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Inspirational Women - a bit of motivation on International Women's Day

March 8, 2012
So today is International Women's Day ... don't normally bother with this kind of stuff, but it made me reflect on people who have inspired me throughout my life....   here is my list:

Authenticity

I once worked for an amazing and very senior woman, who refused to behave 'like a man' to succeed.  She came to work as a complete person, and was not afraid to draw reference to her family, and role as a mother in her work.   People respected her for being genuine, and authentic.   I learnt that you do not need to pretend to be someone you are not to be successful.

True to your Values

A friend recently travelled in Africa, before meeting her boyfriend in a 5 Star resort.  She felt uncomfortable with the contrast between the last few weeks and the luxury of the resort, so she spent a day at a local orphanage.   She persuaded the chef at the resort to come and help out on his day off, and now the resort buy their bread from the orphanage...   I was inspired and humbled by her actions - it doesn't take much to make a difference.


Always Positive

Another extraordinary ordinary woman I know is probably the most positive person I know.  Whatever your idea she points out what is good, builds on it, and makes you feel like you can achieve anything...   How nice it would be if a few more of us went the extra mile to support and enable, rather than shoot ideas down.

Smiling when things get tough..

I have a few friends who have gone through prolonged periods of tough times.  What inspires me about these women is the way they keep making life as perfect as it can be for their family, as things get tough.   There is always a smile to be found..  I wonder how I would cope in their shoes, and then try to think how I can help them smile.

Selflessly Giving Time

I know a couple of women who have ridiculously busy lives, but give their time generously to people and things they believe in.    I am not so good at this, but I do know some of the free coaching I have done in the last year has been amongst the most rewarding things I have ever done.    I can't believe the impact it has had on my self motivation!

What inspires you to be a better person?

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Flexible Working - how to start your Portfolio Career

February 25, 2012
If you are thinking about having a portfolio career, the good news is as a mother you probably already have one, and if not you certainly have the skills to do it.

A Portfolio Career is, for me just a fancy way of saying people work on a set of different things to generate their livelihood. Women have been having portfolio careers since the invention of money, through raising a family whilst trading favours/earning additional money in any way possible.  The range of moving parts that mothers h...

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Why its not always bad to stop your children showing off...

February 10, 2012

 Was talking to a friend the other day, who wants to start doing some different things now her kids are getting a bit older.  Every idea she had was shot down with barriers by other people, and it got me thinking about how negative we often are when anyone has an idea.

The training starts young ...  how many times do you see the faults in your kids' ideas, and point out why things won't work?   How many times do you look awkward, and stop them telling other people how clever they are, or how w...
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Work Life Balance - Solved in 3 Simple Steps!

February 2, 2012
So after my no-life-balance.com January, comes perfect life balance February.  

At work I do loads of 'strategic stuff', so why not apply the same thinking to my W L balance problem.   On giving some thought as to how I was going to make this happen, I realised I have been going about things wrong for most of my life.   So after quite a bit of contemplation - I thought of the 3 things I need to change to break the work-washing-kids-homework-taxi-double dinner-not enough sleep cycle.

1) Write my...
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Going no-life-balance.com - Symptoms and solutions?

January 28, 2012
Oh dear, not even reached the end of January, and I find myself already in no-life-balance.com world.   I realised last week when I noticed I had 3 UI's (un-identifiable injuries) on my leg...   Used to be un-identifiable partying injuries somewhere back in my youth, but now its just bruises from bumping into tables and chairs as I rush around 10 minutes late for the school run, and fearing the 'late token' for missing the school gates!

Other symptoms include the re-emergence of scary mummy (d...
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Laugh with your Kids every day ...

January 17, 2012
Early this year I lost someone special.  She was only 20, at least she knew she was loved.

So as I think about what I want to achieve this year, it was a huge kick up the back side to set myself some goals about people I love.   My first goal is to laugh with my boys every day, and make sure they know they are loved. 

Ok so this morning when I was yelling at my oldest for taking ten minutes to get his coat on, it all went down the pan a bit!   But seriously, you never know what might happen tom...
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My First Post on Mum-Life-Balance!

January 15, 2012
I've been thinking about this site for ages, and just before Christmas someone said, 'stop talking about it, just do it'.  So here we are, the start of my 'small thing' to enable someone somewhere to change for the better.

I hope that people will like the concept, and the life-balance-planning tools on offer, and most importantly I hope that we get loads of feedback so the Mum-Life-Balance Project develops into something really amazing that touches the lives of men, women and children all roun...
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Finding Mum-Life-Balance


Claire Hope Just over 2 years ago, I step-changed my working life. I now have an amazing work life balance with a portfolio career full of things I do for both money and love. Mum-Life-Balance is born out of my experience of spending time with talented women who have great wisdom to share, and my wish to pass this on.
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