KEEP GOING

I am now nearly 5 weeks into my advanced training programme for the London Marathon which takes place in April next year. This is my second marathon; I am so excited to take part and also to raise money for my chosen charity Alzheimer Scotland.

I am training 6 days a week and it is a tough challenge. This morning I went out for my usual run but today I took a different route – I wanted to tackle a couple of hills to build up my strength and endurance. Needless to say I struggled running up the first hill and I really feared running up the final hill before heading home. I was psyching myself up as I approached the bottom of the long hill and to be honest I was really dreading it, my legs felt heavy and tired. Just at that moment a voice from behind me shouted “KEEP GOING” – I looked to my right and there was this cheery smiling cyclist, passing me by, giving me some much needed words of encouragement. I smiled back at him as if to say THANK YOU, that was all I needed – those two simple words catapulted me into another gear and I was doing a Sylvester Stallone in the film Rocky, running up the stairs to the entrance of the Philadelphia Museum of Art – now famously known as the “Rocky Steps”. My local hill to which I refer, well, I have now renamed it “Clarabelle’s Hill” it sits on the Bellshill Road heading into my home town of Motherwell – and it is to me, one tough cookie. But this cookie ain’t crumbling, “Keep going, keep going, keep going”, I repeated the cyclist’s words in my head and I embraced his words encouragement with open arms until I reached the top.

I just wanted to share that moment of today with every one, because we all can offer real words of encouragement to others around us – when I ran the New York Marathon in November 2007 I was completely uplifted by the thousands of cheering crowds as I chased my dream of completing the 26.2 miles through the wonderful city.
Think about who you can offer your words of encouragement to today – it just may give that person the kick start they need to make a positive change in their life. Who would benefit from your “keep going” chants? – I believe they will be very grateful, just like I was today. Thank you Mr Cyclist unfortunately I couldn’t keep up with you to offer you my personal thank you.

TREASURE CHEST HUNT

Passion

I have had my own rollercoaster of a year but to be honest I didn’t expect it to be any different. I have faced many personal and professional challenges on my new business journey but the most amazing thing is that what comes with the lows is some major and I mean MAJOR highs filled with magic, inspiration and an explosiveness of heartfelt and courageous spirit. That, my precious friends, is what I call a true treasure chest of passion.

We all have that treasure chest of passion that makes us feel alive, in the moment and embracing every opportunity that comes our way. Sometimes it takes a while to find your own treasure chest but I believe it is there calling upon you day by day - you just need to silence yourself from within and quietly listen. Visualise your very own treasure chest right now, bursting at the seams waiting to be discovered. Take a look inside it, What burning desires fuel your motivation?, What is your inner passion saying to you? Go on, I dare you, move a little closer, take a deeper look inside, breathe in its energy and allow it to flow through your body urging you to take that first brave step towards positive change. You’re smiling now because I know you see it, feel it and want to be it.

New Year

Well you can you know, make a pledge for 2010 to search for that treasure chest and don’t stop until you find it. But that is not where the story ends, that dear people is just the beginning of A WONDERFUL LIFE.

Go get it!!

Engaging Your Audience

How do you communicate internally and externally with your stakeholders?
Well, one effective way is to have a regular Company Newsletter or eMagazine that will:

Capture the minds of your readers,
Engage their interest,
Get them involved and;
Let them know what is happening now and your future business plans.

Give your stakeholders something to be a part of and feel proud of. Get them talking excitedly about your business success.

Below are my top tips to creating a great Company Newsletter/eMagazine content:

Identify your target audience.

Clarify the purpose of your eMag

Ensure it is well presented with a good layout.

Ensure the content meets with the vision and mission of your business.

Clearly identify who will confidently produce your Newsletter on a regular basis.

Measure the cost/benefits of doing this in-house or outsourcing. Choose what best fits with your Organisation.

Identify how you will get staff and other stakeholders involved in the design and content?

Ensure the content of your Newsletter fits with the culture and climate of your Organisation.

Ensure you give your stakeholders what they want to read.

Ensure your stories are interesting, fun and encourages positive employee relations.

Include all stakeholders in your Newsletter/eMagazine—don’t make it only attractive for a selected few to applaud themselves.

Encourage reader feedback to continually develop your content.

Set up a Newsletter Working Group and ensure all stakeholders are represented.

Make it part of a wider internal/external Communication Strategy—this is just one of the many ways to encourage employee voice.
Murray People helps Organisations develop an effective Communication Strategy that will encourage employee engagement OR if you wish to outsource the creation of your Company Newsletter/eMagazine we can do that for you too. Please e.mail Claire Murray at, claire@murraypeople.com for further details.

A Christmas Poem

Christmas is a happy time there’s lots of chocs and merry wine.
And even if it doesn’t snow there’s cheery Santa singing HO HO HO.

It’s a time full of sparkle and glitter and joy.
It’s a time when grown ups be a a girl or a boy.

Dancing and singing to that karaoke tune whilst frost glistens and shimmers under the Christmas night moon.

So let the magic of Christmas rejoice in you, pull the Christmas crackers and shout out ‘WOO HOO’.

It’s a joyous occasion for loved ones to share ,
a time for giving and showing you care.

