Issue No. 26
February 2011
How's Your Flow?
Dear Friends of Balancing Act,
Age of Miracles Book Cover  
A common complaint of  high-achieving coaching clients is that once they grab the brass ring, success isn't  always what it was cracked up to be.

Like the old Peggy Lee song, they wonder, "Is that all there is?" The top of the ladder seems empty. Something seems to be missing.

One way around this is to find a way to become pleasantly immersed in the present moments on the way up - a condition called "flow."  Some insights into that state are found in a book by the same name, featured below.  See if you can build more flow into your life.

Sometimes, it's the stories we tell ourselves about our lives that make the difference in how we feel. Some thoughts below on how changing our stories can change our lives.

And finally, a humor perspective on balancing life in the electronic fast lane. 
 

                                            Pat   

 

Going With The Flow....

Flow 2 Are there some activities that make time stand still for you?  Would you like to enjoy more of those?

Accor
ding to Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, "flow" activities have at least one if not all of eight characteristics.  Building them into ordinary tasks can turn otherwise boring activities into opportunities for flow.

Here are those transforming eight characteristics: (1) you have a chance of completing the task; (2) you're able to concentrate on it; (3) you have clear goals; (4) you get immediate feedback; (5) your involvement is so "deep but effortless" that you don't become frustrated; (6) you have a sense of control over what you're doing; (7) you don't even think about yourself; and (8) you lose your sense of time.

What activities in your life have the best shot at being transformed into "flow"?   
What's Your Story? 

storytellerWhether it's about ourselves at work, at home, with family or friends,  the stories we tell about ourselves often become the stories we be.

How we perceive ourselves can become a self-fulfilling prophesy. 

The stories we tell ourselves about aging can be especially powerful.  Do you find yourself starting sentences with these three little words:  "At my age..."?

Read Pat's online article about this and hopefully break the habit.


Electronics...You Just Gotta Laugh

 Do you sometimes feel that Twitter, Gmail and Facebook have sucked you into the Bermuda Triangle of productivity?  Wish your clock could run a little slower? Apparently it's an international problem.  Fuchsia Macaree, an art student at the National College of Art and Design in Dublin, Ireland, has designed posters of an electronic Bermuda Triangle and a Procrastination Clock that portray the dilemma beautifully. Check them out here!

If that's not enough, go ahead and obsess over how you can draft a digital will to tell your Digital Executor how to dispose of the e-mails, blog posts, and dozens of passworded accounts that survive you.  Pat will help you get started with her latest column, on digital wills.
Gotta laugh

 

Leash Law No. 26: Getaways     

timepieces
   
Getting away from the home/office/home routine can be magically refreshing. If the cost of airfare and hotel are an issue, try a day trip or stay overnight with a friend or relative. To keep the magic going, learn how to take mini-retreats. An excellent resource for self-led retreat exercises is Rachel Harris's 20-Minute Retreats.

 
 
Ths is one of 74 leash laws offered in "The Dog Ate My Planner: Tales and Tips from an Overbooked Life."  

Copyright 2011 Pat Snyder
In This Issue
Letter
Going With The Flow
What's Your Story?
Leash Law
Art Smart Tips
Quick Links
 


 
ART-SMART TIP

paintbrushes

 
No time for your writing or other creative art?

Try keeping a journal of how you DO spend your time in a two-week period.

Then capture those minutes on your calendar for the next two weeks and reserve them for that project you never have time for.

Be sure to schedule a creation celebration for the work you got around to.

If you'd like extra support,  Pat's will offering affordable stick-with-it coaching services for artists and writers.

Contact her for details on twice-monthly sessions to get your pen and brushes moving.    
  
XXXXX

PAT'S IN
THE SOUP!

chicken soup

Pat's essay "Hand-Me-Down Funeral" is in the latest Chicken Soup for the Soul book, Grieving and Recovery. 

The piece tells the story of her dad's unconventional funeral procession -
a parade of friends, relatives and strangers who came to share their stories and fulfill his wish that his clothes not go to waste.   

It's available Feb. 1 at bookstores and through online books

 

       
 STILL BOOKING

LIFE BALANCE    

PRESENTATIONS!!  

 
Blue M&M
       
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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