Stay Your Course

Wonder why people keep treating you the same way as they always have, even when it's clear you're trying to change?
 
When you're actively doing things differently, trying to live a life more aligned with who you really are, one of the biggest obstacles can be how others react.
 
If you try to better yourself, some will warn you not to expect too much. They mean well. They want to protect you from disappointment.
 
Or when you start to prioritise time for yourself, others may get resentful and push back. They might even call you selfish. They're just used to you always putting them first.
 
So, what do you do? 🤔
 
First, you can choose how to react. Expect that as you change, others won't. They may, as I just mentioned, actively try to stop you from changing. If you expect that reaction, it won't be a surprise when you run into it.
 
Choose not to be surprised. And then choose not to be steered off course.
 
Remember this phrase that I...
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Podcast on The Sam & Jo VA Show

These two women are amazing! They literally have no fear. They've partnered not just on uniting and educating Virtual Assistants, but also have started a new podcast.

They invited me on to talk about tips from finding your authentic voice and how to "stand out". Obviously, these apply to anyone, not just VAs. 

You can listen to the podcast here.

https://pod.co/the-sam-and-jo-va-show/14-how-to-distinguish-yourself-from-other-vas

And here are some shortcuts for you:

Who admits to feeling imposter syndrome? @ 1:15
Why New Zealand was such an easy place to move @ 3:50
How Sam learned how important it is just to be yourself @ 4:59
Why you feel vulnerable putting yourself "out there" @ 5:33
How to reframe drawing attention to yourself @ 6:10
How to identify your combination of skills and strengths @ 7:00
Why it's important to ask others what you're best at @ 10:00
What is the POP Process? How can it help you? @ 10:30
What do you put in LinkedIn summaries & bios?...
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TV Interview in Sacramento

Wondering how different the perspective between New Zealand and the US regarding COVID19? A former colleague from TV News reached out to me to ask what it's been like living in our southern hemisphere bubble and watching what's happening in the rest of the world. 

Watch it here...

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Reinvention Interview on "A Fresh Agenda" Podcast

I was lucky enough to connect with a former "rival" news anchor. Well she wasn't my rival, our TV stations competed one against one another We recently reconnected to discuss how we are all re-evaluating how we want our lives to look going forward. 

We had a chat about work/life balance during and after a news career.

Click below to listen!

https://soundcloud.com/afreshagenda/84-pallas-hupe-cotter-make

And here are some shortcuts for you:

4:30: Why I left the news business
6:45: How I started to reinvent
8:50: How I integrated into New Zealand society
10:30: The recurring dream that I had until I moved
14:00: A summary of the POP Process®
15:00: What kind of chocolates Cristina and I are 🙂
16:14: My mission in life...
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Popping Bubbles

It is decreed. We’re allowed to hug again! At least a few people we know and love. I wrote in March about how big a challenge it would be for people like me to stop short of giving people we greet a quick squeeze. I vowed to hold back, and imagine a bubble around me. 

Little did I know bubbles would become a thing!

Now I’m wondering what the future might hold, beyond a hesitant hugs and handshakes. 

I’m still trying to catch up with everything we’ve been experiencing in the past few weeks:

 

Slow Start: our brains have struggled since the start to keep up with reality. We heard the news out of China, and watched it as if it were a movie. We still travelled, attended conferences, hung out in crowds. Then it finally started to sink in. A little late, but we got it just as it became clear that COVID19 was here.

Pandemic Perfectionism: not long after we started to wrap our brains around what being in a bubble would look and feel like, we were...

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Resilience Interview with Humphrey Hanley

What does resilience look like?

With so much talk about #resilience during this #COVID19 challenge, I wanted to talk to one of the most resilient people I know.
 
Humphrey has a condition that essentially means he has no hands and yet...he is a freelance multimedia content creator, has his own YouTube channel where he works with a personal trainer (NoHandsNoExcuses) and even ran for public office!
 
Watch and find out more of his incredible story...
And here are some shortcuts for you:

Learn about the challenge Humphrey Hanley faces @ 1:51
Learn how he keeps going despite facing challenges @ 2:49
Learn how job loss was a chance to pursue his passion @ 6:16
Learn how he manages to stay positive and motivated @ 7:51
Learn why "resilience is survival" is no exaggeration @ 9:56
Learn how he was uniquely prepared for isolation @ 12:23
Learn why he doesn't hesitate to ask for help @ 13:52
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What Women Want: Learning How to Negotiate What you Deserve

When I was a young television anchor working in a small market in Northern Michigan, a well known New York talent agency offered me “representation”.  And no, this is not a humble-brag, so keep reading… (I’ll also explain the picture above at the very end.)

I was actually pretty surprised. What were they doing trolling around tiny towns’ tv stations? “Looking for talent we can grow into larger markets” was the answer.

The thing was, I wasn’t interested. Not then, at least. I knew I still had skills to hone and frankly loved living in the area (if you haven’t been to Traverse City, Michigan, you are missing out on some of the most beautiful real estate in the United States).

So, I asked the agent “Why would I want to give a cut of my salary to someone who really can’t help me right now?”.

He had a ready answer: when it came time to renew my contract, he could negotiate a better deal than I would have...

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