Are you ready for a clean sweep for the new year?

Friday night I will be speaking at the Whole Life Expo here in Toronto on Balancing Your Life! The presentation will be forty-five minutes, and I'm looking forward to engaging with the audience who should number anywhere between 150 - 200.

If you feel the need (like me and many others) to make a clean sweep for the holidays and 2006, I hope that you will consider a special six part telseminar program I will be offering by phone in December called Your Balanced Life! - A Clean Sweep for the Holidays. The program will be held by phone (so you can call in from wherever around the world) on Tuesday and Thursday evenings from 7-8pm (EST) on December 1, 6, 8, 13, 15 and 20th. If you can't make a call - don't worry - calls will be recorded for your listening at a later date.

I know that many of us reach the holiday season spinning and frantically start to make those resolutions too late. If you are committed to moving your life more into balance, consider the Clean Sweep for the Holidays program. Regularly one-on-one coaching for the same amount of time would cost you over $1200, but through group coaching your investment is only $175 for the six-hour program. Don't you deserve to treat yourself?

I hope that you will consider investing in yourself for the holidays and will join me next week. If you'd like more information, or to register, please contact me by email or via my website www.potentialsrealized.com. I look forward to hearing from you!

Life Balance - one definition

Here's a definition I really like about Life Balance:

“Life Balance is a self-defined, self-determined state of well being that a person can reach, or can set as a goal, that allows them to manage effectively multiple responsibilities at work, at home, and in their community; it supports physical, emotional, family and community health, and does so without grief, stress or negative impact.”
(From www.hrsdc.ca)

I like this definition because it places emphasis on the fact that life balance is self-defined and self-determined. So what I may see as life balance, may be completely different from you. I have found that each coaching client I work with has a completely different definition of what their life in balance looks like.

What does life balance look like to you? Take a few minutes an write down what a balanced life would be like for you.

After you've done this, what do you notice about your description? What's balanced already? What's out of alignment? What is one thing that you can do to celebrate the balance you currently have? What is one thing you can do today to move one area of your life more into balance?

I'd be interseted in hearing from you about what you want to celebrate and what changes you want to make. Drop me an email at the link above.

How Engaged are You at Work?

A recent study of 85,000 workers in 16 countries across 4 continents found that only one in seven employees worldwide are "highly" engaged with their jobs and willing to go that extra step. This study was carried out with people working for large and midsize companies.

The Towers Perrin Global Workforce Study found that 14% of workers surveyed around the world are highly engaged, 62% are moderately engaged and 24% are disengaged. Employee engagement is the measure of people's willingness and ability to give discretionary effort at work.

Here in Canada, 17% of the 5,100 workers surveyed indicated that they were highly engaged, 66%moderately engaged and 17% disengaged. We ranked fifth, with respondents from Mexico showing indicating the highest levels of engagement (40%) followed by Brazil (31%). The US ranked third with 21% of respondents indicating that they are "highly engaged", 63% moderately engaged and 16% disengaged.

The Toronto Star (November 15 2005) mentions that in Canada the most important factor influencing their rating was senior management's interest in employee well being. Two years ago a similar study found that 21% of employees were highly engaged.

The survey results raise some interesting questions regarding today's workforce including retention, productivity and employee satisfaction issues. I also wonder what the link is to work-life balance, and differences which may be found in organizations of different sizes.

I'd be intereseted in hearing from you. What are your thoughts? How engaged are you with your work?

Welcome to Your Balanced Life!

I'm excited to bring Your Balanced Life! to the web in real time. Your Balanced Life! is one of the many coaching programs I run through my company, Potentials Realized. As a Certified Coach and trainer, I work with professionals and organizations around the world on balanced living, wellness and performance issues, and creating what they want in life and business.

This is just one part of Potentials Realized and my work-- and I am looking forward to starting blogs in other areas of my expertise and involvement- including Training Essentials, teambuilding, leadership development, HR, business success and marketing areas.

Stay tuned! I've got a number of exciting posts planned here at Your Balanced Life! Exercises, activities and resources to support YOU in assessing and creating the balance that YOU want in your life and work!