So. Here is where I discuss the weather for a bit. Now I always assumed discussing the weather was the great go-to topic when you couldn’t think of anything else interesting enough to discuss with another human being. Until I moved to Melbourne that is. Here, it’s not just small talk; it’s a way of life.

And I’ve been here, in Melbourne, St Kilda to be exact, for nearly two weeks and I can honestly say, I do not know what in the fuck is going on. This place fascinates me, scares me silly and makes me wonder if people actually ever sleep. Wherever I look, there is something going on. I have been able to experience it as relatively single lass, a mother, a consumer, a drunkard and an outsider. The best part? There is no right or wrong way to do it.

The thing is, apart from about a thousand trips to Bali in my younger years and various interstate trips; I have never known anything other than the Gold Coast. And I love my home town, it’s part of the reason why I am the way I am today, but to me, right this very minute, it is thrilling to be experiencing something so vibrant.

Having said that, things are different here. Good different, but different all the same.

Example:

There is less fuckwittage on the streets. Now, I know, I’ve only been here for a couple of weeks, but I have driven an insane amount of peak hour traffic in that time in both fabulous and horrific weather. And you know what? People are cool. They let you in, they acknowledge you when you let them merge and as a general rule, just calm. the. fuck. down. I have also come to learn that Punt Road is one letter away from being very aptly named.

Example:

The service. Second to none. The other day, the waitress brought me a latte instead of a flat white which I was happy to take. I mean, one comes in a glass and has more milk, one doesn’t. Essentially. They gave it to me for free and 20% off my bill because they made “such a shocking error”. Um, no, a shocking error would be leaving a decapitated finger in my scrambled eggs. It’s cool. 1000 other scenarios have ensued since I’ve been here. Well not 1000. Sorry, I like to exaggerate a little, but you get my point, 99% of people in this town want you to walk away satisfied. Hmm. I’m not touching the adult stores in that sentence.

Example:

The weather. As I mentioned above, and I know Crowded House wrote a song about it but we all know the minute you can interpret the lyrics to any Crowded House song you have discovered the meaning of life and therefore, your life is over, so this does not help AT ALL. So, I digress, yes, the weather. So far, in two weeks, I have witnessed, without a doubt, winter, summer, spring and autumn. One day, when sitting in the Laundromat, I honestly thought the leaves I could see dropping rapidly outside the window was snow. It got that cold, windy and dark, THAT freaking quickly I started to freak out. Similarly yesterday, it was about 29 degrees. Everywhere you looked people were losing their shit at the unexpected fair weather. There were g-strings on grassy knolls, white legs exposed and dudes who had clearly been waiting an entire year to show off their polished guns, getting about inappropriately in their singlets. We went swimming as the bulk carriers out to sea made their way to Tasmania. It was insane. And lovely.

It isn’t all roses, just yesterday after a tough day, I had my first pang of homesickness and can honestly say I was prepared to pack up, tuck my fluffy tail between my legs and head home. Partly due to the fact that I miss Maddie like I’m missing a limb, partly due to the fact that it’s all just incredibly fucking hard. And I’m not one to complain, I just do, but sometimes, like yesterday, I just wanted to stop doing and go back to the easy.

But tonight, as I sit here and type this in the darkness of my 3 x 3 metre motel room with my family slumbering behind me, adjusting themselves from time to time due to the keyboard noise, I realise this is exactly what we need. What I need. A change. Will it work? Who knows? Is it scary as all hell? Yep. Will we ever regret giving it a go? No.

Aside: Phil and the boys joined me on Sunday. Was incredibly nice to squish each and every one of them after so long. Maddie will be down when she graduates.

Squishing the shit out of Jack. Clearly he’s loving it.

Most mornings I take a walk down to the beach and this morning was no different. It’s the time that I use to wake myself up and slowly move into my day. It’s generally pretty peaceful. But this morning was a little different. This morning I was accosted by what most parents would be familiar with at this time of the year … Crazy kids on scooters and push bikes screaming, clearly loving that another day with no school has started!

While I’m not a parent, I do have a business. And seeing those kids running at me as their grandmother chased them down the road made me think that there’s probably a lot of similarities between business owners and parents.

There are just some times when I feel like I’m continually chasing. When life becomes a little overwhelming due to the number of great ideas in my head, or because I have said I could meet with more people than I can physically handle. And I know that everyone’s stress buttons are different.

Here’s the thing. Just by taking a breath and stepping back for 10 minutes, I’ve realised that it is possible to get in control. As such, after a lot of my own tail-chasing, I have come up with four key principles to overcoming being overwhelmed in life or business.

