fbpx
Search results for

australian women writers

planning & productivity reading notes

12 books I’m planning to read to consolidate and grow in 2020

January 30, 2020

2020 is my year for consolidating my efforts of the past few years and being strategic about how I work and learn. There is a big focus on consolidating practice and building on my skills and knowledge in new ways. You can read more about my plans for consolidating in 2020 HERE.

One key area of consolidating is reading what I own. I have many books recommended to me and purchased or received and not read. Whilst I still plan to buy new books in some cases, I want to limit this. In 2020, I want to be really mindful of what I am buying to read and working out where it fits in my business and life.

Here’s a list of 12 of books I plan to read this year and why they are important in my year of consolidating and growth:

Thrive by Ariana Huffington

Published in 2014 and a gift from my dear friend Di, this one is high on the list. It is time to get to it. Focused on getting in touch with who we are, it encourages practical responses to what is important. These are around the ‘third metric’ of measuring thriving and success in terms of well-being, wisdom, wonder and giving. A useful personal read, it aligns with my work in encouraging women in transition to connect with what matters.

This is for you by Ellen Bard

Subtitled, ‘A Creative Toolkit for Better Self-Care’, this is a very practical book of self-care tips by work psychologist, writer and digital nomad, Ellen Bard. There are 101 creative exercises to help make incremental changes and flourish in day to day life. I am looking forward to working my way through them to be more present each day and sharing the practices with clients.

The Bullet Journal Method by Ryder Carroll

I first came across this book via Caroline Donahue’s Secret Library Podcast conversation with Ryder Carroll. It was so inspiring as I listened, I stopped as I was driving to seek out the book straight away! Getting more organised and strategic with my list-making is an ongoing search. I have long been interested in bullet journaling practices. Focused on tracking your past, ordering your present and planning your future, I can’t wait to learn more and activate the principles in this book.

Speaking Out by Tara Moss

Published in 2016, it also time to read Tara Moss’s Speaking Out. This is a guide for women and girls on managing being in the public eye and speaking out. Contexts include public speaking, social media, writing and other public spaces. A guide to speaking out safely with confidence, it emphasises the need for women’s voices to be heard. I am keen to speak out more in 2020 in various ways so this will be an important read.

Power vs Force by David R Hawkins, M.D., Ph.D.

This book was a recommendation from speaker Alex MacFarlane at the 2019 Australian Association of Psychological Type Conference. In a session on Holistic Mental Health, Alex encouraged us to read Power vs Force for scientific insights into higher levels of consciousness. Subtitled ‘The Hidden Determinants of Human Behavior‘, it looks at theoretical concepts from particle physics, nonlinear dynamics, and chaos theory and uses applied kinesiology as a research tool. I am keen to learn more about this field where science meets spirituality.

How to Write Non-Fiction: A Companion Workbook by Joanna Penn

I have read How to Write Non-Fiction by Joanna Penn. This is the accompanying workbook that I have started working through to apply the learning. This year, I am working on bringing my non-fiction book with the title of ‘Wholehearted: Self-leadership for Women in Transition‘ into the world. Working through this companion book will be a powerful and practical learning guide for this process and for writing future books.

The Hate Race by Maxine Beneba Clarke

This book by Maxine Beneba Clarke – recommended by Bek Ireland, friend and Quiet Writing Wholehearted Stories contributor – is a memoir of growing up black in white middle-class Australia. I plan to read this book and also Growing Up Aboriginal in Australia edited by Dr Anita Heiss as part of a commitment to looking at bias and privilege more deeply in 2020.

White Tears, Brown Scars by Ruby Hamad

Sharyn Holmes, Founder of Formidable Voices, leadership coach, consultant, speaker, artist and writer, recommends this book. Described as “a confronting reality check for the privileged position of the white woman,” White Tears, Brown Scars is another key read for me in looking at privilege in more personal and practical terms this year. Sharyn’s story features in the book. She is hosting a Formidable Book Club in her Membership space with this book featured in February 2020.

Your Dream Life Starts Here by Kristina Karlsson

This book was recommended by Kate Morell so I sought it out, inspired by the changes this book and the accompanying Dream Life Journal encourages in her life. Kate says that:

Reading these instil in me the importance of continuing to share my dreams and vulnerability and remind me of the magic that happens when I do.

Dreaming with Sunsets for Kate

And don’t we all need reminding of that?

Start Finishing by Charlie Gilkey

I have been a fan of Charlie Gilkey’s Productive Flourishing and its practical tools and tips for a long time. This new book is about ‘how to go from idea to done’. With a deep interest in productivity and planning, skills I share with my coaching clients, I hope this book will help me to finish more things in my life as well as encouraging that spirit in the lives of others.

Authorpreneurship by Hazel Edwards

I was lucky enough to be the winning bidder for Hazel Edwards’ wonderful offer in the recent Authors for Fireys fund-raising effort for bushfire support in Australia. As well as a brilliant and practical 1-hour Skype chat with Hazel, I received an ecopy of her book, Authorpreneurship: The Business of Creativity. I look forward to learning more about the business of creativity from this highly experienced mentor and author of more than 200 books.

Aligned and Unstoppable by Cassie Mendoza-Jones

I am planning on limiting new book-buying in 2020 with my focus on consolidating and reading what I have. (Hello local libraries and my existing collection!) But Cassie Mendoza-Jones‘ just-released book, Aligned and Unstoppable calls strongly. I had just posted the below quote by Beau Taplin on Instagram when Cassie’s new book popped up. There’s a sign! Cassie’s podcast chat Joyfully Completing Creative Projects with creative Nicola Newman late last year is fabulous! Her focus on joy, completion and working in alignment is inspiring.

Plus some fiction reading!

Balance is important, so of course, there will be fiction reading! I was lucky enough to win a brilliant stack of new/recent books by mostly Australian women authors at the Heroine’s Festival. I recommend Bruny by Heather Rose, The Blue Rose by Kate Forsyth and The Naturalist’s Daughter and The Woman in the Green Dress by Tea Cooper. I’m currently reading The Island of Sea Women by Lisa See. Let me know any of these you have read I should bump up the list!

Be in action:

SHARE YOUR CONSOLIDATING READS: Love to hear more about what you are reading for consolidating and growth in 2020. Do you have a word for the year? What are your priorities? What are the reads you are planning to align with those priorities? Share in the comments or on social media: Instagram or Facebook.

JOIN SACRED CREATIVE COLLECTIVE GROUP COACHING: Like to join in a creative community filled with rich reads, productivity and alignment this year? The Sacred Creative Collective kicks off 17 February for 3 months of group coaching around. It is focused around transition, creativity, personality and self-leadership. Work with me and a community of women on goals sacred to you for a more purposeful life.

