Name: Amanda Hamilton               Twitter name: @ dreamingspain

What is your main Change challenge at present?

Shifting my focus between managing/marketing and PR-ing, running solo a lovely guest house, whilst being (and loving being) a single parent, realising that I also want to paint more.  So the challenge is in embracing honestly what I really want, & balancing it with not being a lazy git (which is so easy).  Plus accepting that everyone needs time out INCLUDING me – that’s a big one!

What is your strategy for dealing with it?

Taking time out.  Through quiet time, meditation, talking with real friends who know me well, I’m getting clearer about what the future needs to hold, and creating it.  Scary, but necessary

Are you using social media as part of that strategy, if so, how?

Not consciously … but then my SM friends would probably contradict and say that my SM profile is high enough now for there to be a level of curious interest in the latest developments.  I just enjoy talking to the people I enjoy online – and if that disperses out into the wider world, then I consider myself accidentally fortunate.  I can’t do real sales, it’s just not me,

What is your top Change tip?

Phew …. To know that, deep inside yourself, you ALWAYS have what it takes to move into the next phase of your life no matter how hard you find that to believe.  And if you don’t believe that, to get your best friends around you and ask for their help.  That’s what they’re there for.

What role does emotion / intuition play when you dealing with Change?

A huge role.  My emotions are my biggest clue.  They tell me how I feel about anything and everything.  By knowing that, I can follow the next right step before making a decision.  And my intuition is usually right.

Do you ever find Change brings unexpected gifts?

Always – especially the scary changes – by digging deeper and deeper, the gifts I find within me are usually the most important.

What thing best symbolises Change for you and why?

My paintings – when I feel wobbly, I paint – and that shows me how I’m feeling about any given situation.  By  taking time to be with myself, I learn more about what it is to be me – and right now, that’s really important.

Previous Interviews:

• Andy Preston
• Sarah Arrow
• Ces Loftus
• Penny Power
• Nikki Pilkington
• Christine Miller
• Stephen Bray

li>Romany Thresher

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I had a lovely example of the power of this simple, but oh so powerful, act.  My younger daughter decided about a year ago that she needed a newer car and invested all her savings in a lovely little Corsa.  She seems very in tune with her vehicle and notices all sort of little things that more experienced drivers might miss.  When she had had it only a couple of months she said that she thought there was a problem getting the car into gear.  I drove it and spotted no problems, but suggested she get the dealer to check it whilst it was under warranty.  He declared it fine too.  A few weeks ago it turned out that she had been right all along and the car had a serious problem and she couldn’t get it in 2nd gear at all.  The linkage was broken and resulted in an expensive little bill she could ill afford. 

The car had only had a  3 month warranty and was 9 months out of it.  I suggested she tell the dealer what happened and see how he responded.  She couldn’t see the point of this.  None-the-less, I thought it worth a try and called him as I had thought him to be a ‘decent’ guy.  He asked me to send them the bill and he would do what he could.  Today I got a call back and he said that his boss had agreed to refund her £150, which made a significant difference to her finances.

So many of us feel that we can’t or won’t get given what we ask for and defend ourselves by not even asking .  There can be big pay-offs for daring to tell the World what we want.  Why not tell someone today what you want…

“You can’t ask for what you want unless you know what it is. A lot of people don’t know what they want or they want much less than they deserve. First you have figure out what you want. Second, you have to decide that you deserve it. Third, you have to believe you can get it. And, fourth, you have to have the guts to ask for it.”  Barbara De Angelis

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I was watching a rain of yellow leaves from our birch trees this morning.  The trees seems to be shedding leaves they can no longer support due to the dry conditions here.  The lawn is now a sea of yellow.  It no longer has the resources; their ‘relationship’ is no longer fruitful.  It made me think of what is going on in the economy right now.   Businesses are letting go of resources that no longer serve them.  This is very painful if you are one of those ‘leaves’ but perhaps in the end, better for everyone that nature asserts a macro-view.

I wonder how many of us should let things go that no longer serve us; old hurts, old relationships, old habits, old ways of working, being and thinking? 

What are you thoughts?

“All the art of living lies in a fine mingling of letting go and holding on.”   Havelock Ellis

“By letting it go it all gets done. The world is won by those who let it go. But when you try and try. The world is beyond the winning.”  Lao Tzu

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I woke at around 1am this morning and couldn’t get back to sleep. As usual, when this happens, I tried a number of things to try to fall asleep again.  First, I tried to just regain that sleepy ‘space’ – didn’t work; then I tried listening to the radio – couldn’t get comfy.  Eventually I got up and put on the TV an hour or so later.  Eventually I got out the PC and started writing this!

