by Deborah Hartung, founder of Pivot PeopleTech

As if it wasn’t already challenging enough to manage a business and lead a team of people every day, we suddenly all find ourselves facing the global Covid-19 pandemic. Along with eerily quiet city streets and deserted tourist attractions, we have collectively found ourselves at home, trying desperately to maintain a semblance of normalcy while our living rooms have been turned into offices, gyms, classrooms, playgrounds and movie theaters.

by Deborah Hartung founder of Pivot PeopleTech (South Africa)

I recently read an article about the increased levels of stress and anxiety being experienced by Millennials, especially, due to the fact that we are always ’on’ and always connected to absolutely everything that is happening in the world and at work.

by Deborah Hartung, founder of PivotPeople Tech

We live in such exciting times, where technology has truly enabled us to break down the barriers of space and time and to forge new paths and discover new frontiers in business and our personal relationships. But the same technology that has liberated us in so many ways, has enslaved and imprisoned us to the point where we aren’t able to make and maintain true human connections. In our world of DMs and FaceTime and same day delivery or click and collect, we have convenience and near instant gratification at our fingertips. But we are lonelier and feeling more isolated than ever. 

by Deborah Hartung, founder of Pivot PeopleTech

There’s a saying that has always really resonated with me: “In life, we regret more the things we didn’t do, than the things we did.” I know these words to be true and I am sure that you’ve experienced the very same thing at least once in your life to date. If we are all honest with ourselves, we know that the reason why we don’t actively pursue the things we want. Is because of some or other form of fear. We are afraid of failure. We are afraid of what others may think or say about what we are doing. Worst of all, there’s always a small part of us that is afraid of actual success and of truly owning our greatness. 

by Deborah Hartung, founder of Pivot PeopleTech

There’s a saying that has always really resonated with me: “In life, we regret more the things we didn’t do, than the things we did.” I know these words to be true and I am sure that you’ve experienced the very same thing at least once in your life to date. If we are all honest with ourselves, we know that the reason why we don’t actively pursue the things we want. Is because of some or other form of fear. We are afraid of failure. We are afraid of what others may think or say about what we are doing. Worst of all, there’s always a small part of us that is afraid of actual success and of truly owning our greatness. 

by Deborah Hartung, founder of Pivot PeopleTech

It’s a fact of life that we don’t always get what we want and it sure isn’t always fair. Being a woman in business and in leadership, you’re bound to have to face more than your fair share of disappointments. Here are some tips on learning to move with the flow of life and not let temporary disappointments become permanent setbacks. 

by Deborah Hartung, founder of Pivot PeopleTech

As the year winds down and we’re all tempted to start planning for the next year, it’s important to take a moment to do a bit of a retrospective and to celebrate the successes we have had to date. In fact, it’s an important aspect of our development as leaders, that we are able to celebrate the small wins and reinforce that we are on the path to success, no matter what that looks like in our business or personal lives. 

by Deborah Hartung, founder of Pivot PeopleTech

Working as a solopreneur has never been easier, or more tough and demanding. There’s a lot of freedom that comes from being a one-woman show, but there is also a ton of stress and if you are not careful, you may get caught up in the madness of believing the insane idea that you have to work morning, noon and night.

by Deborah Hartung, founder of Pivot PeopleTech

Take some advice from those clichés you know are true! --- We’ve all heard the sayings and tend to make fun of the instructions like, ‘put the oxygen mask on yourself before attempting to help other passengers’ or, my personal favourite, ‘you can’t pour from an empty cup’. We can make fun of these and other clichés about rest, but they are true and we all need to pay a little more attention to finding that balance between work and life – especially as women entrepreneurs – in order to avoid burnout and to be better versions of ourselves.

by Deborah Hartung, founder of Pivot PeopleTech

Life gets hard, that’s for sure! And when times are tough, we could all do with a little help in surviving those tough times and getting ‘back to good’. For the most part, none of us like admitting to others when we are facing a tough time in business or in our personal lives. We tend to ‘grin and bear it’ and convince ourselves that the burden is ours to bear. You are NOT alone, and in your darkest times, don’t listen to your fear, listen to hope!

by Deborah Hartung, founder of Pivot PeopleTech

Here in the Southern Hemisphere, the days are getting shorter, the winds are blowing and leaves are falling from the trees. Autumn is well and truly taking hold and Mother Nature is providing us with an opportunity to let go of the beliefs, habits and people that no longer serve us, so that we may emerge with renewed beauty and energy in Spring. So, take a leaf from Mother Nature’s book this month and just let go of the things you don’t need anymore – the health benefits may just surprise you!

by Deborah Hartung, founder of Pivot PeopleTech

No matter how good our intentions are, we all have those tasks at work or in life, that we just can’t seem to bring ourselves around to doing. We build them up in our minds and turn molehills into mountains and make excuses for procrastinating. Then we berate ourselves for our tardiness or cause our blood pressure and stress levels to skyrocket – it’s really a vicious cycle. Break free from the chains of procrastination and anxiety with these 3 handy tips!

by Deborah Hartung, founder of Pivot PeopleTech

You will never speak to anyone as often as you speak to yourself – that silent little voice in your head that is hyper-critical of everything and keeps on telling you that you are somehow ‘not enough’. We call it negative self-talk and it is really bad for you because it breaks you down and keeps you from being the best version of YOU. Here are 5 tips to help you silence your inner critic and boost your self-esteem.

Don’t be Decaf. Don’t water yourself down so that you don’t offend others. Don’t act in a way that is out of integrity with who you are, just so that you can “fit in”. People can spot a fake a mile away. And I don’t mean a good Louis Vuitton knock-off bag, here. I mean a fake person.