1. Projection: Have a plan for the day, next few months or few years so that you know which direction you really want to go – and then write it down. In business this may be your forecast; and in life it may be a family holiday, some savings, or just to sit down each day for dinner with your family.
2. Priorities: Take five minutes to dump everything from your head onto a piece of paper, grab your Projection from Step 1 and work out which of those activities bring you closer to achieving that today. Be prepared to not get EVERYTHING done.
3. Premium: Ensure that you see yourself with as much value as everyone who relies on you. If you’re over-demanded in business, learn to delegate or raise your prices. And if you’re stressed out at home, be prepared to say NO to someone, or something, in order to do what you really want at least once a day.
4. Personal Responsibility: Be prepared to take responsibility for your life’s outcomes. If you’re feeling stressed out because you’ve committed to one too many things right now, make a change. How can you give to others if you are not first giving to yourself?

While the headings seem a little business-focused, I challenge you to apply the thinking behind the bullet points to your life and see what happens. And if you want to immerse yourself in this thinking for a day – come join us on July 14 for our Get on Purpose Seminar.

Let me know your results!

We use many tools in our business to help people get where they want to be – to help them reach their own measure of success.  Actually, we have a whole sack of them, because what works for you doesn’t always work for someone else.  Regardless of this, at some point along a person’s coaching journey there is the question:  Is this right?  Is that the right answer?  Am I on the right track?

A mentor would probably answer:  Did you follow the instruction?  Are you getting results?  Test and measure it.

A friend might say: Of course, you’re doing great!

A spouse may add:  I love you regardless of whether it’s right or wrong.

But, did any of those answers actually help you feel any more secure in your direction or decision?

The truth is that there are hundreds-of-thousands of ways to grow and build your business.  And there are that amount of people again out there offering solutions on how to do this.  The fact of the matter is, none of them is offering a way that is more right than the next way.  They are simply offering solutions to help you decide what is Right for You.

How you do business is all about how every element of your business makes you feel.  It’s all about finding methods that align with your personal values and personality.  It’s about finding something that puts you on that path you are aiming for while helping you retain happiness.  What are the techniques that allow you to act with integrity while producing outstanding results?

So, rather than looking outside for an understanding of whether you’re on the right track, how about being your own coach for a second.  Ask yourself what we would ask you:  AM I on the right track?  How do I feel about my decision?  Am I getting the results that I desire?  Then, sit and wait for the answer.  You’ll know it.  You will always know it.

We’ve all run through the hypothetical situation right? The winning the lottery scenario? Telling your boss to jam it (not mine of course, Hi Nadia *waves*) paying off the house, buying a bigger one, purchasing a yacht, leaving town and never coming back. Doing whatever the hell it is you can’t do right now because you have to WORK. To you know, live and stuff.

Assuming my heart wouldn’t stop when the lotto official rang me up and advised me of my multimillion dollar windfall, actually, wait, as an aside, is that not the coolest job in the world? The ringer-upper person? “Hi, it’s Joyce from Gold Lotto, I’ve got some top news. You’re now a freaking multi-goddamn-MILLIONAIRE!!!

I digress…

Back to me receiving the phone call and being informed that I am now 10 million dollars richer. Again, let’s assume I would take this all in my stride and would not pass out in the middle of the Woollies bakery section (where I generally am at any given time), and simply thank Joyce and make some arrangements to pick up my cheque, well straightafuckingway, then I guess I’d call Phil right? Yes of course I would. I’d tell him to down tools and get the hell out of the ditch he was digging, and to oh, tell his boss he’s a righteous prick and that he’ll see him in Hell. Or maybe not. Just an idea.

Here’s where my thoughts get muddled.

Because it’s always been my desire, should I win the lottery, to pay out my very close friends and direct families, mortgages. But on the sly. You know, go into the bank, ask how much they owe and BAM, pay it out. When Mum was alive it was my first port of call to buy her any house she so desired. One night Phil and I sat down though and ran through this hypothetical. He was like “Um, do you really think we’d have enough to pay everyone’s mortgage out? Maybe we should like just give them $100K each.” So this is where it started to go all pear shaped.

We went through the process of friends thinking we were too selfish, too generous, too up ourselves and/or just too different now had that we “had money”. We even had a mini argument over it. Who needed it more? How much would we need to live comfortably? Really? We were fighting over a situation we would more than likely never find ourselves in anyway? Crazy talk.

I can see how having too much money could be just as problematic as not having enough. I guess if we were smart, we’d just keep 10% out, chuck the rest in the bank and go study something we were really interested in. More than likely though, we’d probably end up like that dude in the UK who bought a massive parcel of land, bought dirt bikes and wasted all the rest on hookers and blow.

What would you do if you won the lottery? Already got it planned? Or perhaps like me, a good place to start would be to actually buy a ticket.

Side Note: It’s my birthday today (on the 21st) and Phil surprised me by organising 2 of my best friends, their husbands, my brother and his gorgeous partner meeting us at a restaurant on the weekend. I reckon I might have already won the lotto. Love you Guys x

Myself and Bonnie

Myself and Phil

Jodi, Jeremy and a photobombing Bon

My brother Les and Rozy