UTurn^TV

Toward the end of 2005 I was working for a very large blue chip organisation as a Service Desk Team Leader.  This role involved me managing a team of approximately 80 staff who were responsible for delivering technical support via the telephone to some 19,000 end users.  It was an incredibly demanding role, partly because I needed to recruit and train 60 or so new staff within 3 months!  This meant I worked incredibly long hours, had to constantly respond to what felt like minute by minute changes and over a period of 9 months or so became incredibly stressed.  Needless to say my mental and physical well being went gradually downhill.

When I had first been employed my salary was in line with someone managing 20 staff.  As the scope of my role had changed so dramatically during the course of 2005 I attempted to address this with my manager.  Like many organisations these conversations were diverted, delayed and discussed ad nauseum without any real progress being made.

Eventually I reached the point of no return and decided to resign.  At the time it felt like the scariest thing I had ever done.  I had no job lined up, no prospect of any work and absolutely no idea what I was going to do.  The only thing I did know was that I was doing the right thing for me – even if I had no idea how I was going to pay the bills in 2006!

With just over a week to go before I left I was travelling to Scotland by train to work at another site for a few days.   I had a bit of time to kill and found myself wandering around W H Smiths in Newcastle Central Station browsing the book section.  Paul McKenna’s book Change Your Life in Seven Days practially leapt into my hands and taking into consideration how much time I had left at my job it seemed like the perfect travelling companion.  Not only that but my morale was so low at this point that I felt I had nowhere to go but up and if a book and a CD was going to help then so be it.

Contained within the book was a CD which I was supposed to listen to for 7 days as well as reading the book.  The book, in truth, didn’t particularly inspire me and I thought the idea of my very strong mind being ‘hypnotised’ into thinking differently seemed laughable.  However, always one to do things properly, I thought the least I could do is perservere now that I had spent my money!

Back in the Newcastle office four days later, I virtually bounced into the office with a grin on my face looking like I had won the lottery!  One of my colleagues took me to one side during a quiet moment and said “You’ve got a job haven’t you?”.  When I replied that I hadn’t his next question was; “Well what’s changed?  You seem extremely happy.”  It was only then that I realised I did actually feel extremely happy.  Looking back it had crept up on me over the last day or two and I hadn’t really noticed because I had been so busy.  With the weekend about to start I didn’t really pay the conversation a great deal of attention as I was just looking forward to two days off.

The following Monday involved another trip to Scotland but as it was my last few days in the job I didn’t really mind.  Over the weekend I had tried to do a little bit of creative thinking about how to secure some employment in the New Year.  I sent my CV to someone I had met who I could trust to tell me the truth about the content and quality of my work experience and skills and whether I could seriously consider becoming a self-employed contractor.  One of the most valuable skills I had learned as a manager was to get as much feedback as possible about any aspect of my work so I was more than happy to hear whatever my contact had to say.

To my absolute astonishment he contacted me a day or two later and offered to put my CV forward for a contractors role that he had become aware of.  A few conversations and one meeting later I had secured a very lucrative piece of work which was perfect for my skills and experience.

I will never be able to say with any real accuracy how much the book and CD made to my confidence levels or indeed whether the very act of buying the book was the point at which I realised I needed to do something significant to change my circumstances.  The fact is, seven days after I had read the book and had listened to the CD for 7 days my life changed for the better.

Can I give all of the credit to Paul McKenna and his book and CD?  Probably not.  Would I like to hug him and say a huge thank you?  Definitely.  And if I ever meet him he will have to watch out!

This book changed my life for the better.  As with many ‘personal development’ books, you will take out of it what you need but I would definitely recommend giving it a go if you are in a ‘stuck situation’ and need to find a bit of momentum.

I would love to hear from you, particularly if you’ve used it and had some success – or not – either way it would just be good to hear from you.

Much love

Jules

Buy the book by clicking this link - Change Your Life in Seven Days (Book & CD)

For those of  you out there who run your own businesses as I do you will understand some of the challenges that I sometimes face.  The continuing search for clients, balancing the books, delivering a quality service or product and just generally staying consistently on top of your game can be a real battle.  As  I work in the personal development and training arena which means we have the added challenge of having to ensure that I check in on my work/life balance and make sure it’s not overly tipped one way or the other, otherwise I could easily be seen as a hypocrite.

