
11. Older relatives feel comfortable telling sex jokes around you.
12. You don't know what time Taco Bell closes anymore.
13. Your car insurance goes down and your car payments go up.
14. You feed your dog Science Diet instead of McDonald's leftovers.
15. Sleeping on the couch makes your back hurt.
16. You take naps.
17. Dinner and a movie is the date instead of the beginning of one.
18. Eating a basket of chicken wings at 3 AM would severely upset, rather than settle, your stomach.
19. You go to the drug store for ibuprofen and antacid, not condoms and pregnancy tests.
20. A $4.00 bottle of wine is no longer "pretty good stuff."
21. You actually eat breakfast food at breakfast time.
22. "I just can't drink the way I used to" replaces "I'm never going to drink that much again."
23. Most of the time you spend at the computer is for actual work.
24. You drink at home to save money.
25. When you find out a friend is pregnant you congratulate them instead of asking "Oh No! What the hell happened?"