Well we did it, Dave my long suffering husband and I managed to sneak away for a long weekend, and, wait for it, no work was involved!  We have been trying to enjoy a getaway from it all for a few years now and something always seemed to come up and ruin our plans.

I will admit we do enjoy some fun travel with our work and manage to squeeze in a few days here and there sightseeing and having fun, so I am not complaining.

So what was different about our long weekend away you might be asking yourself. Simply put no work at all was involved other than driving to the location, settling into our hideaway, eating, drinking, playing scrabble, watching TV or taking a short walk to a lovely restaurant.

We have been making excuses for a very long time as to why we could not find the time to do this before, so this time we booked ahead of time, made sure our calendars were clear and set a positive goal, which is how we managed to pull it off this time. But before we could turn our back on life as we know it we had to make arrangements for someone to look after our 3 cats, one of whom has diabetes. Luckily for us our grown children are very sensible and able to take care of our pets. Once there were no more excuses as to why we could not enjoy this long waited for break there was no stopping us.

I would definitely recommend a short getaway to you all, it does not have to be expensive or far away from where you live, just find somewhere you ca relax and forget the world for a short time, you will feel as rested and refreshed as we both do.

Give it a go and see how much you enjoy your getaway, you might be surprised.

Firstly let me say thank you to TELUS for extending an invitation for me to attend the wonderful launch that took place in Toronto last week. I felt very honored to be amongst some of the first people to actually see, find out about, and actually own the very lovely BB Z 10, I think I fell in love with it immediately:)

I am not very technical so for me being able to use the BB Z 10 from the get go was amazing, the look and feel is gorgeous and I love showing it off to everyone.

Best of luck to BlackBerry for the future, I love the new brand and I am looking forward to seeing a new chapter in your remarkable story unfolding.

Lesson to be learned for SMB’s is to never, ever give up and continue to believe in yourself, the support will continue if you follow through and ask for help if you need it.

Ask any man about multitasking and they share with you it’s a waste of time, and they prefer to complete one project at a time and do it properly!  Well, maybe not all men, to be fair, but women do tend to multitask more than men and this is  probably out of necessity versus choice.

Imagine the career woman who has children, she can often be seen packing lunches, taking care of the laundry, picking children up from sports events and managing to work on a deadline for work late into the night. If she had a choice maybe it would be to share some of those tasks with her partner who is too busy cleaning the car for a couple of hours before taking a rest in front of the TV before heading to bed.

I should get serious now and share I am joking most of the time about men, they do help out they do sometimes try and multitask but evidently tests have proved their brain is not capable of doing more than one thing at a time.

If I take me as an example if I don’t multitask I would not be able to clean my house ( with help from my husband) cook, shop, look after sick children, pets and run two businesses, and yes I realise I don’t always get it right but at least I am trying.

Today I realised I had not replied to an email from a couple of weeks ago, that is not like me at all, but I have been sick with a virus and probably my husband told me to rest, which I did instead of replying to my email!

The point I am trying to make is, whatever works for you, go for it, you can listen to all the advice in the world but we are all different and we do things different ways, thank goodness that is what makes us unique.

Even if men can’t or won’t multitask that does not mean they are wrong, they are just making different choices, the same as women. But sometimes, to get things done you just have to multitask, just sayin…..

Connecticut school shooting -innocent lives lost.

It’s not enough to read about the unspeakable tragedies that continue to take lives, and leave behind heartbreak, pain, tears, and empty lives…

The media along with the public have to work together, a safer world is possible but people have to unite and communicate what changes are needed to work towards this goal.

The time has come to take action, too often people are saddened by such tragic circumstances but believe someone else will be the voice that leads to positive change.

The media make us aware but it is up to us to turn the world around and create a safer place for everyone. Politicians and the public should work together and shed their complacency and realize talking about the issues, complaining, and then forgetting about these tragedies is not the solution.

There are so many YouTube videos out there that make us laugh, make us sad, make us aware, we could use this platform to create the change and unite everyone with the same goal, a safer world.

The videos where the public come together to sing carols are wonderful, but a worldwide coming together to make our voices heard to ensure a safe world is what is needed.

We can’t expect change if we do not unite and work together to make change happen, we all have busy lives, and challenges but if the videos that go viral are not working towards a safe world then how can we sleep at night knowing we are giving up. We do care we just don’t know how to move forward.

It’s simple, create YouTube videos that share how positive change is possible, whether it is gun laws, more education to create awareness, are a few examples, but make people aware the world has to work together to create a safer world, especially for our children, the next generation.

As a tribute to the brave people that have died, unite and come together as one voice and every little bit helps, no one person should think their voice, or their efforts or their help is not helping the cause or is not enough.

But, if we all watch the cute YouTube videos that make US feel better but do nothing to protect the innocents and lead to more awareness and change, these atrocities will continue to take lives and leave behind heartache for many.

