January 2004

Inspiration on careers, networking and writing

In this issue:
Editorial: Risk and resolution
Message from: Johanna Castro in Cape Town.
Let me introduce you to: Richard Uglow, Frank Furness, Magenta Circle

Read all about it:
Who Moved My Cheese,
The Thinking Bench,
Escape Artist ebooks
Writing all about it: Writing about you, your house or your business

What’s on: 2004 – the story so far

“Where words speak louder than actions”

Risk and Resolution
I have never forgotten a story I heard at university. Apparently, a philosophy student was given the following essay topic for his final examination:

‘Define risk.’
The student simply wrote: ‘This.’ And stopped his paper right there.

Sometimes ‘risk’ means doing something big and scary. But sometimes it can mean doing nothing at all.

Some of us, like me, are soothed by action. Watching others stand patiently, apparently idle, as they wait for the wind to change, the markets to rise or an opportunity to turn up, is painful for me. I consider doing nothing to be reckless.

And then I met Richard Uglow. Richard is a life coach, who specialises in helping people initiate or maintain transition. For the last few months I have been assisting him with the writing of his book. Every time we meet, even though he is paying me to be the consultant, he just can’t help but give me some coaching.

I told Richard about my belief that is always better to do something, anything, rather than nothing. I saw doing nothing as foolish, while doing something was proactive and wise.

Richard got down from his chair and walked into the middle of the room.

‘Which is better?’ he asked me. ‘This?’

He kept his eyes fixed firmly ahead and took a step to the front, paused for a moment, and then took a step back to the starting position.

‘This?’ He took a step to the right, and back again.

‘This?’ He took a step to the left and back again.

‘Or this?’ He took a step to the back and then returned to the starting position.

‘Or this?’ This time he stood there, doing nothing, just looking around him, as if searching for something.

Suddenly it became obvious. Action for action’s sake, if done without appropriate thought, could just be a waste of energy. Sometimes the person who waits with his eyes open is the wise one.

Richard certainly made me think that day.

Nevertheless, action continues to make me feel better. As my friend Fiona commented only this weekend:

‘Jo, you are just one of those people who have to keep moving the furniture.’

For me, doing nothing is a risky business. I’d rather move the furniture or try another avenue. But Richard is not wrong. There can be merit for someone like me in stopping awhile and catching breath. If you move too fast you are in danger of missing some of the opportunities the Universe sends you.

My husband, Ian, is the ‘stand and wait’ type. It frustrates me to blazes. He can bide his time for years in a job he dislikes, just because he believes passionately that ‘something will turn up that is bigger and better than ever before’. And, blow me, it does. Meanwhile I waste my energy looking for jobs for him, coming up with brilliant ideas and sourcing great contacts who might just make the right connections. And nothing happens. Try as I might, I cannot force him to take action. Who, do you think, is the fool here?

And it’s New Year again. Just the time when we all start making plans and promises to ourselves. Resolutions.

According to the dictionary, a ‘resolution’ is a firm decision. It comes from the Latin resolvere, which means re: expressing intensive force + solvere: to loosen.

Loosen, eh?

This year my resolution will be to strive for balance in the risk department. I will loosen my instinct to take action for the sake of it every time and risk wasting my time and energy. And I will endeavour to take a new leaf from Ian’s book, and try this thing called ‘patience’ now and again.

Happy New Year
Maybe your resolution, should be not to make one at all this year?
Jo Parfitt
Believe in blue sky

Message from:
Johanna Castro and her husband, Dave, are great examples of people who have just taken a huge, heart-stopping risk. They changed their lives completely in the last six months of 2003.

For: Monthly Inspirer
From: Johanna Castro

I was living in Manila when I first heard about Jo Parfitt. Expatriate women at international women's fund-raising events whispered her name as if she was the High Priestess of the expatriate world. Secretly, many of us wished we had her drive and ambition. Then came Woman Abroad magazine - an inspiring monthly glossy, and lo and behold, Jo was the editor - I used to pore over it as soon as it plopped through the letterbox. How I wished I could follow my dreams in the same way Jo seemed to be doing.

