Hello and Happy Spring!
Welcome to all of our new members of inquiring minds and hearts. I am so happy that you have chosen to join us and hope you enjoy our publication.
The sun is shining brightly today and I am getting ready to go outside, take a walk and enjoy it, but first I wanted to get this Spring issue started so the momentum is created. It will call me to come finish it and I will then send it off to my wonderful assistant, Christine for her creative magic.
One thing I have learned this last year is to get help. It is the only way I can get the things done I need to do and the only way I can get done the things that I want to do. "Smile" There is sometimes a difference. And I could not do what I do without the help, that I know.
Running a business from home has caused me to delegate as much as possible. I sat down and figured out what are my priorities and which ones I did not want to do myself. I would rather work from my strengths and interests. Consequently, I have a wonderful bookkeeper, assistant, and virtual assistant for the technological complicated things, too. I also have a housekeeper that keeps my home office in order as clients come in person as well as on the phone. Atmosphere and environment is very important to energy (chi), at least to mine, and I believe to our clients too.
I have also developed some self disciplines for working from the home. I do not go straight to the computer when I wake up. Nor, do I read the paper. I want to stay in a positive frame of heart and mind. No TV either! My home is quiet and I have peace as I get ready for the day with others, including positive reading and a 30 minute walk if possible. I review my calendar and goals for the day to make sure I don't miss anything important. I am quite organized which allows me to do more while feeling centered and happy.
I find being organized seems to gift me with more time. I use a monthly calendar and plan my days for both business and personal activities. I give myself occasional rewards like a 'green tea soy latte' which I have to walk to pick up. The walks allow me to enjoy Spring and notice all the changes and newness that are showing up in nature as Spring blooms. I have a Piazza across the street and it has dawned on me how perfect that is. I have started to walk over for fresh vegetables, salad and am buying fresh more often. When I was in Italy last fall I walked everywhere, and it was so good for me as I sought balance with my body and weight. More walking is age defying and good for preventative health care I have read.
The business growth I have been working on is proficiency in social networking as I prepare to launch new teleclasses in June. A few years ago I led them for a national referral training company for the Real Estate Industry and now I am going to lead them for the joy of it and to help more folks develop a strong, satisfying personal life. I am so committed to inspiring people to change their thinking for the better, to create their perfect lifestyle, to know their values and strengths and to love their life, and be in work that gives them great joy and financial rewards. These classes will help me to do just that.
The group coaching programs will accommodate just 20 people at a lower rate than one-on-one monthly coaching. I hope you might find one of the classes perfect for you and that I meet you on a call in the near future or that you will be able to send your friends, family and co-workers to check out if it might be a good course for them.
Meanwhile, the web site is having a face lift after serving us well for the last eleven years and I am learning about blogging.
I wish you a happy spring and hope that you plant seeds of good intent for your life too. What would you like to harvest next Fall? If you plant with awareness and take actions with the seeds then you, too, will have a good Fall harvest. No plan and no goals will diminish your return.
Wishing you success and happiness,
Kathy |
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Trinity of Life
I've always been fascinated
by the emotion (and existence)
of 'hope.' We all have it. We
can't live without it. We can't
and won't love without it. A
person who feels that they
are 'hope-less' starts to
die immediately.
Hope is a spiritual force. It
does something chemically
in our brains that feels good.
When we experience it, it
takes us to an instant
paradise.
Hope is a wonderful thing
to possess.
Our 'hopes' can and often
do become reality, especially
when we act on our hopes.
The ancient apostle from
Tarsus said, "These three
remain; faith, hope and love;
but, the greatest of these
is love."
Love is the 'father' of our
lives. God is love. Love
rules supremely larger
than anything. Faith
solidifies what is hoped
for. And faith works through
love.
Hope is your dreams in
consciousness. In fact,
hope and dreams are
so closely connected that
they appear to be twins.
Some people see hope as
something inferior; something
they really don't want to have
again. The old proverb
says, "Hope deferred makes
the heart sick."