BOOK A Discovery Call NOW for the Collective or to explore other ways to work with me in 2020.

coaching personality and story

How I fulfilled my vision to become a Personality Type Coach

January 29, 2019

I have skilled up in personality type to fulfil my vision to become a Personality Type Coach. Read about this journey and what it can offer you.

I spoke on ‘Learned Wisdom: Journeys in Type and Transition‘ at two international conferences in 2019. Firstly, I spoke at the British Association of Psychological Type (BAPT) ‘Pearls of Wisdom’ Conference in the UK in April 2019. Then I shared this information locally at the Australian Association of Psychological Type Conference in November 2019.

This presentation focused on personality type in my transition from corporate employee to life coach, writer and personality type practitioner. I shared how I help women negotiate major change with personality type as a compass.

A central part of my journey has been becoming a Jung/Myers-Briggs Personality Type Coach and practitioner. So I share more here about that journey, what it means and the wisdom it can offer.

Learning about my own personality type preferences

Becoming a Personality Type Coach and practitioner has been a key pillar of my professional identity journey. Learning about my INTJ personality preferences made all the difference in the world for me. I realised that I am a rare bird, with people with INTJ preferences making up about 1.5% of the population. INTJ women are even rarer at 0.5% of the female population, one of the rarest gender/type combinations. This helped me to understand I might naturally be and feel different. Learning more about my introverted, intuitive, thinking and judging preferences helped me honour these parts of myself.

I learnt more about my preferred cognitive processes and how I approach the world as an Introverted Intuitive (Ni). And I learnt about how this interacts with my preference for Extraverted Thinking. Strongly logical and structured, I also have intuitive flashes and a sense of knowing what to do. This can be a tricky combination I don’t always understand. I’m not naturally good at explaining my vision to others; I’ve had to work on this. I need to get out of my head more and into the bush or the ocean, swimming with fish. I’ve been able to do this in recent years and I feel more balanced because of it.

personality coach
INTJ Leadership card from Pocket Personality™ Cards

Becoming a Personality Type coach

I wanted to learn more about personality type and share this wisdom with others. So the three pillars of my life transition and identify shifts were becoming:

  1. a life coach
  2. a Jung/Myers-Briggs personality type coach and practitioner
  3. fluent in the intuitive art and symbolism of tarot

I achieved all of these goals and in this piece, I focus on my journey of becoming a Personality Type Coach. You can read about my journey of becoming a life coach here.

Beginning the journey

There are many ways to become a type practitioner with a number of assessment instruments like the MBTI®. Some people begin this journey earlier in their lives, weaving it into careers in psychology, education or human resources areas. It’s often an adjunct to other skills and pathways.

My journey began later in life when I was in my mid 50’s. My passion for Carl Jung and his writings has been a long-term personal interest. I was keen to formalise this passion through learning about type as the heart of my new evolving professional work.

I began by enrolling in a program to build type assessment skill. The coach I worked with had trained with Mary McGuiness, a Sydney-based type practitioner, trainer and author of many years’ experience. So I chose to train with Mary and gained my certification in the Majors Personality Type Inventory™ instrument in 2016.

This journey coincided with becoming a carer and companion for my mother who was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer. I supported her for many months until she passed away in late 2017. At the same time, I faced redundancy from my job of 30 years in a government organisation. This all happened concurrently with training and practice to become a life coach. So I sought to develop my new skill-set quietly and deeply at the most uncertain and challenging of times.

Gaining a broader perspective

You don’t actually need an indicator instrument to work out personality type I have since discovered. It’s just one source of information and this needs to be checked against other information in a coaching context. But you certainly need a deep knowledge of the theory and practice of type however you develop this rich information. And that was my focus in becoming a type practitioner – deep work and deep knowledge.

Gaining the basic skills in personality type assessment via an instrument is a great place to start. I embarked on my learning with passion and fascination. The preparation, training and follow-up were intense.

I see a parallel between the depth of skills in becoming a personality type coach and practitioner and that of understanding your personality type. Both take an investment of time and money and being open to deep learning.

As a person learning about your own personality type preferences, a free online test without the necessary background or knowledge to interpret and apply the learning is only going to take you so far. And possibly in the wrong direction.

Likewise, I can’t imagine how anyone can do the initial training to become a type practitioner without deepening their practice in an ongoing way to provide quality insights to clients.

As Roger Pearman says:

In the hands of a knowledgeable and artful user the theory and instruments are like a Stradivarius. Unfortunately, and for far too many learners, they tend to be played like a dime store violin.

personality coach

A clear vision and deepening my learning

I wanted to be playing in this personality space with skill. I had a clear vision of my offerings for personality type right from the start. It’s been a long journey to put the pieces in place as I concurrently upskilled as a coach and dealt with challenging life circumstances.

I took my learning about personality type seriously, researching and writing about type, guest-posting in various places. I updated my accreditation to include the Majors Personality Type Elements™ instrument, again with Mary McGuiness. This training and tool provide deep insights into the hierarchy and interaction of cognitive processes at play for individuals.

Looking for community

A priority in launching a new professional identity and becoming a personality type coach was connecting with community. I embarked on a search for this, joining the Australian Association of Psychological Type (AusAPT) and attending their inspiring conferences. The key value I’ve found in AusAPT and international connections like BAPT is a sense of community.

For me, this also means contributing to the community. I offered to help AusAPT with social media/communications and now co-ordinate this in a volunteer capacity. I’m the NSW representative on the AusAPT National Committee. I’ve connected with BAPT, attending webinars at the crack of dawn here in Sydney through the power of technology. It’s been great to connect too with US-based APTi and with CPP, now The Myers-Briggs Company, in Australia.

Learning from experienced type practitioners

I have been privileged to connect with the most generous type practitioners locally and abroad. The professional exchange and opportunities are there if you seek them. The type community has many excellent teachers who want the community to grow in learned wisdom. They invest their time and energy for those who wish to take up the opportunity.

I’ve had the opportunity to work with and learn from experienced type practitioners and mentors. Apart from Mary McGuiness, these include:

  • Dario Nardi – learning about the neuroscience of personality and brain-savvy coaching
  • Susan Nash and Sue Blair – learning about whole type and the three lenses of type
  • Jane Kise and Ann Holm – learning about saboteurs and self-sabotaging patterns based on type preferences
  • Peter Geyer – custodian of the AusAPT Type Research and Practice Collection, advisor and mentor to me and many others

I have worked through a Type Coaching Mastermind with two outstanding type practitioners, Susan Nash and Eve Delunas. This focused on looking at evidence-based ways of identifying type and follow-up coaching strategies.

personality type coach
1. With Susan Nash at AusAPT Conference Brisbane, 2018 2. Undergoing brain EEG with Dario Nardi, AusAPT Conference Sydney, 2017 3. With Dario Nardi working on neuroscience of personality and brain-savvy coaching, AusAPT Conference 2017 4. With Ann Holm and Jane Kise in Brisbane for AusAPT Conference 2018 working on saboteurs

Shaping my vision

I’ve read many books and articles and written and reflected. It’s been a process of evidence-based life learning that includes writing 442,000 words in a year, coaching others and being a gatherer of women’s wholehearted stories. These stories, alongside mine, are about women’s key life transitions with personality intersecting and weaving its way through.

