Do you know why you're here?

As this week's workshop is about success and on 21st May we're holding Work & YOU, our one-day workshop all about work and how to make your work life as successful (fulfilling, enjoyable, lucrative etc) as you want it to be, I wanted to let you read the story of someone who came on this workshop the last time we ran it. It's heart-warming and I hope will inspire you to come along to the workshop too.

"In 2001, by the age of 22 I had got my MBA in India and was working as a management consultant in the Health Sector. I’d also been writing poems and short stories and won some prizes so I enrolled myself on a one-year ‘Writing for Performance and Publication’ course in Leeds - I wanted to see the world. It was wonderful. I met my partner, Robin, in March 2009 and decided to stay in the UK with him.

I didn’t have a job to go to and found it was tough to get work. I ended up going back to India for a short consultancy job which used my skills. When I arrived back in the UK in April 2010, again I found it very difficult to get work. I tried temporary work, but even in shops no-one wanted to give me a job. I think employers were hesitant to give work to an unknown, plus I was over-qualified in some ways and under qualified in others - I knew nothing about retail.

In April I went to a Life Club Work workshop. I was nervous about going, but Robin was keen I should attend. I clearly remember an exercise in which I was asked to think about how a tiger would find a job. Lynne (one of the Hosts) asked me what a tiger does. I replied ‘It hunts’. She then asked me ‘What does it do before it hunts?’ and I replied ‘It goes to the waterhole and finds its prey’. By the end of the day I was thinking about how the tiger conserves energy, collects information and then goes for the kill and knew that’s what I had to do if I wanted to find a job.

The workshop gave me lots of ideas and left me full of enthusiasm. Eight months later I’ve got some consultancy work and am also working in retail. I feel much more confident and the effect of the workshop has lasted a long time – it’s stayed with me.

I’ve even been looking at jobs in PR agencies so I can use my writing skills. I’m not giving up. The tiger is watching out, waiting to pounce."

I feel inspired just reading it. Come and be successful too!
Best wishes,
Nina

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Alone at last...

This week's workshop is about the stories we tell ourselves, so I've been particularly interested in the stories I tell myself about my past, my present and my future. I can get stuck in an 'I had such an unhappy childhood' or 'I'm no good at anything' or 'my future is going to be rubbish', so when my close friend, Annie Lionnet (host of Frome Life Club), came round last night and offered to do my Tarot Cards I said 'Yes' as quick as a shot.

If I'm honest, I don't know what the big deal about Tarot Cards is at all, except that they're a great way of starting a conversation and telling a few stories.

We spread mine out on the table and Annie (the expert) looked at them in a rather confused manner and said 'I don't know what to make of them at all', but as she started explaining what each card symbolised it was totally clear to me.

Right now I'm fighting dragons and gathering a team around me to fight more of them. The first tentative coins of our toils are coming in and I'm starting to see a calm sea stretching out from the turbulence I'm in. Ahead there's success - lots of sheep and a family to leave my legacy too. So it's all very exciting.

But the card that puzzled Annie the most was The Hermit, sitting at the top marking my future. 'Yes' I told her excitedly 'That's my future'. Once I've succeeded in my mission of making the world a happier, better place, I can rest and be quiet with those I love. It fitted in perfectly.

Right now I'm very visible and trying to become more so. But watch this space. Once I disappear, you'll know I feel I've done what I wanted to do.

Stories are everywhere and within and without us. Come along this week and find your internal Tarot Cards - and how easy it is to weave a good plot or two.

And do hurry and book for our Work & You workshop. Places are selling fast. Do tell your friends if you know they're troubled at work or want to find a career they love.

Hope you have a great weekend,
Nina

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You don't have to get drunk in order to succeed... or do you?

This week's Life Clubs workshop was all about success. I haven't chosen this picture because of David Cameron's success, or even Nick Clegg's for that matter, but keep reading and you'll find out why.

Success is one of those bizarre words (or maybe all words are like this... green, happy, tyre?) that means different things to different people. But one thing most of us seem quite clear about is that you don't really understand success until you've experienced failure.

What's wonderful is that they're often linked.

I remember I used to get really despondent when I failed at something. I felt depressed, beat myself up and generally got into a funk. It took a friend of mine to turn it all around and ask me what I was learning from each failure to get me to see things differently.

Now I relish failure because I can see it as such a helpful learning for what not to do next time. We had a party on Wednesday for members of the HR community and I was running up and down the stairs for more coffee - learning: get a thermos - and on and on it goes.

So, back to the picture. It's all about my son who, in his teens, went out drinking one night and dropped off to sleep on the last bus home. It was a long walk back contemplating his failure, but as he got to Lambeth Bridge and looked at the sun rise over the river (we live near the Houses of Parliament), he thought how beautiful London was and how lucky he was to live here. He found the success in the failure.

Enjoy finding your success. And, I hope you enjoy this Monet. Oh the success to be able to paint like that.

All best,
Nina
PS Our relationships workshop was a wow!!! If you'd like to come to the last workshop in this series - in aid of Marie Curie charity - do let us know now. It's all about YOU and fast booking up.

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