Blog

how is your problem keeping you safe?

20 Feb 2012 6:42 AM -

There's a type of behaviour that I call ‘running-away busy’.  It’s where you have a serious issue that you need to address – like a troubled relationship – and you manifest a ridiculous sched...

what matters most?

10 Feb 2012 9:12 PM -

I write this at the end of a long, emotional day. 

what if the ball was always in your court?

6 Feb 2012 10:31 AM -

I was chatting with someone recently who was bemoaning the fact that she’d joined a women’s group and everyone at it was condescending. No one spoke to her. No one smiled.

rockin' mamma interview - happy mums at home

6 Feb 2012 9:09 AM -

This interview was first published on Kirri White's 'Happy Mums at Home' website.  The questions were so thought-provoking, I encourage yo...

the fastest way to happiness today

6 Feb 2012 8:15 AM -

Last week, I sent my high school history teacher a thank-you note.

(Yes, I am this dorky.) 

work, kids and 'me time'

4 Feb 2012 8:20 AM -

Mums returning to work after having a baby often let themselves become mentally, emotionally and physically swamped.

• Is my baby happy in childcare?

• Is my employer satisf...

overwhelmed? how old are you?

30 Jan 2012 1:11 PM -

With a thirteen-year-old heading into Year Eight this week, I’m reminded that many of us first learn how to ‘do overwhelm’ when we’re confronted with a higher workload than we’re used to, at hig...

surfing the success-and-failure waves

30 Jan 2012 6:53 AM -

Last week was a fairly typical one for me – some good stuff happened and there were some disappointments. 

when something isn't right...

23 Jan 2012 3:19 PM -

Call it gut instinct, intuition, a ‘funny feeling’ or a hunch – but there are times when we all get the sense that ‘something isn’t right’. I’m fascinated by the possibility that we...

do you feel guilty if you sit down?

23 Jan 2012 6:46 AM -

I spoke to a woman this week who said she feels guilty if she sits down.  It’s something that I hear from women a lot, and I’m always interested in where this idea comes from.

unfinished business - clearing mental clutter

19 Jan 2012 5:36 PM -

I found out today that my friend’s husband has been diagnosed with cancer. She is pregnant with their first child. It’s an awful, awful thing – and she will be kept awake with this, at a time when she sho...

are you a victim of your own perspective?

16 Jan 2012 9:36 AM -

There was news last week that a family who had lived through the ravages of last year's Queensland floods had won $5million in the lottery.  This time last year, the newsagent where the ticket was bought was submerged.

find the right lever - move your world

10 Jan 2012 9:38 AM -

One of the women in my mums’ group began a 1500-piece jigsaw puzzle at the start of summer. Together with her step-daughter, she’s been plugging away at it each night after the baby is in bed and, two nights ag...

how will you manage your energy in 2012?

8 Jan 2012 10:41 AM -

Lining up at the starting gates of 2012, how would you rate your energy level on a scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high)?

resolve to be grateful

2 Jan 2012 6:29 PM -

Our New Year article, first published here on Australian Women Online.

my favourite real-life Christmas story

19 Dec 2011 9:09 AM -

At this time of year I'm always reminded of my favourite spontaneous Christmas experience.  I wrote about this a few years ago, so forgive me if you've heard the story before.

how to have a rubbish attitude at work

12 Dec 2011 4:50 AM -

I met the rubbish collector pictured at the edge of a bitterly cold pier on a miserable winter’s day, and his positive attitude at work lit up the gloom. 

are you making the most of incidental me-time?

5 Dec 2011 9:26 AM -

Are you making the most of 'incidental me-time?'

don't push people off the platform

28 Nov 2011 6:02 AM -

I took the photo to the right in a playground over the weekend.  If you can’t enable images, the sign is a list of instructions for children, including:

• Don’t...

are you using all of your runway?

21 Nov 2011 5:41 AM -

A friend sent me a rather nerve-wracking clip from YouTube of a Ukranian cargo plane taking off from Canberra airport.  The plane was so heavily l...

roads less travelled - good or bad?

14 Nov 2011 5:42 AM -

Every so often, something happens that is so serendipitous that it can't help but get us thinking about how much our everyday choices must weave the tapestry of our experience.

the wrong decision - so what?

7 Nov 2011 8:22 AM -

Have you ever made - and, more importantly, announced - a decision, only to stand on the brink of taking that first step down the new path and feel that sinking feeling:  ‘Gah! This isn’t right!’

fly through stress...

31 Oct 2011 6:53 AM -

Many thousands of travellers discovered what it feels like this week to be trapped somewhere that you don’t want to be, through no fault of your own. 

shhh... what will people think?

24 Oct 2011 5:12 AM -

My kids and I went to a festival on the weekend and participated in some ‘installation art’ (a first for us).  There were some big wooden letters set up in a park with some textas, so that the public could ...

how persistent do you need to be?

17 Oct 2011 6:35 AM -

When I was a child, I took piano lessons from the same teacher as my friend Sally.

What's your excuse?

13 Oct 2011 4:48 AM -

A lot has been written about Steve Jobs in the last few days.  What stands out for me isn't what he did (which is remarkable of course) but what he overcame. 

what happens when it all turns to custard?

3 Oct 2011 1:01 PM -

No matter how organised you are, how efficient, how forward-planning and no matter how well you juggle competing priorities, there are times when it all falls in a heap.

what's the point?

26 Sep 2011 7:13 AM -

Turning 38 yesterday was like rounding a corner and opening up the view straight through to 40.

how to make decisions with ease

19 Sep 2011 7:39 AM -

It is estimated that we make up to 1000 decisions every day, from the moment we decide to open our eyes, get out of bed or have ‘five more minutes’, to the moment we decide to let the day go and drift to sleep.&nbs...

5 lessons learnt at the high-school reunion

12 Sep 2011 7:48 AM -

I’ve just spent all weekend with 70 people who I last saw when we were 18 and leaving Year 12 to start ‘life’. 

too much to do? read this first

5 Sep 2011 7:20 AM -

How much time and energy do you waste 'doing overwhelm'?

trapped by a need for certainty? here's how to escape

29 Aug 2011 7:24 AM -

Last week’s newsletter about the need for significance was opened by a record number of readers.  There’s a reas...

is your need for significance causing chaos?

22 Aug 2011 8:24 AM -

'Look at me! Watch this! See what I can do!'

7 reasons people don't ask for help

15 Aug 2011 7:11 AM - Who do you ask for help?

It's a question that provokes either a long list of names being rattled off, or a response like: 'no-one', 'I wouldn't ask' or, 'I'm not that kind of person!'

this technique will change your day

8 Aug 2011 7:21 AM - what script are you running?

When you woke up this morning, before you got out of bed, what 'script' did you play in your mind? 

Was it along the lines of this?

the 7 types of busy: how to disentangle yourself from doing too much

11 Jul 2011 10:30 AM -

Frantic?  Can't possibly take anything out of your schedule?  Modern life is flat out, and that's that. 

Or is it?

Have a look through the following 'types' of busy (adapted from

top 10 tips for life balance

7 Jul 2011 3:32 PM -

Looking for easy ways to make your life less complicated, staring immediately? Try these simple techniques.

is your need to be liked holding you back?

7 Jul 2011 3:08 PM -

How comfortable are you in your own skin?  Are you confident and assertive?