Posts

Beginning to See

A New View

About six months ago, I was talking with three of my coach friends from Connecticut. We’ve been “meeting virtually” on a monthly basis for many years and long before Zoom existed. I was in the midst of giving an update on a project that, for a variety of reasons, was taking longer than expected. I was very eager to have it done, however on that day, a more patient me provided this report:

“As I work on what’s necessary, I’m beginning to see what’s possible.”

As I work on:

what must be done first but I wish were done already,
what isn’t always that exciting to do,
what has some tedious components,
and what I thought would be done by now,

I’m beginning to see:

more than I could have imagined before I did this piece of work,
more than I thought would be possible,
something that is different,
and better than I originally planned.

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Right Before You Shift

Hold

Recently, I had a holistic massage that incorporated an ancient Chinese healing modality called Chi Nei Tsang. This is a deep, gentle abdominal massage during which the practitioner provides feedback. Read more

Take the Good (Part 2 of 2)

Last time, in Get Ready for Something Good, we talked about preparing your heart and mind for good things to happen. Now let’s look at the ability to receive. The question is: What does it take to take the good?

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Get Ready for Something Good (Part 1 of 2)

Today’s article had been sitting in draft form, for a few months. When I completed the final version, it was the week of the Las Vegas shooting. In light of that tragedy as well as the recent string of hurricanes and fires, I hesitated before broadcasting the subject line: “Get Ready for Something Good.” However, as I considered this article’s message — having an even approach and dealing with the reality of current problems while inviting, preparing for, and working for good — it feels especially relevant, both in our individual lives and in our world. As always, I’m interested in hearing your thoughts. Read more

What Do You Get To Do Today?

Have To or Get To?

Somewhere between jumping into the shower, grabbing a cup of coffee, and running out the door, it happens. Your mind scans the next 24 hours: What do I have to do today? While it’s perfectly fine to plan the day with this question, I offer you an alternative to use. It’s one I pull out of my pocket whenever I notice I’m starting the day with my feet dragging or spirits lagging. I simply change one word: What do I get to do today? Read more

Forget Your Limits

Winter Growth

Cement pot with fresh soil and small bougainvillea plantI realize that most of you around the country are dealing with cold temperatures but here in Arizona the season allows for winter gardening. That means I get to fill our cement container pots with plants other than the drought-tolerant varieties necessary during our crazy-hot summers. Read more

Be-Do-Have at Work

Be

When you first hear the coaching concept called Be-Do-Have, you might think it’s about as useful as the advice to “be the ball”, generally reserved for parodying us coaches and motivator types. So rather than just talk theory, today I bring you an actual example of someone who applied the Be-Do-Have principle with great success at work. Read more

Your Next Performance Review

Last time I wrote about Other People’s Success. Today, let’s look at your success.

The Blurb Queen

When it’s performance review time, you know the drill: Dust off last year’s template and hope that the reality of what you worked on this year somewhat resembles the performance measures on which you’ll be ranked. Read more

Time is on Your Side

Time: Friend or Foe?

Our perception of time changes constantly. It’s running out. It’s dragging. We’ve got too much time on our hands or not enough hours in the day. We want someone or something to just hurry up so that we can move along. We want time to slow down so that we can finally catch up. Whatever our ambivalence toward time, we always seem to want more of it. Read more

Interrupt the Pattern

Flying Into Windows

In the last issue, I told the story of the red cardinal bird who visits my friend. I offered the metaphor of “flying into the window” to represent the behaviors that hamper your effectiveness. I stated that the important thing is to get yourself to try something new. In order to do that, you’ve got to “bang on the window” in the moment you recognize that you’re caught up in the old habit and flying that familiar pattern. It’s the awareness and the ability to catch yourself in the moment that’s key. So how do you do that? Read more