Time for me to take the wraps off a new resource I’ve been working on.

I got to the stage at the end of last week where I was starting to a) redo what had already been done b) second guess myself c) want to keep the bubble wrap on for ever.  All of which told me it was time to let it out into the world, and then adjust and improve, if needs be, as I go.

Letting something out into the world sounds safer than launching it, doesn’t it?  To be honest, this isn’t something whizzy I want to launch, simply a resource I want others to be able to find.

I’m offering journal coaching and classes aimed at people navigating the midlife.  My definition of ‘to journal’ is a creative one, including learning and reflecting through taking photos.  The focus is on the benefits of journal work rather than ‘how’ to journal (there is of course no ‘right’ way).

Journal writing in all its many forms is tailor made for the midlife as it can help you to:

    * Gain perspective on where you are, where you’ve been and where you’re going
    * Develop a stronger sense of who you are, what matters and counts
    * Tap into your creativity and the power of your unconscious mind
    * Be more conscious of the wonders of the natural world
    * Develop creative skills and techniques
    * Learn to be more mindful as you navigate your way through the midlife

To that end, if you know of anyone who might find The Mid Life Journal of interest or value, please do point them in that direction.  Thank you x

 LIKE IT OR LOATHE it, the sex industry in Japan is big business. And despite the rickety economy, it's getting bigger. A recent survey by Takashi Kadokura, an economist with Daiichi Life Research Institute Inc., found that the Japanese market for what is rather quaintly called the entertainment trade fuzoku sangyo, swelled to a tumescent [yen] 2.37 trillion in fiscal 2001, up from [yen] 1.7 trillion a decade earlier.

This figure does not include "virtual sex"--Japan's huge sales of adult magazines, rentals and sales of porn videos and DVDs and the burgeoning market for Internet porn. And let's not forget receipts from the country's 40,000-odd love hotels.

Put together, the buying and selling of sex and related services in the world's second largest economy is worth more than the GDP of many smaller countries.

As the sex business expands along with the service sector it becomes increasingly integrated into the mainstream economy, earning billions for blue-chip firms like NTT and increasingly becoming a source of direct and indirect tax revenue for the government.

Why does this industry seem immune to the problems that have kept Japan on the economic disaster pages of the world's newspapers for over a decade? The truth is: It isn't.

 

it is not enough to get your group together off site and have a few icebreaker games. If you want team building to work, you have to show the members of the team that it benefits them personally.

There is very little "team" in teamwork without a lot of motivation. We live in a society that seems fascinated with individual accomplishment and almost oblivious to teams. Even in team settings like sports, we single out the All-Stars and the MVP (Most Valuable Player) of each game. That is the environment you have to overcome in order to build your group at work into a team.

Get Started Team Building
Do you think of your group as a team? They won't think of themselves as a team if you don't. Do you reward team performance, or only individual achievements? You won't have much success in team building if you don't reward team performance. Let your group know that they are a team, that you expect them to perform as a team, and that you will reward their successes as a team. That's the first step toward team building.

Remember that team building must be an everyday activity. It is not something you can just do quarterly at some off-site function.

Motivate Team Building
If you want team building to work, it's not enough to tell them that they are a team and must perform as one. You also have to show the members of the team that it benefits them personally.

Most of us are selfish individualists. We watch out, first and foremost, for ourselves and do what benefits us most. We have to be motivated to include anyone else. Fortunately, it is pretty easy for us to see the benefits of including others, so most of us do that readily. Love is a strong motivator. Parents, for instance, watch out for their children. Money is another strong motivator. It is one you can use as an employer. However, the strongest motivator available to a manager (since it is unlikely your employees will fall in love with you) is self esteem. The more the individual sees a benefit to his or her self esteem from supporting the team, the more successful your team building efforts will be.

First of all, your people have to acknowledge that they are part of a team. You can reinforce this by holding team meetings, posting team news on the bulletin board or your intranet page, and tracking team performance against team goals.