Network Circle Peer Groups
Fill out a confidential professional profile to be matched in a private peer networking group of 4 - 10 members with common interests. You'll be able to learn, seek advice, discuss topics and share viewpoints.  Typical groups will include the following areas of interest: Corporate Fast Track Entrepreneurial Journey Selling a Business New Career Path Job Loss Transition Self Employment Networking Skills Mentoring Work or Career Change Re-entering the Workforce After Raising Children Promotion Back to College Back to Work Finding Time for Personal Growth Building a Friendship Support System Divorce Relocation Empty Nest Retirement Aging Parents Dating as a Professional Women Work Family Life Balance Work Health Life Balance Work Single Life Balance My Own Forum Group Click here to go to the Network Circle page.
Author: Site Contributor

The Myth of Perfect Life Balance
Life Balance seems to be getting a lot of airplay these days as most people find themselves living continually busier lives. Balance is important because without it we find ourselves feeling overwhelmed, stressed out, run down and unable to enjoy our relationships or our lives as fully as we'd like. However, striking perfect balance in a world of perpetual change is nearly a mission impossible. So what is “balance” anyway? The “B” word has become mighty popular over the last decade as our lives have become continually busier. If there isn’t enough pressure on you already, you now have the additional one of striking "perfect balance" like it's something you can capture and keep permanently. Uggh--more to get stressed about!  Well I don't know about you, but most people I know feel like they’re perpetually falling short when it comes to leading perfectly balanced lives. There’s a reason--the nature of perfect balance is that it will always be elusive. Picture the circus performer up on...
Author: Margie Warrell

Build Your Business Through Smart Networking
Many of us still have a negative perception when we hear the word "networking," and, as I always say, it's a misunderstood word. My theory is that good networking skills build links and alliances with people we meet along our career path. The opposite of networking is not working. You can learn from everyone you meet and also be a resource to them. If you are lucky, down the road something may come back. Here are a few questions that I am  often asked about this "new philosophy" on something that has been around since the beginning of time. Is networking just about finding customers and growing one's business? Networking is all about developing and building relationships first. When this happens with hard work and sincerity, customers will come. It's like a garden. When you meet new people for the first time, it's like planting a seed. When you stay in touch by meeting for coffee or sending a holiday card, it's like watering the seeds. Finally when there is a genuine reason for yo...
Author: Andrea Nierenberg

Current Women's Destination Spa Events
Perfect Health This five day program focuses on bringing a sense of calm and balance to those who are experiencing emotional, physical, relationship or career-related stress or distress. Held periodically in Carlsbad, CA at The Chopra Center for Well-Being.     Shape Your Life A five day program with seminars on rejuvenation, renewal and community building along with classes on diet, nutrition, self esteem, body image and behavior.  Activities include yoga and outdoor adventures. Held periodically in Whistler, British Columbia, Canada at The Western Resort & Spa.    The Women’s Journey Presented by Leslee Vogal.   A day for women to dive into the journey of themselves and explore information and myths about how to be healthy and whole during the entire menopause period.  Located at the 70-acre Enchantment Resort in Sedona’s Boynton Canyon, the native people have long considered this a sacred place. At an altitude of 4,600 feet, Mii amo is surrounded by the majestic Red Rock/Secret...
Author: Site Contributor

Learn to Ask for What You Need
Requests are powerful. Truly. While no one request is guaranteed to change the course of your career, business, relationships or life, any single request can. Requests have the potential to make a profound difference to the quality of your life and your ability to achieve the success you want. Sure, just because you ask for something doesn’t guarantee that you will get it.  But not asking for it does guarantee you won’t!  Would you really prefer the certainty of having your needs unmet over the possibility of having them met? Surely not?! As someone dedicated to helping people fulfill their full spectrum of needs, I often find myself surprised at how few people actually ask for what they really want and how even fewer ask for it in ways that maximize the chances of getting it.  So I’m curious: Right now, as you read this article, what needs do you have that are going unmet and are causing you to feel resentful, frustrated and unappreciated because, whether you are conscious of it or ...
Author: Margie Warrell