So in becoming a personality type coach and practitioner, I’ve developed a deep knowledge, a community and skills of writing about this knowledge. I’ve created my personality type offerings along the way. My vision was to offer personality type coaching to women in a deep way so I could share the same insights I experienced. And that’s what I’ve put into practice.

personality coach

Developing the Personality Stories coaching package

Personality Stories, is a unique coaching package I have shaped, using technology and balancing ethical type approaches with modern opportunities. My coaching clients are women all over the world. I work via Zoom video conferencing and other media including blogging, ecourses and social media.

I trialled the coaching package extensively with fellow coaches to ensure it meets women’s needs. In this way, I have continued to grow and apply my deepening knowledge of personality type in practice. This is a process I intend to continue in partnership with my clients, teachers, mentors and community.

As Jane Kise comments in this article about the depth of personality type learning as a practitioner:

Yep, the theory provides that deep of a well—I’ve been working with it for 20 years and am still gaining new insights.

I gain new insights every day. I’ll build on my knowledge for many years to come with this rich community and my clients as partners.

What’s in the coaching package?

The Personality Stories Coaching Package includes:

  • online personality assessment via the Majors Personality Type Inventory™
  • an online ecourse on personality type preferences and whole type, also a tool for self-assessment
  • a copy of ‘You’ve Got Personality’ by Mary McGuiness
  • a 90-minute coaching debrief 1:1 via video-conferencing to look at information and insights about client type preferences.
  • a follow-up summary and reflections workbook on type preferences

My years of teaching and adult education experience, as well as coaching skills concurrently developed, made this possible.

So, true to type, I created the vision and framework. I skilled up over time, applying my preferences and also the concepts of Cal Newport’s book, Deep Work. And I now share this learning in a deep way with other women. You can sign up directly into the Personality Stories Coaching program in the Quiet Writing School here:

I’ve been lucky too to work with a global team of fellow coaches through our ‘Creative Hearts’ Mastermind. This co-created group has supported me to apply my personality knowledge practically. Their loving support and time enabled me to enact my vision and road test it with their feedback. Some of my coaching clients have been part of shaping the program too. Their feedback has been encouraging and invaluable. I am so grateful for all of this support.

personality type coach
Creative Hearts Mastermind Group in action via technology

Living my personality in my offerings 

My way of becoming a personality type coach and developing my offerings has been INTJ in orientation. It reflects my strengths: envisioning, creating, scaffolding and structuring. But I also connect, network and road test, taking on feedback, evolving my learned wisdom. My connections are deeper with increasing insight and self-leadership combined with community learning. My professional journey and the products I create embody my personality learning about myself. Importantly, they involve data and others’ input in the process as well as my vision. They will evolve with further deepening learning and practice.

Personality Type Coach
INTJ Leadership card from Pocket Personality™ Cards

Sharing my pearls of wisdom is a valuable part of my journey as a  type practitioner. The networking with other type professionals is inspiring, supportive and a source of further learning.

I look forward to sharing Personality Stories with women interested in diving further into their personality type. You can find out more about Personality Stories Coaching here. I’d love to be a Personality Type Coach working with you to inspire your wisdom and personal learning. You can sign up into the course directly via the Quiet Writing School here:

You might also enjoy:

Personality Stories Coaching

Life Coaching – making meaning in times of transition

Shining a quiet light – working the gifts of introversion

Intuition: how to understand and master it – a review of ‘The Inner Tree’ by Maura McCarley Torkildson

Never too old – finding courage and skill to empower your dream

Personality skills including how to be the best you can be as an introvert in recruitment 

Being a vessel – or working with introverted intuition

inspiration & influence planning & productivity reading notes

Creative and Connected #9 – on the art and love of reading

August 12, 2017

Read in order to live.

Gustave Flaubert

reading

Here’s a round-up of what I’ve enjoyed and shared this week on various social platforms on the art and love of reading. My post on How to read for more creativity, pleasure and productivity has been really well received this week. Thank you so much for the feedback about how this post has inspired thoughts about reading practices. Above all, it was so lovely to connect with kindred souls who share my passion for reading.

So to further share that joy, here are some podcasts and reads that celebrate the art and love of reading.

Podcasts on the history, art and love of reading

I listened to two podcasts about reading this week and they were perfect counterpoints about the historical contexts of reading and current ways to enjoy reading.

In Our Time: Culture – Reading – BBC Radio 4

In this discussion from 2000, Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the history of the politics and practice of reading. The podcast covers the history of reading in social and political contexts with a particular emphasis on how women were banned from reading in times past and how it was seen as a trivial activity for them. This historical perspective makes you realise how far we have come. I always feel a responsibility to take these hard-won rights forward.

Guinevere de la Mare and the Silent Book Club – on the Secret Library Podcast with Caroline Donahue

This was such a great podcast chat on a movement I had completely missed – the Silent Book Club. Developed in response to the occasional pressure and social nature of book clubs, Silent Book Clubs involve just turning up together to a venue and reading. It emanated from Guinevere turning up with friends to a bar and just reading over a glass of wine. And this is the flavour behind the Silent Book Club. With Chapters growing all over the world, it’s a word of mouth trend that celebrates just sitting in a public place with others and reading. I can’t actually think of anything more appealing right now. Introverts unite! I notice there is no Australian branch so I think I’ll start a Sydney one – if any local people are interested, let me know. Happy days!

 

reading

 

Books and reading notes

My reading week

In line with my post this week and reading more and the accountability here, I finished two books I’ve had underway recently. Jojo Moyes’ Paris for One was such a fun read, full of chance encounters that result in quirky life changes and fresh perspectives. I loved the last story especially.

I finished listening to The Writer’s Guide to Training Your Dragon, by Scott Baker as an audio book. As a result, I’m weaving dictation into my days via my iPhone and Mac Pro as I work. It’s so easy and a stepping stone to using dictation more fully for writing and transcription.

I’ve continued savouring David Whyte’s Crossing the Unknown Sea: Work as a Pilgrimage of Identity in a slow read (probably too slow) on work and identity. It does, however, feel like it’s mirroring my life, so maybe there’s a reason for the slowness of my reading, so my life can keep time. A favourite quote this week:

To find good work, no matter the path we have chosen, means coming out of hiding. Good work means visibility. (p146)

reading

Book notes on this week’s theme of the art and love of reading

Alberto Manguel is an author to savour on the art and love of reading.

