Sheri here,
Taking your own advice and walking your talk is important. In my last blog, I chatted about sharpen our skills and said I was planning to take my own advice. (See “Sharpen Our Saw – Sharpen Our Skills”).
Saw Sharpening Skill Break
Last week, I attended a five-day writing retreat on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. The setting was lovely with lots of green, flowers, and even a little rain – a real treat for this Southern California gal. A perfect environment for doing serious writing.
The retreat itself was equally wonderful – we focused on manuscript techniques, editing skills – including getting feedback – and powerfully reading our writing live. Each one of these can be intimidating, but in a safe environment, like this retreat, the practice opportunity is invaluable.
I learned a lot and saw a change in the depth of my writing skills. I was able to be more vulnerable as I wrote. I got closer in my writing to the authentic me. Being more able to talk about what I loved, hated and was indifferent about in life and me. Now my challenge is to expand it to my business and those I serve.
I came home energized and relaxed, demonstrating, again, that a break from the everyday routine of life is important.
This time away allowed me to sharpen my saw, sharpen my skills on several levels: mentally, socially, emotional, spiritually, and in my writing. It doesn’t matter if writing is important to you or not, but what does matter is the importance of periodically taking a break.
When is your next break to sharpen your skills? Don’t have one planned yet? Take a few minutes today and consider what skills training would benefit you the most – whether it is writing, sales training or meditation, give yourself the gift of pause and refresh you.
Need some help deciding what your next step is, give me a call here and we can work it together!
My New Book
I had the opportunity to read to my peers, sections of my soon to be published book: Everything I Learned About Life I Learned on Vacation – practice for my book promotions. This is a compilation of my travel stories and life lessons I’ve learned on the road.
The other major item that happened this week was I chose the cover art for the book and I’m waiting for the designer’s samples – this is getting real!
While the publication date is still several months off, if you want to be on the wait list for notifications about the pre-orders for the book, leave a comment and let me know – I’ll add you to the list.
‘til the next time.
Ciao,
Sheri
