Blog

lessons from the past

14 May 2012 7:23 AM -

I completely lost myself the other night, reading through the diaries I wrote as a teenager.  Oh, dear! 

are you looking through rose-coloured glasses?

9 May 2012 7:30 AM -

Are you looking at something through 'rose-coloured glasses'?

• Perhaps it's someone else's relationship, or someone else's job. 

the secret to getting on with it

7 May 2012 6:48 AM -

My husband bought a dodgy tribal rug in Kazakhstan.  It’s geometric in design and every so often there’s an obvious flaw in the pattern.

into every life a little rain must fall...

5 May 2012 10:33 AM -

But what happens next? 

what's on your blueprint?

5 May 2012 10:30 AM -

"In the absence of clearly defined goals, we become strangely loyal to performing daily trivia until ultimately we become enslaved by it" (Robert Heinlein)

TRY THIS EXERCISE if you've struggled to se...

you get what you think about

5 May 2012 10:18 AM -

Do you ever feel 'stuck' in a negative emotional state?

The more time we spend focused on how stressed we are, how 'overwhelmed', how frazzled, the more we embed these states of mind.

TRY THIS...

untangle yourself from doing too much

4 May 2012 12:41 PM -

The quickest way to untangle yourself from doing too much is to look at the obstacles you’re throwing in your own path.  Ask yourself three questions:

when it all just 'clicks'...

1 May 2012 11:44 AM -

Photographer Angie Baxter, 39, saw that things weren’t working in her quest to ‘have it all’, so she and her husband changed how they do ‘career and family’.  Read how, in this refreshing int...

back away from the Tim Tam

30 Apr 2012 7:27 AM -

The mid-week public holiday totally threw me out last week.  Thursday came and I sprang out of bed, went for a 5km walk, jumped through the shower, cooked breakfast, got the kids organised and powered through several hour...

are you colouring in the title page?

27 Apr 2012 2:04 PM -

Leaving the office on time depends on several things, including the energy you invest on the right and wrong aspects of your job...

If you're not clear on what you're doing, if you're scared to ask 'silly quest...

when you say NO you give meaning to your YES

26 Apr 2012 7:00 AM -

We say YES when our heart screams NO for different reasons:

• Fear of not being liked or losing approval

think like an eighteen-year old

25 Apr 2012 2:21 PM -

Teenagers can get a bad rap.  Moody, self-absorbed, high on drama, low on tidiness and like, butchers of the English language...

are you living a 'charmed life'?

23 Apr 2012 7:33 AM -

I meet a lot of people who, from the outside, seem to have it all together.  Shiny, happy people – pirouetting through life with magic wands - everything they touch turning to gold like they’ve stepped straigh...

surviving a big week

20 Apr 2012 2:36 PM -

I’ve had a big week at work and socially, coinciding with school holidays, and it’s time to swing the pendulum the other way.  ‘Re-balance before you’re off-balance’ became a personal mantra ...

are you running away or towards?

16 Apr 2012 7:28 AM -

One of the most popular stories on our Facebook page last week was the question of which direction you're running in – towards the life you want or aw...

there's more than One Direction

11 Apr 2012 1:30 PM -

My thirteen-year-old set her alarm for 4am today to receive a call from her BFF, who was in Sydney meeting the boy-band-de-jour, One Direction.  BFF has an uncle in high places (ie. he’s a well-known entertainmen...

leaving the comfort zone

10 Apr 2012 9:46 AM -

Catapulting out of uni, when my brain stopped spinning from readings and essays and tutes, it came to rest not on the career I’d prepped for, but on marriage and babies.  My parents had me lat...

5 ways to switch off for holidays

5 Apr 2012 9:05 AM -

Heading towards a break, do you stagger over the finish line at work and typically fall ill? 

what's your 4-minute barrier?

2 Apr 2012 7:27 AM -

Before Roger Bannister broke the 4-minute mile in 1954, it was commonly accepted that such a feat was physically impossible.  Less than two months later, John Landy smashed Bannister’s record, three times.  In ...

goodbye office job - hello gorgeous!

27 Mar 2012 6:03 PM -

I first met the lovely Susan Forman, of Hello Gorgeous! Fine Foods, when we were seventeen.  She was th...

how badly do you want it?

26 Mar 2012 7:51 AM -

A friend had a job interview this week.  One of the questions was ‘which three people – living or dead but not family or friends – would you invite to dinner and why?’

seven secrets to smashing your deadline

23 Mar 2012 11:50 AM -

Struggling to meet a deadline?  Try these tricks for getting things done.

Do you need to use your brain for this task? 

resist the urge to be average

18 Mar 2012 4:42 PM -

I remember a time towards the end of primary school when we were all drifting off to different high schools and suddenly I didn’t fit in.  My friends were going to one school, I was going to another, and they teased...

lose the frazzle!

14 Mar 2012 7:08 PM -

Take this test to see how much of a Pro you are at juggling: 

• Could you cook dinner, supervise homework, do a set of squats, clean the kitchen benches and have a phone convers...

naked on stage and loving it

12 Mar 2012 9:07 AM -

I spoke at something this week without the parachute of speaking notes.

are you the elephant in the room?

12 Mar 2012 7:45 AM -

Circus elephants are anchored to the spot by a small chain, pegged into the ground.  Their training starts as babies.  When they try to break free of the chain they’re not strong enough and, eventually, when th...

so embarrassing, and a little bit wonderful

8 Mar 2012 9:11 AM -

On International Women's Day, I'm thinking about the young woman who my teenage daughter is becoming, and about my role in getting her there...

struggling with motivation? try burning your boat

5 Mar 2012 6:42 PM -

Legend has it that ancient Greeks (I promise this won’t be a history lesson), having arrived on foreign shores for battle, torched their boats on the beaches behind them. With no possibility of retreat, they had to s...

which trophies are on your mantelpiece?

5 Mar 2012 6:12 AM -

At some point, (which can’t come soon enough), my toddler is going to work out that the best way to keep me happy is to go along with what I say, even if it means stepping away from the toilet brush and getting out of th...

just finish it!

1 Mar 2012 3:24 PM -

My literary agent has been waiting for the synopsis of my teen trilogy now for a week-ish.

what would you do if you knew you couldn't fail?

27 Feb 2012 7:34 AM -

As babies, we come into the world with only two fears – the fear of falling and the fear of loud noises.  

europe with twin babies? why not!

26 Feb 2012 10:34 AM -

What is it about mums of multiples and their bring-it-on! attitude?

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?