His  A History of Reading takes us into the heart of the experience of reading through a series of interconnected essays. It focuses on his personal response to reading from all angles, such as: learning to read, picture reading, being read to and reading from various standpoints such as translator and author. It’s a beautiful reflection and treasure trove on reading.

In ‘A Reading Diary: A Year of Reading Favourite Books’, Manguel decides to reread some of his favourite books, one month at a time. It’s a journey over a year, blending memoir, journal writing and reviewing into a reflective reading experience. There’s a lovely review of this book here.

One thing I have found as I revisited my books about books and reading this past week is that the authors are all so witty and funny.

A favourite book of mine in this genre is the fabulous Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader, by Anne Fadiman. This 1998 book was recommended to me by a fellow bibliophile and it’s a book of essays celebrating the love of books. It’s so very funny in the way that only a book lover can appreciate. My favourite essay is ‘Marrying Libraries’ about how Anne and her husband are merging their book collections into one after a time together and the conflict and negotiations that ensue. So many great thoughts and laughs:

Books wrote our life story, and as they accumulated on our shelves (and on our windowsills, and underneath our sofa, and on top of our refrigerator), they became chapters in it themselves. How could it be otherwise?

I’m a huge Nick Hornby fan. No other writer makes me laugh out loud as much, and so I was delighted to stumble across his collection of essays on reading, first published in the US Believer Magazine. The Complete Polysyllabic Spree is the full collection of these 28 monthly essays on the books he has bought and read. I just smile the whole way through reading these essays. They are a romp through reading, including the classics, with humour as the connecting thread.

Some of Nick’s thoughts:

If reading books is to survive as a leisure activity – and there are statistics to show that this is by no means assured – then we have to promote the joys of reading, rather than the (dubious) benefits.

and

I’m a writer, and I need to read, for inspiration and education and because I want to get better, and only books can teach me how.

In terms of novels about books and love of books as a connecting factor, there are two main ones that stand out for me:

84 Charing Cross Road, Helene Hanff – My copy has disappeared, ironically, but it’s a slim volume celebrating books as a connecting piece between people, in this case, a London antiquarian bookseller and a New York based reader. Based on the true story of their connection and exchange of letter over nearly 20 years, it’s a celebration of books, reading and the connections they inspire.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, Mary Ann Shaffer – This book is focused on post-war Guernsey and is told entirely through letters between various correspondents. It tells the story of connections between columnist Juliet Ashton and the members of the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society, as they live under German occupation. Mary Ann Shaffer wrote this book, her first novel, when she was 70. Sadly, she didn’t get to see it in print. It’s a heart-warming story of friendship, love and books across the miles.

reading

Blog/Twitter/Instagram posts and interactions:

On the art and love of reading, Joanna Penn’s post on Habits of a Book Junkie in a Digital Age is excellent on digital reading strategies and trends including how to review books.

I shared the beautiful piece by Kerstin Pilz, on Tiny Buddha, How a 10 day silent retreat helped heal my grieving heart last week. Inspired by Katherine Bell’s guest post here: Our Heart Always Knows the Way, the first of our Wholehearted Stories series, Kerstin has written a fabulous post on how life change is all about hard work and not luck in Why luck had nothing to do with my self-directed life.

On Instagram, there’s been plenty of activity around Susannah Conway’s The August Break focused around noticing, community and inspiration. Yesterday’s prompt was lavender. Not being able to think of any lavender in my immediate surroundings, I went back to my recent iphone shots and found this skyscape I had forgotten about:

 

reading

Another thought would have been the Murasaki-Shikibu lavender ink I write with every day – I thought of this hours after! It’s a great month of prompts for noticing and seeing afresh, also connecting with special memories, sacred objects and new people.

I also shared that my favourite novel is Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier. Here’s me thinking it’s an unusual choice. Clearly not, when it’s been voted UK’s favourite book from the past 225 years. I’m so glad so many people are discovering its pleasures!

On Quiet Writing and Tarot Narratives

On Quiet Writing, we have been exploring the art and love of reading in the post on How to read for more creativity, pleasure and productivity

Here are some other relevant posts on Quiet Writing on books and reading:

“You are the authority on you” – a review of Danielle LaPorte’s White Hot Truth

Reading Australian Women Writers in 2017

Being ‘Fierce on the Page’ – A Book Review

My Tarot Narratives on Instagram have continued to be a rich source of inspiration and insight for my creative journey. Thanks for all the creative interactions. Thomas Moore’s SoulMates keeps popping up lately. Here was a key quote that emerged:

I’m not suggesting that all psychological experience is interior, but it’s clear that the dynamics, dramas, and characters of the individual soul play themselves out in the external world, so that relationship is always a dialectic between inner and outer, a dance between actual people and one’s own life of the soul.

Have a fabulous creative weekend!

Creative and Connected is a regular post each Friday and the previous posts are below. I hope you enjoy it. I would love any feedback via social media or comments and let me know what you are enjoying too.

Feature image via pexels.com

Image 2 of ‘Compartment C, Car 193‘ 1938, by Edward Hopper, in Edward Hopper by Rolf Gunter Renner, Taschen

Image 4 of ‘The Quiet Room’ c1929by Sir George Clausen from ‘The Reading Woman’ Calendar 2017

Keep in touch

Subscribe via email (see the link at the top) to make sure you receive updates from Quiet Writing and its passions in 2017. This includes MBTI developments, coaching, creativity and other connections to help express your unique voice in the world. My free e-book on the books that have shaped my story is coming soon for subscribers only – so sign up to be the first to receive it!

Quiet Writing is on Facebook – Please visit here and ‘Like’ to keep in touch and interact with the growing Quiet Writing community. There are regular posts on intuition, influence, creativity, productivity, writing, voice, introversion and personality including Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI).

If you enjoyed this post, please share via your preferred social media channel – links are below.

You might also enjoy:

Creative and Connected #8 – ways to honour your unique life blend

Creative and Connected #7 – how to craft a successful life on your own terms

Creative and Connected #6 – how to be a creative entrepreneur

Creative and Connected #5 – being accountable to ourselves and others

Personality Stories Coaching

January 29, 2019

Our bodies and our personalities are vessels, and leadership, like captaincy, is full inhabitation of the vessel.

David Whyte

Crossing the Unknown Sea: Work as a Pilgrimage of Identity

Would you like to know more about your personality and psychological type preferences for a stronger understanding of yourself?

Join me in Personality Stories Coaching for deeper insights.

As a life coach certified in psychological type, I take you on a deep-dive journey that will change your self-understanding and potentially, your life.

