Brisbane floods wreak havoc in the high ground too!

With the floods here in South East Queensland making international news, my team and I have been very touched by the volume of kind emails from my customers around the world checking that we're okay. So I just wanted to let you all know how we're coping.

Unlike thousands of people whose homes and businesses went under in the rising Brisbane River, my team (Debbie and Claire) and I have been very fortunate to have been out of harm's way.

My husband and I live in the hills in South East Queensland, so flooding is not our problem - it's that the earth can't hold any more water. We’ve had a small landslide about 2m from the back corner of the house leaving a 6m high cliff a little too close for comfort, and is certainly going to need some major retaining walls to repair it. And our driveway has a steep long slope to one side that is subsiding too, but so far we still have access to our home.

Here's a little video of our landslide. The sounds you can hear are the frogs clicking in celebration of the rains and my dog Chilli panting in the background:

We're so lucky compared to our neighbours up the street who had a MASSIVE landslide from up the hill behind them that was enough to slide through their house and then keep on sliding down to the next neighbours, burying cars up to the wheel arches, shattering windows, depositing 1m deep mud throughout the house and even half burying a load of washing on the line!

Will we ever have time for high performance?

The Spangled Drongos have returned!

And no, they're not some whacky rock band or chrome-clad bandanna-wearing biker gang. Spangled Drongos are one of my favourite birds, and they always return to our forest when the seasons warm up again. I love the crazy sound they make, almost robotic and mechanical sounding, but very distinctive and wonderful for pulling my attention away from the computer and back out to nature.

I need more of that at the moment! With a series of community engagement measurement workshops in Oz and New Zealand, a fabulous new consulting client in Ghana, three more Performance Measure Blueprint Workshops coming up, including one in the US, I'm at the computer morning, noon and night.

And that's not a habit I condone. Many of my clients and readers have been telling me how they're working long hours, and can't seem to find time for what they really want to do, or really know they should be doing. Should we be sustaining this? As we all get better at pursuing high performance in our businesses or organisations, shouldn't our quality of life improve too?

What do YOU think? Leave a comment - I'd love to hear what you have to say.

Introducing SAGE - my mastermind group!

Probably the most amazing change I've made to my business this year, is being part of a mastermind group. When I was in Los Angeles last November, I met 6 fantastic Aussie women and we got on like a house on fire.

We decided to start a mastermind group - the 7 of us - and we've been having fortnightly conference calls, and recently a weekend retreat, in which we help each other with business challenges, ideas and support.

I've been wanting to do this for about 2 years now, after reading Meet And Grow Rich by Joe Vitale and Bill Hibbler. It's a great concept, the mastermind. It's about forming a group of people with a shared vision, and meeting regularly with the focus and intention of helping each other overcome challenges, generate ideas and provide unconditional and mutual support. It's synergy: where the whole is worth so much more than the sum of the parts.

We called our mastermind group SAGE, and it's just tremendous. We meet recently for a weekend retreat, including hot-seat sessions for each of us to get help with a particular business challenge, and mini training sessions to learn from each other.

Who is in SAGE? Clockwise, starting with the gorgeous woman in hot pink Belinda Jackson, yours truly, Zoe Routh, Valerie Khoo, Janet Beckers, Ankya Klay and Sharon Tieman.

If you don't have a mastermind group, I can't emphasise enough how much value you'll get from finding or forming one.

Fabulous Trip to Los Angeles!

This month I've been over to Los Angeles to attend a workshop on building an online business. You know I've already been doing this for a while, but this was the last time this particular workshop was going to run, and I didn't want to miss out!

Never before has my mild-mannered self been to a workshop where the audience was dancing and cheering for the presenter!

And the presenter did really deserve all that cheering - she's an inspiration and guru for those of us with online businesses. (She's one of my mentors, Ali Brown, in case you're curious.)

One of the highlights was the VIP Cocktail Party to launch Ali's new magazine. Got to admit that I really enjoyed being girly for a night, dressing up and having a photo taken with Ali!


