August, 24 2008

The Olympics Taught Me

I am sort of surprised that I watched as much of the olympics coverage as I did. I felt that I had a birds-eye view of excellence -- not just with the gold medal winners but all of the wonderful competitors who made it to the games -- that is an achievement of and in itself. But nothing surpasses having your eye on the GOLD. You can handle it if you don't make it but it doesn't mean you don't give everything in the moment. In too many cases to mention, the athlete s went further than they thought they could. I often like to coach myself and so recently I have been asking myself..."Can you do more right now?"..."What else can you bring to this situation?"..."What can you do that you didn't think you could do?"..."Why are you doing it that way AGAIN?"..."Think!"..."Don't give up NOW!" These young athletes have taught me about courage, commitment, and sacrifice. They have demonstrated what it is like to set their sights high, plan for the future and live in the moment. They understand how important it is seek the guidance of others, to listen to their coaches, and to accept the support of their teammates. They show a friendliness to others. They have demonstated that they can be competitive and helpful. (They wouldn't be where they are if they hadn't been extremely competitive and also team players (even in individual sports). They are strong, graceful, energetic, flexible, and seemingless tireless. I got it -- we should all be finding excellence within...This event has helped me up my game too!

August, 14 2008

New Ideas

Why is it that my best ideas come when I'm brushing my teeth OR when I have four chores going at once and all of the sudden inspiration hits? Does this happen to you too? last week, I had spent days trying to write a few lines of advertising copy. In the old days when we used typewriters, I would have had crumpled page after crumpled page on the office floor as I discarded every thought I hammered out on the keyboard. I finally gave up and went into the kitchen. As I laid out the vegetables for chopping, I did what I always do, which is to wash my hands before I wash the greens. As I'm sudsing up and then rinsing off, my mind went to what I wanted to say in the ad and sure enough, before I had finished the zucchini, I had copy. I know now to stop as soon as possible to write it down or it could be gone forever. I have always known that trying too hard doesn't necessarily produce the results I want. I also know that creativity isn't a faucet that we can turn on or off. You want a good thought? Then move, change, do something that helps turn off the brain. Have some fun! When do you get your best thoughts?

August, 01 2008

Making Pleasure

Most of us can cite specific enjoyable experiences, which were the best we ever had, and feel that they occurred spontaneously. And no doubt that is true. My observation and the point of this blog is that many of my friends and colleagues have come to expect pleasure to just happen and, thus, they don't take much responsibility for that part of their lives. What a mistake. The joy one seeks takes thought, commitment, planning and occasionally energy. Today's children are drawing pictures of their parents without smiles on their faces -- doesn't that tell us something important? We probably aren't thinking enough about how to have fun. Sometimes, I do like to follow my inner guidance and do just what feels good in the moment and at other times I love to look forward to an adventure or a special event -- interestingly, both need some prior thought because I assure you I could not do what I please if I didn't leave some blank spaces on the calendar or if I sat down when I had a spare moment and watched TV JUST to zone out. (P.S. -- I'm not against zoning out either -- I occasionally like it -- it feels good.) I am fortunate enough to be only minutes away from the beach. It's DELICIOUS! I can go when the mood strikes as long as I don't strike the mood. A little sand between my toes can transport me into a "high" like no other -- that's my thing and I make sure that I have that but each of us has something or somewhere that is special. Many of my friends like to be pampered -- I used to make appointments for facials and massages until I decided I didn't like it that much but halleluyah if they do. Many men like sporting events or fishing or hunting but a massage might be just the right thing for them at a certain time and women, if oil on the skin doesn't send you into your zone, think about what might. The point is to think about it, do something about it, and make a plan. I can hear groans already -- you want me to prepare for this too? You bet. We all know that we must first take care of ourselves before we can take care of others. This requires you to spend time doing something about your pleasure. Back to my favorite question...How can I have more fun right now? Ask it, and come up with your own answers. Please, Just Do It.

July, 13 2008

Planning

To me, August is just about the best time of the year to make plans -- and it's almost here, so let's think about pre-planning. What do we want to accomplish in the next several months (maybe until January when we can refine our plan some more)? Where do we need a boost? (Remember, THINK BIG!) Who can help us achieve our goal(s)? What will build my confidence? What will I do even though I may be feeling fear about it? How do I increase my risk -- (yes, I mean that!)? How do I take better care of myself? Who do I call -- make the list of contacts.

In the pre-planning stage, I would encourage you to decide right now how much time each and every day you are going to put into your schedule to plan. This is a step that so many people overlook. They say and/or think...oh, yes -- great time to plan -- I'm going to do that and they think that they will put that into a day of planning somewhere, some time. I strongly recommend that you set aside a small of time every day -- every other day -- or two times a week -- YOU decide what feels comfortable to you. Put it on your calendar -- I do this in Outlook so I get a little reminder...PLANNING time. Then honor your calendar and your commitment to yourself and plan.

Change occurs in small steps. This is a small and doable step. It will keep you (and me) on track. At the end of the month, we'll have some action steps, measureable guidelines, and the assurance that we are heading in a direction. (We can always correct course but we have to take off first.)

I heard a wonderful quote this week from tthe Texas millionaire Pickens and I may be paraphrasing here but he said something like, "A Fool who plans will finish ahead of a genius, who doesn't have a plan." We have more evidence of that than we want to admit. You can't fool me...I know how smart you are, so plan on planning and then PLAN!