Why am I sharing all this?  Do I imagine that you are interested in my nocturnal habits?  Of course not!  However one of the best ways to get back to sleep, if sleep isn’t coming, is to ‘break state’, which is another way of saying to do something different.  It occurred to me in one of those “Aaaahh!” moments that this is true of Change too.  If what you are doing isn’t working, do something different, it often doesn’t matter what, it is just that doing something different unlocks the situation and allows things to flow again, albeit it in a different channel.

So if you find yourself tossing and turning, or if you find you are stuck in a rut, try breaking state – do something different and you may be surprised what happens!

“If you can’t sleep, then get up and do something instead of lying there and worrying. It’s the worry that gets you, not the loss of sleep.”  Dale Carnegie

 

Technorati Tags: can’t sleep,breaking state,changes,do something different

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Regular readers will recall previous pond blogs.  Today I noticed a rather exciting visitor, a full blown grass snake!  I know they like to swim and maybe it was dealing with the heat wave, or perhaps just after one of my other ‘guests’ the adult frogs.

We have such a huge number of wild visitors be they feathered, amphibious or water-dwellers, that it is a constant source of fascination.

The pond naturally attracts creatures that exploit every niche and resource that it offers.  If only more businesses were as  good at attracting talent and deployed it with the same efficiency.  Most people have a unique gift, but it is rare that employers are able to really put these ‘round pegs’ in the perfect shaped holes!  When you are able to match people’s gifts / interests with their roles, morale and profit goes up.

Perhaps diversity should be seen as a the rich resource that it is rather than as a disruption…

“We have become not a melting pot but a beautiful mosaic. Different people, different beliefs, different yearnings, different hopes, different dreams.”   Jimmy Carter

“Wit lies in recognizing the resemblance among things which differ and the difference between things which are alike.”  Madame de Stael

 

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Today was a landmark day for me in my Twitter journey.  I met my first Twit (someone who I only met via Twitter).  I can’t tell you how I actually connected with this person, perhaps they follow someone who I follow.  I deliberately looked at people who were more established on Twitter who specialised in Change.  However, they responded to something I tweeted and it turned out they had spotted my blogs on Ecademy.  I then learnt that in this whole big global community, that they lived about 15 miles from me.

We have just met up for lunch and had all sorts of interesting things to discuss and share.  I think that this is a wonderful example of the possibilities that twitter can unleash.  It has the power to unleash random forces into your live if you allow it to.

You can follow me on @RichardDerwentC

 

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“If you want something doing, give it to a busy to a busy man” or so the saying goes.  I have noticed that tempo seems to generate energy and vice versa.  If I start the day being busy I go from job-to-job and don’t stop; if, on the other hand, I start off being lazy, I just feel more and more slothful. I don’t know if the state of body affects the state of mind or the other way round, but they seem interlinked.

There are many people, and many businesses that say they don’t have time to make the changes they know need to be made but in truth, given the will, or the belief, if you prefer, there is always time.  I’m not suggesting that simply positive thinking is all you need, but I have no doubt that energy grows on itself.  If you are feeling stuck, try getting busy.

“Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it.”  Henry David Thoreau

“The more we do, the more we can do; the more busy we are, the more leisure we have.”   Dag Hammarskjold

 

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Over the last month or so I have found myself magnetically drawn to the pond.  Now we have a small waterfall, the sound of water splashing is deeply satisfying.  The new koi are a constant source of fascination whether cruising in the depths or leaping out to seize flies.  We have dragonflies buzzing, and damselflies dancing in their neon skins.  Tiny bluetits grab the bullrushes and bees are drinking perched on the weeds.  One way and another, it is a real treat for every sense.  I’m not that good at sitting doing nothing but I have created somewhere that makes it really easy. 

I think we all need to find a place where we can be still.  The world rushes past us.  Mobile phones and PCs bring this frenzy ever closer.  Whether you are into meditation or not, one way to enable change in your life is to just S T O P…. let all the sediment to settle, and then enjoy the clarity this brings.  If you don’t know what to do, if you don’t have enough time for everything, try stopping.  You maybe surprised how much more you achieve.

“One’s action ought to come out of an achieved stillness: not to be mere rushing on.”D.H. Lawrence

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I‘m sure we have all heard this advice but one of things that I have wrestled with over the years is how to interpret this meaningfully in my life and business.  After all, it is no use having the  benefit of aphorisms such as this if we can’t make them work for us. 

