Luke Owens and the committee behind Bendigo for Homeless Youth received the news yesterday that they have officially raised $70,000 of their $100,000 fundraising goal for a bricks and mortar Social Housing Project for homeless youth.

When Luke discovered a local 10 year old Bendigo child was sleeping out he was compelled to do something for homeless youth.  Further research led Luke to discover that on any given night in Australia more than 44,500 people are homeless. Nearly half of these are under the age of 25. Surprisingly, there are over 700 children in Bendigo who don’t have a stable living environment; they just need a home.

Luke deferred uni for a year to commit himself to the project and combat this growing local issue. A group of Bendigo musicians combined their talents to write, record and release a charity album.

Combined with T-Shirt sales and other local fundraising efforts Luke and the team are just $30,000 away from their goal and would love to reach this in time for the New Year.

“We are calling on the local community to help these kids” Luke said. “Donations don’t need to be large. Every little bit helps to get us to our goal.”

On Sunday Luke and his team of volunteers will be selling CD’s and T Shirts at Community Carols Rosalind Park with the support of the Rotary Club Bendigo.

The album features Bendigo artists Albert Skipper, Leigh Turner, Taylor Sheridan, Rowden Kolone, Eliza DeAraugo, Penny Larkins, Talisa Jobe and Sheridan Parry; as well as 2010 Australia’s Got Talent finalists Cameron and Taylor Henderson and Tom Tuena. The album is available online and at local businesses around town.

Why not grab a meaningful last minute Christmas gift for the Family.

Donations can be made by the Bendigo for Homeless Youth website www.bendigoforhomelessyouth.com or call into any Bendigo Bank branch. Donations of $2 or over are tax-deductible.

It is the time of year when many people are considering a career change. Anita Dickons from Above the Line Thinking shares with us her top 5 tips for evaluating your role and making a career change.

Be honest with yourself:
While it sometimes takes a crisis for us to make a change in our lives, a good indication that you are no longer fulfilled is a lack of energy and enthusiasm on a daily basis. When the pain of desperation overrides the pain of action you’ll start moving towards your new career. Being self-aware can short cut this journey so you act sooner. If you take responsibility for where you are at it makes choice and change a possibility.

Blow your trumpet:
Start with a list of your skills, strengths, resources, learning, achievements, greatest lessons etc. It’s easy to compartmentalise our lives and not make links between them all. Remember you are all of those things and that is what you will take to the next chapter of your career not just what you are doing right now. If you were part of a netball team, remember the teamwork, stamina, courage, determination and so on that you used then. They are all resources you have and can draw on anytime you need them, you may just have forgotten they are there.

Find your passion:
There is no better feeling than doing what you love and loving what you do. So spend some time reconnecting with what you love to do. The quality of your life is based upon the questions you ask yourself. Think about what you've truly loved doing throughout your career. Ask yourself what would my ideal job look like? Dream, write, visualise your fantasy job and then explore how that could be possible.

Have a plan and a goal:
Once you have evaluated your options, take the time to set out a plan and ask yourself questions such as - do I need to retrain, do I need to develop specific skills; how can I do that? If I need to study how can I support that? What is my compelling reason why? Take the time to read, research and study this area or areas of interest. Look for mentors and people in your desired profession or skill area to speak with.

Reinvent your current role:
As an alternative to a completely new career path, it may pay to simply make a few changes to the role you currently have or look where you are able to experience new challenges, ways in which to contribute or to see where you feel you are able to serve best and what serves you best. You are never too old or too entrenched in any given profession to make a change. Focus on the experience that you've gained and the skills you have acquired rather than possible excuses for not moving forward.

About Anita:

Change your life by changing your thought is the motto Anita Dickons lives by. Anita knows what it is like to not live the life of your dreams, so after finding the keys to success she now shares them through Above the Line Thinking.  www.abovethelinethinking.com.au

Many of you will know the feeling of being overwhelmed by emails and your inbox, so as I was cleaning up my in box today I thought I would share some email tips with you. Today I am unsubscribing, deleting, creating rules and more to deal with my inbox it allows me to think clearer and deal with the pressure that emails can create on my day.

Read it, Flag it, Delete it:

It is that simple the email can be read and responded to, flagged for follow up or deleted. Apply this approach and you will save time

Don’t leave your email open

Leaving your email open only leave you open to distraction, hide it or minimise it in your toolbar and check once an hour.

Folders are your friend

Create folders and rules that sort your emails as they come in it allow you to filter your emails and prioritise into reading and response groups. The same rules of Read it, Flag it, Delete it apply

Unsubscribe from unwanted/unread emails

Emails that we don’t read just clog up our inbox, and distract us from what we need t do for the day. Unsubscribe and delete it!

Flag and Categorise:

There are times that we can’t respond to an email when we read it. Flag it or categorise it to follow up then make time once a week to clear the flags.

These tips allow me to run with a clear head I would love to hear what strategies you use for email management – why not leave me a comment.

The impact of Twitter on Social Media Marketing for Business is increasing so for this Social Media take it one step at a time Twitter can be a hot and powerful tool for your business.

8 Reasons to signup and use twitter today!

1. Make New Contacts-  Following the people we know is great, however  you can also make valuable new contacts with Twitter.

It doesn’t matter if you’re looking for people to work for your company or you just want to interact with others who like the same music as you, you can find all the new contacts you need through Twitter. Take the time to look through their profile, website links, and past Tweets to determine if it’s someone you’d be interested in following.

2. Monitor Your Reputation- If you’re using twitter for professional purposes, it can be an effective tool for online reputation management. Track your name to keep tabs on what people are saying about you at any given time.