Plus I got to finally meet face to face my fellow-Aussie friend, Zoe Routh, after emailing and talking on the phone for ages! This is Zoe and I on the first day of the workshop (we're pretty excited):

And the both of us after a few hours of dancing at the VIP party (a bit sweaty and jet-lagged by now):
The workshop was great too, and I couldn't believe how many Aussies were there! We all went out to lunch one day, and most of us have returned to Australia as a new mastermind group - supporting each other to grow our businesses. Here we are, all 9 of us:

And below, here's a few of us on the final day of the workshop. From left to right, the beautiful Valerie Khoo (Sydney Writers' Centre), the vivacious Sharon Tieman (Madame Marketing), the creative Belinda Jackson (Web Chameleon), the enigmatic Zoe Routh (Inner Compass) and yours truly, Stacey. Note the Starbucks coffee - we were so tired by this stage that caffiene was our only hope of staying alert enough.

Fantastic trip, not only for the great content and meeting my mentor, but especially for the wonderful friendships I've brought back home with me. Thanks ladies - I'm so thrilled to be part of something bigger with you all!

Rockvegas Mug Cake

I flew up to Rockvegas (Rockhampton, for non-Queenslanders) for Father's Day, and it was just great to hear the surprise in his voice when I called him to come pick me up from the airport!

We had a great catch up. Walked on the beach, ate a huge roast dinner for lunch, and pretty much just hang out together.

My sister Bec is staying at home with our parents while she finishes off her PhD, and she taught me how to make mug cakes. This daggy littel video (turn your speakers up) is your introduction to this decadent treat. If you're a chocoholic like I am, you'll want this recipe! Here it is below, in all its glory. Enjoy!

Chocolate Mug Cakes

1. Mix in a small bowl (or even the mug you'll cook it in) the following ingredients: 4 tablespoons self raising flour, 4 tablespoons sugar (try brown sugar), 3 tablespoons vegetable oil, 3 tablespoons milk (or milk alternative, I use soy), 2 tablespoons cocoa (I love Green & Black's), 1 egg (or egg replacer) and a quarter teaspoon of vanilla essence.
2. Pour into a mug and place in the microwave oven, and cook on High for 3 minutes.
3. Eat, enjoy!

There's no place like home!

So last week my team and I were in Melbourne, hosting our 7th Performance Measure Blueprint Workshop! Where has the time gone? I can't believe we've had 7 already.

Mark Hocknell, my co-facilitator, and Claire Dening, my event manager, and I all had a great time, and our workshop participants gave us overwhelming appreciation for their experience and learning. And our venue - the Marriott - was amazing. If you need a nice place to stay next time you're in Melbourne, I truly recommend the Marriott for their attention to detail and very welcoming service.

But there's truly no place like home, especially when you live in a singing forest like I do! I recorded some birdsong in the trees outside my office window to share a little of it with you:



Here is a close-up of one of the birds in this beautiful chorus:



My best guess is that it's a currawong. I've never seen them in a group like this before (I know you can't see them all but I think there must have been about a dozen of them). If you know better than I what this bird actually is, please let me know! Email me at info@staceybarr.com.

Crazy hands at the Performance Measure Blueprint Workshop

Last week I ran my 6th public Performance Measure Blueprint Workshop. Without a doubt, it was the best one yet! No-one rated their overall perception of value of the workshop less than 8 out of 10, and the vast majority gave it 9 or 10 out of 10. Wow - I am really pleased with that!

But according to one participant, I have a presentation quirk - I do crazy things with my hands while I'm speaking to the group! I took a look at the photos of the workshop, and yes, I saw it too (but I think it's because I'm passionate about what I'm saying). Anyway, I've put together a "crazy hands" montage to give you a giggle:

The last two photos look like I'm trying to do a magic trick! You can't even see where they are!!

Anyway, I had a great time, and I know that just about everybody else did too. And that matters much more than whether or not my passion for performance measurement should manifest in my hand motions!

I'm really looking forward to the next Performance Measure Blueprint Workshop, in Melbourne this July. Would you like to join us this time? If so, just email my event manager, Debbie, at debbiebrown@staceybarr.com and she'll reserve a seat for you until we can get the registration details out to you.