New year beginning

I am looking forward to the New Year and the endless possibilities that it will bring.

 

Looking back on 2010 and I can see all the achievements I have made.  I have joined forces with Jerrilynn Thomas at http://womenpartner.com, with Julie McManus at http://www.leadershipexcellencecenter.com, with Chris Moon at http://talkingprimetimewomen.com/ and Maia Berens at http://journal.allaboutlifecoaching.com to name but a few.  And what wonderful women they are and what a privilege it is to work with them.  I know that 2011 is going to bring us all fantastic success and I am looking forward to it immensely.

 

Additionally I have coached numerous people to success and my workshops have been well attended with terrific results.  It never ceases to move me when I see people change from frightened rabbits to blossoming, confident people right there in front of me.  It is so satisfying and makes my job so worthwhile.  I have been working with MentorNet and The Prince’s Trust.  This year as well I have been working with Young Enterprise mentoring a team of young entrepreneurs at Ryde High School.  The ideas that come out of those your people’s heads are just astounding.

 

Changing my advertising is working well and sponsoring a radio show on http://www.vectisradio.com/, The Retro Show with Steve Ray on Sundays from 12pm to 3pm has proved to be very successful for me.  Take a listen to the radio station, it is up and coming and very good to listen to.  Not the usual safe tunes that hear day after day, but different music.

 

Of course the publication of my book was a huge success and I feel really proud that I have achieved so much this year.  The book is selling well and I have had some excellent feedback from people who have read it.  In fact I was stopped in the Co-op the other day by a lovely gentleman who told me that he had recently finished reading the book and he thought it was very good indeed and he thoroughly enjoyed it.  Fantastic! You can get a copy at Waterstones in Newport, Isle of Wight or on-line at any good book store.  Why not buy it, read it, take action and change your life!

 

Of course we sent to Bestival and saw some fabulous acts – Rolf Harris, Mr Motivator (yes he is still going), Example, Chic, Ellie Goulding to name but a few.  Additionally we saw The Drifters at Shanklin Theatre, Scissor Sisters at Bournemouth International Centre, Armstrong and Miller at Bournemouth Pavilion, The Railway Children at Waterloo Station with a real steam engine, Legally Blonde and Priscilla Queen of the Desert in London theatres too.  Fantastic shows all of them.

 

Off to see Dirty Dancing on stage in London in January – very much looking forward to that as it is one of my favourite films.

 

A short holiday has already been booked for mid May.  We are going to Belgium to Ypres to visit the war graves.  That may sound macabre to you, but it is something I have wanted to do for a very long time and I think the people who gave their lives so we can be here today deserve to be respected and not forgotten.  So off we go – Kelvin will drive on the continent – to pay our respects that are so richly deserved.  And we will have a good time too as I have never been to France so seeing the countryside will be new for me too.

So 2011 is already looking promising and I am looking forward to the new opportunities coming my way.  I have a feeling that I am going to be very busy during the next year – bring it on!

 

I hope your 2011 is just as promising and don’t forget it will be what you make it.  If you think it will be bad then it will, if you think it will be good then it will.  It is your choice. And if you need help, contact me and I will delighted to help you.

 

Maggie Currie

http://creedencetraining.co.uk/

A fabulous week despite the atrocious weather

This week has been fabulous.  Especially as I am now warm and have hot water.  The last few weeks have been pretty miserable as the 30 year old boiler decided to fail and a new one had to be put in.  Fortunately for us because the boiler failed we uncovered the pipes that ran from the back boiler to the cylinder had rusted through and were about to go.  Phew, that would have been disastrous as we live in a first floor flat and I don’t think our downstairs neighbour would have been very pleased when it burst and ran through her ceiling.  A lucky escape!

Whilst the floor had to be taken up in the living room so a new gas pipe could be run we decided to replace the carpet at the same time.  So the boiler was installed and commissioned on Monday and Tuesday last week and the new carpet laid on Wednesday.  That entailed everything being pulled out of the living room and stored on the landing or in the van or car as the boiler was being fitted in the bedroom and the gas meter is in the kitchen.  We were left cowering in the office, but all is now well and we are warm and have a lovely new carpet.

