I spend time here encouraging and supporting full-time professional personal historians.
But what about those of you who may be wondering if it’s time to give up being a personal historian all together? Remember there’s nothing wrong with quitting. I wrote about giving up in a previous post Stop With The Productivity Pitches!
I’ve changed careers at least four times in my life. From my experience here are the clues that tell you enough is enough…Read more.
Posted in How to, Personal Care, Self-employed, Tips
Tagged Business, health, How to, moving on, Personal historian, quitting, self employed, time, Tips
This isn’t an easy post to write.
Many who are regular readers of my blog will know that my Mom died in December. The sadness surrounding her death has lessened. Now I’m faced with the reality of cleaning out her condominium and getting it ready to put on the market. I’ve made progress and there’s still much to do.
In addition to this and my regular work commitments, I’m also leading a 3-day training program in April for a new group of Victoria Hospice Life Stories volunteers. And in May I’m giving a workshop on Life Stories at the annual conference of the British Columbia Hospice and Palliative Care Association.
I’ve been feeling overwhelmed and need to make some changes.
Starting next week I’ll only post articles twice rather than three times a week. The Monday’s link roundup will continue with fresh updates as will an Encore! article drawn from my extensive archives. When I can get my head above water, I’ll look at resuming my regular postings.
I’ll miss writing for you. I feel a real connection, especially with those of you starting your personal history businesses. While I’ll not be composing much original material for a while, I haven’t gone away. I’m always available for advice or help. Just ask.
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Photo by LOSINPUN
You’re not alone. Research shows that the majority of all resolutions fail within 6 months. So why do we bother?
I think we make resolutions because we want to be better people. We see weaknesses and want to fix them. There’s nothing wrong with this impulse but there’s a better way of going about it than making resolutions.
The other day I came across an article by Chris Brogan, My 3 Words for 2012. I was intrigued. Chris’s approach is to dig deep and find three words that’ll act as your polestar as you navigate the new year.
To me Brogan’s idea of “3 words” is similar to resolutions but acts more as a mantra – a way to remind yourself on a daily basis to hold your course.
Having 3 words is a start. You can assure yourself greater success by doing the following:
What are the 3 words that’ll guide you through 2012? Why not share them here. I’d love to hear from you.
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Posted in How to, Inspiration, Personal Care, Tips
Tagged 3words, Chris Brogan, failure, How to, keeping, New Year, New Year's Resolutions, research, Tips, words
It’s time to stop the rushing and working and worrying. You can always pick that up later. For now, as we come to the end of another year, let’s all take a deep breath and calm ourselves. As my holiday present, I’ve put together a little virtual retreat for you. You’ll find some wonderful calming images, music, books, and quotations below… Read more.
Posted in Holidays, How to, Inspiration, Personal Care
Tagged calmness, end of year, Holidays, How to, Inspiration, personal care, reducing stress, stress reduction
At 85 Tony Bennett is an inspiration. He’s just released his latest album Duets II and is on the road promoting it. How does he do all this without getting burnt out? The answer comes in an interview he gave Jacob Richler in Zoomer magazine. He said,
As soon as you get burnt out singing, you go over to painting. As soon as you get burned out painting, you go back to singing – and it feels new again, every time. Maybe if you just did one thing, eventually you’d say to yourself, ‘I’ve got to take a vacation and get away from this.’ I never feel burnt out. To me, I’m on perpetual vacation. I’m very fortunate.
How can we put these wise words into practice in our own lives?
First we need to be aware of the signs of burnout. These include exhaustion, emotional numbness, lack of motivation, hopelessness, depression, and disengagement. Many of us have been there at some time in our working lives. That’s why people opt out of the “rat race” and become self-employed in professions like personal history.
But being self-employed and running a personal history business is no guarantee that we won’t get burnt out. In fact being passionate about our work can unwittingly draw us into bad habits – neglecting exercise, meals grabbed on the run, late nights, no down time, and over commitment.
What Bennett is saying about avoiding burnout is that we need to take a complete break from what we’re doing and focus on something entirely different.
Here’s how to put Bennett’s prescription into practice:
To get you in the mood for a well deserved break, kick off your shoes, settle back, and have a listen to k.d. lang & Tony Bennett and Because of You.
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Photo by Lee Bennett
Posted in How to, Personal Care, Personal historian, Self-employed, Tips
Tagged burned out, burnout, burnt out, Duets II, How to, joy, Personal historian, prevention, self-care, Tips, Tony Bennett
If I were able to go back to when I began as a personal historian, what’s the best advice I could give myself? Here’s what I’d say… Read more.
Posted in How to, Marketing, Personal Care, Personal historian, Self-employed, Tips
Tagged best advice, Business, Business plan, How to, key, Marketing plan, Personal historian, self employed, small business, Tips
Posted in Home Office, Personal Care, Personal historian, Self-employed, Tips
Tagged freelancers, Holidays, How to, overworked, Personal historian, personal-care, self employed, time off, Tips, vacation
Posted in Conferences, How to, Personal Care, Tips
Tagged conferences, guide, How to, introverts, survival, Tips
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