Happy Holidays...

As the Holiday Season is upon us, we find ourselves reflecting on the past year and on those who have helped to shape our lives, career and business in a most significant way. We value our relationship with you and look forward to working with you in the year to come.

We wish you a very happy Holiday Season and a New Year filled with peace and prosperity.

Reflections on Life…

Let’s look at some areas of life that might require attention....

• Health - Are you taking care of yourself? If not, what do you need to do to improve your health? What are five ways you can live a more healthful lifestyle?
• Love - Are you a loving person? Think about it. We think about love as a spouse or a girlfriend, a partner. There is more to love then a committed partnership. In what ways can we become more loving individuals?
• Work - Do you love the work you do? Does it support you or enliven you? If you dream of work you love consider using the next year as the starting ground to live that vision.
• Money - Many people who use their money for good. The more they have the more they give. Does your money support just you or the world? No matter how much or little you make your money can make a difference.

Reverence For Life

When reflecting on one’s life acknowledge all that has past – both good and bad. Honor it. Your past informs your present and gives hope for the future. In his book, Reverence: Renewing a Forgotten Virtue, author Paul Woodruff says this – "Reverence begins in a deep understanding of human limitations; from this grows the capacity to be in awe of whatever we believe lies outside our control – God, truth, justice, nature, even death. The capacity for awe, as it grows, brings with it the capacity for respecting fellow human beings, flaws and all." We can’t control the outcome of our life but we can approach it with reverence, honoring our traditions and respecting the life we are given.

In examining your life you may find places of great depth and of lack. Consider some things you may want to pursue. Benjamin Franklin would examine his life in great detail. He would review and acknowledge his weaknesses concentrating his efforts to improve upon them He was cultivating virtues instead of vices. You can continue to cultivate those things that are important while working on the areas where you may be weaker.

Reflection and Discovery

The years go by so fast – what did we do? The end of any year brings an assortment of TV shows reflecting on the past year. There are the celebrity happenings, the health breakthroughs, election results, and the parade of the famous that have passed away. But our lives are not reflected there. What has been important for us? What seemingly unimportant thing has had a profound impact on our lives? At beginning of a new year, a new season or a significant change we are confronted with what we have left undone. The gym shoes sit unused. The novel is unwritten.

What did we do that we wish we could take back? The apology we meant to deliver sits on our desk. We forgot to tell a dear friend we loved them and now it is too late. We are full of regrets of the past and hope for something better. The giddiness of the New Year is bittersweet. We are reflective, becoming sad - we must leave something behind. In our culture we can become afraid of the depth of this sadness. We remember the family members that are now gone and the friends who have moved on. Then there is the weight we gained - the loss of our youthful bodies.

We look at the past and it reflects back to us. Sometimes we don’t want do look back and see – but we must. Our life’s reflection provides an opportunity for growth – transformation. There are things we can’t change yet there are thing still to do. What can we give?

Lessons on Success: 17 Principles of Personal Achievement

This video is based on the book Lessons on Success: 17 Principles of Personal Achievement, captures the timeless principles gleaned from 20 years of interviewing the most successful men and women in the world.

Lessons on Success teach you the essence of action and attitude for achieving success in your life. Click on the attached link to check it out URL to video: http://video.success.com/inspirational/lessons-on-success/

Determination + Commitment = Success

Desire is the key to motivation, but it's the determination and commitment to an unrelenting pursuit of your goal - a commitment to excellence - that will enable you to attain the success you seek. - Mario Andretti

Trials, Triumphs & Success

It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by the dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions and spends himself in a worthy course; who at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who, at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly; so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory or defeat.
- Theodore Roosevelt

Goals, Dreams, Ideas.....Success

"The tragedy of life does not lie in not reaching your goals, the tragedy lies in not having any goals to reach. It isn’t a calamity to die with dream unfulfilled, but it is a calamity not to dream.

It is not a disaster to be unable to capture your ideals, but it is a disaster to have no ideals to capture. It is not a disgrace not to reach the stars, but it is a disgrace to have no stars to reach."

~ Dr. Benjamin Mays ~

What Is Success?

You Cannot Achieve What You Have Not Defined......

The problem for most people who want to be successful is not that they can't achieve success. The main obstacle for them is they misunderstand success. Maltbie D. Babcock said, "One of the most common mistakes and one of the costliest is thinking that success is due to some genius, some magic, something or other which we do not possess."