All the heavy stuff is now back in the living room and the rest will be put back as we go along over the weekend.  At least that is the plan at the moment.  We shall see.

I have learned a tremendous amount about myself by working with my coach, she lives in Santa Monica USA and is very intuitive and we work well together.  When we have finished the course of sessions I will be joining her team to coach people all around the world.  Since I am already an Advanced Confidence Coach and just love to change people’s lives for the better I find working with Maia to be so beneficial for me.  I have self-esteem issues, I often think I am not good enough or have I done all that I could do to help someone.  The results are always good and that tells me I am good at what I do, but I still have this self doubt every so often.  That is good I believe as it means that I still have my feet firmly on the ground.  I should hate to be one of those people who’s ego far outstrips their talent.  Oh and I know a good few of those!

I was also invited by the Inner Wheel of Freshwater to give a short talk on life coaching.  This I did yesterday to a group of lovely ladies who had braved the bad weather to come along to their monthly meeting.  The all enjoyed the talk of how I got into life coaching and how it led me to write my book.  They asked some very intelligent questions afterwards and I was rewarded with a lovely cup of coffee.  They did offer me a fee of £25 but I decided to waive that and they put it towards the Chairman’s charity which this year is the Earl Mountbatten Hospice Nurse at Home fund. A very worthy cause indeed.

I had lunch with Ann Lewis, a fellow coach, on Monday in Cowes.  A very enjoyable but short lunch as my chauffeur, Kelvin, dropped me off whilst he did a job and then picked me up on the way back.  All the same we had a good chat and a lovely toasted sandwich.

Went to the second week of a sports massage evening class.  Very interesting indeed.  I am learning a lot and this will add to the Indian Head massage as people often ask if I can help with their shoulder, arm, knee etc and I have to say no as I don’t want to do more harm than good.  But now I will be able to say yes and treat if appropriate.

This morning I was at Ryde High School mentoring a team of Young Enterprise entrepreneurs who are just starting out on creating a company.  They had elected their board members and received all the info they need and are now constructing between them their business plan, their mission statement and deciding on their products.  They seem very keen and well organised, but as this was the first time I have met them I shall have to wait and see if they continue as well.  Hopefully they will.

Lots of me time this afternoon to tackle the assignments sent by my coach and to just relax a little after the busy week I have had.

A glass wine now methinks, put my feet up and enjoy the casserole that has been cooking for the past few hours in the slow cooker.

Have a great weekend everybody.

Maggie

http://www.creedencetraining.co.uk

What you believe creates your reality

Sales of my book, following the rave reviews in the local press and on Amazon, are going well.

A very good friend of mine, Lyn Blackledge, has just sold two copies via Amazon to some Australia ladies she met recently. Thanks Lyn, you are a star!

The book is written in ten short chapters and in the style of a cosy chat. Having said that, it challenges the reader in many ways to find out much more about themselves, the way they think and why they think what they think.

When you read the book you will find out where your beliefs and perceptions come from, how you decide what your values are, how to challenge your limiting beliefs, how to change your attitudes and your behaviours, how to develop your character and how to discover your inner self. Ultimately you will find out how to create the reality you want and how everybody’s reality and perspective is different.

At the end of the book I have written my story of how I got to where I am and how I understand where a lot of you are now.

Ros Dennison has reviewed it on Amazon http://www.amazon.co.uk/What-Believe-Creates-Your-Reality/dp/1846244668/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1288198994&sr=1-1and loves the book, Lyn Blackledge http://www.lynsbiz.co.uk/ is currently reviewing the book and loves it so far, Jo Macauley from the Isle of Wight Gazette http://iwgazette.co.uk/ is currently reading the book and reviewing it, The Style of Wight Magazine http://www.styleofwight.co.uk/ is also reading and reviewing the book.

Get yourself a copy, read it, take action – change your life.