But hope can be a vital and
powerful force in your life
if you allow it.
Think of it this way.
Imagine your life as being
a glass of water (our bodies
are mainly made up of
water). Imagine your
dreams being contained
within a simple tea bag.
When the tea bag is
dropped into the water,
the essence of the flavor
and color of the water
blends with the tea so
that it no longer is
'water'; it is now tea.
My 'hope' and prayer
for you is that you
would become hope-full.
Let your dreams live
again. Let your dreams
of love live again. Empower
those dreams with hope.
Much hope, faith and
love to you today.
~Michael Murphy
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Is the Sky Really Falling? |
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Chicken Little ran around saying, "The sky is falling, the sky is falling," and no one listened.
...and the sky wasn't falling.
The stock market crashed, banks failed, stores closed and many...many lost jobs, money and business...and for them, the sky fell.
Indeed, in this "Global Meltdown" we see on all the news reports...is real, it hurts, but its cause is historical...its cause is human emotion...chain reaction panic that feeds on itself.
"OK, but how does that help me?" someone asks. Actually, simple. Common threads among the chaos...From ancients scripts alike come the words that say: "As we see Life, so Life sees us."
I believe that our thoughts ultimately create our circumstances. I also believe that how we respond to our circumstances...creates our attitude...which molds our thoughts...
Which in turn ultimately create our circumstances...so that's it:
Response = Attitude = Thought
Thought= Circumstances.
My response to this market crash can either be panic, OR, I can be an Entrepreneur and find the opportunity. Is it any accident that Entrepreneurs seem to always see the opportunities?
Hmmm. Just circumstance...? |
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You enter the forest at the darkest point, where there is no path. Where there is a way or a path, it is someone else's path. You are not on your own path. If you follow someone else's way, you are not going to realize your potential.
~Joseph Campbell from A Joseph Campbell Companion
That pretty much sums it up...
Are you following someone else's path? If so, you simply aren't going to realize your potential.
Yes, we know that society does anything but encourage us to discover who we are and how to go out and give ourselves to the world. But that's why they call it the "hero's" journey. If it wasn't a challenge, it'd be something like "the average person's" journey. Not quite as inspiring, eh?!? :)
Find your own way.
Engage in your hero's journey!
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Business Tips |
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The Art of the Start is by Guy Kawasaki. Guy is an accomplished author, venture capitalist, but prior to all of that, he was an accomplished innovator in Silicon Valley who began his roots at Apple before Apple was big.
You can tell from the beginning that Guy has been around Silicon Valley for quite a while. His book offers great nuggets of information if you are looking for pitch your company to a Silicon Valley Venture Capitalist.
I really enjoyed his ideas for "starting something" (note that Guy is big into Karma):
1. Make Meaning - "The best reason to start an organization is to make meaning - to create a product or service that makes the world a better place."
2. Make Mantra - "Forget mission statements; they're long, boring, and irrelevant. No one can ever remember them - much less implement them. Instead, take your meaning and make a mantra out of it."
3. Get Going - "Don't focus on pitching, writing, planning."
4. Define Your Business Model - "No matter what kind of organization you're starting, you have to figure how to make money." You can have the greatest product ever, but it you don't plan and you can't make money from it, your company won't last very long.
5. Weave a MAT (Milestones, Assumptions, and Tasks) - "The final step is to compile three lists: (a) major milestones you need to meet; (b) assumptions that are built into your business model; (c) tasks you need to accomplish to create an organization.
The hardest thing about getting started is getting started. Remember: No one ever achieved success by planning for gold.
I also enjoyed Guy's Key Principles for Getting Going:
1. Think Big - While I think most entrepreneurs would agree with this statement, it's always nice to hear it over and over and then a few more times.
2. Find a Few Soulmates - Guy empathizes that although history likes to point to one guy has having invented this or that, many companies or inventions are discovered by a few people.