What is success? What does it look like? Most people have avague picture of what it means to be a successful person that looks something like this:

• The wealth of Bill Gates
• The physique of Arnold Schwarzenegger (or Marilyn Monroe)
• The intelligence of Albert Einstein,
• The athletic ability of Michael Jordan
• The business prowess of Donald Trump
• The social grace and poise of Jackie Kennedy

It sounds absurd, but it's closer to the truth that we would like to admit. many of us picture success as looking like one other than who we are-and we especially can't be six other people! And more important than that, you shouldn't want to be. If you tried to become just like one of these other people, you wouldn't be successful. You would be a bad imitation of them, and you would eliminate the possibility of becoming the person you were meant to be.

Superior Leadership....

Experience is what creates a superior leader. It takes complete dedication and a resilient attitude to reach any goal. Always make a supreme effort when confronting the challenges ahead. Your ability to overcome and ultimately prevail, are true qualities of a successful leader.

Where Will Your Dream Take You?

Dare to dream and act on that dream. Do it in spite of problems and circumstances and obstacles. History is filled with men and women who faced adversity and acheived success in spite of it.

Oliver Wendell Holmes noted "The great thing in this world is not so much where we are but in what direction we are moving." This is also one of the great things about having a dream. You can pursue your dream no matter where you are today. And what happened in the past isn't as important as what lies ahead in the future. As the saying goes, "No matter what a person's past may have been, his future is spotless." You can begin pursuing your dream today!

One of the most rejuvenating activities you can participate in for wellness is some form of regular spiritual practice during which you are present in the moment. It could be praying, chanting, meditating, gardening, hiking, even drinking a cup of coffee ritualistically every morning—anything you do in which you stay in the moment. Frustration occurs when our ego mind says, The world isn’t the way I think it should be!

This allows for no trust in a higher power, no faith in a bigger plan than what can currently be seen or comprehended with our limited understanding. Anytime you feel yourself becoming frustrated, ask yourself, What is happening here that I think should be different? Should it really be different, or am I frustrated because I am trying to control something, insisting on my way? Releasing the need to control can immediately shift our frustration to a more relaxed state, allowing us to function in better ways.”

Physical Fitness = Better Business

On the surface it doesn't seem to make sense why a person who sits at a desk most of the day working on a computer or on office papers would need to be as fit as someone who does a more physically demanding job like working on a farm. Performance physcologist Jim Loehr has a good explanation in his book "The Power of Full Engagement". "The importance of physical energy seems obvious for athletes, construction workers, and farmers. Because the rest of us are evaluated more by what we do with our minds than with our bodies, we tend to discount the role that physical energy plays in performance. In most jobs, the physical body has been completely cut off from the performance equation. "In reality, physical energy is the most fundamental source of fuel, even if our work is almost completely sedentary. It not only lies at the heart of alertness and vitality but also affects our ability to manage our emotions, sustain concentration, think creatively, and even maintain our commitment to whatever mission we are on. Leaders and managers make a fundamental mistake when they assume that they can overlook the physical dimension of energy and still expect those who work for them to perform at their best"

http://www.leadershipnow.com/leadershop/2674-7excerpt.html

"Leadership is based on a spiritual quality; the power to inspire, the power to inspire others to follow." --Vince Lombbardi

What makes a leader inspirational?

• The ability to inspire people to reach great heights of performance and success is a skill that leaders need. Passion, purpose, listening and meaning help make a leader inspirational.
• The ability to communicate that passion, purpose and meaning to others helps establish the inspirational culture of your organization.

These are just a few ideas. Please share yours as well as give a few examples of real life leadership stories.

Got the Winter Blues?

Five Ways to Create a Happy Winter

1) Uplift with Light Therapy

2) Eat Good Food for a Good Mood

3) Balance with Supplements

4) Clear blocks with Movement

5) Bliss out, Slow Down and Connect

For the full article from the February/March Welcome to Living Newsletter, click HERE

Visit the Welcome to Living Website - see what else the Coach has to offer!

2010: New Intentions and New Year's Resolutions

The first month of 2010 is coming to a close….

Did you start your new year with new intentions?

Have you been living up to your New Year’s resolutions?

What were they? Did you set goals for your career? Your finances? Your personal life?

If you have new intentions or if you set New Year’s Resolutions, stick with them - it takes a month to change a habit, so the worst is over!

If not, think about what changes (big or small) you want to make in your life and how you can take steps to get there.

Share your challenges, tips and ideas about new intentions for 2010 and New Year’s Resolutions!
For help getting started, check out this article from the positivity blog.

5 Things You Can Start Doing Today to Change Your Life