Planning Ahead... men in suits

First a huge thank you for all the lovely e-mails (and comments) about my mum. They were really appreciated.

This week's workshop was about planning your life by just drawing circles. My mum went to hospital this week having fallen over - she's home now and better, thank you, but it showed me, yet again, how plans have to be big enough and flexible enough to encompass all eventualities. It's also made me totally rethink last week's decision - and that's how it goes.

Life Circles is, however, a fantastic workshop (you can read more about it in The Big Book of Us, see website or amazon), because it allows you to tap into what's really important for you in your life - whether it's friends, family, work, romance, health, fitness, pets, spirituality, creativity etc and see how you'd really like them all to appear in your life. It also tells you a lot about how you conduct your life - what you place as important, how close you allow things to come to you as well as what you want for your life. And all through just drawing circles.

It helps choosing different perspectives. If you look back on what was working for you a few years ago you can see how to bring that into the present and future. It may be that you had more work or less work or were living somewhere else. You'll find all that out.

What I love about it is the pictures people draw. Their random circles turn into flowers or Stonehenge or other kaleidoscope like patterns. It's the calm we all seek and to see it expressed visually is great.

This week I spoke at Scanners. Apparently there were more men in suits there than normal. I'm going to put them all in my circle for the future - come to Life Clubs now...!

See you there,
Nina
Founder of Life Clubs
Author of The Big Book of Me, The Big Book of Us and... soon to be published, The Life Book

PS Can't tell you how brilliant Gordon Melvin's workshop An Introduction to the Enneagram is going to be. I use the Enneagram all the time to help me, my family and friends and to inform my work with others. It's in Westminster, Central London on 31st October, Saturday from 10.00-5.00. £75 or £60 for anyone who has anything to do with Life Clubs. Write to genevieve@lifeclubs.co.uk for tickets.

Kids - who'd have 'em

I'm actually thinking about myself as the 'kid' this time as my main preoccupation at the moment is whether or not to put my mother in an old people's home.

I know my mother didn't have me because she wanted me to nurse her in her old age, but the decision of going to a home seems to go against so many of my values and ones I'm assuming would have been hers.

I'm trashing my 'respect' value. I respect her and want her to keep her dignity in her own home. I'm undermining my 'kindness' value, because shouldn't I stop working and be kind to her instead. My 'freedom' value is coming in for a bit of a knock too, because there's nothing free about being in a home. And on and on it goes.

In this week's workshop we were thinking about what we can learn from our family. None of my family have ever been in a home before - they've all died too young. And yet I was thinking about my mother's childhood. She was home-schooled and longing to go to a school of any kind to be with others.

Maybe that's what I've got to hang onto. Her love of others, her interest in others, her enjoyment of conversation, her need for stimulation...

Gosh, it's a difficult decision... and I'm both the kid and the adult in this one.

Let me know what you've done.

See you next week,
Nina
Founder Life Clubs
Creator of the almost-put-to-bed Life Book

Money - all it's cracked up to be?

I remember being at a wedding in Mexico many years ago. Everyone pinned money to the bride's dress in a very natural way. In London, where I'm based, almost no-one talks about money. Yes, we talk about the economy and the recession, but we don't have those open, honest chats about how we feel about money, how difficult we find it to save, what we want it for and what having money really means to us.

So, that's where Life Clubs comes in. Last week no-one was held at ransom or blackmailed into talking about their finances, but there were lots of lightbulb moments about what the point was of wanting always to earn more and more money. One of our clubbers - a shining example to us all - had everything financially worked out for her future and was pleased to discover that there really wasn't any need for her to strive harder and harder for a promotion - she could live the balanced life she wanted.

If you'd like to have some money hints - or hints about anything else, sign up to our bulletin. Or come along to Life Clubs - we're always pleased to see you - even if you're not wearing one of these money-laundered shirts.

Any money questions? We'll answer them here.

Best wishes,
Nina
Founder Life Clubs and author Big Book of Me and Big Book of Us

Live A More Creative Life

That was me, yesterday, with a lovely crowd from Alternatives talking about living a more creative life. They (as do most of us) wanted freedom, confidence, joy and more of life and I hope they felt they got it. Certainly everyone left having set a goal (some for the first time) and having realised that they want to bring back more of what they loved as children.

It was a great way for me to spend a day - meeting lots of nice people and having quite a few lightbulb moments myself.

In one of the photos everyone is helping Steve brainstorm how to get more people interested in his product. When we first brainstormed no-one thought of anything Steve hadn't considered before. But when we got 'silly' and started brainstorming using a shoe and a candle everyone thought of wonderful slogans and fun things for him to do - from marking footprints from one place to another to 'Let us light up your life'. A creative tool if ever there was one.

Our next workshop is run by Gordon Melvin and is all about the Enneagram. Find out what type you are, how it holds you back and how to release your true self. The workshop is on 31st October in Westminster, Central London from 10.00-5.30. £75, £60 concessions. If you'd like to come along, contact genevieve@lifeclubs.co.uk.

