January 2016 – Karen Chaston

Having the Courage to Be Unique

25 January, 2016/in 10x Your Life /by Karen Chaston

Over the past couple of months I have been invited to speak at a couple of Women in Leadership forums.
These are exactly the type of gigs I love doing and I’ve actively been working towards creating more of these opportunities.
Though what has been interesting is looking at the different way the organisers put their event programs together.
Both of the organisers started with the premise of you are an inspiring leader and champion of change, and your input would be of tremendous value to the program and delegates. We are more than happy for you to draft a session that is tailored to your expertise.

As a former Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of a publicly listed company who has been to a few leadership forums over the years, I created a session with all the knowledge and wisdom that I now have and wished I’d had in my bag of tricks whilst rising the corporate ladder and being a wife and mother.
I’ve lived the life of a woman who is tired, worn out, depressed, over-worked, and underappreciated and know that this can only happen for so long before something goes wrong in her life.
I also know that with the knowledge I now share, a woman can easily create a life where she is appreciated, heard, valued and shown respect. An empowered woman is a joy to be around and it is easy to see how this can be a win-win situation for all.

Details of the Session
The session was titled “Succeeding as a Feminine Leader” with the following outline:

Learn the importance of It all Begins with You:
- Develop a basic understanding of yourself bio-chemically & physiologically
- Tips to creating life balance as it’s the key to your success
- Ascertain what may be getting in your way
Learn about the importance of being true to your innate qualities:
- Allowing yourself to trust your intuition
- Walk your talk and you’ll inspire the masses to follow
- Collaboration and Delegation is the name of the game
Succeeding in a male-dominated workforce without compromising authenticity
- Developing a self-assured feminine communication style
- Allowing Heart and Soul along with Knowledge and Expertise to guide you
- Creativity and uniqueness are the cornerstones of your success

What was interesting was that one forum, where my contact was a man, responded with “Thank you so much for this – really fantastic. I’ve just made a few minor edits to the copy just to keep it in line with the rest of the brochure, but nothing significant. I’m looking forward to working with you on this.”
The other forum, where my contact and her manager, were both woman, responded with “Thank you for your interest in presenting in the Summit. Unfortunately I will have to decline your outline for the Expert Commentary for this particular Conference, as it needs to hold a focus on the skills needed to transition into a leadership role.”
At first, I must admit I was a little surprised by the second response, especially as the session provides awareness and insight that will enhance their leadership role. Though, upon checking further, I noticed that whilst they had some great speakers, the topics were not very innovative to champion change in women’s leadership representation.

Einstein’s infamous quote certainly came to mind:

Continual growth through feedback

Whilst I know that I bring an unique perspective and wisdom, I’m very passionate about sharing the awareness and insights at events and in the workplace, as I know your overall wellbeing and mindset affects your ability to perform and lead a successful team.

So with this in mind, I would love your assistance please.

Please re-read the session above and then answer these questions.
•Why do you feel I received such different responses?
•Are you interested in learning about these topics?
•Would you like to learn tips that assist you to be true to who you are, whilst creating the life of your dreams and desires – personally and professionally?
•Please provide any other comments

Either respond below

Thank-you, I really appreciate you taking the time to assist me.

Until next time…..

Be well and remember to make each day meaningful, memorable and magical………..and never, ever, ever stop dancing!

With Love & Gratitude
Karen Chaston.

Please spend time checking out the many resources on this website.

Your Bottom Line is Comparative to the Size of Your Employees’ Bottoms?