Little Robins with their red breasts come out to play,
‘we wish you a merry Christmas’ their sweet chirps say.

And the ones who can’t be with us on this Christmas Day,
Today your thought of more than ever in a very special heartfelt way.

Embrace the celebrations and enjoy the fun and laughter,
I wish you a merry Christmas and a happy ever after.

INSPIRATIONAL RADIO

In the very early hours of Saturday morning (31st October 2009) I experienced my first ever radio interview. I appeared on Real Coaching Radio Network’s Mind, Body and Soul Show hosted by the amazing Coach Steve Toth who is the Founder of RCRN. (www.realcoachingradio.net)

To say I was very excited is an under statement—you could have scraped me off the ceiling I was so hyper!! All in the name of my passion I faced my fears and went for it.

Coach Steve Toth is a master in his field and he instantly made me feel at ease and asked me questions that provided me with a platform to share my background and business journey.

The interview flowed well, with many uncontrollable laughs along the way.

What did I want to achieve from sharing my story?

I wanted to share my own experience of starting with a passion and being fuelled with an abundance of motivation to take immediate and continuous action. I spoke about my drive and energy to share these live experiences through my daily video diaries in the hope that it would inspire other people on the pathway to opportunity.

How did it feel doing the interview?

On reflection it seemed to go so fast but I can honestly say I really enjoyed it.

There was an emotional moment however when Coach Steve unexpectedly played one of my video diaries. I felt so happy and grateful that my story was being shared and would hopefully touch someone’s heart just like it was touching mine. I held back the tears and sheer emotion as Coach Steve asked me how it felt to hear the video diary being played.

You see I have been working on this video diary dream for over 1 year now and I have hit many many brick walls along the way but I NEVER GAVE UP. I always believed that it would reach others one day, I just didn’t know when and how that would be.

Will I take part in a radio interview again?

You bet I will—but you knew that would be my answer—I call myself
Miss Opportunity NOT Missed Opportunity!!

Where can I listen to the radio interview?

You can access the interview via the archived podcast media segment by entering the following link into your web browser: http://www.realcoachingradio.net/content/mind-body-and-soul-1, click on the 'blue rss button' so that you can listen to it any time or by just right clicking on the link and saving it to your computer as a media file, optionally you can also subscribe to the shows RSS Podcast Feed.

You can also check out the blog post about this show at: http://realcoachingradio.net/blogs/coachstevetoth/2009/nov/04/home-video
The Real Coaching Radio Network (RCRN) and the 'Mind, Body & Soul Show' is founded by host-executive producer Coach Steve Toth and is also syndicated by RCRN, NowMedia, BlogTV, Stickam, KyteTV and My Rx for Living Internet Radio channels-communities.

I would like to personally thank Steve Toth and all the sponsors for inviting me as a guest on their show and I look forward to returning as a guest in the future.

THE KESWICK CHALLENGE

I will be one of the Coaches facilitating at a number of Leadership Challenge Events being held in beautiful Keswick, Lake District, England next year. However, before I was accepted on board I had to pass the Keswick Challenge myself. What did that mean? Well, on Monday, 1st November 2009 I was jumping over rivers, doing a ‘spider woman’ up and down muddy hills and battling the storms and hail stones. All and all it was a four hour trek covering nearly nine miles, 2500 feet up. Lovely jubbly!! It certainly was a challenge but I suppose it had to be.

The magic and spirit of ‘The Keswick Challenge’ comes from embracing the great outdoors and that is all I am saying at present—I don’t want to spoil it for all you participants next year!!

I would encourage EVERYONE to take ’The Keswick Challenge’ because the sense of achievement that you get at the end of it is second to none—and although you might have sore muscles for a few days after it the inspiring memories of the challenge will last a lifetime.

For further details e.mail: claire@lifecoachmylife.com if you want to find out more.

BUILDING A WINNING TEAM

I believe that the winning strategy to Organisational success is through your people. Your frontline staff must deliver in these challenging times and your managers must be well equipped to help them to perform to the best of their abilities. Murray HR has produced an eBook which can be used as an effect training tool to equip key managers to strengthen the capabilities of their teams and to maximize results for your Organisation.

Organisational Development

Your people are a key asset and it pays to invest in your staff, develop their skills and manage them effectively to optimise their performance. When you have staff who are growing and excelling in what they do at work, then you will have a winning formula to meet your strategic goals and achieve your desired results.

It is vitally important to develop your staff at all levels and in particular to develop your managers who have a key responsibility to develop and empower your staff at the front line. This is not always an easy task and often complex situations between frontline staff and their immediate managers slow the development process down.

Succeed as a Manager

This eBook has been carefully designed for key professionals who either work with managers in Organisations or work as a manager in an Organisation. It forms as a handy toolkit for managers to robustly equip themselves when dealing with people management issues. The content can be used in conjunction with performance management appraisal systems, probationary interviews and management support and supervision sessions.

It also forms the basis of being a great training guide that is easy to follow and simple to understand. It provides effective questions, tips and scenarios to move staff forward, make the right decisions, take ownership in their own roles and embrace their responsibilities.

This eBook will raise the confidence and competencies of key managers as they carry out their day to day duties.

If you are interested in purchasing this eBook please e.mail mail@murrayhr.com