What would make your life even more creative?

See you soon - amongst the shoes and candles,
Nina
Founder Life Clubs
PS My new book (The Life Book) is already on Amazon!!!

Total chaos...

I am messy. There's no other word for it. From the mess in my car - uneaten sandwiches, half-empty plastic bottles of water and plastic bags littering the floor - to the books, papers and lego lying all over my home, my life is full of clutter.

Monday's Me Day was wonderful. A very organised friend of mine was staying and I asked him to help me tidy up our two office rooms (not my car - I couldn't ask anyone to do that). Of course, it didn't take nearly as long as I thought it would. A man who likes a paper-free environment, he was a bit upset by my insistence that I needed to keep certain sheets, but we compromised and filed them all away beautifully - rather than shoving them in my usual cardboard box, and put a new shelf in the bookshelves to store materials in. My rooms look wonderful and it was a treat to do them in the Life Clubs decluttering week.

There's something slightly uncanny about being too tidy. If I'm honest, I've felt a little unsettled ever since my rooms looked so organised. I'm left with a 'What next?' feeling. There's no longer a 'I must declutter' at the top of my 'To Do' list. There's now a 'Phone clients', 'Plan new website', 'Write proposal for next book' ...etc and none of those tasks are quite as easy or satisfying as tidying up my room. There's almost a fear of getting too decluttered as I'll have to take serious action when it's done.

That was my Me Day and his Me Day was helping me. The tidying up and chucking out certainly was happy. Sadly I've got a whole year to wait 'til the next Me Day when I can start tackling my car - or is that just an excuse?

See you this week,
Looking forward,
Nina
Founder Life Clubs

This is your last chance to come to my workshop this Sunday, Live A More Creative Life, in Central London. It's going to be great. Book now or just turn up.

To read tips garnered from Life Clubs workshops, sign up to our bulletin.

Selling yourself

This week's workshop was all about discovering the skills you have and how they can be used in many ways. It's got me thinking.

Genevieve, my 'muse... person without whom I am lost' is going away today for three weeks and I'm wonderng about how I am going to fit into her space and do all the things she does. If you like, can I fit into her outfit?

If I was looking for a replacement I'd want someone organised, good at accounts, good at spreadsheets, can remember everything, good at negotiating, computer literate, patient, creative, fun... and that, for three weeks, has to be me.

Remembering the workshop I can think about my skills and whether I'm up to the job:
I'm organised when I pack my suitcase
I used to be good at accounts when I did them 15 years ago
Gosh, I've never done spreadsheets, but can have a go for these three weeks
I can't remember everything but know where to look things up
I'm good at negotiating for others so will remember Life Clubs is an 'other' and be good
I'm computer literate
Not at all patient, but can be when I remember to breathe,
Tick the creative and fun boxes

I'm now feeling confident that I'll be OK for three weeks... or maybe even four.

We often dismiss skills that we had years ago without realising they're still valid. I can do what Genevieve does, although the thought of it at first filled me with fear.

Do you fill your job description?

Have a good weekend.
Don't forget to come along to my Happy Me Day workshop on Monday 21st September, 34 Great Smith Street, London SW1P 3BU from 6.15-9.00pm. £15 (all profits to charity).
See you next week for more...
Nina
Founder Life Clubs
Author The Big Book of Me and The Big Book of Us

Media darlings...

Oh the glamour of it all!

This week I was invited to talk to some Zest Magazine readers AND the winner of the Psychologies Magazine competition phoned up as she’d won a Life Club with friends in her home as a prize. I can’t tell you how media I feel (a far cry from my holiday in the country!)

At Zest Magazine I was talking to a group of women who wanted to lose weight. They all looked gorgeous, but I suppose that’s not how they feel. They’d already had a nutritionist and a fitness trainer talk to them, so I thought helping them stick to their diet would be the best way to approach things.

When thinking about what had kept them motivated all their lives to do the things they do (whether it was brushing their teeth, eating, staying friends or working), they came up with love, fear, fun, discipline, and routine.

For most of them, fun and love were two of the main motivators, so we brainstormed around how they could make weight loss fun and bring love into it. They left with a smile, a determined look and an ‘I look great’ Life Clubs sticker.

Talking of media, I’d love it if any of you who read and liked either The Big Book of Me and/or The Big Book of Us could go into amazon and write something nice about them. I’d be so grateful.

Bottom line: come and join me in the world of glamour.

Nina
Founder Life Clubs and the soon-to-be author of The Life Book and How To Be What You Want To Be
PS On Monday 21st September, from 6.30-8.30pm, Life Clubs is celebrating Me Day and Nina will be running a special workshop plus tea party, profits to charity, in The Abbey Community Association, 34 Great Smith Street, London SW1P 3BU. Hope you can come (£15 only). Let genevieve@lifeclubs.co.uk know so we can put you on the guest list.