Women Count by Susan Bulkeley Butler

Women Count popped through my post box in the gap between Christmas and New Year, having been sent to me by the publisher. I have to admit I inwardly groaned a bit as I’m snowed under with books at the moment, and, as I do actually read (or at the very least skim) all the books I get sent it can be quite time consuming!  However, I only feature here the books that I think you’ll find helpful; there are many that don’t make it.

So you can assume from that I was rewarded by reading this book. It’s an easy read for this subject which can get a bit bogged down and ‘worthy’, if you know what I mean! While this qualifies as a ‘worthy’ book it’s also an easy read written in a straightforward and accessible style.

Four Sections

The book itself is divided into 4 sections:

Section One: The New Math is a succinct account of all the statistics associated with women and their position in the power hierarchies

Section Two: The Pioneers, possibly my favourite section listing all the unsung heroes of women’s progress. Women like Deborah Sampson who dressed as a man to get into the US Army! And was denied a pension when she was ‘unfrocked’. Or Grace Hopper who joined the Navy and got to the rank of Rear Admiral and then invented COBOL, a complex computer language, and many more.

Section Three: Change is Happening. In this section Susan looks at areas where change is happening; education, organisations, communities, and in giving. It’s very obvious in this section that this is a book about America but it’ s no less interesting for that.

Section Four: Now It’s Your Turn. And finally the reader is encouraged to do her own thing! It begins with some more real life examples of women who have followed through on their dreams and then has some sound advice for making your own dreams a reality.

Here’s an extract from the final pages of the book:

‘Yes, we still have glass ceilings to break and boardrooms to enter. Yes, we still have inequalities in pay. But the  headway and the accomplishments we made in the past have created a new world for all of us today, a new world filled with opportunities for us to shape and change the world even more for the women who will follow us into the future……………………

Just like Susan (Neely, CEO of the American Beverage Association) and just like so many other female pioneers who broke the barriers of sexism to become astronauts, politicians, Supreme Court Judges, and so much more, we must all have the courage to be a “different type of leader”, so we don’t” perpetuate the same foolish system” that is at least partly to blame for many of the problems we have in the world today. We need to do this not just for women’s sake, but for society’s sake. More women in leadership roles means new ways of approaching old problems, whether it’s how we deal with climate change or international relations or the responsibilities of business and government.

What are YOU going to do to change the system?’

At just 124 pages it’s not a marathon read but the author makes use of every page and I am happy to give this book a space on my shelves! If you’re interested in women’s issues you’ll enjoy this book. You can buy it through your local bookseller, borrow it from the library, or purchase it on line via Amazon

Create 50 Ways to Change Your Life!

Sounds like a tall order I know, but you can do it and here’s how!

Find yourself a 30 minute slot (Yes, you can change your life in half an hour!). Take yourself away from everything electrical, no screens, lap tops, or phones, etc although do play music if you want as that can help the creative juices flow.

Taking a blank sheet or three of paper and a handful of coloured pens, answer this question ‘What would change my life for the better?’

You need to keep your answers short as you only have half an hour from now to get it all down! Put down everything that comes to you, mad, bad, good and seemingly unachievable.

At first it will be difficult and you’ll struggle but once you have released your inner creativity, after about 10-15 minutes, the ideas will flow thick and fast. Think about people you admire, careers you would like, places you’d like to be, people you’d like to be with, consider everything about your life.

Stop after 30 minutes. Go and get a drink, you’ve earned it. Once you’ve had a wee break, visit your list again. How many ideas did you generate? Don’t look at it and think ‘too much to ever do’, but instead look at it and think ‘My life is full of possibilities! I am amazing!’ Because you are! You are fabulous!

Mindfulness and Stress

Note to self – do more nothing! A resolution you just might keep…

The art (skill?) of meditation has been around for centuries; I was taught about it’s benefits during my professional training, and when I first worked in a pyschiatric hospitals over 27 years ago it was being used as something helpful with patients. I have also been lucky enough to work with several Buddhists and be taught some of the techniques by them to cope with a very stressful job. At one point we had a regular lunchtime meditation group going which was much more ‘nourishing’ than a trip to the hospital canteen!

Research and Mindfulness

One of the most recent studies on the correct use of mindfulness techniques and meditation has found that it reduces the recurrence of acute depression by up to 50%. That is pretty large claim but NICE (National Institute for Health & Clinical Evidence, a UK organisation which recommends treatments to the NHS) has advised GPs to ‘prescribe’ it and they don’t do that lightly. It can help with all sorts of things, like hypertension and chronic pain.

What is Mindfulness?

Jon Kabat-Zinn, is one of the founders of the mindfulness research movement. He defined mindfulness as:

“paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgementally”.

