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Who are your hero's in life? Are they real people or characters from a comic book or film? Are they world famous, or are they unknown? What traits do you recognise in the people who inspire you to achieve more? We were posed the questions this month - who are our heros, who would we like to spend a day with and what would we like to learn from them?

What is it that people who lead by inspiration do so differently to those who lead through position? It might just be that those who inspire do so by 'being' who they are - that is their message and beliefs create a connection between humans.

The title of the book authored by Per Petterson, "I Curse the River of Time" is an appropriate indication of how many people feel they are slaves of time. Time is actually a very elastic thing. Psychologically, the experience is usually that time flies when we're having fun, and it slows when we’re bored.

So how can your attitude shift the relationship between two people? I was reading a newsletter by Mark Peysha, the CEO of Robbins-Madanes Training and he was reflecting on Dr Martin Luther King. His thoughts really resonated with me as I had been having a discussion this week on this topic but couldn't articulate what I was trying to say. Quoting Mark: You and I are equal. You and I are different. You and I are the same. Read on to understand what Mark means by this paradox....

The career aptitude test (also termed ‘career-building assessment’) is a good tool for you to take advantage of when you are trying to figure out which direction you want your life to go in . Trying to decide what career you want for yourself can be a very daunting task. With so many possible roads to go down, how do you find your path in life? Taking one of these assessments is a good starting point to find what what type of occupation would be good for your personality type.

By examining your beliefs about certain aspects of your life you can expose ones which hold you back and stop you from pushing yourself ahead and reaching your goals and aspirations.

In recent research conducted by Leadership Management Australasia, nearly 4000 respondents in Australia and New Zealand were asked how they felt about their jobs. The survey revealed more than 60% of the workforce either hated their jobs or didn’t care about their work, as long as they got paid. It showed nearly half were considering looking for a new job while 62% either hated or were ambivalent about their work. (Source: APN).

When personal values and company values clash, there can be a general 'unease' or 'unhappiness'. People often try to get on with the job and ignore the things they don't agree with, but eventually this gets too much and decisions have to be made...

This is tribute to the strength and courage of our friend Greer who passed away on the 7th of February 2010 from Cancer.

I’ve heard many of my coaching clients tell me how they work well under pressure or how they’re good in a crisis, and they are. But it’s not just them, you can scale-up this adaptability and see how ‘stepping-up’ in a crisis is a very human trait. As the Christchurch earthquake hit and then unfolded on our TV screens, in pictures and footage you see everywhere people stepping up, not just managing the crisis, but leading through it.

It’s year end – a time to traditionally take stock of the last twelve months and look forward to consider our hopes and dreams, and our wishes for the year ahead.

Are you being the best you can be? Want to have more control of your life? What can be holding you back?

By understanding our values, we can experience greater levels of satisfaction and also simplify our decision making.

Living your life around your highest values can allow you to be fulfilled and focused, giving you the tools to choose easily what is important to you, based on those guiding values.

Have you returned from a fabulous holiday break and realised nothing has changed in your work environment? Does your time on the beach, tramping in the hills or reading on the deck seem like a distant memory? Did you leave work on the 23rd of December thinking "I just need to relax, unwind, laugh with my friends, eat great food and spend time out of the office and then I will feel so much better"? If this sounds like you, read on...

A few weeks ago I went to the hairdresser.I was pretty unsure of what I wanted, (not such a good thing when you are in someone else’s hands!) After a bit of a chat, my hairdresser suggested a different style, I readily agreed, after all, I’m ok with change… or so I thought!

What Book has made the most powerful difference in my life? I was struggling with understanding the concept of me being the creator of my reality; that I create my own happiness, my own health, my luck, and my misery. This was a totally new idea and didn't sit well with me. Until then I had thought that life was about being lucky, was "in the stars", DNA or 'fate'. Life was what happened to me and I had no hand in it. Then someone suggested I read "You Can Heal Your Life" by Louise L. Hay.

A recent study found that over the course of their life about 40 per cent of people experience large changes in their levels of happiness. I am sure this is no surprise to you as we all have days that just don't go the way we planned or have levels of sadness, disappointment, resentment and frustration. Are you feeling content with your life right now? Not how you feel your partners life is or a work colleagues but your own. When was the last time you asked yourself "am I happy?".

What are the gifts that matter the most to you? Which memories bring the greatest pleasure when you look back over past Christmases? How much does it really have to cost? Where will your focus be during this year’s celebrations? Who will you share your precious time and attention with?

There are times when we need to push past our natural inclination and ‘not be ourselves’ to get the result we need. In a performance review you may need to tell someone they are not measuring up. Do you tiptoe around the point, or are you able to talk about the things you need to, in a way that confronts the problem and sets a plan in motion to overcome it? Some confrontation avoiders see every hard conversation as a potential confrontation and often will do nothing and hope it goes away.

When we speak of wealth most of us think of money and lots of it. Some of us dream of being rich one day and that’s where it ends, some of us strive hard to get the financial status we desire and some of us are already earning what we want plus more. So what sets the dreamers and the strivers apart from the ones who are earning more than they ever expected. I believe there are three key aspects to being in the financial position that you desire and they are;