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Any general articles - and articles that can't be filed anywhere else.
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Articles -
MONEW articles
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Written by Georgina Lester
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I thought that it would be interesting to do a Wordle for MONEW. What is a Wordle? It is word cloud that is made up of all the words that are used in an article, a website or a series of articles. The bigger the word is in the image - the more that it has been used. I copied all the newsletters into www.wordle.net - and this is what it came up with. Interesting!
See the full size original here >>
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Articles -
MONEW articles
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Written by Helen Atton
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So how are you getting on with your resolutions? Or your Lent commitments? Be honest! Are you one of the many who abandon their resolutions within weeks?
Now we are into March it is timely to review what has happened: so many of us start the New Year with great plans. Our busy lives mean we can delay our start until tomorrow or next week. The problem is that tomorrow never comes and the stresses of life are made worse by worrying about not achieving the new goals we've set, so we might be better off never making that resolution in the first place. Our promises to ourselves to lose weight, change jobs or improve our relationships slide back into our old familiar habits.
So why do we do this? Perhaps one reason is that many of us don't really believe that we can change the way we are. "I'll never get away from here!" or "I have a heavy build and can't lose weight". This kind of thinking is called a 'limiting belief'. If we continue to tell ourselves that we can't do something, we'll continue to not be able to do it. In life we get what we concentrate on.
You may have met people who appear lucky and to whom good things always happen. These are usually people who chose to see the positive side of life and grasp what comes their way.
It's all in the mind! If you open your mind to new opportunities they will appear.
So if you want to lose weight, concentrate on really feeling how good you'll feel and look when you have achieved your goal and then behave as if it has already happened. Walk taller, dress better and you'll feel more confident and people around you will notice that. In turn you will feel more positive and optimistic and the next chocolate bar might not look so attractive! Or if you're unhappy about the way your partner seems to behave, think about your own role in the relationship. Are you being the best partner you can be? Try to think of positive ways you'd like to be treated and do these things for your partner.
Here's another thought. If I were to ask what your new year's resolution is many people would say that they want to lose weight or become fitter. If I then asked what your priorities and values in life are, the tendency is to talk about career, money and relationships. If you want something to change you need to make it your first priority, take it more seriously if you like. Work out the reasons for what you want and keep reminding yourself of them.
Here are some tips on resolutions.
1) Only make one. You're much more likely to succeed if you channel all your energy into one goal.
2) Write it down. State exactly what it is that you want, by when and how you're going to do it. Write it in the present tense, "I am", not "I will".
3) Work out the reasons why it's important for you to succeed. Ask yourself questions like, "what will achieving this give me?" and "how will I feel when I have achieved this?"
4) Do something different. If you make the same resolution every year and it doesn't happen, perhaps it's time to change it to something more achievable, maybe related to your original idea. When you've achieved that you'll feel more confident to increase your targets.
5) Simplify it. Break down your goal into the smallest steps possible. Sometimes what we want to do can seem overwhelming and therefore we can't see a way through. Write down these steps so you can tick them off when they're completed.
6). Get on with it. Once you've broken down your goal just take that first step, even if it's only very small. You are now on your way to success.
3) Get help. Don't feel you have to do it all on your own. Why is it we feel everyone else can climb mountains alone and we can't?! Ask a friend, a coach, a mentor, someone in your family. People like to be helpful.
8) Reward yourself often. If you remind yourself of how well you're doing by rewarding yourself at each milestone on the way, you will increase your motivation and reinforce your progress by seeing how far you've come. We all like to be rewarded when we've done well. Perhaps those people who helped you would like to celebrate with you!
If you'd like to know more about how coaching can help you keep your resolutions, give me a ring on 0797 4444 082. |
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Articles -
MONEW articles
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Written by Susie Nagle
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MONEW committee member, Susie Nagle writes:
Kay Julian's recent Talk in the Town, 'Creating An Effective Workspace' provided a ray of hope for many MONEW members who have cluttered desks, cluttered wardrobes, cluttered lives.
On the way home I thought about how the frantic pace of modern day life had provided opportunities for women such as Kay, who has developed a successful business by helping people organise themselves so that they don't spend hours looking for items in their in tray or in their wardrobe. Apart from Kay's obvious charisma, what is it that makes her business successful? The answer is that she has a Unique Selling Point. All businesses need one if they are to compete successfully with others in the same field. Below I offer a few ideas for developing your own Unique Selling Point or USP in order to stand out from the crowd:
Analyse your competitors: Have a look at your competitors and their USPs. Identify their strengths and weaknesses to see the gaps.
Examine your own business: Brainstorm every USP possibility with friends and family. Don't judge the ideas, write them down, challenge yourself allow the ideas to flow. Crystallize them to a list of 5 to 10 possibilities.
Get feedback: Ask friends, family, work colleagues and your current customers what they think of your ideas. Don't be offended if what you thought was a great idea received the thumbs down. Use this information to narrow your USP ideas down to one single strong concept.
Develop a tag line or slogan: Distil your USP down to one (at most two) focused sentence. Add your USP statement to every page of your website, your letterhead and all of your advertising and marketing.
Ensure your USP is relevant to and fulfils the customers' needs. You may be unique, but you need to focus on customers who will pay for that uniqueness!
MONEW of course has its own USP:
MONEW supports women in achieving a positive work-life balance.
