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to all the new subscribers since last month.
Contents Part 1 - Welcome! Part 2 - Recommended Read Part 3 - Products / Special Offers Part 4 - Feature Article - I'll start living when... Part 5 - Media Interest Part 6 - Organizations - Taking Time To See The Bigger Picture Part 7 - Support For Partners Of Workaholics Part 8 - The SaVVy Club - Make some time for fun in your life Part 1 - Welcome! [Back to Top] Dear Recovering Workaholic, Welcome to this our nineteenth newsletter for Recovering Workaholics. How many times do you say to yourself, "I'll do what I really want when... I've finished the project... when I've got that next promotion... When I make Director... When I have become a multi millionaire." How often have you missed a date with your significant other, or an important milestone in your child's lives or thought I'll make time to find my soul mate and true love once I am successful (on my terms). It is a very common pattern for workaholics. Whilst it does have a positive impact on achieving your professional goals make no mistake such choices have a significant impact on your quality of life and your future emotional, spiritual and physical health over the long term. This month's article focuses on learning to live in the moment. If you would like some help to deal with any of the issues raised in this newsletter please contact us directly. Recovering Workaholics is a growing concern. We offer 1:1 coaching, and training to facilitate those who want a truly satisfying life. Understanding what drives you to work to the point where love, happiness and fulfilment have become the poor relation is the first step to creating a life you truly love. We can help you work towards achieving your "dream" life. We provide support for those facing retirement or who have recently retired, ideal for those who want to embrace a new stage in their lives. Redundancy can be a very stressful time, let us help you make the most of the opportunity it offers. Call today and take the first step to work- life passion on (0)1708 703 959. If you know of anyone who would be interested in working with us please let us know by contacting us on info@recoveringworkaholics.com or phone on (0)1708 703 959. Make 2008 the year when you took consistent action to make a positive difference to the quality of your own life and for those who work with you. Call today to sign up for a free no obligation coaching session and take the first step to the future you deserve! With best wishes, Gina
Gardiner Recovering
Workaholics Part 2 - Recommended Read [Back to Top]
The Alchemist is the story of Santiago, an Andalusian shepherd boy who dreams of traveling the world in search of a treasure as extravagant as any ever found. From his home in Spain he journeys to the exotic markets of Tangiers and then into the Egyptian desert, where a fateful encounter with the alchemist awaits him. The Alchemist is an unforgettable novel about the essential wisdom of listening to our heart and above all following our dreams. A really heart warming read.
Offers lots of practical strategies for managers to help get the very best of their staff as individuals and as a team. Everything in the book has been tried and tested in a variety of organizations; it is a distillation of over 30 years experience of developing leadership at every level. The book does not attempt to teach grandmothers or grandfathers to suck eggs, but offers tried and tested principles, strategies and ideas which have been proven to work. Time, energy and money are all very precious resources and all three seem to be in short supply for most busy managers. How YOU Can Manage Your Staff More Effectively (And Pave The Way To Your Next Promotion) Can help! Dip into it if you are facing specific issues or use the comprehensive approach to underpin ongoing and sustained individual and team development. It has relevance for experienced managers who want to share good practice and for aspiring leaders who want to develop and deepen their leadership skills. The book covers a wide range of issues including
How YOU Can Manage Your Staff More Effectively (And Pave The Way To Your Next Promotion) will stand alone but you will find it useful to use it in conjunction with the companion book Kick Start Your Career.
This book is designed for new initiates into the business world and graduates who are ambitious and want to create a successful career for themselves. It is a no nonsense, jargon free manual, full of practical ideas and strategies to support the development of leadership from day one. These books can be ordered via our web site at www.recoveringworkaholics.com/booksandcds.php. Part 3 - Products and Special Offers! [Back to Top] The three new CDs that we mentioned last month are now available to buy from www.recoveringworkaholics.com/booksandcds.php. We have produced them especially for you to tackle the most common problems that seem to affect many of our members. They are available as CDs and are also available as downloadable MP3 files.
| Relaxation CD 1 - A Spanish ThemeTake time out of your busy and stressful day to relax. True relaxation is known to reduce stress levels, lower blood pressure, clear the mind and leave you feeling alert, refreshed and ready to tackle the rest of your day with renewed energy and vigor. "A Spanish Theme" uses a mixture of guided imagery and deep breathing exercises to take you on an intensely relaxing journey. Stress is sited as the cause of over 500,000 days of absence a year in the UK alone. It represents a huge cost in both economic and personal terms. In order to deal with it we must first understand what it is and what causes it. Where stress is detrimental people are often in situations where they feel they have little control. Sustained exposure to such negative situations can have serious implications for the health and well being of the individual and ultimately for the organization as a whole Relaxation is a powerful tool to combat stress. Learning to take time out, to truly relax has been proven to lower blood pressure, improve mental acuity and reduce stress. Our Relaxation Tape with a Spanish theme is the first in a series of relaxation tapes created by Gina Gardiner associates. Using
visualization, guided imagery and deep breathing
exercises take time out of your hectic day
to unwind, de-stress and relax!
