Happy New Year!

When I was in the police, I was guaranteed to work every New Year’s Eve – and on a good night, my shift would run into overtime and I would earn some extra cash. When I got out of the police and started Churchill Education, I was so used to working every public holiday that I officially started business on New Year’s Day. I sat at the desk in my little corner office (which at that time was our bedroom) and got to work. I seriously waited for the phone to call and not once did it occur to me that it was a public holiday. Honestly, on that day, I knew I could help other people get the recognition they deserved but I didn’t really know if I was going to actually build a business. I knew I needed a plan; even a bodgy, fingers crossed sort of plan, but definitely a plan.

So, my wife Tricia and I sat down and wrote a plan for 2006. We thought about what we wanted to do, who we wanted to do it with and why we wanted to do it.

We thought about our business/career goals, our family goals and our personal goals. I think I even promised a date night every month – but I suspect that I am still running a bit behind on that one. In that first year, some of what we had written came true because that is where we put our focus and our energy. Since those early days of helping people translate their experience into qualifications, I have written a plan for each year with Tricia. I talk, she writes and together, we work hard to turn it from goals on paper into achievements in our lives. It gives us direction for the year. Sometimes as the year goes along, we decide we want to change a goal and that’s okay. It’s really about stopping to ask ourselves: what matters to us? And then staying focused on those important things.

As 2019 kicks off, I wanted to encourage you to think about the same question: what matters to you?

• Do you want a career change or a promotion?
• Are you happy in your work but want to get some more time with the family?
• Do you want to earn some more money and take off somewhere travelling?
• Is your health needing some attention?

Once you have an idea of the things that are important to you, then it’s about getting focused on how to achieve these goals. Tricia always helps me with this planning and you might find someone in your life who is that person who can draw your thoughts together really well.

If one of your goals is around your career and you’d like to bounce some ideas…

You can always reach out to the Churchill team and we will happily talk through your ideas. If you are quick, you can even shoot Tricia an email and ask her to work it through with you. Another idea is to sit and jot down all that you achieved in your career during 2018. Pull your current position description, and some examples of your work. Too many people tell us that they regret not keeping samples of their work as they have continued their career.

New RPL Evidence Portfolio

Even better, from 7 January, 2019, we will be offering a simpler option for uploading your RPL evidence and building a RPL Evidence Portfolio with us. Each client will have a secure, dedicated folder that captures your evidence.

For our Churchill Alumni

We will have a folder structure inside this shared folder where we will store your completed qualifications. This means you will be able to come back and obtain a copy of your qualifications and see the history of what evidence you have shared with us. We are in the process of transferring client folders for our Churchill Alumni. If you want to start working on your 2019 goals and using your RPL Evidence Portfolio straight away, let us know and we will get your folder set up for you. Any questions, reach out and we’re happy to chat … you can reach us on 1300 793 002 or hit reply and we’ll be there to help. We enjoy hearing of your goals and achievements so feel free to share what you come up with. Now, I’m off to spend some time with the kids on the holiday break, and make up some of those missed dates with Tricia! Stay safe, Randall