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- Claire Chidley uses creative-thinking and imaginative solutions to help individuals, teams and organisations get ‘unstuck’.
She’s passionate about helping you find and use your talent to improve yourself and the lives of others around you.
Claire’s developed called ‘360 WISDOM’ designed to set you back on track
and help you rediscover what matters most to you.”
She’s embarking on a major UK tour in February/March 2012 called ‘Empowering Women’, teaching her 360 WISDOM theory in a one day workshop www.tiny.cc/360wisdom. Tickets are discounted 20% to NHS/Public Sector Online members.
Claire runs a successful leadership development company Create Tomorrow Today. Before this, she worked in local government for 20 years and with Comedia regenerating cities, places and spaces.
In her spare time, she makes stained-glass, grows her own vegetables and spots butterflies!
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- Claire Chidley uses creative-thinking and imaginative solutions to help individuals, teams and organisations get ‘unstuck’.
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Striking the perfect work-life balance
It’s really difficult for people in today’s economic situation to keep elements in their life together and find the perfect work-life balance. The focus over the last couple of years has been about work; keeping a job, working harder because you are scared you may be made redundant and even taking on more work to make ends meet. A lot of people are anxious, worried and stressed. It feels like lots of plates are spinning and it takes more and more energy to keep them all up.
Being able to come off the pace, to find things that are relaxing, creative and future-orientated (rather than the daily grind of being in the ‘now’ and surviving day to day), becomes a near-impossible dream. With our work-ethic going into overdrive it feels obscene to stop and just enjoy the view, to take time to try out something new or to re-engage with something in the past you loved.
We all need a balanced perspective. Working harder and faster can make you stale. Problems get magnified. Your ability to see things from a fresh perspective diminishes. Take a break. Instead of eating lunch on the go (or not at all), go outside for 30 minutes and walk. The mind clears. There’s plenty of evidence that many inventors, artists and scientists had their ‘a ha’ moments when they stopped experimenting, composing or testing. Letting the mind rest enables the sub-conscious to fire up and give you your own answers to challenges. It may seem counter-intuitive to create space for not very much, but there are lots of examples that prove that resting keeps you fresh and re-charges your batteries. You owe it to yourself to create moments of peace for yourself. This will bring you back into balance.
Try to recall some of the things you enjoy. I remembered how much I liked playing netball at school. So, to get a bit of balance (I haven’t been exercising much and my fitness was going to pot) I found a local netball team and now play every week. A bit of a killer at first - I thought I'd never keep going in the first match - but gradually, my stamina improved. I’ve also had a go at dancing and taking up a craft. I feel more energised and upbeat about challenges. I also find I’m eating and drinking in moderation. So a bit of toning up and weight loss may also be a side-benefit.
Change tends to happen when our normal routines get shifted by a crisis or a vision. Be in control of your world by making it the latter. Work out what’s best for you rather than letting everything on the outside of you hold sway. With small changes, you'll find you feel more grounded and balanced.
- 26 June 2012
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