So far, the majority of my clients have come to me either through recommendation from existing clients or because they met me face to face and instantly ‘got me.’  This is wonderfully gratifying and it means that I know that everyone I deliver to is there because they understand that they will have a moment of clarity about the issues they are facing and be in a much better state of mind than when they first came to me.

In the last few weeks as I have been upping my game I have had a number of conversations with others where I have had to stand still and check in on what I am doing to make sure I am still on track. Given my line of work it is inevitable and right that I should do this.  I’m sure most of you out there do the same thing but I wonder how often you change direction, even by a tiny amount, based on how influenced you have been by outside forces.

Clearly there are some outside forces, such as the economy, which many of you have had no choice but to adapt to in order to survive.  However, I do wonder how much we are influenced to change direction and later regret it because we didn’t stay true to our core beliefs, what we are truly good at and what we love doing.

Whilst I will never have a problem with change for the better I think sometimes it’s very easy to think that an idea proposed or an opinion given should be cogitated over, absorbed and implemented.  For those of you who run your businesses alone, not having someone to bounce ideas off when these new shiny things jump up and down at you can be a much greater challenge.

I know that sometimes from the outside my work can be seen as ‘namby pamby’, ‘weird’ or just plain daft.  Added to that I tend to approach things in my own quirky, unique way which may look unconventional but really really works for me and my clients.

I never check out ‘the competition’ because I know it would be a waste of time and energy, and whilst some businesses need to do this to survive, it will never work for me.  I don’t do suits.  I would probably lose the will to live if I had to wear a suit to win a piece of business.  I don’t do brochures because I know that the majority of them will end up in the bin and a piece of paper could never express who I am. I dare to be different.  And it makes me very happy to work this way.  And ultimately, isn’t that the point?

I am so looking forward to growing my business in the way that I have chosen to do.  And what if I fail I hear some of you cry?  Not an option.  I love what I do too much for the money not to follow.

I would love to hear from you and particularly if you have some daring ideas on how you want to run your business but think it might be a bit too ‘out there’.

I wish you much love and joy and hope that life is treating you amazingly well.

Jules

Jules talks about her experiences with people who believe they cannot change and asks – Do you settle for who you are?

There is a great deal of scientific information out there that proves that we are made of energy.  It’s what propels us forward and it’s what we need to feel good and alive.  You know if you have been eating too much of the wrong food or drinking too much alcohol and not doing any exercise that your energy levels will drop and stay fairly low until you make some positive changes.

However, have you ever noticed that some people seem to drain you of your energy?  In meetings, social occasions or just casually bumping into someone can sometimes leave you feeling like you’ve had someone turn your energy tap on and drained the lot out of you.  I’m sure you know the people I’m talking about – the girl with relationship problems who you keep trying to help but the relationship never seems to improve or end, the mate with the dreadful boss who keeps asking your advice but has been in the job for years and the family member who talks and talks to you about their lives and problems but never seems to be interested in what’s going on in your life.  I’m sure we can all identify someone like that in our lives.

Many of us are very happy giving away our energy by the bucketload because we care enough about something or someone to do so. However, what happens if after a day of happy energy giving that you find yourself in the company of an Energy Vampire?  You’re pretty much done for!  Not only could you find yourself drained of energy but you might also have that niggling worm of resentment and negativity starting to wriggle away in your everyday thoughts.

Energy Vampires in the main do not consciously try and drain us of our energy, they just do what works for them because after they’ve been with sympathetic, caring, giving you – they feel great!

If you lose energy through having someone ‘take’ it from you, even if it is unconsciously, logic dictates that you need to find some energy from somewhere else.  I have discovered that the best way of recovering my energy reserves is to do the things I love such as meditation, yoga or just being by myself not doing much.

What you may find is that once you have identified your EV you will begin to ‘see’ them draining you of your energy.  You might even find that you can change your way of interacting with them that stops them from taking it from you.

Do you know who your EV is? And do you know what you do or need to do to recharge?  Please write and let me know your thoughts – I would love to hear from you.  And as I promise to reply to all messages you can have some of my energy for free and with my love!