Dancing round the handbags!

I wasn’t quite sure what I was letting myself in for when I agreed to go on a two-day Dancing Round the Handbags Balance Retreat run by one of our clients, Lynne Copp from The Worklife Company, but I was interested to find out. One of the lines in the marketing information spoke directly to me: ‘Dancing Round the Handbags is designed to inspire hard-working businesswomen…to stop juggling and start balancing your work and life , creating empowering goals for the future you desire, and to dance your best life!’

I felt I had nothing to lose. It sounded like it might be written just for me, but my logic was that, even if it didn’t turn out to be much good, then I was supporting one of our clients in their endeavours and I would also have a day or two away from the stresses and strains of my day-to-day life.

It actually turned out to be worth every minute spent on every level. I have attended several courses and read an awful lot of material on personal development in the last few years. I am already a true believer that we can shape our own destiny, by setting goals and keeping these in current focus and by not telling ourselves the same stories that we always have as to why we can’t do things.

Although this course covered much of the same ground, what was great about it was that it came at everything from a woman’s perspective. It was incredibly refreshing to have a course designed for me as a businesswoman and the issues and concerns that I have on a daily basis. There is no denying the fact that men and women often approach things from completely different angles, and it was interesting to learn about how this manifests itself in the workplace and at home. It was also fantastic to experience it with like-minded women. This made the learning even more enjoyable.

The title reflects the fact that we have to dance to the tunes of others all our lives, but this course really helps to start to manage this more effectively. The handbag is an analogy for ourselves. We could have spent a week or more exploring all the things inside the handbag – e.g. the mirror being the image we see of ourselves, the lipstick being the mask we wear for others – and getting practical skills and tools to deal with each of these areas. Unfortunately, we only had time to look at these two areas, but even so I would highly recommend the course to any woman who experiences the angst of trying to juggle the many aspects of her life. I have certainly benefited greatly from attending.

See Lynne’s article in the guest writer section.