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Michele Woodward Executive Life Coach
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Powerful Coaching. Powerful Results.
December 28, 2009
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Between the Holidays Edition
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Greetings!
Want to take a walk with me? Let's walk
back through some of our favorite blog posts
of the year, shall we? And feel free to
dawdle wherever you want.
We looked at a big, honking question on
February 8th - What's
Your Why? Using the book Man's
Search For Meaning by Viktor Frankl as a
framework, I talked about how to figure out
your own, personal "Why?" so it's easier to
get to the "What?" and the "How?"
Power
Talk on February 15th was all about how
to nail a job interview, or shore up your
position at work. "Why not use this
question - "what are your expectations for me
in the coming months?" - with your boss, or
your board, or, if you're brave enough, with
your subordinates? Why not use this question
to touch base, and to "sell" yourself and
your abilities?"
The
Absence of Perfect, Part 2 on March 1st
looked at perfectionism: "You can hold on to
your idea of "perfect" or, as I suggest, you
can ask yourself, 'what's my best option
right now?'"
Meeting
Faith on April 12th was a personal
favorite. I really did meet Faith. On an
airplane. And she's a PhD candidate with a
fascinating personal story. Meeting Faith
restored my faith that strangers are just
friends I haven't met yet.
Do
Less, Get More from May 24th was not a
slacker's mantra, but rather an explanation
of my 100 Units Of Energy theory. Oh, and it
comes with a free recording!
Change your thoughts, change your life. That
was the subject of A
New Normal on May 31st. "When normal's
not working for you, just make a new normal."
Sounds so easy, doesn't it?
Deep in the throes of writing a book that is
still in process, I shared How
To Tell A Story on June 7th, which
debuted my simple tool: Now Words/Future
Words. When you look at how things are now
compared to how you'd like things to look in
the future, you can consciously shift away
from stuff that's limiting you - toward stuff
you really want.
Did I tell you about Meeting
Sandra Day O'Connor? Yes, as a matter of
fact, I did. On June 28th. This is a post
about authenticity and knowing oneself. As
Madame Justice clearly does (for those
keeping track, this is the post about Being
Your Own Buddha).
More
Than Anything from July 26th, asked:
"'What do you want more than anything right
now?' Stop. You have an
immediate answer, don't you? That's your gut
talking to you." Listen.
What's
The Point? on August 2 struck a chord
with, "Never confuse urgency and drama with
meaning and purpose."
And this one was an eye-opener. Mama
Ain't Happy from September 20th discussed
the disturbing findings that once a woman
hits 47, her happiness declines rather
dramatically. How to cope? Well, I urge
women to... misbehave. Yep, misbehave and
have fun.
In You
on October 18, I talked about how you can
change your language and find your power.
It's as simple as changing "don't" to
"will".
As in, "I will keep writing my blog in 2010"
And, I will. Every week. I thank each of
you for reading, and for sharing posts that
resonate with your friends and family. It's
a pleasure, a privilege and a responsibility
to write - and an honor when you tell me that
something I've written has touched your
life.
So, from the bottom of my heart, thank you
for the connection between us. Bring on
2010. We're ready, so let's get going.
Want one more of my favorite blog
posts of 2009? OK, how about the hidden,
bonus post: What
It Takes To Be A Successful Coach
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INSPIRATIONAL QUOTE DU JOUR
"If the only prayer you said in your whole
life was, 'thank you', that would suffice."
- Meister Eckhart
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SOMETHING TO READ
Looking for some good fiction to read? Let
me re-cap some of the books I recommended in
2009, starting with A
Mercy by Toni Morrison. Excellent,
excellent, excellent. I really enjoyed Cutting
For Stone by Abraham Verghese - a
sweeping family saga about strangers, a
strange land, and what ultimately makes a
family. Enjoyed Still
Alice by Lisa Genova - it's a story about
losing everything but your essential self.
Angel's
Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafon carried me
away. As did all the books in
Charlaine Harris' "Sookie Stackhouse"
series. I mean - what's not to like
about broody, romantic vampires? And if
romance is your cup of tea, try
Echo In The Bone, the seventh in Diana
Gabaldon's Outlander series.
Happy reading!
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SPECIAL THANKS
Looking back on 2009, I have a few people I
want to thank. First, Chris
Brandt - a Master Coach and large-hearted
person - for collaborating on The
Results Club program for job seekers.
And, to Susan
Hyatt - also a Master Coach and steel
magnolia - for co-chairing the Martha Beck
Coaches Convention and thoroughly
belly-laughing with me. To author
extraordinaire and sister-in-arms
Mary Beth Sammons for our upcoming
Mothers of Reinvention program (details
coming soon) and general wonderfulness.
Special thanks to Pam
Slim, who is a joy to work with every day
on our programs for coaches:
Kick-Ass Mentoring and
Certified Career Invention Coach
training. Working with you sure doesn't seem
like work, Pam.
Finally, thanks go to my children - Grace and
Munroe Woodward - who put up with closed
office doors (meaning "Don't interrupt Mom"),
evening group coaching hours and the...
uhm... "singular focus" I get when writing.
I apologize, and I thank you, and I love you
very much.
Happy 2010, everyone. Here's to a great year!
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Michele Woodward
Michele Woodward Consulting, Inc.
phone:
703/598-3100
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