You will:

  • gain a heightened self-knowledge and awareness of who you are and why you are the way you are.
  • appreciate how you best operate and what can cause stress.
  • enhance your practical self-leadership.
  • strengthen your understanding of others and your interactions.
  • realise how personality and psychological type preferences influence so many aspects of life like our well-being, creativity, decision-making, coaching and entrepreneurial style.

These preferences are a very natural part of our story!

You can see evidence of the hunger for this knowledge with people doing free online personality “tests”. There’s no guarantee though you will get the right results. And then, knowing how to apply this information to our lives is another thing altogether.

Understanding our personality stories and psychological type preferences is much more than a one-off result especially from a free online test. We owe ourselves much more than that!

It’s valuable to look at our whole type and the interactions of our preferences. And it’s important to work with a qualified psychological type practitioner and coach so you can make the most of this information. That way you know it is valid, evidence-based and informed. Most importantly, you can work out how to apply it in your life.

It’s not that we don’t already know ourselves. But getting a deeper insight via personality type is like having an overlying framework or an operating manual for how you work cognitively and your preferences. It can make all the difference when you understand why you are the way you are, your strengths and gifts and the less natural areas you can also stretch into for growth, wholeness and balance.

I know because it made all the difference in the world for me when I understood my INTJ personality type and its preferences. 

Personality Stories Coaching 

So what is the Personality Stories Coaching package all about?

It’s about understanding your personality and psychological type preferences as a tool for self-leadership. 

The Personality Stories coaching package includes:

  1. Psychological type assessment online: Complete the Majors Personality Type Inventory ™ online. This is just one piece of information that indicates your Jung/Myers-Briggs personality and psychological type preferences.
  2. The Personality Stories self-paced online course on psychological type: An online course (about 3-4 hours to complete) so you can understand personality and type preferences and self-assess your type.
  3. A copy of the book You’ve Got Personality by Mary McGuiness, sent wherever you are in the world.
  4. A 90 minute 1:1 coaching debrief to work through your results: A coaching session conducted via video-conferencing to debrief your learning, self-assessment and indicator results. You receive your Majors Personality Type Inventory™ report and we work through your type preferences together. We set inspiring goals and actions to take this knowledge forward and embed it in your life.
  5. Quiet Writing summary: Once confident about your preferences, you receive a summary with further reading, tips for managing stress and your coaching and entrepreneurial style. Journal prompts help you further explore your preferences.
  6. Email support for 2 weeks after to follow up on any questions and learnings.

The investment for this package is just $350AU (approximately $258USD or 186GBP). Contact me via email at terri@quietwriting.com if you are interested in this special program or go here to enrol directly:

If you already know your type preferences

If you already know your type preferences and feel comfortable with them, I also offer a customised deep dive personality package for you. This includes a 1:1 90 minute coaching session, copy of ‘You’ve Got Personality‘ and Quiet Writing Personality Summary with references and prompts for reflection after our session.

The focus is on frameworks for applying personality knowledge practically in your life for wholehearted self-leadership at a time of transition. Investment for this package is $195AU. Head to my Contact page and complete the contact form if interested in this package.

personality stories

What do I bring to Personality Stories Coaching?

Along with a deep passion for personality type, I bring a diverse and extensive skill-set to my Personality Stories Coaching work. This includes:

  • Certification as a skilled practitioner in Jung/Myers-Briggs personality assessment via the Majors Personality Type Inventory™ and Majors Personality Type Elements™
  • A commitment to deep practice as a personality type professional through ongoing learning and extensive networks including with AusAPT, the Australian Association for Psychological Type, and its international connections.
  • A leader in the type community, on the AusAPT National Committee providing state and national leadership for social media, events and professional learning in psychological type.
  • Being a passionate, committed Certified Life Coach with the Beautiful You Coaching Academy
  • 30 plus years as a leader and teacher in adult vocational education in TAFE NSW
  • Highly developed skills as an online facilitator, leader and teacher including as a National Flexible Learning Leader in Australia providing leadership in online learning excellence.
  • Formal qualifications to Masters’ level in adult education; language, literacy and literature; communications; online learning and teaching reading and writing at all levels.
  • Life experience as a creative, intuitive, INTJ, blogger and writer making major life transitions
  • Personal experience and skill in intuitive techniques such as tarot and intuitive writing.

What people have said about the program

This combined experience means I know all about personality, psychological type, coaching and learning styles for the best outcomes. I can customise quality learning experiences in all contexts including online.

Here is what people have said about the Personality Stories Coaching program:

Samantha Wheatley

personality coach

I felt as though I was in safe hands and I felt excited to learn about my personality. The organisation and flow of the course was full of ease, succinct and intuitive to follow along with. I loved learning and Terri’s passion was contagious so I felt as though I was connecting with her throughout. I felt as though the traits I learnt about matched my own and therefore clarified strengths and weaknesses for me, and also with Terri’s guidance I learnt that I don’t need to be something I’m not! A key learning was to ‘trust my intuition’ and that it’s ok to be who I am, using my strengths and weakness as signposts.

@samanthajwheatley


Natalie Gaul 

Natalie Gaul

I really enjoyed the process, particularly having the slides there so I could see where it was going. As a person who doesn’t like the confines of structure, it was a great way to learn as I could cover everything but in a way that felt right for me. I feel like you kept it really simple Terri. It would have been very easy to overcomplicate but you were concise, precise and delivered the information in language that is really easy to understand. I was excited to learn more about how I’m wired. I think it’s the key to self-mastery and a deep, connected relationship with self. As much as I learned about myself, it’s also opened up the door to really understanding my clients as well, which as a coach, is such a valuable tool.

www.nataliegaul.com


Claire Harnett-Mann

praise

The self-paced process worked beautifully for me. The short videos that mirrored an informal classroom environment suited me and allowed me to feel personally guided even during the self-study elements. I think the variety of ways that Terri presents the study material means that everyone coming to the course will find their preferred method of learning catered for. I’m an aficionado of online courses, but I’ve never encountered such a sensitivity to the needs of different learners and is a testament to Terri’s wealth of experience in the field of education. Gold standard stuff here. I was really energised by the coaching debrief session, where Terri really took the time to give me space to explore how I could apply my learning about my Myers-Briggs type, giving me a new framework to tackle longstanding blocks and challenges.

ClaireHarnettMann.com


Emma Waters

personality coach

It was enlightening and informative. I found the program easily accessible and it catered for a variety of learning styles which I like. It felt like a homecoming reading the descriptors of my type and to know that there are others like me but also others that are not like me and that’s ok. I grew up feeling like I didn’t fit in this world as highly sensitive so to gain more strategies around balancing and supporting this is wonderful. I loved that my current career path is validated by my type as INFJs often take on the role of teacher or therapist/healer.