It does this by involving interested women of all ages and areas of expertise. Join us and develop your own uniqueness! |
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Articles -
MONEW articles
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Written by Helen Atton
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MONEW's Talk In The Town
Tuesday January 19th 2010
Creating an Effective Workspace
Kay Julian
Please see the article 'Do you know your unique Selling Point'
under MONEW articles
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Articles -
MONEW articles
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Written by Helen Atton
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Networking - 5 Easy Steps
Feedback from Sharon Leighton's Talk in The Town on Thursday 17 September:
"Very enjoyable, new people. Inspiring!" Carol Fisher
"Very Lively and useful talk. Good evening." Wilma Allan
"Excellent. Helpful" Liz Barker
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
, Life Coach and MONEW committee member, was inspired by Sharon's presentation:
When I first heard the term 'Networking' several years ago I hadn't a clue what it meant. I didn't want to reveal my ignorance so nodded sagely when people mentioned it and spent a long time trying to work out what on earth it actually is. I fi gured it had to be some form of business to business communication system.
Light has slowly dawned over the past couple of years and by the time I attended Sharon Leighton's MONEW talk last Thursday at the Robin Hood I had got as far as deciding that it was a fancy term for making contact with people. Sharon however, made me realise that networking is an awful lot more than that.
Networking is about making and keeping friends and new contacts in one's personal as well as business life. Sharon aptly said words to the effect of 'If you go out to look for friends you'll find very few, but if you go out to be a friend you'll find many'.
In her illuminating and funny talk she described 5 easy steps to successful networking. These steps include:
- being genuinely interested in others
- smiling
- keeping the process simple
- being well prepared.
Sharon advocates the use of tools to help with networking, which sounded daunting until she explained the benefits of a decent business card, open questions, networking internet sites and much more.
The biggest impression her session left me with was the fact that Sharon herself epitomises the practice of good networking in her presentation style and manner. If I follow her example I'm sure I'll increase my business opportunities significantly and make many new friends. |
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Articles -
MONEW articles
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Written by Sharon Leighton
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Dr Sharon Leighton, MONEW committee, writes
We often worry that when we give away something "free" that we will be taken advantage of, that people will not appreciate our value or worth and expect low cost products, services, commodities. But the smart person knows that being clear about what is free, what you give away, is the way to grow your business. Think Google, Craigslist, open source software, Hagen Daas ice cream... This practice of giving is the subject of Chris Anderson's new book: Free, the Future of radical Price, The Economics of Abundance and Why Zero Pricing Is Changing the Face of Business. It's a sophisticated argument.
We already see this in Monmouth: The Caco Tree is our favourite shop - MONEW member and owner Claire has taster samples of her amazing chocolates so what sounds weird becomes compelling.
So what do you give away "free"? Come along to The Robin Hood Tavern, Monow Street, on Thursday 17th September at 7.45 pm meet other MONEW members and lets have fun exchanging ideas how we make free work for us. And collect your free sample from MONEW member Sarah Whiddet.
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Articles -
MONEW articles
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Written by Sue Weston
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Sue Weston, MONEW"s Newsletter editor writes:
"We went to hear Tony Curtis last Monday." Georgina Lester, MONEW's Chair, and I had been to hear Tony Curtis at the Hay-on-Wye Book Festival. "He has a big ego, hasn't he?" That response, twice given spontaneously by very different people, pulled me up to ponder that word 'ego'. Tony Curtis is now 84, in a wheelchair and hairless. He bounded on stage as much as anyone can bound in a wheelchair, glided right past Francine Stock, his interviewer, to the front of the stage of the Barclay's Wealth Pavilion, a HUGE sold-out tent, and started to tell us how good his life is and has been and how we are what we absorb in our journey through life. No taint of 'poor me' anywhere, utter confidence and generosity. He filled the tent with his passion and enthusiasm. So how do we gauge ego? Is it someone of whom we are jealous because they are doing well what we could like to do? Are they those who have the balls to go out and live the life they want using the talents they have been given to the full? Is it someone who is powerful and also mean-hearted? Is it someone who dares to tell the world of the  ir skills and ability and who we then label as a 'show off'? How can we, each of us, keep an open heart and at the same time live the life we want? Finding a balance between being in action and taking an easier but stagnant route of doing nothing, or half-heartedly, is a delicate and sensitive one - and requires passion and courage, and the ability to gauge the effect of our actions and words on others. What has Tony Curtis got to do with being a MONEW member? Nothing and everything. Each of us has so much potential. Having a good and healthy sense of who we are helps us to go out there and rock with our talent in the world. We need people around us to help develop that security in our own innate talents and wisdom. When questioned by Francine Stock on his impoverished childhood Tony Curtis refused to criticize those circumstances, focusing more on what they gave him as a person, an example of the gold, the lesson, we can each find in any situation however painful. Through community we can get a better sense of who we are and how we can gain the confidence to allow our talents to benefit us through earning us a living, and how we can help others, by giving our clients and customers the benefit of our skills. This confidence will grow when we join wholeheartedly in a networking group such as MONEW. Mutual support, encouragement and skills are offered generously and abundantly by MONEW members. I know. MONEW has been a lifesaver since arriving in Monmouth almost two years ago knowing no one. And this month there are several opportunities for all our MONEW members to meet up, share experiences, start friendships - and maybe develop the confidence to hold a hall mesmerised when we are 84 and a bit tottery! PS My experience of Hay is that at the end of any talk there is polite applause and everyone quickly moves to their next event. Tony Curtis had a long and heartfelt standing ovation. A first for Hay? Certainly he was a wonderful model of confidence coupled with great generosity of spirit. Wish you had been there with us!
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