Gillian Wall Tapping into her Potential

Posted on January 11, 2012 by Simona Taylor

“We’re here to change the world,” says Gillian Wall. She laughs, but there’s no doubt she’s dead serious. Wall is Group CEO of the IBB Global Group of companies, the first company, being International Business Brokers (IBB) Limited, a company she founded 13 years ago. “We’re here to help local organisations think a little bigger, dream a little more.”  IBB grew fast, as Wall added different partnerships with local and international organisations, expanding their scope of services each time. They now have eight international partners and six business lines, including Organisation Development, Leadership Development, Service Culture, Strategic HR Services, Lifestyles and Financial Coaching. “I’m passionate about the concept of globalisation, but many local companies see it as competition and loss of business.” Wall disagrees, saying that globalisation simply reminds us of all the other markets out there. “We need to look at diversity beyond these shores.”

Find out how Gillian got into trouble with her school principal here.

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Missed it by that much!

Posted on December 31, 2011 by Simona Taylor

Friends, as 2011 draws to a close, I have to announce that I made it to Book #49 in my 50 Book Challenge.  Sorta sad about that, but I guess it’s my fault for abandoning so many books.  But at least I didn’t have to finish Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince!

So, with great fanfare, I announce that Book #49, my final book for ’11, was Flowers For Algernon by Daniel Keyes. (Okay, maybe its more of a novella than a book, so I’m cheating…just a little.)  But it’s the sweetest little book you’ll ever read, about a mentally retarded young man who’s turned into a genius…for just  a few weeks and regresses again.

I read it as a young teen and loved it and hankered for it again.  I’m glad I did.

I dare you to finish it with dry eyes!

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Book #48 makes it cool to be dead

Posted on December 31, 2011 by Simona Taylor

I’ve really taken to the Sookie Stackhouse series, and Book #3, Club Dead, was as sexy and delightful as all the others.  I generally don’t go for human/non-human sex, but Eric is to die for (ha) and so is the Werewolf, Alcide.

Can’t wait to work my way through all the others!

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When your friends lead double lives

Posted on December 19, 2011 by Simona Taylor

Oh, how we all love secret superheroes: mousy little Selina Kyle donning a skin-tight Catwoman costume and purring as she teaches Gotham City’s bad guys a lesson.  On-screen, double lives make us root and cheer. Back here on Planet Reality, however, finding out that someone you care about is leading a double life, can be upsetting.  You’ll probably never fall in love with a nice-but-boring guy and then discover rocket-powered boots in his closet, but at some point you’ll run into someone with a dirty little secret.  Here are a few examples, and how to deal with them.

Your man’s got kids you don’t know about
He neglected to tell you he has a child living in the next town.  Before you pronounce him a rat and tell him to stay away from your cheese, ask yourself WHY he failed to mention this over the past five or ten dates. If he was hiding his extra baggage to make it easier to get with you, ask yourself if there are other areas where he hasn’t been completely honest.  Does he have any communicable diseases or bad habits he hasn’t ‘fessed up to? But if he has a policy about protecting his children from his dates until he’s sure he’s in a solid relationship, cut the man some slack.

Your girlfriend’s flaunting expensive stuff…but hasn’t got a penny
Your friend rocks the hottest styles, hits all the trendy parties and gives away expensive presents.  You’re half-convinced a rich uncle left her his estate…until you find out she lives in her grandmother’s back room and survives on ramen. Before you sneer at her duplicity, do a little cold, hard analysis.  Is she just being one of those creatures that rhyme with ‘witch’, glad to make others feel small, or is she so embarrassed by her humble origins that she feels the need to overcompensate?  If so, be kind.

More double-talkers and how to deal with them

 

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Book #47 is pure nostalgia

Posted on December 19, 2011 by Simona Taylor

Book #47 is The Complete Peanuts 1961-1962 by Charles “Sparky” Schultz.  I never realised how incredibly adult these Peanuts kids are.  I read most of these comics as a child, loved every page, but I guess I missed much of the subtext.  Schultz certainly wasn’t writing for children.  I’m surprised they allowed him to say much of what he said back in the 60s.  I’ve always thought of it as such an opressive time.