Terri, you are so thorough and skilful in your approach as an educator and coach you delivered this with true professionalism and passion. I’m so excited for you as you bring this to the world – it is invaluable work.

Jala Yoga and Coaching


Natasha Tay

personality stories coaching

I really enjoyed the process and the informative videos that helped me in deciphering what type I am.  It was useful to have the stages of the program and know what to expect. I love discovering this sort of information about myself. The coaching session was amazing to talk about the results and to see how to work with them and how they’re influencing me. And the book and report were great for extra reading and affirming for understanding myself better. I loved it, Terri. Well done. Thank you for making it so accessible where in the past I didn’t understand the true power of this work.

Pocket Yogini


Amie Ritchie

Amie Ritchie

I felt clear and supported through the process of working through the program. Every step of the way was clearly explained in terms of its purpose and value, and the layout felt very considered and learner-focused. I really enjoyed the course itself and found the delivery style to be just right. Going through the program has helped me better understand and own my type. This has resulted in a greater understanding of the value of introverted intuition and how it plays together with my empathy and critical thinking mind, my attention to detail and big picture clarity. It feels like a magical bridge that I don’t need to try and understand anymore – only embrace and trust. The whole course offers so much value, supported so well by your deep care and attention. Thank you for the wonderful opportunity, Terri.

Amie Ritchie Life Coaching


My journey to personality type work and Personality Stories

My decision to gain skills and experience in personality type coaching was because learning this information made all the difference for me. Once I learnt about my INTJ personality type preferences working with a coach and mentor, it made sense of so much.

Many people working with a coach on personality type talk about an ‘aha’ moment. I certainly had one when my coach said to me, “Do you ever close the door at work?” I realised it was OK to close the door occasionally, for my own needs and to gather myself. How often do we work against our own preferences out of societal expectations? This realisation and so much more helped me work and lead more authentically.

I understood, and continue to work on, my unique strengths as an INTJ. With my skill in Introverted Intuiting, I can work in a visionary way, knowing where I am going. Learning to trust this strength has been an ongoing process. Writing and tarot work helps me underpin this in practical ways.

I’ve also worked to understand my less preferred areas, my weaknesses and stress points. I know that working on these is a way of achieving balance, self-leadership and wholeheartedness. The women I have worked with have experienced this as well.

You can learn more about my journey to become a Personality Type Coach here.

work with me

Where I focus – wholehearted self-leadership

I focus on creativity and self-leadership coaching and I bring to that my life coaching training and certification, certification in Jung/Myers-Briggs personality type assessment, extensive experience in adult and vocational education,  and a passion for creativity, writing and books that drives everything I do.

You can learn more about me here.

Coaching is a form of self-leadership to find our deeper story. The most important form of orchestrating leadership is how we take ourselves forward and bring the pieces of our lives together.

Are you also wanting to choose to journey deeper into your wholehearted personality story?

Contact me:

So I hope you are excited by what this might mean for you!

If you would like to take up this coaching opportunity, please go direct to enrol

Or contact me:

I would love to work with you on your personality via Personality Stories Coaching!

Please feel free to share with anyone who you think might benefit from this opportunity.

Keep in touch

Quiet Writing is on Facebook and Instagram – Please visit to keep in touch and interact with the growing Quiet Writing community. There are regular posts on coaching, books, tarot, intuition, influence, passion, creativity, productivity, writing, voice, introversion and Jung/Myers-Briggs personality type.

Subscribe via email (see the link at the top and below) to make sure you receive updates from Quiet Writing and its passions. This includes personality developments, life coaching, tarot, books and other connections to help express your unique voice in the world and journey deeper into your wholehearted story.

If you enjoyed this post, please share via your preferred social media channel – links are below.


You might also enjoy:

How I fulfilled my vision to become a Personality Type Coach 

I’m a creativity and self-leadership coach, a writer and more

Personality Skills including how to be the best you can be as an introvert in recruitment

Introverted and extraverted intuition – how to make intuition a strong practice

Personality, story and introverted intuition

Shining a quiet light: working the gifts of introversion

Your body of work: the greatest gift for transition to a new life

Intuition, writing and work: eight ways intuition can guide your creativity

inspiration & influence reading notes

Reflections on reading Australian women writers

March 8, 2015


It’s International Women’s Day and I’m sitting here on a sunny Sydney Sunday listening to women’s music on the radio – flipping between Double J and Triple J – and thinking about reading Australian women writers.

It’s my fourth year of participating in the Australian Women Writers’ Challenge and I thought I’d take a few minutes on this IWD to reflect on my experience of reading Australian Women Writers via the challenge.

The challenge is about enjoying, supporting, sharing and promoting Australian women’s writing. If you want to know about the challenge, you can read more about it here: Background to the Challenge. And you can sign up for 2015 here: Sign up to the Challenge.

aww-badge-2015

Started by Elizabeth Lhuede in response to gender imbalance in books reviewed, in reading preferences and choices and in award representation, the challenge has created a groundswell of readers, reviewers, bloggers and tweeters making a conscious choice to read, review, communicate about and celebrate books written by Australian women.

Now in its fourth year, the challenge has resulted in thousands of Australian women writers’ books being read and reviewed and national and international recognition of its quiet achievements.

As the Australian Women Writers’ Challenge blog states:

The Australian Women Writers’ Challenge is part of a world-wide movement to raise awareness of excellent writing by women. It helps readers to challenge the subconscious stereotypes that govern our choice of books to read.

I’ve signed up again in 2015 because it’s now an integral part of my reading choices and I continue to be inspired and excited by Australian women’s writing. I’ve enjoyed diverse reads over 2012 to 2014. There are so many Australian women writers’ works I simply would not have noticed or enjoyed if not for the challenge.

The challenge has made me seek out new Australian women writers, revisit writers I’ve enjoyed and kept my antenna up about their successes, awards and commendations within the circle of women’s writing and beyond.

It’s kept my writing heart alive and is an inspiration as I read; a message that I am also able to write and create, express my stories and find space for my narratives in whatever form. As my heritage, it’s where I can find linkage, possibilities and a springboard for creating. I’ve written about that here and here adding my voice to the space.

In terms of participation, my reading lists are not enormous – around 6 to 7 books a year, but they are steady and growing. I’ve struggled to write the reviews as I would like, but I’ve engaged with the reading and with the AWW community via social media. I’ve contributed that way and made some great online connections with Australian women writers and their readers that have enriched my reading life and beyond.

You can participate to whatever level you can manage and the pleasures and learning are immense for that investment, raising awareness of reading choices and celebrating narratives and works by Australian women and inspiring women to find their voices through reading the voices of others.

It’s no light-weight endeavour. These are to me the voices of creative possibilities and I treasure them.

