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Dear Friends of Balancing Act, 
This month marks the one-year anniversary of The Dog Ate My Planner. That ornery canine has led me on a merry chase - to speeches and workshops and laughter events - where I've met the most marvelous people and heard the most interesting stories. Since the dog is a metaphor for all those things - from computers to kids - that complicate our overbooked lives, I expected to hear stories about life rocking out of control. Not so much. Instead, I heard about the indiscriminate appetites of dogs who had wolfed down everything from Advil to Fendi bags. Oops. It seemed only right that we celebrate The Dog's birthday with a contest for the best true story (up to 350 words) of those unplanned dog feasts. Read contests details below, and enter your best! Even if you don't win, spinning the tale will be fun. As this week's Dog Journal points out, failure is not actually a four-letter word. In a more serious vein, I was privileged this month to study with two amazing coaches during training for a new aspiration of mine: working with lawyers to improve the balance in their lives. A lawyer myself, I know what an important issue this is. Coaching, I learned, is all about asking powerful questions, so I'm offering a few questions below that might be empowering to ask yourself. Also, if you're game to test-drive a coaching experience, I'm offering a free 30-minute sample session on life balance to the first 25 (lawyers or not) who respond. Want to sell your boss on job-sharing? Your partner on co-parenting? Check out some ammo you might use in the form of a new Norwegian study. And finally, a few thoughts on dinner parties and people who give them. Pat
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Dog Rules (because Dogs Rule)
Rules for the "Your Dog Ate What?!" Contest are simple. Your tale can be about any dog, living or dead. Please include the
name of the dog in question and describe what he/she ate, the moment of discovery, the consequences, and anything else you'd like to throw in.
We are going for fun stories here. You do not have
to be Ernest Hemingway. The deadline is October 15. Send in your
submission via the contact form on my web page.
The winner will receive a
personalized dog bowl, an autographed copy of the book and of course,
publication of the winning story online.
Please forward this newsletter to all the great storytellers in your life who own, owned, or once knew a mischievous dog.
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Powerful questions can change your life
 An important part of any coaching experience is answering powerful questions that can help put your life into perspective and drive choices in the way you use your energy and time.
Here are a few powerful questions that might help put your own life into perspective:
- How would you like your eulogy to read?
- What is the one most important message you'd like your friends and family to have received from you?
- Does your calendar reflect your expressed values?
- How important will this issue seem in ten years?
- Are you postponing anything that's related to your core values? How come?
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Sharing the load...30 years later.
I have huge admiration for researchers who can translate quality of life issues into hard data that wins the respect of decision-makers. Take those who recently tackled the question Does it really make things better when two parents work part-time and share the parenting?
The Norwegian Work-Study Project says the answer is yes. Sixteen subjects interviewed in the '70s about shared work and home responsibilities have just been re-interviewed and report less stress on their family life and some advantages at work. If you could use some inspiration for proposing such an arrangement in your own life, check it out.
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Where does the joy lie?
 In the name of simplifying our lives, it's easy to come up with shortcuts for everything from hosting a dinner party to picking out gifts.
Pick up Chinese! Use paper plates! Write a check!
The advice is endless. And helpful if pleasure is not in the doing.
But sometimes the process is what's meaningful. Setting a beautiful table or shopping for the perfect present may be where the joy lies for you. And guess what. Then doing that extra bit of work might actually help balance your life!
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Leash Law No. 21: Take Lessons!
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Dance lessons, cooking lessons, even kazoo playing lessons are great bonding experiences for couples. Sometimes, the less expert you become, the better. These shared experiences give you something to laugh and talk about besides religion, politics and a national health care plan.
Ths is one of 74 leash laws offered in "The Dog Ate My Planner: Tales and Tips from an Overbooked Life."
Copyright 2010 Pat Snyder |
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SHALL WE TALK?
If your life is overloaded and you'd like to come up with some answers, Pat is offering a free confidential coaching session to help you sort things out. She'll be using the Co-Active Coaching method, which relies on the use of powerful questions to figure out solutions for yourself. But she'll help you discover ways to find the answers you already have within you. E-mail her to schedule a 30-minute appointment by phone or in person.
DOG TALES
ON
"ALL SIDES"
September 20, Pat returned to "All Sides With Ann Fisher" on WOSU 820AM), the local NPR station in Columbus. Besides fielding stories from listeners about what their dogs had eaten, they chatted about women returning to school after age 50, Pat's new coaching practice, and the experience of conducting laughter exercises by webinar.
To hear the show (and learn about a cat-and-dog conspiracy to commandeer one family's pizza) click here.
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PAT HAS A NEW COLUMN
Besides her weekly newspaper column, Pat is now writing a column about life balance, called "On Balance," that appears monthly on the website of The Transition Network, a non-profit organization for professional women over 50 dealing with personal and professional transitions.
Click here to read her first column for TTN, "Silence, Please..."
| | STILL BOOKING LIFE BALANCE
PRESENTATIONS!!
Pat's
taking bookings now for life balance speeches and workshops, writing
workshops, and laughter programs, all described on her website.
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