Search Results for: Looking Back

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EXTREME TESTING: Practicing what you believe in

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This week has been filled with the wrapping up of several projects, the planning of future projects, and the packing of suitcases for a much-needed break.

And in that space, I’ve been pondering the past few months.

This fall was a season of EXTREME TESTING.  (Only the teacher forgot to warn me that the tests were coming so I didn’t get to study.  And truthfully, I didn’t realize how much testing was occuring – until things slowed down and I paused to reflect.)

It’s worth noting that although the tests were different, one theme was repeated over and over again:  When I’m under-fire ~Do I really practice what I say I believe in and write about?  (A sampling of some of the tests are listed below on the left, previous articles are on the right.)

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How to Hit A BULLSEYE in 2014!

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Have you ever made a New Year’s resolution?

I remember the first time I ever made one.  I was sixteen.  It was New Year’s Eve and I left the family party before everyone else and walked home to an empty house.

In that quiet space I did some thinking and visualized what life would be like if I changed one of my habits and then I set a personal goal.

It’s the first time I remember being so intentional and so specific about something I wanted to accomplish.

In the months that followed I was so focused on the vision that I never once gave into the temptation to break that promise to myself.

In that process I learned a valuable lesson:

[Tweet “Strategic Quiet + Commitment = BULLSEYE and JOY! @GianaConsulting”]

Nothing builds self-esteem and self-confidence like accomplishment.  Thomas Carlyle

2014 is just around the corner.

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Inspired by Syrian Refugees: The Greatest Gift You Can Give ~ Listen

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Yesterday I was visiting with a woman whose husband and daughter had recently returned from a mission trip where they were helping Syrian refugees.

The refugees were primarily middle class families that left everything behind (homes, jobs, family, treasured keepsakes, toys…) and fled for their lives.

With no income and winter coming their physical needs are astronomical!

Syrian refugee crisisSo both the husband and daughter were shocked when they discovered that the biggest need these people shared was not physical….

Beyond The Comfort Zone – The Expat Journey

Turning An Unwanted Move Across The World... Into An Adventure

Multicultural Children and The World, Our expat journeyI’ve included several personal articles about a move overseas to a location that is often harshly judged and feared because:

  1. Because I LOVE leading change.
  2. Three years of our lives were filled with continuous unwanted change.  …So much so that it was like being hit with enormous waves, each one would knock us down, we would stand again, and another would hit.  It was such a confusing and painful time that to this day tears surface when I think about it.  When the waves stopped crashing there was not much about our lives that looked the same.  And then the transformation within us began.
  3. Because individuals and organizations need direction and encouragement as they navigate their own seasons of change.  (Did you know that year after year, Critical Human Capital Issues continue to be change related?)

My hope is:

  • That by sharing the details and the emotions of our expat journey that you or someone you love will find encouragement for whatever you are in the midst of.
  • That you will be reminded that you are not alone in the struggle to navigate change.
  • That you will find inspiration and answers for the changes you are navigating.
  • That when you are ready, you will help others by sharing your story!

You really can turn unwanted change into an adventure! #Expat

When we were asked to make this move I imagined that life would look and feel as brown and desolate as the image below.

Thriving in unknown environments

This is our journey:  

November 2012 – As we contemplated the decision but did not tell anyone I wrote this post:

December 2012 – After we made the decision to go, and the reality started to set in but  we could not yet share what was happening I wrote this post: 

Turning unwanted change into an adventureWhen we were finally able to share what we were doing with the world these words became our vision:

As we prepared for the journey:

April – June 2013 – The first 3 months:Expat woman cloak of invisibility

Leadership Lessons from Amsterdam #ExpatJuly – September 2013 – The second trimester:

October – December 2013 – The third trimester:  

The Treasury at Petra Jordan #ExpatA vacation in Jordan proved it is possible to turn unwanted change into an adventure.

Agents of Change: Expat Wives iStockJan 2014:  A series honoring “The Real Housewives of Expat Men”

 

A new perspective at the Pyramids - Egypt #ExpatCarpe Diem! Seize The Day - Lessons from ItalyThe rest of 2014:  More powerful leadership and life lessons

EXPECTATIONS - How low should you go?"I can't do this!"2015:  Lessons are always there if you want to learn!   

To laugh is to risk appearing the fool.  To weep is to risk appearing sentimental.

To reach out for another is to risk involvement.  To expose feeling is to risk exposing your true self.  To place your ideas, your dreams before the crowd, is to risk their loss.

 To love is to risk not being loved in return.  To live is to risk dying.  To hope is to risk despair.  To try is to risk failure.

 But risk MUST be taken, because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing.  The person who risks nothing does nothing, has nothing, and is nothing.

 He may avoid suffering and sorrow, but he simply cannot learn, feel, change, grow, love, live.  Chained by his certitudes, he is a slave; he has forfeited freedom.

 Only a person who risks is free.

 

Image Credits:  iStock & Personal