My work involves various different facets or phases and some involve talking to clients and doing work, some in marketing and talking to prospective clients, others in admin-type work, and finally being more creative doing thinking, writing and designing. 

For me, I have come to the conclusion that, unless it is really urgent, there is seldom any value in trying to force things and work out-of-phase with my energy and the energy that seems to surround me.  I realise that I am straying into seemingly ‘weird’ territory with statements like this.  However, farmers will always work in accord with the season and the weather, and some such as Rudolf Steiner advocated doing so according to the phase of the moon too. 

Yesterday, was a perfect ‘English’ day for me; walking in the June sunshine along the River Itchen, in the heart of the Hampshire countryside.  This is a truly beautiful river that runs only 2-3’ deep with fast flowing, crystal clear waters full of trout and gently waving weeds.  I can think of no better image for a flow state than this river.  Being there I feel a state of total contentment and peace. 

If I can somehow connect with my internal state and the energy around me and act accordingly hopefully I will do the best I can in that moment and on that day. This approach is, however, somewhat scary when one’s mind is telling you that you really need to do this that or the other thing and waiting is for wusses!  Doing nothing ‘positive’ can feel both lazy and evasive.  Surely I should be doing something useful!

I don’t know if I’m the only one who wrestles with such ‘stuff’ and would be interested to hear your thoughts on this

 “Most of the shadows of this life are caused by standing in our own sunshine”   Henry Ward Beecher

 

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Name: Romany Thresher    Twitter name: @directassist 

What is your main Change challenge at present?

Realigning my business to a specific niche. At present, there is an abundance of virtual assistants popping up all over offering similar services. In order to differentiate my business from competitors, I now specialise in a particular area. For existing clients I have done an excellent job at handling all their social media and online presence. Increasing online visibility is something they know is important but something they do not have the time or inclination to do day-in-day out. It’s a little bit scary but first impressions are that I am getting much more enquiries than before. My existing clients have all received massive benefits and that has given me the confidence to take this big step

What is your strategy for dealing with it?

Continuous research plays a very important role for me when dealing with strategies, monitoring and keeping track of new ways and methods to do things. What has helped me a great deal in being efficient is my constant hunger for learning which has now made me a bit of a girly geek as some have suggested.

My strategy is one of changing systems, processes and marketing material to meet the new focus.

For example, revamping my site content, training existing staff, and looking at the packages that I offer clients.

Are you using social media as part of that strategy, if so, how?

Yes I am most definitely using social media as a part of my strategy. It’s what I do for clients so I have to be great at it!. .

We have developed a social community to interact more closely with community members so we can learn to understand their needs and provide resources and tools which can help them minimise their costs whilst increasing visibility.

Attend networking events, continue to blog, participate in targeted social networking communities and make use of Twitter to communicate, share tips and relevant information to help business owners establish themselves and increase their online visibility using social media, events and workshops.

I currently manage accounts for existing clients who supply me with their content and are struggling to maintain their online visibility on a regular basis so that they can focus on more face to face networking and other areas of their business which needs their attention.

What is your top Change tip?

Change is necessary for growth both personally and professionally.

Change is something we need to do constantly in order to grow. Life has a way of putting us in a situation where we are forced to change direction. I call these times growing pains as it often comes with some form of calamity. Focused change is when you know what your ultimate life goal is and you make a decision to change and focus on bringing about change, this often comes with very pleasant gifts.

What role does emotion / intuition play when you dealing with Change?

Emotion plays a very important part in change. I still have to work on my emotions and often fear mixed with excitement will be my emotion, this can sometimes stop me from moving with change. Thankfully I am strong willed and am not held back by my emotions

If you embrace the change things will happen. If you resist change, which I have done a few times in the past, the doors close, the opportunities cease to present themselves and it seems twice as hard to get to where you should’ve been in the first place.

Do you ever find Change brings unexpected gifts?

Yes, often. The greatest gift change brings to me is the people who come into my life. They are often very precious and valuable.

What thing best symbolises Change for you and why?

Not changing symbolises death for me. Change on the other hand, symbolises life, ever growing and experiencing new things which then gives you the ability and opportunity to help others and add value to the people around me.

Previous Interviews:

• Andy Preston
• Sarah Arrow
• Ces Loftus
• Penny Power
• Nikki Pilkington
• Christine Miller
• Stephen Bray

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