Categories
Cathy Derksen Mentorship Podcast TTT Season 4 Success

Season 4 Episode 4: Cathy Derksen on Navigating Transformation

Welcome to Tea Toast & Trivia.

Thank you for listening in.

I am your host Rebecca Budd, and I am looking forward to sharing this moment with you.  

I am delighted and thrilled that Wealth and Success Coach, Cathy Derksen, has joined me on Tea Toast & Trivia for a discussion on how envisioning and planning are essential in navigating the process of personal transformation.

Cathy is a four-time Amazon #1 best-selling author, coach, and mentor whose career is dedicated to helping women tap into their own greatness. She believes that we owe it to ourselves and each other to create lives that fill us with genuine joy.  How do we define success?  What benchmarks do we choose to measure success?  Does success lead to happiness and well-being?  These are the questions that we will explore today.

I invite you to put the kettle on and add to this exciting discussion on Tea Toast & Trivia.

Listeners, thank you for joining Cathy and me on Tea Toast & Trivia.

And a special thank you, Cathy, for sharing your thoughts on how we can embrace the next chapter in our lives whether it be a career change, retirement, relationship shift, and lifestyle adjustment.

You have inspired me, and I know that you have inspired others to honour our dreams and move forward with confidence and, with compassion, within a world that needs creativity and innovative thinking. 

Listeners, I invite you to meet up with Cathy on her website, Inspired Tenacity, and on LinkedIn.

Until next time, dear friends, keep safe, be well.

Gift: 1: Personalized Roadmap to Reignite Your Life Free Assessment

Gift 2: eBook: Reignite Your Life!  8 Strategies for Getting More Out of Your

Cathy Derksen on Navigating Transformation – Tea. Toast. & Trivia.

By Rebecca Budd

Blogger, Visual Storyteller, Podcaster, Traveler and Life-long Learner

35 replies on “Season 4 Episode 4: Cathy Derksen on Navigating Transformation”

I really enjoyed this conversation, Rebecca. Even though Cathy is focused on helping women, there is a lot that men and women can learn. I particularly enjoyed the portion about success and knowing that you’re on the right track in life.

I love the notion that “life is not linear.”

I am pleased that “community” is once again in the mix. It seems that the focus on community shows up in so many of your discussions, Rebecca.

Liked by 3 people

Many thanks for listening in!! I knew you would like that linear thought, Dan! Have you ever heard of Mary Parker Follett. I confess that I didn’t know who she was until about 4 years ago. And this after I had taken management courses. How was that possible?!! Everyone I asked outside academic circles, didn’t know her or if they did, they didn’t know that much about her contribution to management theory (she was the one who coined “win-win” situation, but I digress)

Mary Parker Follett’s experience as a social worker influenced her management/organizational theory. This is one of the quotes that I especially appreciate:

“Unity, not uniformity, must be our aim. We attain unity only through variety. Differences must be integrated, not annihilated, not absorbed.”

Belonging and community are essential. That was what brought me to your blog, Dan. Your have created, with your challenges, a place that breathes community.

Liked by 4 people

By Post Author

Hi REbecca, I read your comment with interest. It has seemed to me over the course of the past 10 years or so, that the aim is to make everyone as similar as possible and to strip away individuality and creativity. I am of course speaking from the perspective of life in a corporate. Everything that provides scope for imagination [thanks Anne Shirley] and a place for self expression is gone, offices are open plan and people hot desk so you can’t even have pictures or anything like that at your desk. I, of course, do have a dedicated desk, I refuse to hot desk, and I have a non-conformist desk which everyone overlooks with a small wooden book case and a beaded cat BUT I am quite alone in this. I just don’t know how people can make leaps of imagination which lead to innovation under these white walled and grey carpeted circumstances.

Liked by 3 people

My desk was non-conformist as well. My daily quote, my photos, the gift of dried flowers that Frances gave me 10 years before. The idea of awakening has always fascinated me. How do we open ourselves to new possibilities. Looking back, I recall specific times when I had “ah ha” moments. I believe that our lives open when we embrace our creative spirit, which starts with reading, writing, poetry, music as well as pursuing studies in science and mathematics. It takes courage to be an outlier because we want to belong. You probably listened to this TED Talk by Derek Sivers, which reminds me that our choices and our standout desks can be a catalyst.

Again, thank you for sharing profound thoughts. Very much appreciated.

Liked by 2 people

By Post Author

Rebecca and Cathy, this is an inspiring conversation with much wise advice for women (and men). Change, adaptation, and learning are so important in one’s life, and Cathy has obviously lived this in her own life and in the philosophy behind the help she gives others.

Liked by 3 people

I’m hoping that Misty will come on TTT and add her wisdom. I am learning how to understand meows. Of course, Misty has no problem understanding our language. I have often wondered (and I do not say this in jest) whether cats and dogs understand more than one language. Well, I found out they did. This is a quote from Better Homes and Gardens article – and if you can’t trust them, who can your trust!!? This is from an article:

“While many cat owners will claim their pets have selective hearing, the Cat Protection Society NSW says that cats and kittens can learn languages other than ‘cat’. Most recently, we had a wonderful feline resident, Beasley, who learned to respond to “high five” and “sit” in both French and English,” says Kristina Vesk, CEO of Cat Protection Society NSW.” https://www.bhg.com.au/dogs-and-cats-understand-different-languages#:~:text=While%20many%20cat%20owners%20will,in%20more%20languages%20than%20one.