Here’s my reading list so far:

2012:
Searching for the Secret River: A Writing Memoir – Kate Grenville
Sarah Thornhill – Kate Grenville
When We Have Wings – Claire Corbett
The Light Between Oceans – M L Stedman
Poet’s Cottage – Josephine Pennicott
The Engagement – Chloe Hooper
Disquiet – Julia Leigh

2013:
Fishing for Tigers – Emily Maguire
Sea Hearts – Margo Lanagan
Sydney – Delia Falconer
The Secret Keeper – Kate Morton
The Scrivener’s Tale – Fiona McIntosh
The Longing – Candice Bruce

2014:
Questions of Travel – Michelle de Kretser
Burial Rites – Hannah Kent
Mateship with Birds – Carrie Tiffany
Currawong Manor – Josephine Pennicott
The Fictional Woman – Tara Moss
Claustrophobia – Tracy Ryan
All the Birds, Singing – Evie Wyld

Many of these books were picked up because I was looking for Australian women writers’ books in libraries, shops and online. I possibly would not have read ‘Light Between Oceans’, ‘Poet’s Cottage’, ‘The Longing’ or ‘Claustrophobia’ if not for the challenge and these have become some of my favourite reading experiences of the challenge so far.

I have deliberately read across genres and so if not for the challenge, may not have enjoyed the beautifully science fiction inspired, ‘When We Have Wings’, the Celtic fantasy world of ‘Sea Hearts’ or the weaving medieval narrative of ‘The Scrivener’s Tale’.

I’ve been more aware and more excited when Australian women writers have been nominated, short-listed and won awards for their books and I’ve sought out the books to see why they were celebrated in their achievements, especially ‘Questions of Travel’, ‘Burial Rites’, ‘Mateship with Birds’ and ‘All the Birds, Singing’.

In 2015, I’ve already read the exquisitely tender ‘The Golden Age’ by Joan London and have Annabel Crabb’s ‘The Wife Drought’ lined up to read. I’m keen to read Clare Wright’s ‘The Forgotten Rebels of Eureka’ and also read some writers I haven’t read like  Sonya Hartnett, Geraldine Brooks and Liane Moriarty.

It’s been a rich journey and I encourage you on this International Women’s Day to seek out the voices of women writers that excite and sustain you wherever they may be.

AWW2015

coaching personality and story

Creative and connected #11 – on the special value of self-leadership

August 25, 2017

 “Become a scientist of your own experience.”

Elizabeth Gilbert quoting her guru on The Good Life Project

self-leadership

Here’s a round-up of what I’ve enjoyed this week on self-leadership and how we work towards being wholehearted through taking personal action.

My guest post on How To Become The Heart Of Successful Leadership featured recently on WorkSearch.com. It celebrates the art of self-leadership and knowing yourself as a leader. It was based on the recently published book, Lead Yourself First: Inspiring Leadership Through Solitude by Raymond M Kethledge and Michael S Erwin. My personal experience as a leader, introvert, life-long learner and committed autodidact also influenced my thoughts and reflections.

Two key threads underlie Quiet Writing: one is being wholehearted and how we create our stories; the other is self-leadership and how we work towards being wholehearted through taking personal action. The key to taking action and knowing which actions to take are:

  • knowing ourselves and what we value and desire
  • learning to listen to our inner knowing
  • understanding our innate personality, including its strengths and what is challenging for us
  • seeking out, incorporating and acting on influence and inspiration from others.

My thoughts on wholehearted self-leadership stem from being a leader in the workplace and learning from this experience. The leadership of creativity and my impact on others’ ability to be innovative has been a key theme in my life’s work. I’m interested in how this lens can now be applied more broadly so that self-leadership is a way of promoting self-driven approaches to more holistic career and creativity.

The key aspects I have chosen to focus on in Quiet Writing are:

  • Life Coaching – for wholehearted self-leadership
  • Writing – to discover our wholehearted stories and in this how we strive for creative lives and careers
  • Personality assessment and exploration – to be able to explore our personality stories through Jung/Myers-Briggs frameworks and other perspectives to help us in our quest for understanding, accepting and knowing ourselves.

These three threads interweave throughout Quiet Writing. Today, let’s focus on the special value of self-leadership: what it means to me and what’s in the literature about this idea so that we can build on it together.

Podcasts on aspects of self-leadership

It was difficult to find podcasts specifically on this subject. This made me reflect on what self-leadership is and how my listening and reading choices and influences now and over the years are part of self-leadership. How I’ve decided to spend my time, who I’ve decided to engage with and listen to and read and who I’ve decided to learn from and study with – are all part of my self-leadership choices, especially as a self-directed learner.

I wrote many years ago about My Seven Stars and it’s amazing how these stars still influence me today. They have reappeared in critical podcasts this week, with themes that reappear over time. This week seemed to be all about these influences coming together in new ways.

Susannah Conway on Building a Heart-centred Business – on The Priestess Podcast with Julie Parker

This podcast felt like two parts of my world coming together – both centred around building a heart-centred business. Susannah Conway is one of my seven stars from my 2010 post, so I have been connected with her for a long time. I have done just about all of Susannah’s fabulous ecourses and each has been a critical part of my life, especially Blogging from the Heart. She has inspired my notions of building a heart-centred business.

When I made a plan to pursue Life Coaching as a new wholehearted career, I was naturally looking for a program aligned to my goals of being heart-centred. It was such a thrill to find Julie Parker and the Beautiful You Coaching Academy. I have just finished this life-changing program and am now a Beautiful You Life Coach working with clients. To hear Susannah and Julie talk together on this podcast – their first chat together – about building a heart-centred business was amazing. It’s a fabulous example of self-leadership in action as they follow their hearts in business. And it’s not with a business plan, but with a passion and desire to make a difference and connect authentically with people.

Curiosity and the Passion Fallacy – Elizabeth Gilbert on Jonathan Fields’ The Good Life Project

Jonathan Fields is another person I’ve followed for many years. He is a big fan of the examined life and what makes a good life. Elizabeth Gilbert is another major influence on writing and creativity and especially how we can give ourselves permission and take charge. This conversation was full of gems about self-leadership in life and creativity and especially the role of curiosity and learning. I love the quote that heads this post that Elizabeth cites as advice from her guru: “Become a scientist of your own experience.” I love that thought of having self-compassion as we learn and not beating ourselves up too much as we try new things on our journey. I need to listen to this one again with a notebook in hand.

Feels like the first time – on Personality Hacker with Joel Mark Witt and Antonia Dodge

Knowing our personality type and its strengths and challenges is a key part of Quiet Writing. That’s why I’ve gained certification in personality assessment given the impact that knowing more about my personality type had on me. It was another life-changing step on my self-leadership journey. On the Personality Hacker podcast, Joel and Antonia talk about their recent experience of learning more about their personality and how, even as experts in this space, it felt like the first time. They talk about how we can resist integrating parts of our personality and that it may take time to absorb the information, especially for the more challenging aspects. This podcast highlights how learning about yourself is an ongoing and open-ended adventure which can be so enlightening.