An article in Woman Abroad dealt with Life Coaching. I quickly decided that Life Coaching would be a good portable career for a trailing spouse and hot tailed off to do a course. But after that, something took hold deep inside. I realised that anything was possible - and that life was about following your dreams. For 15 years we had followed jobs and contracts around the world - now was the time to make a stand and make our mark.

Armed with all the positive charges Life Coaching bestows, and a diet of The Monthly Inspirer, I suggested a permanent move to Spain. My husband quickly volleyed with - South Africa. I took a deep breath. And after slowly exhaling, here we are, near Cape Town, owners of a fantastic boutique guest lodge with ocean views to die for.

There have been setbacks of course, and at one stage we did feel as if we were jumping off a cliff into the wild blue yonder without a safety net (particularly a financial one). We have forfeited much of our old lives to make way for the new, but this is a challenge to enjoy as a family in entirety, in a brave new world.

Whale Point Lodge is in Gordon's Bay, about forty minutes from Cape Town. If you'd like to watch whales (in season) or gaze across dreamy blue seas in summertime (with a glass of crisp, white, Cape wine in your hand) then give us a call. Our website is at www.whalelodge.com

Thanks Jo - you've been an INSPIRATION - and the Monthly Inspirer keeps me going when the going gets tough!

By Johanna Castro
Whale Point Lodge, Gordon's Bay
An Ocean Paradise
www.whalelodge.com

Let me introduce you to:

Richard Uglow, inevitably, has become a friend. He has great ideas about how to make sure your next move is in keeping with your authentic self. He runs a series of workshops, some of which are free, so do take a look at his website http://www.enrichyou.co.uk.

Frank Furness is the new president of the Professional Speakers’ Association (http://www.professionalspeakers.org). A generous man as well as a great speaker and gadgetaholic, Frank is the king of unapologetic self-promotion and back of the room sales. He runs a weekend Boot Camp two or three times a year, specifically for speakers who want to make the best they can of their career – and lots of money too. This guy is so canny, that when we had a recent meeting to discuss his book projects, he rounded the morning of by recording an interview with me that he can now add to one of his CDs.

When Frank tells you that Nick Rampley-Sturgeon went on to make £51M in two years after one of his Boot Camps, you’ll want to go too. There is one 20/21 March and another 26/27 June. I’ll be attending the June one myself. Find out more at http://www.frankfurness.com.

Magenta Circle is a virtual network to which I have belonged for about a year now. It is free to join and there are general real-time groups all over the UK as well as focus groups for professions such as speakers. I recently took Nigel Wyatt, the man in charge, up on his offer to join The Inner Circle for a three month trial. This does cost a little, but as a result I was sent details of literally hundreds of contract job opportunities in a range of areas. Take a look yourself at http://www.magentacircle.co.uk.

Read all about it:

Well, I could hardly have an issue about risk without mentioning the fantastic, life-changing book, Who Moved My Cheese? By Spencer Johnson, could I? A small book with a big message. Using the metaphor of two mice, Sniff and Scurry, whose life purpose is to find cheese, you will learn about the value of change, of risk and of transition. Find out when it does not make sense to stand still and when action for action’s sake is the sensible choice. Everyone should read this book. It is published by Vermilion.

And for the expatriates out there, a new book has emerged from the stable of Nicholas Brealey Intercultural. Called Unrooted Childhoods it is a fantastic anthology of writings by the really famous (Isabelle Allende, Pico Iyer) and the famous to me (Ruth van Reken). Each writer discusses his or her third culture childhood and its impacts in later life. A great read.

It was hard to decide whether to put Dave Scarlett here, in the reading section, or the introduction section, earlier. But the value of his ezine is so high, that I want you all to prioritise signing up for it (it’s free) right away. His ezine is called The Thinking Bench, after the magnolia tree in his garden when he goes to sit and think, both in reality and virtually. Dave is a wealth coach, and he is also a terrific writer with an accessible style that warms you to him right away. I only heard about his newsletter last week, but he sent me two recent issues and I was blown away. His advice on how to turn around your finances is invaluable.

