Category Archives: Achieving Balance


Time To Think: Bicycles, Baths and Beyond

By Sarah Cooper | Published January 25, 2010

At the end of last November I caught the flu. Knocked flat for about 4 weeks, my usual joie de vivre vanished and exhaustion descended. I belatedly realised just how manic 2009 had been.
My health and sense of humour eventually recovered, thanks to a restorative Christmas with my parents in the West [...]

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Why Getting Happy is the Best Career Change Strategy

By Sarah Cooper | Published October 6, 2009

What we do for a living is such a big part of our lives that if work isn’t going well, our career-related unhappiness often spills over into other parts of our lives.
Our relationships suffer because we moan all the time
Our finances suffer because we keep making extravagant purchases to cheer ourselves up.
And our life balance suffers [...]

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Two Simple Ways To Free Up Your Time

By Sarah Cooper | Published June 19, 2009

Sophisticated time management tools, techniques and theories abound: go here and knock yourself out with a comprehensive overview – Pareto, activity logs, Locke’s goal setting theory, it’s all there.
But I’d like to focus on two very simple ways we can free up our time, by stopping doing things.
Recently I’ve made a great “stop doing” decision, [...]

Also posted in Useful Tools and Techniques | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments
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7 Reasons I’m Sticking With My Lifestyle Business

By Sarah Cooper | Published April 3, 2009

I started Cows From My Window 18 months ago and despite the inevitable rocky patches of any new business, it has been the best 18 months of my life.
Here are 7 reasons why owning a lifestyle business works for me (and could for you):
1. I can choose my work
Whenever I’m approached by a potential client, [...]

Also posted in Setting Up Your Lifestyle Business | 1 Comment
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How To Define And Get YOUR Kind Of Success

By Sarah Cooper | Published February 14, 2009

 
“Hey, I don’t have all the answers. In life, to be honest, I failed as much as I have succeeded. But I love my wife. I love my life. And I wish you my kind of success”.
 
So speaks Dicky Fox, mentor to sports agent Jerry Maguire in the film of that name.  I’ve always [...]

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The Fastest Way To Get Your Energy Back

By Sarah Cooper | Published January 16, 2009

 
From time to time our passionately held beliefs – our exciting goals for the future – lose their oomph. Maybe we’ve come up against a problem we just can’t see our way around. Or perhaps we’re just exhausted from working too hard. Like a soufflé taken out of the oven at the wrong moment, we [...]

Also posted in Managing The Transition, Useful Tools and Techniques | Tagged , | 1 Comment
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Can We Ever Really Be On Top Of Things?

By Sarah Cooper | Published September 19, 2008

Making better use of their time is a goal many of my clients share with me. So we come up with useful strategies, and usually see some progress. But just how much can we  - or should we - really expect of ourselves?
 
I empathise with my clients’ struggles. I rarely get to the end of [...]

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What We Really Mean When We Say We Don’t Have Time

By Sarah Cooper | Published June 18, 2008

A couple of years ago a great friend hired out a chateau in south west France to celebrate his 40th birthday. About 20 of us spent a fantastic week lazing by the pool, drinking gin and tonics, cooking up feasts, and talking nonsense till the wee hours.
 
Apart from all the fun memories, what really stuck [...]

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How Balanced Is Your Life?

By Sarah Cooper | Published May 2, 2008

One of the best tools I’ve found for creating a richer, more fulfilling and balanced life is the “whole life grid”  by personal development author Susan Jeffers.

 
Taking this as inspiration I’ve developed the exercise below. If you feel like you spend too much of your time in too few areas and you’d like to [...]

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How To Let Go Of The Need To Achieve

By Sarah Cooper | Published March 1, 2008

 
As someone who places importance in their personal or professional development, I wouldn’t mind betting you set pretty high standards for yourself.
 Of course it’s great to have goals and even better when we reach them. But sometimes this endless striving comes at a price: our simple enjoyment of where we are at the moment. [...]

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