Liked by 2 people

By Post Author

Thank you, Dave. I was especially interested in how Cathy defined success. What benchmarks did she believe accurately described achievement or well-being. Wealth, position, academic prowess which are external indicators. But Cathy looked an the internal indicators that are the bedrock of well-being – exploring our creative spirit and what makes us “feel” in sync with who we are and how we engage with others.

Liked by 2 people

By Post Author

I greatly enjoyed your conversation with Cathy about navigating transition. Coicidentally, a former colleague of mind just left the University System machine to start her own career counseling business, with the emphasis on “embracing the whole self.”

Liked by 2 people

Thank you Kathy and Rebecca for these inspiring, educational and encouraging words! I have great respect for Kathy’s academic back ground and all her literary contributions, but most of all, I am thankful for her interest in others, mostly women, but also men and our younger ones. Cathy’s own realization that she needed to make some changes in her own life is very compelling. I believe that the widening of her own experiences in life and finding ways to pass this knowledge on to others is her greatest gift. Kathy was able to discern problems in the experiences of her friends lives because she had experienced them and was able to give advice. This advice, her friends were able to pass on, which she called the “ripple effect’. An important lesson from this is to find and live the best life in a daily experience. A very interesting and happy addition was the presence of Bella and her happy voice! !

Liked by 2 people

Hi Rebecca, this was a lovely conversation and Cathy is clearly an innovative and driven person. It is true that life is a series of changes that we must make the most of and adapt into our lifestyles. If you don’t, you will get left behind. I have heard that expression, of women feeling invisible many times, especially among the elderly. Strangely, I never hear it among men. I wonder if this is to do with the age old ideas that a woman’s value is in her looks and when those fade, she is no longer of worth in society. You never hear men described as hags, do you? Cathy’s comments about life after children are interesting. from a personal point of view as a professional woman, I believe their is a choice that must be made at the point when you consider becoming a mother. You must either take a step back and seek lifestyle balance and put your children first, or you must put your career first and find alternative methods of meetings your children’s needs through grandparents, boarding schools, or other ways that are available. You can’t have both. I have notice that many of the female partners I work with don’t have children and a lot have never married. Husband’s and children are a big distraction from work for women although it doesn’t often work the other way around. House dad’s are not a common feature in South Africa and I read a report that 70% of SA children grow up without a father. Lots of food for thought and discussion here.

Liked by 2 people

Many thanks for listening in, Robbie and for your profound and thoughtful insights on the balance of priorities. The question always comes – can you have it all – the mother, the nurturer, the helpmate, the caregiver, the professional, the creative – or are they apportioned to time. Do we give up one for another? And do our choices leave us longing for something more in our lives. I agree with you wholeheartedly that every choice we make opens a specific pathway, especially when that choice involves others who have no input into the decision (ie children). I had a wonderful career and there were many times that I felt the challenge of life balance. And yet, it was an easy decision to make when I considered that my career was finite and my greatest joy was found in family and in community. I think of your Christmas project which gave your children an opportunity to give back to others. These are the memories that will sustain our children long after we have moved on in our journeys.

Liked by 2 people

By Post Author

Hi Rebecca, whether life balance can be achieved in a career, or not, may depend on the career. It wasn’t possible in my career and country without taking a step back. I was happy to do it, but it was definitely a deliberate choice. Family has always been more important to me. Four years ago, I was offered partnership in the firm but I decided against it. I had already started writing by then and my work is not my second love any more. I love the transaction work but, for me, the admin is for the birds [smile!]

Liked by 2 people

A wise choice, one that I and many readers are very happy you made! As I look back, my greatest joy was when I felt in sync with my inner voice, that feeling of wellbeing. Or as you wrote in “Reactions”

“We create our luck
Through hard work and industry
Destiny’s impact
May require interventions
But that is controllable

When you are hurting
And nursing your many wounds
Don’t turn life away
Healing is much easier
When pursuing a challenge

Liked by 2 people

By Post Author

I found this to be such an inspiring interview. I think many people get focused on productivity and ‘doing more’ all the time, but sometimes they forget to seek joy in their lives. You do have to reflect on the reasons you do what you are doing and ask fundamental questions. Does it bring joy? Am I helping the people around me? I love the ripple effect that you spoke about and the lighting of candles…we can bring much hope into the world. And I am a strong believer in the ‘power of one’ which you also highlighted. Each one of us can make a difference in our own unique way. 🙂

Liked by 2 people

Thank you Linda for listening in and for your insightful comments. I agree – the lighting of candles is a powerful symbol. I often think of the Mary and Martha’s story in Luke 10:38-42. Martha was distracted and Mary chose the better way. I was on Martha’s side on this one. If she didn’t organize the dinner who would? But I understand the concept that we do need to find what brings us joy and that requires reflection and purposeful exploration on what is most important. It is so easy to be distracted by tasks in our daily routines. I agree – each one of us can make a difference in our own unique way.

Liked by 1 person

By Post Author

Many thanks for listening in, Debby. I was inspired by Cathy’s thought that one candle can light the entire world. Whenever I visit your space, I am warmed by your huge candle that lights up our community. Hugs!

Liked by 2 people

By Post Author

Aw, thank you for that Rebecca. Like I said before in our interview, there’s no point blogging if we don’t commune. Writers need community no matter how much we love our alone time. No point blogging if we don’t engage. And yes, one lone flashlight can spread light fast and far. Hugs ❤

Liked by 2 people

Comments are closed.