15 January, 2016/in 10x Your Life /by Karen Chaston

Ok, the heading maybe a little controversial, though in reality if we’re honest we know it’s true.
Fit employees’ will turn up to work every day more energised and alert than their unhealthy counterparts. They exercise, eat a healthy diet (which will sustain them all day), have better sleep patterns and most importantly, actively manage stress levels.
As business owners and /or managers of a business, when we rely on people for the ongoing operation of our business then we must also invest in keeping our people happy, motivated and healthy. Health and well-being in the workplace is an important strategy that benefits to both the employer and the worker.
There have been numerous studies that highlight the benefits, though as a reminder here are a few:

increased productivity
improved staff health and wellbeing
staff who feel valued
increased staff morale, satisfaction and motivation
better work-life balance
decreased stress and other work-related illness
reduced sick leave
fewer worker’s compensation claims
reduced employee turnover

Though as an employer, can you really guide your employee’s health?

The answer to this is a resounding YES.
As the company custodian you are responsible to ensure that all assets are fully utilised, in working order for peak performance to maximise the company’s returns.
I am a great believer that your workforce are your greatest assets and the more they are appreciated, heard, valued and shown respect, the more passionate, productive and motivated they will become. Creating a fantastic workplace, that attracts high-calibre personnel and greater profits.
Following on with this line of thinking, an employee health and wellness program should be viewed exactly the same as an asset maintenance program.
Personally, knowing what I know now, I wish that the previous company I worked for had a health and wellness program.

Sure, initially I would have complained that I don’t have time for this; I’m already working 63+ hours a week, though once the Personal WHY (direct benefits for me) had been properly explained (and started to become a reality) I would have been more open to give it a go and continue with the program.

The Personal Why’s are:

A SENSE OF WELL-BEING: Being in good shape can give you more energy, reduce anxiety and depression, improve self-esteem, and help you better manage stress.
MORE ENERGY, MORE PRODUCTIVE IN LESS TIME: Performing your work in less time gives you the freedom to spend less time at work. Allowing you to create balance in other areas of your life especially, family, socially and spiritually.
LOOKING AND FEELING BETTER: You look better when you’re in shape and eating right. Staying active helps you tone muscles and improve your posture.
NO LONGER AN OVERLY ACIDIC ENVIRONMENT: Let’s face it not much can thrive in acid. Eating a diet which is majority plant-based foods like fruits and veggies helps to create an alkaline environment and counteract any work related stress which produces cortisol that is also acidic. Your whole disposition changes when you bring the body back into balance, as every single system in the body is affected by too much acid.
EVERY RELATIONSHIP IN YOUR LIFE WILL IMPROVE: This goes hand in hand with all of these personal why’s especially the last two points. You will begin to create a better relationship with yourself. Once you begin to love (truly love) who you are the only person you’ll be in competition with is‘yesterday you.’ From this space you will allow people to be who they are, which in turn creates better relationships as you’re more empathic.
A GOOD SOCIAL LIFE: Staying active and balanced is a great way to have fun, make new friends, and spend quality time with family.

Whilst we can all choose to change our health and wellbeing individually, it can be a lot easier when our workplace has the same mindset and goals in creating a win-win for all.

Here are my top five reasons WHY becoming and staying healthy together works best when done through a company wellness program:

Accountability buddies: When everyone is consciously exercising and eating healthy you are more likely to make the correct food choices. You will share best practices and call each other as and when required. You’ll make it fun.
Competition makes you perform better: Most of us have at least a little competitive streak, and healthy competition is a good thing because it makes you perform better. None of us want to be the weakest link or the first to give up.
Increases commitment massively: It’s one thing bailing on your own health plans, but it’s much, much harder to abandon your program when the whole workplace is living and breathing a healthy regime.
Taking regular breaks: The whole company will begin to embrace eating away from your desk, taking breaks to breathe and revitalise. You’ll become a mindful eater and most importantly have better relationships with your co-workers, spending time with them away from your desks.
Creating a collaborative team: Connecting from a health and wellness perspective assist you to be more aware and collaborative in relation to the workload/ duties / tasks. You will find ways to collaborate instead of compete. You’ll begin to look for best practices in all procedures. You’ll all become more inclusive.

We spend so much time in our professional lives that it seems logical that we should all have a health and wellness mindset.