This information can be useful for fixing in-house problems, and it can also help you eliminate any untrue rumours that might be spreading around. This can be done through some great tools like TwitAlert

3. Gain Exposure for Your Website- Perhaps the most obvious benefit of Twitter is generating traffic to your website. When you’re connected with followers who care about you, they’ll help spread your content by ReTweeting it to their friends.

 Just be careful that you don’t overdo the self-promotion as that will drive your followers away. Use Twitter responsibly, and you’ll experience more traffic to your blog and website.

4. Stay in Touch- Whether it’s a business contact from across the country or a friend from down the street, connecting with them on Twitter is an easy way to stay in touch.

You’ll always know what they’re up to, and you can engage in brief discussions through DM or @(UserName) messages. Even if it’s someone you see all the time, you might get to experience a whole new side of them by following them on Twitter.

5. Be Several Places at Once- Let’s face it–you can’t be everywhere at once. You can’t always afford to fly out to that conference across the country, but you can keep up with it through Twitter. People often Tweet live updates from various events, meaning you can be in several places at once.
6. Build Your Authority- If you’re using Twitter to discuss a particular niche, you can build your authority by writing high quality Tweets. A few ways to build your authority on Twitter are to send out links to useful resources, provide useful tips to your followers, give insight into relevant topics, answer questions, and engage in discussions with your followers.
7. Learn New Tips from Others- In addition to sharing tips, you can also learn new ones from others. That’s one of the things about Twitter that hooked me . So many of the people I’m following provide useful information based on their unique experiences. There really is a wealth of knowledge out there if you know who to follow.
8. It is a Fun – Twitter is fun you can find great resources and even more great people and businesses that you may not have found otherwise.

One of the hardest things when juggling work, business and family is making time for you. As a Mummy you are often putting kids, hubby and business before your needs and if a friend in need calls you will go and help them too! Which are all great qualities and what we love about mummies but what about making time for you before you go stir crazy or burn out? Remember a happy family needs a happy Mummy not a stressed one.

I was reminded of this today when this morning I am juggling dishes, phone and writing and article it all started. Miss wanted to paint Hubbys had calls to do and I am left standing there a bit muddleheaded and feeling like the wheels are going to fall off at any minute the alarm bells rang – Time to take care of you.

Mummy needs a coffee!

Many Mummies ask me how I do what I do and I say coffee mostly as a joke but sometimes it is very true coffee is my escape and relaxes me giving me that precious moments of me time.  A coffee for me can be at my desk while surfing the web, on the couch while baby sleeps beside me or an escape outside with Miss for a Chino as I get away from what I do for the day. It is my 5 mins of my time!

Creating some 5 min My Time:

As a working Mummy it is better to create my time than wait for the wheels to be falling off like I did this morning before you take care of me however that is not always possible so here are some quick 5 min my time tips that can help to take care of you!

·         Have a coffee or treat in a special cup away from it all (I love my Mummy Rocks Cup saved just for these occasions)

·         Hand cream a really nice stop at your desk and sit back and feel the sensations– not only makes your hand feel nice but if you have a nice scented one you get aromatherapy too

·         Have a candle – lighting my candle lifts my mood and give me stress relief takes 2 seconds to do but freshens the room

·         Walk outside just you – no hubby no kids just walk outside and look around!

·         Hide a magazine – get your fav mag and hide it then bring it out when you need me time and hide it again. (Protecting it from drawings and crumpled pages)

·         Mixed tape (well Cd’s now) create yourself a playlist of your fav songs to play in the car and get in some my time that way (remember really loud and to sing who cares who see you!)

I would love to hear how other Mummies get in some my time in under 5 mins to stay sane in juggling their days.

Now for me it is off to plan a day spa trip with no hubby or kids even if I don’t get there planning if half the fun!

Change your life by changing your thought is the motto Anita Dickons lives by. Anita knows what it is like to not live the life of your dreams, so after finding the keys to success she now shares them through Above the Line Thinking.

The ‘go to’ person all her life Anita is compassionate, understanding and easy to talk to with no fear of judgment needed.

About Anita

Anita spent 17 years in the corporate world leading and training people to be the best communicators they could be. A master NLP practitioner Anita has given her passion for helping people a purpose through Above the Line Thinking.

Combined with her corporate career Anita also worked with couples as a relationship counselor and families as a funeral director and in family planning. These roles all brought different life skills and experience, all centered around Anita’s’ absolute passion people.

NLP explores the relationships between how we think (neuro), how we communicate (linguistic) and our patterns of behavior and emotion (programs).

Compassionate and caring Anita works with her clients to confront self-limiting beliefs and unlocks their full potential. Her ability to see the “whole” person and what they can achieve empowers Anita’s clients to succeed beyond what they ever thought possible.

“If Olympians, presidents and CEOs use advisors, mentors and teachers to succeed, doesn’t everyone deserve a coach to meet and surpass their ambitions?” Anita says

Anita works with Individuals, couples and groups and brings her wealth of knowledge and experience to larger audiences through workshops and training.

For Anita is it is all about creating empowered and loving change in a supportive environment.

About Above the Line Thinking

 The Quality of your thoughts determines the quality of your life so make each thought count!

Above the Line Thinking empowers you to have more choices, more chances at success and a better understanding of what makes you tick.

We are a sounding board, a safe space for you to discover who you need to be; empowering you to take the next step of your journey with passion to your ultimate success.

Through empowered thought and conversation you can be who you want to be in your business, love and life.

Change your Thinking – Change your Life!