What is your ikigai? An ikigai is a reason for being or that which makes one's life worth living or gives one's life the most meaning. According to the Japanese, everyone has an ikigai. The challenge is finding or figuring out what it is. The search for it is important to the Japanese, since they believe having an ikigai brings both satisfaction and meaning to one's life. According to research by Dan Buettner, author of The Blue Zone, and other researchers, it also leads to a longer life.

• So what's your ikigai, life purpose, or reason for being? 
• Is your ikigai currently bringing you satisfaction and meaning? If not, why not? 
• Is there an ikigai you're not pursuing? If so, why not?
• Does the way you life your life and spend your time reveal to the world your ikigai? In other words, if your children are you ikigai, are you spending enough time with them to demonstrate this? Or is there a disconnect you need to address?

We're off and running! On April 24, 2009, New Chapter Coaching kicked off the Missouri Nonprofit Executive Roundtable. Each month from April through December, ten area executive directors will come together to engage in brainstorming and problem-solving on topics such as resource development, capacity-building, and personnel management.

 

The participants include the leaders of the following organizations:

 

This innovative peer learning program has not been utilized in mid-Missouri and participants are excited about the professional and organizational development that will result from it.

Many of us use the phrase "off to a good start." In the world of sports, it's often used to indicate when an athlete gets off the starting line or block quickly and competitively. To get this kind of start, it's not enough for the athlete to be well-conditioned; s/he must also be focused on the singular task at hand when the race begins. 

 

It is not enough for boards of directors to hire a talented, experienced executive director. If boards of directors want their new executive directors to get off to a good start, and ultimately to succeed, they must recognize their most important work is in the months (sometimes as many as 12 mos.) immediately following when their new candidate accepts their offer to take the helm of the organization. From that point forward, that new executive director, regardless of her/his experience, will need a wide range of post-hire support from across the organization. To read more on this topic, check out the full article: Maximizing Your Executive's Success. 
 

It's time to Make It Happen, and what better way than with your own Make It Happen note pad from New Chapter Coaching. Upload a page for free to get started today or Contact New Chapter Coaching for your complimentary 6 x 9 note pad!

 

P.S. My thanks to graphic designer Yola Ciolli for her professional assistance in designing the Make It Happen note pad. To contact Yola about your project call: 573.864.1479 or go to her website at www.AKAyola.com. 

Last year I traveled to Sedona Arizona. As I trekked the winding trails and desert paths of Sedona's red rocks, I saw natural sights that reminded me of how nature keeps growing in conditions that often seem to be the most adverse. I saw flowers thriving out of piles of stones, without the appearance of either soil or water. I saw a tree growing out from two rocks and stretching up to the sun. I saw another tree nearly entirely bent over from the force of the wind, yet alive and well nonetheless. Despite the harsh elements of the high desert, each of these plants and trees was, miraculously enough, growing rather than dying. They were in a growing season.
 
Each of these observations reminded me not only of what nature could do in the harshest of elements, but of what humanity could endure and accomplish under the most trying of circumstances. 
 
As a country, we are certainly experiencing trying circumstances. For many, though, it is also a growing season. During this recession, it has been, as Plato said, "necessity, who is the mother of invention"  which has stirred much of the growth we see.

 

How have you responded to these trying times? Have they spurred growth? Have they made you more creative? In the next few days, consider spending some time reflecting on whether you are currently in a time of growth. Are you busy or are you actually growing in the ways you'd like to be? Understand the difference between activity and personal and professional growth.  
 

 
On April 9, 2009, New Chapter Coaching held a ribbon cutting to celebrate its grand opening in September. Columbia Chamber of Commerce Ambassadors attended in impressive numbers and wearing their distinctive gold coats! New Chapter Coaching thanks everyone who came out to support the business and make the event a smashing success.

 

Pictured here: (Front row L to R: Dennis Lynch, Rollie Hausman, Ambassador Chair, Carolyn Sullivan, and Dave Machens).