Marie Lefebvre on the Power of Getting Organised
By rob hopkins 16th September 2013
In the second winning entry from our “The Course That Changed My Life” competition, Marie Lefebvre shares her experience of a course in Project Management that led her to look at achieving her goals in a very different way.
“Last June, I completed a course in Project Management. The course was in my diary since April. For some reasons as June came and my life was in a bit of a tumble, it was what I desperately needed. I can clearly say that the course changed my life. I have learnt two things from the course:
- First, when you have an issue, focus on finding a solution.
- Secondly, the solution is never far, most of the time it is inside you.
They gave me two pieces of paper with the Project Management process and a matrix to prioritise my goals. It was the best gift that I could receive. I came out refreshed with the world in front of me. That day, I made the personal commitment to become a master in Project Management. I made the commitment to design my life.
The goal entailed understanding better who I am, what I want to achieve and why I failed to achieve my goals so far. Using the tool, I laid out all the things that I wanted to achieve in the nearer time and in the longer term. I recognised that I was bombarded by social commitments but actually my real aspirations were to develop myself as an individual, learning new skills and abilities to lead a more self-sufficient and sustainable life and help people in return in this path.
I developed a plan for each of my goals and priced them out. It led to the development of a financial budget tool. My financial analysis confirmed that I was giving to others more that I had. Worse, it was not in line with my values and hopes for a more sustainable lifestyle. I knew that for real change to occur I needed to de-clutter my life and clean my soul. I developed a number of tools helping me going through with those endeavours. What stroked me after few weeks gathering my notes together is how much I have evolved and how it translated in tangible changes too. I am calmer, more in phase with what is happening in the now. I am more aware of what triggers my feelings. I also recognised that I am a visual and creative person.
I repainted my house and reorganised it throughout, whilst upcycling items and giving many away. Now I am working away to start sharing with others that change is possible. In this path, I am looking for a solution to do it full-time whilst remaining financially stable. Whilst I volunteer with Transition Leicester to help my community reduce their carbon footprint, and focus my attention on starting a group of interest on the local economy in Leicester, volunteering in my spare time is no more aligned with my inspiration. I know from my Project Management course that the solution is not far. Could a training with Transition Network unleash my full potential?
Marie wins a place on the Transition Training of her choice, so we hope that she will share with us the answer to her question once she has done the training!