The Invisible Me

I have come to love writing poetry from time to time. I find it therapeutic and a very personal way of publicly expressing the real Peter Nicholls, the person I love to be. The message of course applies equally to you and to everyone you meet. As you read it, let the real you free and enjoy being your true authentic self.

Then allow yourself to take charge of creating your future, so that you blossom into the mature human being you were born to be. It's never too late.

The Invisible Me

There is a me you cannot see,

A me that even I can’t see,

The person I was born to be,

The soul that lives inside of me.

Sometimes I see a fantasy,

The younger me I used to be,

A Peter Pan, forever free

To stay the person I love to be.

You would see me differently,

Perhaps someone you want to see,

A portrait that you paint of me,

The person you presume I’d be.

Please accept the reality

Of an inner me I long to free,

To be the person I was meant to be,

And to love the person I know as me.

Our common responsibility

Is not to assume who others might be,

Don’t put them in boxes, nor steal the key

That allows their talents to set them free.

We all are different, you must agree,

Unique in our talent and ability,

We yearn to allow the world to see

What we can do and give and be.

My message for the world to agree

Is for you to be you and me to be me,

To follow our passions and set them free,

To enjoy being you and enjoy being me.

Retirement Planning isn't just about the money

Google Alert on my computer gives me a weekly report on anything written online to do with retirement planning. I kid you not that everything I see on retirement planning is about the money. That's of course very important, or there wouldn't be so many articles written about it. But I seem to be the only person on the planet who takes a professional interest and provides professional help about what you are going to DO in retirement. It's a very scary subject for most working people and perhaps they want to avoid discussing it.

That's a real pity. It is potentially the most stimulating stage of one's life (and I am now 70!) - having the chance to plan life on your terms rather than on the terms of others. That includes any decision to keep on working - only now you make all the decisions on your own terms - what sort of work, how many hours, what goals you want to achieve, and so on.

You can get a taste of what I mean by reading my article "I Wanna Be a Kid Again", at http://www.workleisure.com/resources/Iwannabeakid.html . As a client of mine once defined retirement " hey, what's for dessert?? I've just finished the main course and I'm still hungry!"

Connecting With Others

I’m presently reading “Anywhere” a book probing the fact that soon anybody and anything,anywhere in the world, can be connected through a variety of wire-less media. The potential is beyond our comprehension.

It’s exciting, challenging, and not a little scary, just thinking about it. We all crave connection with others. While we may be an island unto ourselves, that island can be a very lonely place.

But systems are just that – systems. It’s all a matter of staying in control. Only you can decide what you enjoy and what makes you feel good about yourself. Sharing mutual interests with others can deepen that sense of enjoyment. Systems give you choice options to help you find the right people.

But the right to choose remains your most powerful weapon, one you should never surrender, least of all to a system.

The work ethic has a lot to answer for

The work ethic has a lot to answer for, not because work is so important, but because it has for generations demeaned the value of interests outside of work. We were taught to believe that business solutions can only be found in the workplace. We are now beginning to recognize that life outside of work has a major impact on work productivity, job satisfaction and workforce stability.

I have developed a structured approach that facilitates business managers and their teams doing a review of their lifestyle at work, home and play. Various business people who have done my workshop say it not only helped them establish adjustments they want to make to their lifestyle, they also got important workplace benefits from the process.

The business benefits they mention are summarised at http://www.workleisure.com/BusinessBenefits.html . Their points are practical and potentially extremely beneficial for any manager who wants to attract, keep and more closely engage with team members and staff generally.

It's worth a read. And if you are interested in what I do, my next workshop is in Adelaide on 14 April. For full details, go to http://www.workleisure.com/Workshop.html

Your Emotional Energy is Your Responsibility

The only person who can manage your emotional and mental energy is you.
Only you can manage your stress (most stress is self-imposed anyway).
Only you can manage your resilience.
Only you can manage your mix of work and personal life energies.
Others may influence your thinking but you are totally in charge of how you respond.

These core principles underly my forthcoming Lifestyle Review workshop, Thursday 4th March 2010, 9 30 am – 1.30 pm Norths Rugby Leagues Club, 12 Abbott Street Cammeray NSW
And also in Adelaide: Wednesday 14 April, 9am- 1pm at the Education Development Centre Milner Street Hindmarsh

Go to www.workleisure.com/Workshop.html for full details and a registration form.

I provide a positive, thought-provoking small-group environment in which you focus entirely on your strengths, talents and potential and come to your own unique personal decisions.

When you lose yourself in an interest you love, you find yourself.Only you know how to enjoy yourself. My expertise is in helping you re/discover the Enjoyment Factors that drive your life’s energy.

I can’t give you the energy you need right now, but I can teach you how to find your own energy anytime you need it.

Acknowledge you are responsible for all of your life choices. Choose this workshop to re-evaluate your natural-born talents, skills and the passions that drive and sustain your long-term potential for true life success.

But you must act now! Max 12 places and there’s only a few places left!

I look forward to having you share in what is always a supportive, friendly session.
(A frequent compliment I get is “Peter is a really good listener”!)

Lifestyle Reality Check Workshop

The date of my workshop (see three items earlier than this one) in Sydney has been put back one day to Thursday 4 March. For people in Sydney this is a wonderful opportunity to do what some of my clients call a "lifestyle reality check". In other words it's a great opportunity to simply drop out for half a day and enjoy doing a self-check lifestyle audit under enjoyably relaxing structured conditions.

For more details go to http://www.workleisure.com/Workshop.html

I am also researching the idea of offering the workshop online. If this interests you, let me know at peter@workleisure.com (no obligation).

Enjoy Doing Nothing

We all look forward to doing nothing over the coming holidays. Lazing around and taking it easy will soon be all the go. It’s the time of year when we respect, value and enjoy doing nothing, to refresh and refuel our mental energy.

Why then does ‘doing nothing’ get such bad press for the rest of the year? – “time-wasting, irresponsible, slacking off, non-achieving and counter-productive”? If a car was refueled once a year, it would be
useless for most of the year. People’s mental energy needs are far more complex.

For most of us ‘doing nothing’ actually means doing something we love, simply because we enjoy it. You will have in mind all sorts of enjoyable interests to pursue during your holidays. Such interests are vital throughout the year if we want to sustain our mental energy.

Make sure you enjoy ‘doing nothing’ in the coming weeks. But remember, over the rest of the year you will always do something better if sometimes you do nothing.

Wishing you a mentally-relaxing holiday season and the sustained energy to thrive in 2010,

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