Maggie Currie
http://www.creedencetraining.co.uk

My rave reviews for my book

My book has been launched! Entitled “What you believe creates your reality” and published by Book Guild Publishers the launch took place on Tuesday 28th September at Waterstones in Newport, Isle of Wight. Over 40 people braved the rain to come along and help me celebrate my success. Some of them even bought a book and I just loved signing them. I felt like a star for a couple of hours. My wonderful husband Kelvin arranged with Gardenia of Newport for a huge bouquet to be delivered and he presented me with this on the night.

Paul Armfield, the manager of Waterstones, was such a genial host and he provided wine and crisps for everyone and happily chatted to everyone and made them feel welcome, but was not overbearing in any way.

I loved the evening and was so pleased that friends and colleagues made the effort to come along. The book is available on Amazon http://www.amazon.co.uk/What-Believe-Creates-Your-Reality/dp/1846244668/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1286871283&sr=1-1 (they have had to re-order), Waterstones http://www.waterstones.com/waterstonesweb/products/maggie+currie/what+you+believe+creates+your+reality/7680251/, WH Smith http://www.whsmith.co.uk/CatalogAndSearch/ProductDetails.aspx?productID=9781846244667, and all good book sellers online.

IW Chronicle http://iwchronicle.co.uk/ ran a competition to win a signed copy of the book and this was won by Rosie Hutton and I met up with her in Ryde and we had coffee and a chat before I signed her book for her.

IW Gazette http://iwgazette.co.uk/is currently running a competition to win a signed copy and if you want to enter you will have to read last week’s issue to discover how to enter. Good luck!!

Coming soon is the course I have designed and written to go with the book, something you will want to attend if you want to change your life for the better. I look forward to meeting you.

Where has this year gone?

It doesn’t seem so long ago that I wrote my last entry in my blog, but it seems to be six weeks ago – so much has been going on.

I have been working with PLATO mentoring a young graduate from Portsmouth University who is starting his own web based business. He had to give a 20 minute presentation and construct a detailed business plan. There were quite a few entrants to the competition and the winner went away with £1,000 towards their new business. My mentee didn’t win on this occasion, but he learned a great deal in the two sessions we had.

The TOWRAGS rally at Smallbrook Stadium went so well and I enjoyed the head massage during the day and providing the entertainment with our disco at night. It was a very long weekend, but very enjoyable indeed. We sent one young man to see a chiropractor on the Saturday morning as he had injured his neck and massage would most definitely have made it worse. The discos went on until 2am on the Friday and Saturday and they were dancing on the tables and having a wonderful time. We also shared the stage with a couple of bands, one was The Pirate Pirates who were good and the other was the Almaboobies who were absolutely fantastic. Three young girls who can really rock, well worth seeing if you get the chance.

I went to London to see the Railway Children performed at Waterloo Station on the old Eurostar platforms. They had been transformed into a theatre with seating on either side of the track and the stage was constructed each side of the track and along the tracks themselves to give the scene changing and effects required. There was a real steam engine and the old man’s carriage. The production was fabulous and in the audience on the day I went was Jenny Agutter. I would recommend this production.

I have been to various breakfast and lunchtime networking meetings which are very useful indeed and have brought in business and will continue to do so.

Some friends of ours launched their new shop in Newport with a fabulous opening event including champagne and nibbles. There were nearly 100 people there and Gardenia of Newport is well and truly open now and I am sure will be hugely successful as are their other two shops Gardenia in Freshwater and Love It in Freshwater.

I took part in a debate on Blogtalk Radio discussing whether we, as consultants, give away too much for free. There were two other participants and the general feeling was that yes we do and that in general people don’t give any value to something they are given for free and don’t think it is worthwhile. You can listen here http://www.blogtalkradio.com/wakingpassions/2010/07/28/do-you-have-value-or-are-you-for-free.

I went to Cowes for the Chamber Coswes Week Lunch which was held on a boat. We sent cruising into the middle of the racing on the high seas and had a lovely buffet lunch and lots to drink. Afterwards we met up with some friends and watched the live bands and had some more to drink before going home on the bus. A great day was had by all.

