I'm looking forward to working with Nikhil Desai in July. This international motivator, speaker and trainer will be in Singapore conducting two workshops with ST Training Solutions on 8-9 July: 'Enhance your Effectiveness at Work' and
'Time and Stress Management'. In this interesting article, Nikhil talks about a problem we all face these days - stress!

Stress has become the biggest single issue of modern life today. The existence of modern man is challenged not as much by the atomic bomb as the "Stress Bomb". Man has become a victim of continuous stress and strain, which have created many disorders like hypertension, heart disease, cancer, indigestion, backaches, spondylosis, nervousness, sleeplessness, and so on.

At the workplace, negative stress has adversely affected employee efficiency and effectiveness resulting in lower productivity and higher health care costs.

Perhaps the greatest gift you can give yourself is to learn how to manage stress effectively so that you can be happy and fulfilled personally and more productive and satisfied on the job.

Remember, stress is a fact of life - it does not have to be a way of life.

The Effects of Stress

You may think that stress is an inevitable factor of life today. But it is advisable not to ignore it.

Left unchecked, stress may prevent you or your team members from reaching personal and professional goals.

FACT:Stress Can Reduce Productivity
Stress contributes to decreased productivity, absenteeism, and employee turnover.

FACT: Stress Affects Health
Stress puts a strain on your body and mind, and it can make you physically ill.

FACT: Stress Drains Energy
Worry and anxiety can drain you of energy, causing your personal and professional life to suffer.

FACT: Stress Can Strain Relationships
Stress can negatively impact relationships - both at the work place and at home.

Resolving Stress

There are three major approaches that we can use to resolve stress:

1) Action-oriented: In which we take action to overcome the problem causing the stress.

2) Perception oriented: In which we do not have the power to change the situation, but we can manage stress by changing our perception of the situation.

3) Acceptance-oriented: By accepting the situation over which we have no control.

This article was written by Nikhil Desai, International speaker, motivator and trainer. Nikhil will be conducting his workshop 'Time and Stress Management' in Singapore on 9 July 2008. Find out more details here and register early.

Here is Brenda Bence (second from the left) with some participants from her personal branding workshop in Singapore on
29 May. They all wanted to know more about "Mastering the Brand called “YOU™”. I was also very interested to learn a lot about what is often thought of as a fairly 'new' topic.

Brenda pointed out that we all have our own personal brand right now. It exists in the minds of others in the way they perceive, think and feel about us in relation to others.

She then went on to help us to make sure our personal brand is what we want it to be by taking us through the six elements that make up our Personal Brand Positioning Statement. They are:

Audience - Who do you most want to influence with your personal brand at work, such as your boss or your clients?
Need - What functional and emotional Needs do they have? Comparison - Who else might they consider to help meet those needs?
Unique Strengths - What talents and strengths do you bring to the table that will make you memorable to your Audience?
Reasons Why - Why should your Audience believe you can deliver the Unique Strengths you say you can?
Brand Character - What is your personal brand temperament that is unique to you? Most people are loyal to Pepsi or Coke, even though the products themselves are very similar. It's the "character" of the brands that makes the difference.

Brenda told us: "No matter how successful you already are, when you define your desired personal brand, you have the opportunity to distinguish yourself in the workplace beyond your wildest dreams."

If you are interested to learn more about how you can craft and communicate YOUR personal brand, don't miss a re-run of this workshop on 5 November 2008, when Brenda will take you through her proven Personal Branding System. It could be the key to your future success.

If you are interested in inviting Brenda to conduct this workshop for staff in your organisation, do contact me at shirley@shirleytaylortraining.com, and we'll talk about how personal branding can help all your staff!

It's not surprising to me that many people often ask me who designs my website and fliers. Well I'm pleased to introduce you to Bee Bee (on the left) and Hanin (on the right). Bee Bee designs my STTS and ASSAP fliers, and Hanin is responsible for my website. Both of these talented ladies are a delight to work with, so I was thrilled they could join us at ASSAP 2008, where this photo was taken. Thanks to you both!