Mention how you wish you could win the Lottery within Dave’s earshot and he’ll get on his high horse. He’ll tell you how you can make a million without winning a prize. It’s all about thinking differently and making a few minor changes. And before you wonder whether his ezine is really just another get rich quick scheme in disguise, you’re wrong. It’s just a nice guy sharing his wisdom with the world. And he’ll give you a free wealth coaching session too. Mine’s next Friday.

Find out more about Dave (Captain) Scarlett at http://www.theinspiredcoachingco.com)

And lastly, I’m going to tell you about one of my recent successes. A while back, thanks to my good pal, Robin Pascoe, I was connected to Roger Gallo of the Escape from America website (http://www.escapeartist.net) to see if I could supply the site with some ebooks. Apparently they have a big selection and sell hundreds of copies every month. I don’t need to be given an opportunity twice, so within a week I had sent him my two writing courses, transformed into ebooks: The Expatriate Writer: Definite Articles and The Expatriate Writer: Release the Book Within. Almost right away Definite Articles was available on the site at http://www.escapeartist.com/e_Books/e_Books.html and almost as quickly I was selling them. At $20 each I sold 14 in the first week. You can guess how I’m going to be spending 2004 – writing more of them!!

Writing all about it:
As you are aware, I write for The Weekly Telegraph and its website http://www.expat.telegraph.co.uk every month. I am always looking for feature ideas, profiles of incredible expatriates, books to review and so on. If you have any ideas, do share them with me.

I am also required to supply them with case studies of expatriates who have their own completely portable career, which they can run from anywhere in the world, usually from a computer. So far I have already written about several of you, which gives you great publicity on a website that gets millions of hits. The weekly ezine alone, which tells subscribers what’s new on the site goes to well over 150,000. If you would like me to consider writing about you, or you know someone who would make a good story, please let me know.

Incidentally, I am also working on a book about successful expatriate entrepreneurs with Pat Keener of Global Networker (http://www.global-networker.com), so again, your stories are invited – please!!

And then I write about expatriates with unusual homes overseas, that’s how I got to meet Jo Castro, when she responded to my last plea. Again, these are for the Weekly Telegraph. I have just about run out of my current stock, so I’d love to hear from you if you think you, or a friend, has an unusual house. So far we’ve had a snail farm, a row of converted shops, a mill and a chateau – and Jo’s wonderful five storey guesthouse overlooking the bay too, of course.

What’s on:

Thursday 8th January 2004
Institute of Global Mobility, London
6.30 pm
Here I am speaking about Out of the Box Dual Career Solutions. If you are interested in the institute and/or this event, please go to http://www.ey.com/uk/igm.

Tuesday 20th January 2004
Business Referral Exchange, Herts
11am
Here I am speaking about Powertools for Publicity to a group of leaders from Business Referral Exchange (http://www.brenet.co.uk). If you have not heard about BRE, it is a network of professionals who meet weekly, over breakfast, to build their businesses through connections.

Tuesday 16th March 2004
Release the Book Within
Sue Warner’s House, Hampstead, London
Full day course
£80 – includes lunch and notes.
If you would like to attend one of my writing workshops and can get to North London fairly easily, this could be for you. Sue Warner is a professional speaker and Monthly Inspirer reader who likes to run courses, like mine, in her home. If you would like to book then please contact Sue on suewarner@speakingout.co.uk.

Saturday 20th March
‘Are You in Shape for Europe?’
Women in Management
Nottingham
Here I will be speaking about international networking and dual careers. If you are interested in attending please contact Susie Chambers on susie.chambers@loreley.force9.co.uk

Wednesday 21st April 2004
Women in Management
Coventry
I am not sure what I’m speaking about, but I’ll be here too!

Thursday 6th May 2004
Amsterdam
American Women’s Club of Amsterdam
I will be speaking at their monthly meeting.

Opportunity for a budding writer in Amsterdam
If anyone would like to organise me a writing workshop on either 5th or 7th May (or both) while I am over at the AWC I will be glad to give you a free place on the course and a percentage of the profit. And if anyone would like to attend but not organise a workshop. It should cost €140 per head.