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Beat Insomnia CD - Retrain Your Sleep Pattern Without DrugsSleep is vital to our health and sense of wellbeing. We need it as much as we need food and water and the air we breathe. It is during sleep that the body rests and repairs itself. Good quality sleep leaves us feeling refreshed, re-energized and ready to face the new day. Insomnia affects most people at some time during their lives. For many it is a passing phase caused because of a stressful event in their lives. For chronic sufferers it becomes a way of life. Although it is not life-threatening it can and does threaten the quality of life for many sufferers leaving them frustrated, exhausted and feeling low. "Beat Insomnia" uses deep trance techniques to help you retrain your sleep pattern without drugs. Use "Beat Insomnia" to get a great nights sleep and make Insomnia a thing of the past.
| Confidence Building CD - Creating the Confident YouWe all feel less confident in certain situations. This CD is designed to help you feel confident in any situation. It uses tried and tested NLP techniques to help you develop the confidence you need to tackle new social situations or when gicing an important presentation or interview.
Developing confidence is about much more than learning to do an activity better. It is about changing how we feel about ourselves and dealing with our thoughts and beliefs. It is about facing the things we fear and being curious about why we fear them. Use "Creating the Confident You" to learn to push through the fear and create a world of limitless possibilities, where you are in control of your own destiny. We expect the following titles to be available later in the year.
For any further information or advice about CDs contact info@recoveringworkaholics.com or phone 01708 703959 Part 4 - Feature Article[Back to Top] I'LL START LIVING WHEN... There are three dimensions of time; the past, the present and the future. To live a healthy and productive life we need to balance living with all three. Let me explain what I mean. The past has much to teach us. Indeed life often throws us the same experience dressed up in a variety of guises until we learn the lessons. Let me give you an example. Why is it that so many people have one disastrous relationship after another. They choose the same type of people, behave in the same way and get the same results over and over again. Once we learn the lessons the past offers us, the ingrained beliefs can be transformed and as a result the choices we make and patterns of our behaviour change. The past offers us all the opportunity to understand how what we believe drives how we behave. Learning how to behave differently is not as hard as you might think. Being open to the possibility is often all it takes to start the process. Understanding that everything we do or fail to do is actually a matter of choice moves the process on enormously. If you stay stuck in the past, always looking back; either wishing that the present was good as the past has been or constantly regretting what has been and wishing things had been different and the best that the present has to offer remains unnoticed. If your attention is always on the future, chasing the next goal, constantly striving for something just out of reach you miss the precious gift of the here and now. There is a danger that by the time you wake up to what is going on you will have missed out on so many potentially wonderful experiences. It that point and you are liable to find yourself retiring from work. Workaholics often do so with no personal interests, no one special to share your time with and no sense of who you are when you are not being the professional you. Getting the balance right is important, if you never give a thought to the future – to setting any goals or planning for future needs and how to protect them you are likely to fall short of fulfilling your potential growth and find yourself in difficulty, financially if nothing else. Workaholics in my experience focus almost exclusively on the future and their goals both short and long term. They constantly defer living in the here and now as they are busy chasing the dream, which they believe will bring them happiness. Whilst they are busy chasing their dream they leave their significant others to manage as best they can. Workaholics are convinced that they are working hard to provide a good future for themselves and their loved ones. They calculate the cost of a lost present very differently to their partners. In the ongoing struggle to achieve ever more success there is no time just to be… to stop and stare or to smell the roses. Talk to most workaholics and they have little idea how to relax and enjoy the moment. The concept is alien to them and they find it most uncomfortable. They see no reason why anyone would want to do it. Here are my top ten tips to learning to live in the moment, they are designed to fit in with a busy schedule and are just a starting point, they may appear inconsequential but done regularly they start to have a profound effect.. 1) As you wake up each morning spend a couple of minutes breathing deeply. Breathe in deeply to the count of 2, hold it for 4 and breathe out to 4. As you breathe be conscious of exactly how each part of your body is feeling. 2) Tell yourself that you choose to be happy today and that you will find time to enjoy this day to the full. (Once past it is gone forever.) 3) As you take your shower or bath in the morning be conscious of how the water feels on your skin. Feel the temperature of the water and the sensation of the soap or shower gel on your skin. Contrast that with the roughness of the towel or the softness of your robe. 4) During the day stop and take a small amount of time to consciously notice your surroundings. Use each of your senses in turn, what can you smell or hear, look for the colour or texture of things around you. Be aware of how you are feeling. Even five minutes out of your busy day done on a regular basis will make a difference. 5) Smile, and make a conscious decision to make someone you pass in the corridor or lift to smile back. Be aware of how it makes you feel. 6) Create five small random acts of kindness during your day. They could be a simple as letting a fellow driver out of a side turning or helping someone with their bag. Notice how it makes you feel. 7) Do something, which makes you smile or laugh each day. Be conscious of how you feel when you laugh. 