Take Your Career to the Next Level
Discover your higher career potential by harnessing the power of peer networking on the web with w2wlink's Network Circles.  They are effortless to join, and match you specifically to private groups of reasonable size for professional women who share similar interests with you.  The Network Circle concept was created by CEO Lisbeth McNabb (formerly CFO of match.com), who knows the Internet and knows about matching. Have you ever wondered ‘How does she do it?’ about the professional women who seem to 'have it all' – great leadership and presentation skills, strong networking connections, a balanced work and family life and the ability to deal with seemingly any challenge that comes their way.  How can other professional women everywhere tap into, learn and be mentored by these women who have the business world figured out?  Networking. . . with w2wlink.com's online networking circles that match professional women with like interests into private groups of up to ten, it has never been...
Author: Site Contributor

11 Tips for Being Productive While Working Out of a Suitcase
Not everyone has the natural ability to live out of a suitcase or do business from a laptop bag. However, with a little practice, you can learn how to make the most of your travel time. It’s amazing what you can get done when you put some miles between yourself and the usual distractions of everyday life. So how do you make the most of your time away? Here are some tips that work for me. I hope a few of them will help you become as efficient when you’re away from the office as you are when you’re there. 1. Pack efficiently It all starts with being organized and thinking ahead. Did you ever stay up half the night packing and spend an entire trip frustrated, exhausted, and wondering what it is you forgot? Don’t let it happen again. It’s pretty rare that a trip will pop up at the last minute, but they do have a way of sneaking up on you. Instead of getting packed the day before, start thinking about your trip the week before. Find an out of the way spot to leave an open suitcase and dr...
Author: Laura Stack

How to Stop Over-thinking Your Life and Start Living It
I had only enough money to last two more weeks. And the lease on the tiny furnished apartment I had rented for a month was about to expire. So, basically, I had one week to find an apartment and a job. I was 23 years old, jobless, and about to be homeless in New York City. And as odd as it sounds, I wasn’t worried. I mean, how hard could it be? A week should be plenty of time, I thought. I was young and naive and from Ohio, where people pretty much say what they mean, do what they say, and assume that the shortest distance between two points really is a straight line. We also tend to believe that, on the whole, things work out the way they’re supposed to. A few days before my lease was up, I told all three of my friends, who were smart native New Yorkers, that my time for job searching and apartment finding was almost over. They were horrified. “Gail, it takes weeks, sometimes months, to find an apartment here. You’ll probably get a job, but talk about cutting it close! Are you crazy?...
Author: Gail Blanke

NAWBO Women's Business Conference
National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) Power Your Dreams Women's Business Conference Chicago 2009 June 24 - 26th, 2009 In business, when a keen sense of urgency combines with the deep vision of forethrough, powerful opportunities emerge. The NAWBO Women's Business Conference 2009 propels these opportunities to the forefront. Executives from among America's 10.1 million women-owned businesses - from diverse cultures and perspectives - will gath together on June 24-26...to Power their Dreams.  Cick here for more information: 
Author: Site Contributor

Business Travel Made Easy
Cancelled flights …  lost luggage …  presentation programs that won't run …  the list of potential business trip challenges is virtually endless. In fact, when it comes to business travel, it seems that problems and delays are the norm, not the exception. The key is to be prepared for anything that comes your way. Only then will arriving at your destination be as simple as your morning drive into the office. Unfortunately, most business travelers are unprepared for even the smallest of travel glitches. And although they may have made numerous business trips in the past, each with its own problem or two, people still don't plan for setbacks when the next trip rolls around. As a result, they get frustrated when traveling and view business trips as a hassle they wish they could avoid. If you have to travel for business, take the approach that everything will go wrong. That way you're prepared to handle whatever comes your way and no challenge will derail your business plans. Following a...
Author: Christi Youd

Between a Rocky Family and a Hard Workplace
I admit it: I am not very good at balancing my commitments to work and family. I am guilty of bringing work home with me, both physically and mentally. I have also resented my work choices and even my bosses and fellow employees for the demands placed upon me that pull me away from family time. The answer to this common dilemma is usually some form of "put your family first." We've all heard the "on the deathbed" speech about wishing to have spent more family time, never one more hour at the office. And we've all heard the studies, the headlines and the sermons indicating the virtues of putting family above all. The problem with this advice is that for most of us, it presents a false either/or. Choosing to go to work and work hard is not a choice against our family -- we go to work precisely because of our commitment to our family! We want to provide for them materially so as to create the best home environment, a place where individual family members can thrive without having to car...
Author: Hal Runkel