3. Polarize People - I'm not sure if I agree with this, but Guy is basically stating that you should get people to really like or really dislike something. Perhaps, this is my non-confrontational side speaking.
4. Design Different - Guy states that there are at least four different approaches.
(a) "I want one" - This is when the designer and customer are the same person. This also implies that people also want what the designer wants which isn't always true.
(b) "My Employer Couldn't (or Wouldn't) Do It" - This assumes you have an idea for a product that your employer can't or won't pursue so you decide to pursue on your own. This is probably a better way to go since you probably have an idea what the customer's desire.
(c) "What the Hell - It's Possible" - As Guy points out, this could be a tough road if the market isn't ready for it.
(d) "There Must Be a Better Way" - "They simply got an idea and decided to do it."
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Notes on Happiness
~Novelty and Challenge boost happiness. Going to a new city, meeting a lot of new people, being in a different environment, all boosted my happiness. Along the same lines...
~An atmosphere of growth brings happiness. I learned a lot from Beyond Six Figures Coaching, both from the official teachers, the other amazing coaches and from the unofficial conversations I had with the mastermind group, and that gave me a feeling of intellectual excitement and growth.
~Taking a break from a common thing can make it seem like a treat. When I get together with my grand kids on Friday afternoon, just having some fun down time and a meal together can fell very exciting as they share their weeks positive stories.
~Used right, technology helps build relationships. Although it might seem that technology pushes people apart, or allows them to avoid interacting, actually people use technology to try to connect. Try Facebook! Make me your first friend please. Clients have reconnected with good friends from elementary, high school and college and thank me for encouraging them to take the step.
~Sleep is important to happiness. Away from my home at a Family Vision Adventure for a weekend and my usual schedule, I got more sleep than usual, and I could really feel the difference in my energy level -- and I make a big effort to get a lot of sleep, as it is.
One of my ongoing happiness-project challenges is to fight my instinct to say dismissively, "Well, doing X or Y might be useful or fun, but it would be a big hassle, and it would take a lot of time, and probably cost a fair amount, and I am whipped after a busy week.." In fact, I'm always glad when I push myself to try something new. I debated a long time about whether to go join the Beyond Six Figures Coaching, but I'm very HAPPY that I did. I debated about doing the Family Vision Adventure and count it as a great success plus have material designed for my upcoming classes. All of these projects fully engaged me and led to feelings of happiness.
When have you felt happy lately? |
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Every tomorrow has two handles. We can take hold of it by the handle of anxiety, or by the handle of faith. ~H.W. Beecher
Our fate - whether personal health or a nation's economy - does not rest in the high expectations piled on the shoulders of someone elected nor does it rest on the plate of someone who volunteered - but, rather, it rests in our lap. ~Mark Kolke
Coming together is a beginning, staying together is progress, and working together is success. ~Henry Ford
Enjoy this
FABULOUS
video of Faith Rivera singing!
Every time we remember to say "thank you," we experience nothing less than heaven on earth. ~Sarah Ban Breathnach
Every experience empowers you twice: 1) when you enter into it with a whole heart, and 2) when you leave it with a whole heart. When patterns are broken, new worlds emerge.
~Tuli Kupferberg
How can we resent the life we've created for ourselves? Who's to blame, who's to credit, but us? Who can change it, any time we wish, but us?
~Richard Bach
Change Your Thoughts - Change Your Life!
Wayne Dyer is the master at teaching people from all walks of life how to masters their thoughts. In today's market conditions he is a great asset to anyone's library.
You cannot tailor-make the situations in life but you can tailor-make the attitudes to fit those situations. ~Zig Ziglar
Over the years I have developed a picture of what a human being living humanely is like. She is a person who understands, values and develops her body, finding it beautiful and useful; a person who is real and is willing to take risks, to be creative, to manifest competence, to change when the situation calls for it, and to find ways to accommodate to what is new and different, keeping that part of the old that is still useful and discarding what is not. ~Virginia Satir
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