Other definitions include:

• an open and receptive attention to and awareness of what is occurring in the present moment

• an awareness that arises through intentionally attending in an open, accepting, and discerning way to whatever is arising in the present moment

• an attention that is receptive to the whole field of awareness and remains in an open state so that it can be directed to currently experienced sensations, thoughts, emotions, and memories

• stated simply, waking up from a life-on-automatic pilot

Do Nothing

Perhaps, at this point in the New Year rushing around filling your head with resolutions and a huge to do list is not the best thing you can be doing for yourself. Maybe you need to learn to do nothing. To simply just be for a while. There is an article here which will get you started on mindful mediation, but if you simply just sit up well, not slumped,  close your eyes and focus on your breathing, and notice what is going on in your head for 5 minutes, you will be making a beginning.

And like anything worth having, it requires practise. If you can find 10 minutes every day for a week to try it out you should see some benefits. Go, on, do nothing!

If you meditate regularly I’d love to know what benefits it brings you!

Happy New Year!

As we start a brand new year I’d just like to wish all of my readers a really great 2011.

Thank you all for your support and encouragement over the past year and I look forward to talking more with you in 2011, either through the newsletter, a personal contact, or comments on the blog posts.

My dear old Dad always used to raise a toast on Hogmanay:

 ”To absent friends”

It’s a lovely wee toast, a poignant memory of those you’ve lost, and those you just aren’t able to be with at New Year. And now I think I can add another category: all those friends you never see but are out there in the ether offering support and words of encouragement.

Happy New Year to you all!

Will You Keep Your New Year Resolutions?

It’s a good game, isn’t it – making massive resolutions in January so you can have guilt pangs about not sticking with them all through February! We’re probably all triumphs of hope over experience when it comes to making New Year resolutions.

Richard Wiseman, a UK psychologist, undertook some research into new year resolutions; his team tracked over 3,000 people attempting to do a whole range of things, like losing weight, using the gym, quitting smoking or drinking less.

Men and Women ARE Different

Perhaps unsurprisingly to all of us who have not managed to keep our resolutions going past Valentine’s Day, they concluded that New Year’s Eve is not a great time for making resolutions, and that you have more chance of success if you plan ahead for the changes you want to make.

They also found some interesting gender differences in achieving success. For men, the secret of success lies in setting specific goals and focusing on the rewards you will get if you achieve them. For women, the best way to keep a resolution is to tell people about it. At the start of the project 52% of the participants were confident of success but Dr Wiseman found that only 12% actually kept to their new year resolutions…

Men

Men were 22% more likely to succeed when they set goals for themselves, such as losing a pound a week rather than losing weight in general. In addition, men tended to succeed when they focused on rewards, such as losing weight to become more attractive to the opposite sex. “Men may be more likely to adopt a macho attitude and have unrealistic expectations, and so simple goal setting helps them achieve more,” said Dr. Wiseman.

Women

Women were more successful at keeping their resolutions when they told family and friends about their plans. They also responded better to encouragement not to give up if they snuck back to old habits temporarily – such as treating a chocolate binge as simply one minor setback and not a total failure. Telling others increased women’s chance of keeping resolutions by 10%, although sometimes they were reluctant to do so, losing a valuable source of support. (See this article about the importance of  women’s friendships)

Most Likely to Succeed

The researchers found that the resolutions most likely to succeed were:
Enjoy life more, (32% of people stayed with it)
Improve your fitness (29%)
Lose weight (28%)
Be more organised (27%)
Quit or cut down drinking (25%)
Quit or cut down smoking (24%)

What’s your most frequently made resolution?

You can read more about this in The Luck Factor by Dr Richard Wiseman available from your local library, book shop, or via Amazon

Your Special Offer for January 2011! Be Fabulous All Year!

Dr Richard Wiseman has researched how likely we are to keep our New Year resolutions. Did you know that women can increase their chances of success by telling other people and gaining support and encouragement from them!

But he also found that women were often reluctant to ask for this help, cutting off this source of support. Which is understandable; we don’t always want to share our innermost thoughts and aspirations with people we see every day, it can feel too personal. Which is why working in total confidence with a professional can be so successful in helping you achieve your ambitions for 2011.

January Special Coaching Offer!

Throughout the first month of 2011 I am offering everyone who signs up for my  coaching session a really great deal! If you sign up for my introductory package during January, you will receive an extra session of one hour’s coaching absolutely free! At an agreed time after our first call, (when we will have discussed strategies for your maximum success) I will contact you to see how you are progressing, and to inspire and motivate you to continue!

Make this year the one when you do achieve your resolutions and live life to the full! Sign up now!