Your bottom line is comparative with your employee’s bottoms, so why not have your profits increase as their bottoms decrease?

Healthy body = healthy mind = healthy bottom line.

Reach out when you’re to know more about how I can assist you to create a workplace where your employees are empowered in all areas of their lives, a joy to be around and have your best interests at heart.

Until next time…..

Be well and remember to make each day meaningful, memorable and magical………..and never, ever, ever stop dancing!

With Love & Gratitude
Karen Chaston.

Please spend time checking out the many resources on this website.

Courageously Being True to Who You Are

1 January, 2016/in 10x Your Life /by Karen Chaston

Over the Christmas and New Year period, I’ve had the pleasure of catching up and spending time with friends and family that I have not seen for years.
It was great to notice that whilst in many ways we were the same, laughing at many shared experiences, in a lot of ways we were also very different or as I like to believe we have blossomed into being our true self.
I love that I have changed so much, that now I am following a burning desire within me path of inspiring women to understand who they are, to be true to themselves and ultimately to become their own best friend.
Whilst many of my friends and family do not understand why I so easily walked away from a successful CFO professional life, they do actually recognise that I am now more fun, balanced and a fulfilled person to be around.

Courageously creating your life
In order to consciously create balance, we have to assess what is important to us. The many demands of modern life can push us to make choices that can put us off balance and have a detrimental effect on our habits, relationships, health and career. In creating a balanced lifestyle, we have to decide how much time and energy we are willing to devote to the different areas of our lives.

There are nine areas of our life; mentally, professionally, financially, socially, family, physically spiritually, emotionally and environmentally. Visualise your life as a life-house containing seven rooms. You balance your life-house through visiting and spending time in each room, each week.
Most people tend to spend their time in only a couple of rooms, though unless we go into every room every week, even if only to keep it aired, we are not complete.
When I was a CFO, I loved my perceived successful life, though in hindsight, I was actually living in a ground-hog day daze; Working, eating, and drinking too much, always in fight mode, totally denying my feminine side, running on empty, unfulfilled, not understanding that adrenalin in a woman’s body causes burnout, exhaustion, and disconnectedness.
To awaken from a ground hog day daze requires courage especially when well meaning friends would like you to remain as you are. When you are consciously changing who you are, it’s important to remember Plato’s infamous quote

“People are like dirt. They either nourish you and help you grow as a person, or they can stunt your growth and make you wilt and die.”

Blossoming and growing into your true self is the only true option and sometimes you have to thank some friends for the times you shared, and move on as the misalignment will not serve either one of you.

Embrace who you are now
Life is impermanent and it’s great to remember that there is only one person you are guaranteed to spend your entire life with and that is YOU.

If you’re feeling you are living in a ground-hog day daze and would like to awaken, here’s a simple stepped process that leads to your awakening:

Gratitude: Recognising and being grateful for everything that is in your life assists you to be kinder to yourself and therefore generally to everyone else in your life. The more you appreciate your life, the more you will have to be thankful for.
Love: Gratitude leads to a loving heart, where you will love who you are now. You’ll love your perfectly imperfect self. Knowing you are as you’re meant to be NOW.
Inspiration: When you’re grateful and love who you are now, inspiration builds in your body, inspiring you to create the life of your dreams and desires. The embers of your inspired burning desire will be ignited.
Enthusiasm & Excitement: Once the inspired burning desires have been ignited, you have been awakened. The enthusiasm for a balanced life is what drives you as you know through persistence, everything can be achieved.

Let’s make 2016 the year for you to courageously live the life of your dreams and desires, even the ones that you have not thought about yet.

Until next time…..

Be well and remember to make each day meaningful, memorable and magical………..and never, ever, ever stop dancing!

With Love & Gratitude
Karen Chaston.

Please spend time checking out the many resources on this website.

Having the Courage to Be Unique

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Courageously Being True to Who You Are

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