Where To Next?

Starting over

Since returning to Melbourne I have been taking stock and fine tuning my personal and business focus. Having lived mainly in Singapore for something over ten years, it has taken time to readjust. Although I was expecting some ‘culture shock’, and thought I was prepared, I’ve still been taken by surprise! Melbourne has sometimes felt as much a new culture as a homecoming and I’ve experienced confusion, chaos, and inner conflict along the way as I started another new chapter in my life.

As a person who sees her professional identity as partnering in the process of transformational change, I’ve found myself relearning and deepening my own experience of change! At times, I’ve felt extremely frustrated as potential projects receded repeatedly into the middle distance. Life has sometimes felt like, ‘just one damn thing after another!’ And I’ve had to remind myself that ‘Whenever it starts is the right time’. In all of this, I’ve been nudged along to become a little more self-accepting and little gentler in my self-talk, somewhat more prepared to allow for everything taking longer than anticipated, a little less inclined to take things personally when life doesn’t work out as expected, a little more open to unforeseen possibilities, and a little less attached to specific outcomes. But still very much a work in progress!

Setting Personal Boundaries and Saying No

As the end of the year approaches, I’ve been reviewing my recent efforts to see where I can do more of what works for me and less of what doesn’t. Economists talk about ‘opportunity cost’, meaning that if we choose to see the latest film with our friends, we may have to forego the pleasure of our favourite TV show. Saying yes to one thing inevitably implies saying no to something else. For me this process is also about noticing and monitoring my personal boundaries on a regular basis and using the no word to give me greater freedom to be myself. Here’s an article that gives practical suggestions on how to say no gracefully but assertively as well as where and when this can be practiced.

http://www.selfgrowth.com/articles/tillman6.html

Conversations

One of the things I enjoy most is talking with like-minded people whose experience and expertise complement my own. Over the last year I have been fortunate in meeting several such people and one of them is Stuart Tripp, a motivational speaker whose passion is encouraging people in learning to learn. His company is Successful Outcomes and he is living up to the name as he encourages people, especially those just starting or about to start their adult life to take charge of themselves, set goals, and work towards achieving successful outcomes for themselves. He is one who walks the talk, having had more than his share of change and apparent setbacks in his own life and having learnt from his own experience and found his own answers on how to live success in his life.

Over the past few months, Stuart and I have been meeting regularly, sharing our professional interests and exploring possible ways of working together. We’ve found we share a common interest in working with people who are wondering what the next step in life is for them. Stuart has worked extensively with people who are starting their work life, while my own interest has been more focused on people in mid-life who are making a career change or who find themselves having to readjust their expectations as companies merge, downsize, or restructure, or industries collapse or change focus. Both these groups – and others – are faced with adjusting to the ‘new economy’ in which they may feel marginalized and very much on their own. We decided it might be timely to offer a workshop for people with these and similar concerns.

Where to next?

Where to Next – Issues and Opportunities is a 2-day workshop for people of all ages wanting to find new ways of creating a sustainable lifestyle and alternative approaches to building community. We’d like people who have already found different ways to ‘live outside the box’ to come along and share their experience. Are you an entrepreneur, an independent consultant or a practitioner in private practice? You’re invited to network with us to gain deeper understanding of the needs of some of your potential customers and clients. Or are you one of those who opt for a mundane part-time job that keeps you afloat while you put your main energies into following your passion? We invite you to come along and find some synergy with others in your position. Or have you perhaps joined the rising number of people keeping their regular expenses to a minimum by house sitting while you network with community groups with shared interests? Come along and share with us some of the ways you and your networks are developing community with others. Or are you simply interested in working collaboratively to develop new ways of adapting to our fast changing social and economic circumstances?

Where to next? Issues and Opportunities invites you to join Stuart and myself to address issues relating to our changing social and economic conditions and the implications of this for our work opportunities, family and social life and communities. On the first day, Stuart will lead off by sharing some of his experience and inviting discussion through interactive participation in a range of small group activities. On the second day we will use Open Space Technology to address specific issues identified by participants. Open Space Technology is a process of working collaboratively in a large or small group to address people’s real needs and agree on doing something about them. It is has been found to work very effectively when the issues are complex, the points of view are many and divergent, and the people involved have concerns that they are prepared to do something about it. I will be inviting participants, by the end of Sunday, to identify a number of issues to continue to explore after the workshop. So if you choose to participate, expect to be surprised at some of the practical and creative outcomes.

To register ...

If you're able to make it, I look forward to seeing you at Where to Next.

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Transformasia Pty Ltd
ACN 097 139 725
Tel: +61 3 9525 3409
E-mail:
www.transformasia.com.au