I went to meet my publishers in Brighton and had a lovely discussion with them and then had lunch before coming home again on the train. I came away with all I needed to know about organising the launch of my book and this has now been done. I spoke to Paul Armfield in Waterstones in Newport, Isle of Wight, and he is happy to put on the launch for me with wine and nibbles on Tuesday 28th September at 6.30pm. If you can make it I will be very pleased to see you there. It is so exciting and I am really looking forward to it.

Then came Rewind Festival in Henley. We were offering head massage to the masses and we did really well and the rain held off until the Sunday evening. We saw some great bands including Marc Almond, Jimmy Summerville, T’Pau, Level 42, Weather Girls and so many more. It was a great festival, very relaxed and such a good atmosphere. Can’t wait until next year!!

There have been several meals with friends over the past few weeks which have been very enjoyable indeed and it is so nice to catch up with people and have the time to sit and chat without feeling rushed.

We have also had a couple of ‘grockle days’ where we have bought a day rover for the bus and gone to visit some of the attractions such as the Owl and Monkey Sanctuary, The Seaview Experience, Osborne House and the Havenstreet Railway. It is really nice and relaxing to just go and sightsee with no fixed agenda and plenty of time.

This weekend it is the turn of the donkeys at Wroxall. It is the main fundraiser for the Donkey Sanctuary and we shall be offering head massage there and having a good time as well.

Also it is the 40th anniversary of the 1970 Isle of Wight Festival which was held just down the road on East Afton Farm and 600,000 people turned up to watch The Who, Jimi Hendrix etc. We are doing a disco on East Afton Farm on Saturday to entertain around 200 people in a marquee along with the band Smoke Stack. This will be an amazing event and very, very loud indeed. I am looking forward to it.

Hope to see you at the book launch!

Maggie xx

http://www.creedencetraining.co.uk

The past few weeks have literally flown by in a hive of activity.  I have been to several breakfast networking meetings, one run by the Isle of Wight Chamber of Commerce, Tourism & Industry occurs bi monthly and is held at the William Coppin in Newport and several run by Island Business Networking held weekly at the Riverside Centre in Newport.  These breakfast meetings are very valuable, not only for meeting business people and learning about their companies, but for stimulating sales for your business.  I endeavour to attend as many of these breakfast networking meetings as possible.

Another type of networking meeting is at lunchtime and held at the Eight Bells in Carisbrooke and is for women in business.  Women’s Island Networking is usually well attended and the members run a diverse range of businesses.  Another very useful meeting for the same reasons as the breakfast meetings. I get to as many of these as I possibly can.

There are various on-line networking sites such as Networking in High Heels, Women’s Business Club, Ecademy and many more. They are full of useful information, announcements and requests for speakers, articles etc.

Discos have been going well and the TOWRAGS motorcycle and tricycle rally held at Smallbrook Stadium was a long haul.  We provided music on the Friday and Saturday nights for about 5 hours each night until around 2am as well as a different band each night playing as well.  Heavy metal was the order of the day and went down very well with the members.  A great time was had by all.

Indian Head Massage is doing well too and has started it’s tour.  We are taking it on the road and began at the TOWRAGS rally providing essential relief to stiff necks and aching shoulders.  We did have to refuse one young man who had actually injured his neck and was in agony and could not turn his head in either direction. We suggested that he see a chiropractor as an emergency as he had to travel back to the mainland on his trike the next day and we managed to get him an appointment with a chiropractor within an hour on a Saturday morning and he was sorted out much to his and our relief.  Had we offered him massage we could well have made things a lot worse, and knowing when to say no is just as important as knowing when to say yes.  A good therapist will not just carry on, but refer to the appropriate person where necessary.  We are taking our tour next to Chale Show, Rewind Festival in Henley-on-Thames and the Donkey Days Out in Wroxall.  If you are in any of those places, come along and say hello, we will be pleased to see you.

We helped out at Carisbrooke High School with mock interviews for the young people so that they get experience of being interviewed for a job.  They had to apply for a fictitious job and prepare a cv and application letter.  We saw about 20 young people aged around 15 over two days and some of them were absolutely definite about their career paths, some were still undecided and a few had no idea what they were going to do when they left school.  We did enjoy these interviews and all the young people were friendly, pleasant and well behaved.  There is so much negativity attached to young people and I believe it is a myth, as virtually all the young people we come across on a daily basis are polite and well behaved.