How to be a writer: traditional publishing to indie and hybrid – with John Birmingham on The Creative Penn

Joanna Penn is another of my seven stars and not a week goes by when I don’t learn something from her! So much of being an indie author is about self-leadership and self-learning. This chat with Australian author, John Birmingham, was a fantastic insight into the publishing industry. It shows how, even for experienced full-time writers, indie publishing offers a self-directed alternative that puts control and resources back in the author’s hands. It’s an honest and fascinating account of how John Birmingham took himself through this shift to being hybrid for practical reasons. Great to hear an Aussie voice on the show too!

 

Lead Yourself First

Books and reading notes

My reading week

In line with my recent post on reading more productively and the accountability here, I’ve been reading a few books concurrently. I’m reading Sharon Blackie’s If Women Rose Rooted: The Journey to Authenticity and Belonging in hard copy and also Spitting Blood: The History of Tuberculosis by Helen Bynum as an ebook. Both very different reads, but fascinating in their own way.

I’ve also been listening to Write. Publish. Repeat. (The No Luck Required Guide to Self-publishing Success) by Sean Platt and Johnny B Truant with David Wright, as an audiobook. The authors make their living as full-time indie authors and tell you how they did it and make money from it. And yes, there’s a lot of self-developed knowledge and self-leadership in there – including a heap of mistakes they’ve learnt from. There’s a lot of swearing and honest fun in this practical book based on years of experience.

I’ve also been really hard at work reading my own ebook ’36 Books that Shaped my Story: Reading as Creative Influence’ as I prepare to send it out into the world to Quiet Writing subscribers! There’s been so many practical stumbling blocks and so much learning as I go through my own first self-publishing journey. My plan is to launch on 3 September so make sure you sign up to Quiet Writing so you can receive it!

Book and blog notes on this week’s theme of self-leadership

First mention goes to the fabulous ‘Lead Yourself First: Inspiring Leadership Through Solitude‘ by Raymond M Kethledge and Michael S Erwin. Reading this book intensively over a weekend as for the guest post, How to Become the Heart of Successful Leadership, was a deep, immersive read on the aspects of self-leadership at the heart of being a successful leader. This was something I had long known and felt myself, as the post explains. This book really helped to understand these aspects of self-leadership in a new and thorough way.

Based on case-studies of leaders and interviews with contemporary leaders, it is full of grounded advice on managing the self as the first step in leading others. It’s about how people need solitude to be clear and in touch with themselves as they lead. And it’s not just about introverts; the case study examples show that extraverts also need to check in with themselves through solitude especially in challenging leadership circumstances. I highly recommend this excellent book. More in my guest post – so hop over to WorkSearch.com and have a read!

To be honest, the idea of self-leadership has been with me for quite a while. It was there before I read ‘Lead Yourself First’ and before I found anything online about it. It emerged from my own thinking and experiences, especially ‘wholehearted self-leadership’ as a central focus of Quiet Writing.

It’s been interesting to see what is already out there about self-leadership. So here’s a snapshot of some information.

Self Leadership International which provides the definition:

Self-leadership is having a developed sense of who you are, what you can do, where you are going coupled with the ability to influence your communication, emotions and behaviors on the way to getting there.

The article What is self-leadership reinforces the central role of self-leadership in leadership and making a difference. The article postulates that self-leadership begins with self-awareness and self-management then shifts to awareness and management of others.

Derek Lauber provides 8 principles in The zen of self-leadership, based on the premise that:

Self-leadership is your ability to masterfully lead yourself so you can create the success you want for yourself, your family, your business and your life.

In Self-leadership and success, Brett Steenbarger’s thoughts are most in line with what I am thinking about. He says:

Think of your life as a diversified organization. You are in the business of living….

When you think about it, you are the CEO of a rather diversified enterprise. Any such business requires capable leadership.

His key message is that:

Self-leadership begins when we stop prioritizing tasks and start prioritizing the elevated state in which we are most productive.

This is very valuable advice! I see our personal productivity as a key piece in being positive self-leaders.

ferry

Blog/Twitter/Instagram posts and interactions:

A favourite blog read this week was Nicole Cody’s post on healing stones and their energies, something I am exploring more. I sought out a few key stones this week that were calling me: amethyst, citrine, black tourmaline, amazonite and carnelian.

On Instagram, there’s been plenty of activity around Susannah Conway’s The August Break focused around noticing, community and inspiration. My photo for ‘silver’ this week featured the shimmering waters of the beach beckoning me. I haven’t been there as much as I would like and need to get back after being unwell. One thing I’ve learnt about self-leadership is that self-care and exercise is a huge part of it! I need to honour this.

self-leadership

On Quiet Writing and Tarot Narratives

On Quiet Writing, it was busy behind the scenes as I worked on my 36 Books ebook. I also prepared for our next ‘Wholehearted Stories’ post on Monday in partnership with the author. I can’t wait to share this beautiful story with you from a very special guest blogger.

My Tarot Narratives on Instagram have continued to be a rich source of inspiration and insight for my journey. Thanks for all the creative interactions. It was so lovely to celebrate the arrival of Lisa McLoughlin’s Life Design Cards along with my healing stones this week. It’s a deck focused on tools and practices for self-leadership and ‘weaving a different story’. It was lovely when #28 ‘Enjoy the lush and flourishing’, popped up to say hello with the message:

Through the simplest of pleasures, be more present to the warmth, colourfulness and juiciness of life. What is holding you back from making pleasure a priority?”

Indeed. It’s a good time for getting unstuck in many ways.

Have a fabulous creative weekend!

Life Design Cards

Creative and Connected is a regular post each Friday and the previous posts are below. I hope you enjoy it. I would love any feedback via social media or comments and let me know what you are enjoying too.

Feature image via pexels.com

Keep in touch

Subscribe via email (see the link at the top) to make sure you receive updates from Quiet Writing and its passions in 2017. This includes MBTI developments, coaching, creativity and other connections to help express your unique voice in the world. My free e-book on the books that have shaped my story is coming soon – so sign up to receive it!

Quiet Writing is on Facebook – Please visit here and ‘Like’ to keep in touch and interact with the growing Quiet Writing community. There are regular posts on intuition, influence, creativity, productivity, writing, voice, introversion and personality including Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI).

If you enjoyed this post, please share via your preferred social media channel – links are below.

You might also enjoy:

Creative and Connected #9 – on the art and love of reading

Creative and Connected #8 – ways to honour your unique life blend

PRIVACY POLICY

Privacy Policy

COOKIE POLICY

Cookie Policy