Some of you may remember that before Xmas myself and my three children joined forces with other volunteers and packed 750 food hampers and delivered them across London to disadvantaged families.

Contribution makes us grateful for who we are and what we've got. I wanted to share the note below as a special reminder to you all that helping others brings us all so much.

If the credit crunch is getting you down - get out and do some good work!

''Dear Gingerbread I want to wish you Happy X-mas and a Happy new year. I want to thank you for the food you sent us for Xmas, IT WAS A TRUE GOD SEND!We had no idea that we even stood a chance of winning anything!I only receive £40.78 income support because of an over payment in 1999 and £43.00 child benefit for 3 children even though I have 4. I don't get child tax credit because I got an overpayment when I was working for 10yrs. So I only receive about £80.00 a week , I've had to send one of my children part-time to his dads because I can't afford to look all 4 of my children. I was sitting in my front-room thinking how was £40.00 going to buy us all Christmas food and drinks. I couldn't even afford to buy x-mas presents for my children. There was a knock at the door and a man and woman handed my daughter a hamper of food. I broke down in tears and prayed to God saying Thank You. I had £40.00 in my purse! I paid £10.00 on my gas and spent the £30.00 on soft drinks and pudding and 4 new pj's for my children. We was in shock but soooooooo greatfull. I will be back in employment next 2009 I pray to God!But I hope next year I too can return the gift that was given to me in my time of need to someone else. Once again all I want to say is Thank You Gingerbread and all your team that support your group. Thank you from me and my children Happy New Year.xxxxx

I had quite a few questions regarding last weeks tip. Questions are good – keep them coming and please do feel free to start any conversation that takes your fancy on the Blog. I would be delighted to participate!

Some of you emailed me following my thoughts on fear last week and asked ‘isn’t fear a good thing? and especially in our current environment isn’t it irresponsible to be encouraging a proceed at all costs mentality?'

As in all things, be discerning! The absence of fear is not confidence, it is brain damage. If you are in a very dangerous situation then your reptilian brain will tell you to run. This kind of fear is normal and healthy. At the other extreme we may have such an irrational fear about public speaking that it is limiting our career progression.

Be honest with yourself? What are your irrational fears? Who do you need to speak to before the week closes? What decision do you need to make that you have been putting off?

Until next week, Live with Passion!

What is fear? False Evidence Appearing Real

What are you worrying about unnecessarily? What are you projecting into the future and making yourself scared about? We are all facing a time of enormous uncertainty but that isn’t the real problem. Many years ago when I did my Scuba Diving training, off Bondi Beach in Sydney, I was scared….scared of Sharks, scared of Moray Eels, scared of not being able to breath. But the truth is ….I had never been in deep water in my life. In my fearful state I asked my dive instructor what was the cause of most fatal casualties in Diving and he said ‘people panic. It’s not the Shark that kills them but the panic they go into when they see one’

This lesson has stayed with me and is reinforced with every high risk activity that I undertake. Mountaineering and scrambling are another example of how important it is to master your own mind. When I am 3,000ft up in the air on a tiny ledge, the biggest danger to my safety is me and whether or not I can control my mind enough to stay calm enough to take the next step.

Business is a high risk activity. The days of certainty are over and everybody needs to have an entrepeneurial spirit to navigate the rapid changes that surround us. That means having a clear head, a strong sense of direction and leadership and belief not doubt. It is too easy to be hypnotised by the media’s doom and gloom and become stagnant waiting for calm or fighting for things to get back to normal.

Now is the time to take control of your mind and lead not follow. Remember that you will miss a full 100% of the shots that you don’t take.

With passion

I went for a run today on the South Downs with my little dog. We have been doing the same circuit for a couple of years and in all weathers but today was different. The cold weather had frozen some of the ground but in places it had melted and created lethal slippery mud. As the Downs are hilly it quickly became apparent to myself and the wee dog that running at any kind of pace was not going to be an option. However, we both have a stubborn streak and were determined to complete the circuit somehow! Our only option was to walk/jog at a slow pace and be very careful about placing the feet - not in a rabbit hole or on a piece of ice or on slippery mud. This became quite a challenge!

I realised, as we were trotting round, that the run was a metaphor for how all of us should be working this year. The terrain looks very uncertain but does that mean that we should withdraw or worse, give up? No, of course it doesn't. It means that we should set goals and adjust our focus and our pace. We should be mindful of the slippery terrain and be careful about how and where we invest our time and energy, making sure that we are calibrating our 'state' for success. You can still reach the same goals but how you get there might be different this year. It is going to require you to be present and mindful about where you put your feet.

How present are you right now? As you read this are you also thinking about the project your haven't finished and what you are going to cook for dinner tonight? For those of you who have attended my seminar - where's the gorilla in the room? How present will you be with your loved ones this weekend? Will you rush through the weekend just to get it all done or will you choose to be present and think carefully about where you are placing your feet for success in 2009?

With passion, women leaders!
Tracey

This is the first week of our brand new initiative to give something back to you in 2009: weekly coaching tips from me via this blog.
I am really excited about this opportunity and look forward to sharing my thoughts on how you can make 2009 a great year despite the downturn. Now is a great opportunity to show that you are a leader and to decide to be part of the solution for a better world. It is those with character who will now shine, those with integrity. Indifference will be shunned in the new world and your skills as female leaders who are more risk averse will be celebrated.

There are over 4000 of you who receive our monthly updates and I believe we have an opportunity to make some radical shifts together. But if you aren’t signed up for the blog you won’t get the regular coaching tips! So please go straight to the subscribe box and simply fill in your email address to subscribe if you haven't already!

Please also pass this opportunity onto your friends and colleagues and share this article with them at the same time: 'An Economic Crash Women Might Have Helped Avert' (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/02/AR2009010202099.html).

Remember this and take responsibility for spreading this message: If three women heed the message and they tell three other women, there would be nine. If each of them passed the message along to three of their friends, there would be twenty seven. If each of these twenty seven passed the message to three of their friends, there would be eighty one. If these eighty one women talked to three others, in just 4 steps there would be 243. In nineteen steps – three to the 19th power – this idea would reach over a billion women (1,162,261,467). This is how geometrical progression works. This is how a virus spreads. This is how a call could bring together women in Cities, in corporations, in governing bodies everywhere to work together for a fairer and more sustainable world.

Let’s make 2009 really count!