We have had a couple of trips up to London, one was to see the Railway Children play at Waterloo Station.  This was excellent and used the platforms that used to be occupied by Eurostar and the audience sat either side of the rails with the stage built in the middle with the rails used to move various bits of the props and scenery up and down.  Inspired production, very well acted indeed.  In the audience on the day we went was Jenny Agutter.  I hope she enjoyed it as much as we did.

Another trip was to the Shaw Theatre to watch a radio programme being made.  This was the Unbelievable Truth hosted by David Mitchell with two teams including Armando Iannucci and Chris Addison to be aired in early September on Radio 4.  A very entertaining evening indeed.

The sun continues to shine and the school holidays are here.  That means the Island is full of tourists all enjoying their holidays.  Let’s hope the weather holds for them and they have a fabulous time here on our lovely Island.

I am going to be on BlogTalk Radio next Wednesday, 28th July at 10pm discussing whether consultants give away to much for free.  Listen if you can and let me know what you think.

Have a great summer.

Maggie Currie

http://www.creedencetraining.co.uk

A hectic couple of weeks

The last couple of weeks have been hectic to say the least and very, very varied.

The launch of Pipeline, a mentoring programme for graduate of Portsmouth University meant a trip for me to Southsea to meet with the other mentors and to be introduced to my mentee.  A lovely young man who has a superb idea for a business.  he has some brilliant ideas and in depth knowledge of his subject.  The aim is for these young people to be mentored for two weeks and then to make a presentation to a panel of judges.  The winner will receive £1,000 towards starting their business and continuous mentoring from one of the high profile business people in the industry.  So far one mentoring session has been achieved and another is arranged for this week.  I have great hopes for this very talented young man.

We had a grockle day last week and got on a bus at 9.20am and set off to visit Owl and Monkey World in Newport which is a brand new attraction on the Island.  Very well presented and the animals and birds have great enclosures and are looked after very well indeed.

On the bus again to the Seaview Experience to see the penguins, flamingos, pelicans and all the other birds and animals there.  Lunch was very nice indeed in the cafe with a glass of wine.  The penguins are very funny and love to display their talents to the spectators and really perform well when it is feeding time.  We got to feed the penguins as well.  There were plenty of ducklings, goslings and moorhen chicks running around looking cute.  A baby Kookaburra was being hand reared as it had been abandoned and was looking well in the little incubator on his blanket.

The peacocks put on a great display and there was a pure white one in full display trying to get the attention of his two peahens.  To no avail, they much preferred pecking at the food that was being thrown to them by passers by.

A couple of hours later saw us on the bus to Ryde and a short trip to Yelf’s Hotel for a few aperitif’s before going to Michelangelo’s for dinner.  What a lovely restaurant.  All food was cooked freshly to order and the staff were really friendly and nothing was too much trouble for them.  Three courses, a bottle of wine and some liquers later we got the bus back to Freshwater and arrived home about 10pm. A great day out!

Two breakfast networking meetings, one on Thursday and one of Friday were attended and good connections made.  Friday also saw me doing a mindset session at Energie in Ryde for a client.  Then home to pack and off to get the caravan to go to Smallbrook Stadium for the weekend.  This was the Towrags Rally, a group of motorcyle and motortricycle enthusiasts who fund raise for local charities.  This year their chosen charity is St. Catherine’s School.  We were doing Indian Head Massage by day and discos by night.  There were two groups playing as well, on Friday The Pirates played and on Saturday a fabulous all girl band called The Almaboobies really rocked the stadium.  If you can get to see them you won’t be disappointed.

A networking lunch yesterday followed by a PRS visit and today I am catching up with paperwork and having a little bit of a rest before the next hectic week or so.

I love my life! So many different things to do and so much to enjoy and so many people to meet.

Hope you are all enjoying life as much as I am.

Maggie Currie

http://www.creedencetraining.co.uk