Photo by Shereen M

By Mary Jaksch

The season of giving is upon us. We know about the benefits of giving to the one who receives. They feel appreciated, loved, understood and so on.
But what about the benefits of giving to the one who gives?

The other day, I had an interesting experience at the supermarket. An elderly man stepped towards me, offered me a twenty cent piece and said, “I’m Greg. Would you like twenty cents towards buying food for the local Foodbank?” It turned out that he’s a Rotary member and was trying to encourage people to buy food for those who live in poverty.

I immediately dropped my own grocery plans and decided to shop for the Foodbank instead. I bought pasta, tomato sauce, cans of beans, a couple of packs of cereal, a Christmas pudding and some other bits and pieces. I imagined how a family in need would feel when they enjoyed my Christmas pudding, or how a mother would be happy to put breakfast in front of hungry kids. When I handed over my shopping bags to Greg, his face split in a big grin. Tears gathered in my eyes. Afterward I wondered why giving touches the heart. Read the rest of this entry »

Photo by mark sebastian
A SWOT matrix is a framework for analyzing our strengths and weaknesses, and the opportunities and threats we face. In the first article of this series, I discussed the two top SWOT quadrants, Strengths and Weaknesses. This second part of the series focuses on the two bottom quadrants, Opportunities and Threats.

Destiny is shaped by inner and outer forces. Our strengths and weaknesses are inner forces that affect our life. Whereas opportunities and threats are outer forces that we encounter.

SWOT is often used for a business analysis. You can imagine that a business analysis looks at the inner forces of strengths and weaknesses of the enterprise, as well as the outer forces of market opportunities and threats by competitors.

However, when we start to apply SWOT to our life, boundaries become fluid. For starters, what’s ‘inner’ and what’s outer? Do thing ‘happen’ to us - as the SWOT model suggests? Or do we call them forth? Read the rest of this entry »

Photo bySolar ikon

The economic crisis is casting a shadow on many lives at the moment. Maybe you too have some fears about the future? Are you worried about your job? Or about having less opportunities?

I’m going to to show you a simple way of optimizing your life. It’s called the SWOT analysis and is usually used for analyzing businesses. However, it’s actually a great tool for getting a grip on one’s life! I found that I could see more opportunities, as well as be alert to possible dangers, after I did a SWOT analysis.

A SWOT matrix is a framework for analyzing your strengths and weaknesses, as well as the opportunities and threats you face. This helps you to focus on your strengths, minimize weaknesses, and take advantage of every opportunity. Read the rest of this entry »