Last month, I shared my travel experiences of countries alphabetically from A to G to avoid it being TL;DR (“too long, didn’t read”). Being uprooted and travelling to a new country every three years as a child forced me to learn be adaptable and flexible. I learned to appreciate and respect many different religions and cultures. The second part of my travel experiences start with countries beginning with the letter H and go through to and include O; and highlight the po

The Summer holiday season is well underway, and it got me thinking of where I might like to visit. With a fairly sizeable bucket list, I look forward to continuing my adventures, especially to countries I have not yet visited. Throughout my childhood the exploration of different countries was something I only ever knew. My Dad was an International Bank Manager and he was posted to a different country every 3 to 4 years. I don’t claim to be a native or know every

The time is almost here! When you have worked for something for so long and the time for the event to take place is almost here, there is often an anticipated excitement, and maybe nerves, that can be felt. In this case, it is about my 13-year-old daughter. What makes it particularly special for me is to witness is her journey to get to this point has had a less than straightforward beginning. Born with a variety of conditions including: an innocent heart murmur, hEDS (

I remember a time, working as a PA / EA in a corporate environment, that it might have been questioned that personal business was dealt with for a Principal (let’s call them that for this purpose). It was often when a PA / EA was senior enough to be trusted with family / personal / private lifestyle management, but it wasn’t included in the job description when the ‘grey’ was neither black nor white. It began small, as a ‘favour’, and (maybe not) slowly grew into more re

“Doing the best you can in everything you do will maximise your potential and provide you with opportunities.” That’s what I often say to my daughter who is at the age of having recently chosen her options for GCSEs. Whilst it may not seem like a big deal to some I know that, like my daughter, being presented with options at the age of 13 to decide what I potentially wanted to do in the future seemed premature to me. My opinion hasn’t changed The process she has recent

Time has a funny way of creeping up on you in no time! As I reach the official middle-age mark of life this month, in no particular order for the most part, these are just 50 things I have learnt from being an Assistant for half my life: Genuine logic is not a learnt skill, it is a personal quality that you are born with. Being assertive whilst also being subservient gets you into trouble most of the time. Going with your gut and getting someone to accompany you when ca

As a busy Business Owner or Consultant, it is likely that you feel stretched, dare it is suggested, even overwhelmed at times... You have reached a point of being able to do everything yourself quite easily (or at least, well) and you are digging your heels in when the notion of outsourcing has been suggested or even considered. The fact that you have managed your business effectively until now is surely proof that you can continue as you always have! Whist it is ob

Being helpful to others is naturally seen by others as a great quality to have and of course it is. We all probably want to be seen as kind, compassionate and generous. To be able to achieve something that is asked of us which simultaneously becomes a personal reward is often felt as one of the biggest accomplishments for a person. But to what cost does that come? Benjamin Franklin famously said: “If you want something done, ask a busy person.” Mr Franklin

“If you can dream it, you can do it.” ~ Walt Disney The start of a new year can be approached in two ways: With a full zest of life attitude, full of energy in which a person will take the bull by the horns and attempt to do everything they said they were going to do at 100 mph. or Cautiously and with trepidation because a person may feel much less motivated to do what is expected of them as soon as a new year starts. One thing is for certain, and that is that every new y

There is not much I miss about school but there is one thing that I feel hugely grateful for which was freely available to me when I was there. My younger years revolved around sport. From a young age I participated in anything sport related and when I think back I realise just how much it influenced me as a person. The attributes I have been described with together with the qualities I live by that has shaped me as a person has been in direct correlation with the sport I

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