8) As you travel to or from work take the opportunity to observe an aspect of nature. Look at the sky – see the cloud formation or look at how the trees are moving with the wind, look at the individual petals of a flower, or watch the raindrops making a pattern on the train window. 9) Set time aside within your busy timetable. Plan your time over a week or fortnightly cycle. Set aside time each week to enjoy simply for now. A quiet time to walk with no other intention than to enjoy it, or time to spend with your significant other. 10) Just before you go to sleep think of five things which you have been grateful for during the day. They can be as small or as significant as you choose. May be it is time to start living now rather than waiting for your real "life" to begin once you have achieved professional success. The danger is that by the time you are ready to "live" you may be on your own or your health will have suffered in the mean time. If you need help why not work with a coach to take control of your life and make it outstanding! If you would like a free 30 minute coaching session to explore how you could improve the relationship you have with yourself contact me on info@recoveringworkaholics.com Part 5 - Media Interest [Back to Top] Some of you may have heard the feature on Womans Hour on Thursday 25th April which focused on the difficulties that living with a workaholic creates. If you would like to hear that feature please visit the BBC web site at http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/womanshour/03/2008_17_thu.shtml The meeting with Robin Squires was interesting. MPs face their own challenges with work life balance as the significant needs of their constituency and Parliament mean spending long periods of time away from the family leaving them with very little personal time. If you are aware of anything interesting in the media relating to work life balance please let us know on info@recoveringworkaholics.com. Also, if you see anything about our organization in any publication not mentioned by us we would be very much like to hear about it on info@recoveringworkaholics.com. Part 6
- Organizations
[Back to Top] Successful leaders and managers have the ability to step back from the frenetic Day-to- day operation or their department so that they can see the bigger picture. Military leaders of the past would seek out a vantage spot high over the field of battle. From that vantage point they plan their strategy. They could determine how best to deploy their troops, which areas had the potential for ambush and where they could find the best advantage. The principles are very similar in the modern professional world of business. Time for strategic thinking and seeing the bigger picture is vital if you are to stay ahead of your competitors. Why is it so important? Many people who are in positions of leadership find themselves too busy doing the day to day stuff to think strategically. They spend their time fire fighting and reacting to the needs of the day and as a result leave themselves and their team vulnerable to their competitors. Failing to think strategically makes it difficult to identify the most effective and efficient ways of working. Decisions are more likely to be made on the hoof and resourcing those decisions are more costly as there is little opportunity to plan or source raw materials or equipment more cheaply. There is little time to plan training so staff feel pressured and perform at less than optimum levels. Creating time for strategic thinking is a real challenge for some managers. There are a number of strategies which do help. 1) Plan in time for strategic planning in your diary. Make an appointment with yourself and/or your Senior Management Team on a regular basis. 2) Delegate effectively – it not only creates time for strategic thinking but also develops the leadership and management skills of your team. 3) Working with an Executive Coach – time is created in the diary, there is a legitimate space for thinking. An Executive Coach provides challenges to help you clarify your thinking and ensures you are working at an appropriately strategic level. 4) Create or join a Master Mind Group where there is a high level of trust and challenge to your thinking. 5) Use the metaphor of the military campaigner and consider how your team is operating currently. Think about your long term goals. What is working to help you achieve them, what is working against you. Consider how the land lies, who your allies are and potential threats. Plan how you will win not only the current battle but also the war. If
you would like to work with an Executive Coach
contact us at Part 7- Support For Partners Of Workaholics [Back to Top] There is now a monthly Newsletter designed for the partners of Workaholics. This can be accessed by going to www.recoveringworkaholics.com/partners.php. Part 8- The SaVVy Club® [Back to Top] Too busy working? When was the last time you had some fun? The SaVVy Club® is London's First Boutique Events Club. With the finest selection of once-in-a-lifetime experiences and events featuring late previews and first nights for the theatre, opera and musicals, gourmet cuisine, connoisseur wine tastings, VIP exclusives and more, there is something to suit the most discerning taste. Members tend to work in senior management and executive capacities. They have rewarding careers rather than jobs and want to live life to the full but don't necessarily have the time to organize it. Does that sound like you? If so, then The SaVVy Club® is the perfect solution for you as we organize exclusive, intimate events of the highest quality allowing you to quickly meet a whole variety of people who live and work in London whilst enjoying some exclusive nights out. All you have to do is turn up and have fun. By joining our exclusive membership you will be able to indulge in some of our forthcoming events. These include a trip to the theatre to see one of the world's greatest ballet companies, the Stuttgart Ballet, a day rubbing shoulders with the rich and famous at Royal Ascot and the opportunity to catch the last night's performance of A Midsummer's Night Dream at the Shakespeare's Globe. Isn't it about time you made an appointment for yourself, and not the diary? For more information, Your feedback is greatly appreciated. If there are any topics you would like covered in future issues please let me know on info@recoveringworkaholics.com or complete the feeedback form at www.recoveringworkaholics.com/enquiryform.php. What do you think? Warmest
wishes, ******** For
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