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Top 8 discipline mistakes parents make

Posted on December 19, 2011 by Simona Taylor

You know those precious little angels who never get their clothes dirty, wash their hands  before every meal, and always do as they’re told?  Nah, neither do we.  Children can be grimy, grumpy, selfish, stubborn and often very naughty.  As parents, we know it’s our job to help them keep their grubby little feet on the straight and narrow, but before we yank out our prematurely grey hair, or do or say something we’ll regret, let’s make sure to avoid some of these common discipline mistakes:

1. Not trying to find the real cause of misbehaviour

“Why you so harden?” we like to yell, but do we really try to find an answer to the question?  Clinical psychologist Isolde Ali Ghent suggests that before we even begin to think of punishing a child for repeated misbehaviour, we should try to find out if the child has an underlying disorder. “Learning disabilities, attention disorders or school failure can be extremely traumatic. It causes frustration, the teachers get irritated, and peers can isolate the child.  You’re going to get acting out.  That’s how they get a sense of power.”

More parenting goof-ups and how to avoid them

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Book #46 is…I forget!

Posted on December 19, 2011 by Simona Taylor

If you forget a book in your 50 book challenge, doe sit still count?  If it doesn’t, I’m cheating anyway.

But I will list the books I’ve started in the past month or two and given up on:

Tishomingo Blues by Elmore Leonard.  I normally love Leonard, but these characters just couldn’t capture either my sympathy or my attention.

Memnoch the Devil by Anne Rice.  Love Lestat, but I guess when you’re immortal you do tend to bang on a bit.  Characters dragging on tiresome monologues for a whole chapter?  No, thanks.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.  Voldemort may be damn near immortal but I am not.  I have no time for these tiresome 700-page tomes.  I gave up and bought the lat 3 movies.

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What does his Christmas gift mean?

Posted on December 19, 2011 by Simona Taylor

When you peel away the wrappings on your honey’s Christmas gift to you this year, will you also have to uncover the hidden layers of meaning underneath?  Are there any secret, unspoken messages sprinkled among the glitter and bows?  Here’s our handy guide to guy-speak at Christmas time.

He gives you Exercise equipment.

You think:  He’s trying to tell me I’m fat!

We say: He’s concerned for your health.  He’s been around long enough to know that your get-fit-for-Carnival binge starts right after Boxing Day, so he’s just trying to give you a head start.  Kit up and start exercising.  You’ll feel better, and you’ll have more energy in bed: a bonus for both of you.

He gives you perfume.

You think: He never pays attention!  How could he not know perfume makes me sneeze?

We say: Yes, he probably needs to pay a little more mind to your likes and dislikes.  Still, this gift is loaded with clues about what’s going on in his head.  Maybe the name triggers an emotional response that could clue you in to his image of you: is it called Tigress, or Innocence?   Or perhaps it’s the scent.  Is it the kind his mother wears, or the kind his ex-girlfriend used to?  Either way, the man needs a refresher.

More insight into his pressies here.

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Quick fixes for Christmas glitches

Posted on December 19, 2011 by Simona Taylor

Whoever said Christmas is nothing but tinsel and sugar plums needs to cut back on the Bailey’s. We’re over-excited, over-wrought and over-stimulated, and it’s at times like these that people say and do things that can put a spanner in the clockwork of your love life.  Here are a few relationship pitfalls, and how to climb back out of them before you break something.

The problem: his family gets on your nerves

His mom cooks like she owns a salt factory, his dad sneaks peeks at your cleavage and his sister doesn’t like you and it shows.  But this is the family he grew up in, and these are the people he wants to spend Christmas with…and you’re expected to tag along.

The solution: Grin and bear it.  The important thing is that he cares enough about you to want you at his side during special times.  Reinforce your determination with a shot of ponche creme?but not too much, or you’ll never live your antics down.  Compliment the chef, make nice with his sister, and wear a high-collared blouse.  Whatever you do, don’t diss his folks!  Don’t turn it into a battle of allegiances, because you might not win. If it’s any consolation, he’s probably just as anxious about being with your kin.  Families can and will drive us nuts.  It’s practically their job.  Remind yourself you’ll have ample time to be together for the season once he’s done paying his respects.

Get more quick fixes here

 

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Book #45 – Deadbeats beware

Posted on November 6, 2011 by Simona Taylor

D_is_for_DeadbeatD is For Deadbeat, by Sue Grafton.  You know how I love my Kinsey Milhone!

But i have to admit that, as always, Sue left me deeply disturbed.  I can take a lot of things in my fiction, but the suicide of a child (on top of the death of a few others) was hard on me.

But I guess that’s just a testimony to her great writing.  I loved it, as I have loved all her others, and I have ‘E is for Evidence’ just waiting in the wings…until I can screw up the courage to read about Kinsey’s bizzarre life again.

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