+61 414 773 988
Why Twalk?
I hope wherever you are, you have been out and about Twalking. Spring has sprung and the magical weather in Sydney is the perfect time to get out and about in nature, enjoy the sunshine, and take in the world around you.
Why Twalk? Twalking provides a variety of mental, emotional, physical and social benefits.
It boosts your mood and reduces stress. Talking with someone provides an emotional release and can offer support or perspective. It stimulates creativity – research shows that walking improves divergent thinking, making it easier to brainstorm and solve problems. It also improves focus and clarity. Gentle movement can enhance cognitive processing, especially when discussing complex topics or making decisions.
With respect to physical health benefits, walking improves heart health, increases energy levels, reduces fatigue, and encourages better posture and movement.
The social and relational benefits include: deeper conversations because people often feel more at ease talking side-by-side rather than face-to-face, leading to more open, honest conversations. It strengthens relationships as sharing time walking and talking builds trust and connection, whether with friends, colleagues, or family. Twalking also breaks down hierarchies, especially in work settings – walking meetings reduce formality and promote equal footing between leaders and team members.
Being in nature or just outdoors can enhance mindfulness, helping people feel more grounded and present. It allows space for processing emotions or complex thoughts without distraction.
So I highly recommend breaking up your working day with some Twalks or walking meetings. Give it a try with a colleague or maybe just your partner on the weekend and see what you think. I’d love to hear your thoughts…
Career Choice?
Are you happy with your career choice? Have you ever thought about your career and if you are truly happy doing what you do, day in, day out? When did you decide what career path you were going to follow?
You are probably like me: you were doing the HSC, debating university options, everything was overwhelming, you followed a friend’s parent’s advice and voila, 5 years later you become a Chartered Accountant. As soon as you finished your degree and professional year, you realised maybe being an accountant was not your true calling in life. I was lucky to be at a big accounting firm, and they worked with me to find an alternate career in the same organisation, utilising the skills I had acquired while studying and working.
Firstly, working in Learning & Development with a technical emphasis, then management type training, then by helping lead an organisation through a merger change management became an area of expertise. After that and working on some global projects, I had the opportunity to work overseas in a role with more of a leadership focus, assessing needs and developing solutions across different business units to meet their ever-evolving learning and development requirements, leading a large team of my own.
Following that, a health diagnosis and burnout, I pursued a career in consulting, executive coaching, leadership development and building high performance teams. After having kids and re-entering the workforce, Twalk was born as I realised how much could be gained by doing all of that in the great outdoors, Twalking side by side, rather than face to face in an office environment.
What has your career path been? Are you still motivated in the career you are in today? If you could change, what would you do now or change?
Do you have kids deciding on university options? Getting their first real job? Contemplating a career change as maybe what they wanted to do hasn’t turned out the way they thought?
Want to explore it further…drop me an email at tania@twalk.com.au and let’s Twalk! You never know what opportunities may be around the corner if you open your mind to the possibilities?
Women Supporting Women?
As women in leadership or just as women in general, do you support women and help them grow and develop as individuals, team members and team leaders or do you compete? I truly hope you lift other women up!
That said, I was Twalking with a friend this week and we had an interesting discussion about this topic.
You may not work together, you may be friends, you may be acquaintances through the kid’s sports, schools or pre-schools, you may in fact be a colleague, male or female. It doesn’t matter what your relationship, your opinions may absolutely differ and that is fine as we all are individuals, but how you express your thoughts and how you share your opinions does matter. This friend could recall comments that people made 20 years ago but like it was yesterday, emphasising that words do matter, opinions whether intended or not are heard and not forgotten, so please do your best to think before you speak and not to judge others as everyone is different – their personalities, their situation, their ambition, their values and ideals. You live your life the way you want to and let others live theirs their way.
Let’s show each other respect and encourage and uplift one another and support each other through life. Life has enough challenges without judging, commenting and putting our opinions on others.
Women should be supporting each other every step of the way. The gender divide it is still present and isn’t going anywhere any time soon so let’s support each other as together we are better!
Leadership Tip Of The Month
Twalking provides a variety of mental, emotional, physical and social benefits. It boosts mood, reduces stress and enhances mindfulness. It allows deeper conversations and strengthens relationships, as well as helping to break down hierarchies. Try breaking up your working day with some Twalks or walking meetings and see what a difference it can make to your work and well-being. Walk the talk to thrive!
© 2019