What Is The Quality Of Your Excuses?
What aspect of your life don’t you feel really great about? Is it your job and the direction of your career (or lack thereof), a relationship, your fitness level, your finances, where you live? Now ask yourself what you could do by the end of this year that would make a real difference to how you feel about this area of your life. Aaaahh … but what’s that I hear you mumbling under your breath? "I’m just too busy right now … I've got so much going on I don't have time for dealing with this ... not now anyway ... perhaps next month ... besides, this is the way it has always been … this is the way I have always been … and on top of all that I just don’t know where to start … so really, what’s the point?" Whatever your excuses consider this: the quality of your excuses determines the quality of your life! Now I’m not saying that you don’t have some great reasons for why things are as they are and why this particular area of your life isn't doing so well. However, whilst you are prepared ...
Author: Margie Warrell

Thriving On Insecurity
A few years ago, I was a guest at a class reunion at Princeton University. At one point, the conversation revolved around each of the alumni finishing the sentence, “Twenty-five years ago, I never would have thought that I ...” One attractive woman stood up and said, “Twenty-five years ago, I never would have thought I’d be standing here, a Princeton graduate — with honors, mind you — saying, ‘I have no idea where I’m going or what my career and my life should be about for the next 25 years.’ ”  Two-thirds of the room stood and applauded her honesty and nodded in commiseration. I went up to her later and introduced myself. Her name was Claire. She was recently divorced, with two almost-grown children, and had just been downsized from an investment-banking firm. She couldn’t believe that her life had “turned out” like this. “I feel so insecure,” she said. “It hasn’t ‘turned out,” I replied. “This is just an inconvenient moment in a long and, hopefully, colorful life. And, anyway, it c...
Author: Gail Blanke

Live Out Your Dreams to Teach Your Kids to Live Theirs
I have young children. Four of them to be exact since I counted them only this morning as I shuffled them into the car for school drop off. There are a lot of things I do for my kids, most of which I enjoy, some of which I don't but I do anyway. But apart from the many things I do for my children, I know my greatest responsibility is to be a wonderful role model for them. To do that means living my life in such a way that enables me to feel truly great about myself and in what I am doing with the talents I was blessed with. It means fulfilling the one true mission that we all have in life -- to do the best we can with what we have been given. You see, ahead of everything we do for our children, what will most affect their ability to live truly successful and happy lives themselves, is who we are for them as not only mothers, but as women.  From that perspective, I believe we can be far more powerful as mothers in supporting our children to fulfilling their own unique potential to rise...
Author: Margie Warrell

The Gaslight Effect
Amira is an ambitious professional in Chicago whose commitment to her career has paid off. Now in her mid-40s, she has quickly moved up the ladder in a Fortune 500 company. After almost a decade at the firm, Amira began doubting her abilities and feared that her job was in jeopardy. She arrived at her first counseling session with me anxious and suffering from low-level depression she attributed to her problems at work. As Amira began to describe her anxieties, I noticed an all-too-familiar pattern to her story. About a year ago, Amira’s coworker Julia was promoted to senior vice president. Amira had always admired Julia, just two years her senior. After Julia’s promotion, the two remained good friends, openly praising each other’s work, with Julia promising to throw more challenging, high-profile projects Amira’s way. Amira’s satisfaction at work was at an all-time high; she loved feeling validated by Julia. Two months after her colleague’s promotion, however, Amira was  getting p...
Author: Robin Stern

Emotionally Safe Partnerships
Conflict in a committed relationship is positive. It allows us to learn from one another and to work out the inevitable differences between us. But it must be done in a way that provides emotional safety in order to be effective. Picture this: you come home from a stressful day at work and turn to your partner for comfort and reassurance. You begin describing a battle with your co-worker (that you lost) and before you can get all the words out of your mouth your soul mate interrupts you with… unwanted advice! Yes, instead of words of comfort, you hear advice, a critique of your behavior, and, worst of all, it sounds like he’s not even on your side! Whether we realize it or not, we often say the wrong things or fail to listen in a way that makes it safe for our partners to open up. Since it’s a two-way street, we know that it works both ways, but usually we are more tuned in to the times that WE didn’t get our needs met. Most of us have a “blind spot” about the ways that we fail to me...
Author: Nina Atwood