If we continue to moan and groan in little groups, but do nothing to work towards the change that will lead to a safer world we are guilty of not caring enough and not realising it could be US next time, our family members, our children, our teachers, our neighbors, our politicians, everyone is at risk.

The internet has created a space that we can all use to unite and come together, stop talking about how awful the recent tragedy is and do something positive.

Questions to ask:

Are our schools safe, is the awareness out there, the prevention, the early detection. What more can be done in those areas.

Are mental health issues being looked after, is the awareness out there early enough to identify mental health challenges and offer help to those who need it.

Are the laws in place re guns doing enough to make people aware, prevent. What education is out there pertaining to these laws for the general public.

Communication & collaboration the first step to creating the change needed.

I do not have all the answers but I am doing my bit to help create a safer world, my one voice may be a quiet whisper at the moment, but if more voices join in we will be heard.

It is really difficult to know whether other people know what you do, and if you do it well. I realise most people  have a website to showcase their products and services and all the social media opportunities are out there, but how do you know who knows what you do well?

LinkedIn has helped a lot of their users by adding a new opportunity to members, it’s called endorsements. This is not to be confused with recommendations, they are two separate entities.

If I use myself as an example I am feeling quite overwhelmed and thankful for all the endorsements my trusted connections on LinkedIn have taken the time to highlight on my LinkedIn page. I did not have an expectation that I would be given endorsements and this, for me, makes it all the more special and meaningful.

But on another note, this helps me tremendously because people who check out my profile on LinkedIn can see in a matter of minutes not only what I do, but what I do best, when I am active online via my social media platforms.

This does not take away from my business expertise in any way, it adds to that. If someone engages me to speak at a conference they need to know my topics and skill set and even though the referrals keep coming, endorsements are an added advantage to any business.

But, the problems could arise when we ask for endorsements, which is OK, as long as we know what we excel at. One example might be if someone asked to be endorsed for advertising but this was not one of their strengths and definitely not something they showed expertise in this could cause problems down the line.

Working on building strong foundations for your future business success does include knowing what you do best, and also knowing there is also room for improvement.

I wrote a letter to The Record Newspaper, as I often do and I am happy to say my letter was published. Taking the time to voice my opinion is important to me, as a person who lives by creating awareness, fair play and justice I can’t stand by and watch when I feel the World is falling apart or people are being treated unfairly, or people are being stupid.

What if – a common phrase, what if the World came to an end, but how many people actually work towards making the World a better place if not for themselves but for the next generation? What if everyone went on strike and we could make our own food, build our own furniture, and teach ourselves the basic skills needed. But, what if there was no hospitals with doctors and nurses and what if you were seriously ill? I am not on the side of a Government or one particular person here, I am looking for sensible solutions and a fair way to deal with a situation that has gotten out of hand.

Read my letter, please and see what you think:)

http://www.therecord.com/opinion/letters/article/828143–time-to-play-fair

You never know you might want to add your opinion and make a difference instead of saying What if….

I am addicted to something I love, my work. Every tiny task, every little detail, whether I am speaking at a conference, blogging, writing articles, working on newsletters, podcasts, networking, helping people, I love what I do, plain and simple.

Never in a million years did I ever dream or set a goal that has led me to the place I am now. I set goals after I decided to start Motivational Steps, I did have little cat naps, not really dreams, about where this could take me, but it was not a life long passion. The reason for this is because I did not know what I did not know, I had no idea how good I was at what I do now. How could I, never having done it.

Looking back over time I now know I am a people person, I came from underneath my shell and I blossomed and here I am today addicted to my work, which to me is not work and I love what I do, I am truly blessed.

There is a small challenge associated with loving my work and being addicted to it, I do have to remind myself to stop and take a break, eat a meal, spend time with family, and this is good, everyone needs to step away and balance their work and home life. Luckily for me I married a man who is also passionate about is work so I have a life long partner not only as a husband but in business too.

Do you love your work?  If not take a step back and ask yourself why, life is too short to live a life waiting for the clock to say it’s home-time, or a weekend.

My name is Linda and I am addicted to my work but my work is my passion so it does not feel like work.

October is breast cancer awareness month so I am sharing my story every day in the hope more people will be aware, but every day of the year, not just one special month of the year.

Devils night, 30th October 1997 – what a date to receive the news I have breast cancer. Not being superstitious I realised the date was meaningless.

The lump in my left breast had been there since 1994, but it was a harmless cyst, which changed after years of stress and a car accident that was not serious.

My fantastic, now retired, family doctor had no hesitation in sending me to a surgeon. I wish all family doctors were as proactive, because time is really of the essence and early detection is crucial.

The very overworked but very nice surgeon was 100% sure my lump was not cancerous, but after my request for a biopsy he agreed.

The results were due on the 30th October, and the waiting seemed like a lifetime….