The Lure and habit of complexity!

So I’ve been on a major simplification and minimalism vibe –espousing the many wonders and joys achieved through the art of simplification, slowing down, listening to your own inner voice and being who you want to be! And it was wonderful –I had my new direction all sorted going about my days telling everyone I met about it and encouraging him or her to think about how this could help their treadmill lives.

Yet here I find myself once again sitting with that paralysis brought on by sensory and cerebral overload –completely forgetting my new ethos of less is more! Not a simple thought abounding. Instead I’m focussing on what I am ‘supposed’ to be considering for it all to work. I am plagued by so many ideas, from my head and the heads of others, my task list is getting bigger, and words like ‘should’ and ‘could’ has surpassed ‘want’ in ranking order of my simplification priority list.

 (Some context for this little meltdown)

I am in the throes of planning a new women’s network, which has the grand intention of helping the evolution of all women into full – blown WAGs! (Women Against the Grain). I’ve been consulting experts –my sister – my marketing and brand manager guru – fellow sister WAGs in the making who own their own businesses –also asked google what it thought, you know as one is ‘expected’ to do in this day and age. Every avenue gave lots of valuable ideas and information for my new venture.

Back to my meltdown!

But here I am not able to put a simple thought into my head. Everything I’ve planned and thought about seems inconsequential and a HUGE endeavour! I’d lost sight of my simple intention which is to help us women get focussed on our selves and the lives we want to live not the lives others expect us to live.

Generally people have good intentions, but at the end of the day that’s all they are – good intentions. It’s what we do with what they advise that really counts. What others say has a lot of value all of the time –but it may just not be what you want.

 So what Simple steps can you take when you realise this overload has happened?

1. Find a quiet space to regroup.
2. Go back to your original intent behind what you want to do
3. Find out if it’s still what you want to do.
4. Decide on the changes you want to make.
5. Remind your self about what is most important to you.
6. Only be guided by your ‘wants’ not the ‘shoulds’ and ‘coulds’ – they’re not yours anyway.
7. Then just Do It!

 Seeing the Silver Lining

Well I didn’t get sidetracked for too long –the periods between my realisations of getting off track and out of balance is getting shorter –so I must be doing something right! Another good thing that has come out of my being sucked into busyness is this post! Another confirmation that my long-held writing aspiration is taking hold and who knows – maybe a book will emerge from this journey?

So ALL you WAGs out there – keep forging towards your own WAGdom! If you want to experience any REAL joy, peace and balance in your life – live life on your own terms!

WAGs in business and Social Media!

Just attended a Social Media workshop with 5 other WAGs (women against the grain) and finally realise how it all works – I think!!! It was run by my sister Melody – a marketing guru in my eyes – who finally realised that I was right when I said that there are people out there who are virtually clueless and find social media mystifying and altogether silly!! But at least we WAGs have the copinosity to know that we must find out more about something if it could help our business in some way! For me twitter was a silly phenomenon for silly people who had very little else to do but be sad and follow the sad lives of other silly wannabees!!

But how wrong could I have been! I am so happy to be a twit now! Social Media can be a FANTASTIC tool to assist in marketing your business and brand. I am in awe of what is possible and what it means for my business. Likewise for the other participants in the workshop who’s excitement grew when they also saw the possibilities and potential for their businesses.

We had a rather ambitious agenda of getting to grips with Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and using email as a marketing tool. But in the 3 hours we had we basically covered the basics of Twitter ONLY!!! So Social Media Part 2 in the making!!

We had fun and laughed a lot – which is a great atmosphere for learning. Everybody helped each other where they could share what they knew. It really was a great morning. So look out for me – my twitter name  or handle is inezwoods – tweet tweet!!

When doing Nothing is The thing to do!

So it was that I woke up feeling like the world was literally tilting on its axis! Vertigo! Symptoms included nausea, dizziness and a general feeling of not being connected to ANYTHING! My first reaction? One of victim hood – why me! – Not AGAIN! What have I done wrong!

The reasons behind bad things happening are never simple! Or are they? And making them complex becomes just another time wasting exercise of analysing one’s life to death and into a state of paralysis where nothing happens and a general stuck state ensues.

The thing about addressing this stressed ‘poor me’ state – it can’t be addressed at this particular juncture. Things seem and feel too messed up for any kind of focus to alleviate or do something about the symptoms and causes.

The thing to do when things get messy is – NOTHING!! When embracing and accepting the present shitty feeling is paramount. When clichés like ‘slowing down’ and ‘taking time out’ find their rightful place.

The upside of finding oneself in a place of doom and gloom whether it be physical or emotional causes, things always get better when you’ve taken the time to just be with life. Life ALWAYS has a way of bringing back balance. Think of a life crises you may have had in the past. Did you shrivel up and die? Or did you get through it and somehow thrive even if it was in some little way?

So if you feel overwhelmed right now by actions and decisions you have to make – or the next time you hit a wall of emotional confusion – make it a priority to spend some time to do zilch!

A solution or answer can only come into your life when you make space for it.

This is MY Turf!!

I’ve been planning this Wellness Breakfast event for women recently. Through the process I am learning so much about myself and people in general. Part of the planning includes approaching local women focused businesses to ask if they would like to be involved through sponsorship and support. Responses were very interesting. Some were excited by the prospect of becoming involved in something that could add value to them on a personal level as well as providing  more exposure for their business! These are the people I LOVE and appreciate. Things happen when meet these types of people!

This post is more about the other responses. These people tended to be suspicious and are so self-absorbed that they could not look beyond their fears of lack – always on the look out for someone or something that is going to do them in, in some way or another. So they miss out on opportunities to grow, expand and share their gifts with the world.

Their message is clear: This is My Turf! I worked hard to get this far. I don’t believe things can get better. No one can teach me anything. Whatever I have is just for me! There’s not enough to go around so I must protect what I have!! I had one day of meeting mostly these types and it was hard not to take it personally (which is ridiculous of course). But by the end of that day my energy was low and my own  insecurities came to the fore! Negativity can be infectious unless you keep a watchful eye on the voices in your head.

So which type are you?

 

So Who is in the Driver’s seat of Your Life?

We all strive for bigger, better and more. A better car, a higher position, a better AND bigger television, a slimmer body, more money, the list is endless! But where’s the bigger, better quality of life? A life where more is NOT necessarily better.

It starts with dealing with the reasons behind the endless striving. Do we ever take the time to think about what motivates us and why? Or are we just trudging along with what everybody else is doing or just following the legacy handed down by our parents?

What about what we REALLY want to do? Do we even know what that is? Deep down I believe that we all know what we want we just don’t believe that it is possible. Historically society does not nurture difference. We’re told that our dreams are not realistic and therefore not possible. We’ve all come across friend and family members who say ‘out of love and friendship’ that what we’re doing or thinking about doing is not a good idea or ‘unrealistic’. Very few celebrate our achievements and those of others with genuine honesty. It seems that there is an unspoken syndrome of begrudging attitudes regarding the fortunes of others. And we’re all guilty of this in some way.

Why? It makes us aware of our own inadequacies, of how we are NOT living our own lives, realising our own dreams so we beat others down those who dare to be ‘different’ – those who dare to be happy!

We need to celebrate and encourage change and difference in the world.

So I challenge you is to connect with your own life –focus on living your own best life and become a champion for helping others realise theirs.

Hello world!

Welcome ALL!

Particularly all the members of the fairer sex!! This site is solely dedicated to helping all you wonderful, phenomenal women out there in CREATING AND LIVING YOUR BEST LIFE!

Please feel free to make comments, suggestions or add any information you may have to help us women find more peace in mind, body and spirit.

Yours

Inez