Lunch Strategies for Work
The best option for eating healthy at work is to pack your lunch. Some days, however, packing your own meal isn't an option. When you're not able to brown-bag it, don’t let that excuse derail your healthy diet! Instead, make smart choices: If your only option is fast food, pick a broiled chicken breast sandwich, but skip the high-fat sauces. Or, try the salad bar, but keep portions of dressing, cheese and high-fat meats (like pepperoni) under control. Limit mayonnaise salads, including coleslaw, potato, egg and chicken salads. Beware of all-you-can-eat “deals” that will sabotage your hard-won healthy choices. For appetizers, avoid the crispy, creamy and cheesy and go for broth-based soups or fresh fruit cups. Better yet, pick a healthy appetizer (a thin-crust veggie pizza, for example) as your entrée. In choosing an entrée, look for keywords: grilled, steamed, poached and broiled. Order with special instructions such as light on the sauces or butter, sauce on the side ...
Author: Rebecca Pratt

How to Work a Room
Do you find yourself stuck in awkward silences with members of your own family? Whether you want to improve your social skills in your business or personal life, Susan RoAne, keynote speaker and best-selling author of the newly revised How to Work a Room (Collins, 2007), can help. In this LifeScript exclusive, RoAne gives the low-down on how to feel at ease, meet new people and form new relationships – no matter what social situation you find yourself in. The Benefits Savvy social skills are essential for business executive women who attend conferences and high-powered meetings. But those in the workforce aren’t the only ones who can benefit from networking know-how. Whether you’re at a wedding, birthday party or casual barbeque, working a room with charm and pizzazz will ensure everyone remembers you. You’ll have a blast meeting new people, and you’ll make new friends and contacts along the way. Prepare Think of it as studying for a test: Your work begins before you show up to the...
Author: Carly Young

Mother's Depression Affects Child's Health and Behavior
Children exposed to a certain condition experience a greater likelihood of problems with behavior, cognitive development and mental health.  They may start life at a disadvantage - born too early or with more complications even before delivery.  This serious condition is maternal depression. A mother's depression affects her child profoundly.  Treating a mother's depression has a dramatic impact on her child, investigators showed in a recent, large, federally funded study at the University of Arizona. Children of mothers who recovered from major depression experienced significantly decreased symptoms and diagnosis of mental illness compared with children of mothers who did not respond to treatment over three months.    Successful treatment of a depressed mother has a rapid effect on a child's mental health. This finding is particularly important considering the controversy over psychiatric medication for children. Mothers and families are burdened by untreated maternal psychiatric p...
Author: Marlene Freeman

Create Positive Relationships
The quality of our relationships affects our health. Our relationships are governed by a give and take of energy. Some people make us more electric or at ease. Yet others suck the life right out of us. As a physician and energy specialist I want to verify that some people affect us like  'energy vampires', roaming the world sapping our exuberance. With patients and in my workshops I’ve seen their fang marks and the carnage they’ve strewn. But most of us don’t know how to identify and cope with people who draw down our energy, so we mope around as unwitting casualties, enduring a preventable fatigue. Here are some types to watch for and ways to deal with them. #1: The Sob Sister Every time you talk to her she's whining. She adores a captive audience.  She’s the coworker with the “poor me” attitude who’s more interested in complaining than solutions. How to Protect Yourself: Set clear boundaries. Limit the time you spend talking about her complaints. With a firm but kind attitude sa...
Author: Judith Orloff

10 Keys to Honoring Your Greatness
Each of us, regardless of circumstances, always has the power to make good choices – choices that bring into our lives more of what we want, minimize the things we don't want and honor the woman that we are and the greatness that resides within us. Following are ten choices that honor your greatness. Perhaps some of them you already are making. Perhaps not. What is essential is that you realize that, regardless of the choices you have made in the past, you are always – I repeat, always – able to begin making new choices that will not only honor you but take you in a new, more meaningful direction in life. 1. Choosing to Take Responsibility While you can't always control your circumstances you can always choose how you respond to them. No matter what the challenge, you have the power to choose whether to let the world affect you or to go out and affect the world. Resist the impulse to blame your woes on others. Instead, make the decision to own your life and own it fully. Only by tak...
Author: Margie Warrell