ACTS OF COURAGE

July 2, 2020 

“Excessive caution destroys the soul and the heart, because
living is an act of courage, and
an act of courage is always an act of love.”

This is a quote from Manuscript Found in Accra, a captivating novel by best-selling author Paulo Coelho, published in 2012. It is a story of a city under siege, where Jews, Christians, and Muslims live together peacefully and are preparing for annihilation from the armies of the Crusades. The novel is a series of parables as spoken by a Sage about love, faith, friendship, bravery, community and uncovering the sources of human fears and anxieties, written down to preserve the wisdom of the city’s soul.

To be clear, by choosing this quote, I am not talking about the current controversy of whether to wear face masks or not. Coelho is speaking to life and death issues – from the great wisdom traditions.  

Our focus in this newsletter is on courage -- acts of courage to...

Our Challenge to Change Ourselves 

April 4, 2020  

First and most important, I am sending healing energy and deep gratitude for your service to everyone on the front-lines of this global COVID-19 pandemic – doctors, nurses, hospital staff, EMS, FEMA, people working, stocking and delivering to the grocery stores, and retailers, restaurants open for take-out meals, schools serving meals and teachers calling students, our nonprofits such as United Way, Salvation Army, volunteers at Food Pantries and Pay-It-Forward Cafe's, like our local Bistro 163, the public policy leaders of our cities and states, – and the list goes on and on. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!

My heart goes out to everyone who has lost loved ones to COVID-19 and to families that have suffered losses at this time of physical distancing and cannot feel the warmth of hugs and solace from friends, near and far. There are huge economic challenges  -- unprecedented in my...

What is High Performance?  

March 6, 2020 

What is high performance?

Some people tell me they see it as applying to high achievers in a corporate setting, on a career track. Other people think of it as applying to athletes. As a Certified High Performance^™ Coach, we have a broader definition – one that can apply to anyone, anywhere, at any age – who has a growth mindset. 

In our program, High Performance means succeeding beyond standard norms consistently over the long term. You craft your own specific definition for where you are in your life right now, professionally or personally. Equally important, High Performance is the ongoing feeling of full engagement, joy and confidence that comes from consistently living from your best self. You know it, when you feel the JOY! 

I love to give people options – because we all learn differently, and we have different time and financial constraints. This week, I am want to share a number...

How Do You Manage Your Time? 

February 14, 2020

I am going to continue the theme from last month on productivity by asking, “How do you manage your time? 

One might take this question in many directions – it is a deep and complex question. For now, my focus is quite specific and will use the MBTI^® Personality Type framework.  We will focus on the 4^th letter in the 4-Letter Personality Type, the “J” or “P” preference. 

There is often some confusion and misinterpretation about this 4^th letter – our preference for how we organize our life and manage our time – where the “J” is Judging, and the “P” is Perceiving. A note of caution: “J” does not mean judgment and “P” does not mean perception. There are no right or wrong, good or bad preferences in this framework. Rather, we all go about organizing our life and managing our time differently. The population is...

My Top 5 Productivity Breakthroughs 

January 20, 2020 
 

Is your year going according to plan?  My honest answer … is Yes… and No. Overall, things are not exactly smooth and going according to my plan! 

We are 20 days into 2020… the start of a new year, the start of a new decade. How can plans and good intentions get off track so quickly? Cripes!!

Personally, I am working on my energy levels – physically, mentally and emotionally. I am stretched – in a good way – and working on how I dig deep to persevere, and how to take my productivity habits to the next level.

So, let’s talk perseverance and productivity!

Here are my Top 5 Productivity Breakthroughs culled from years of experience in the corporate world, the lessons in my Certified High Performance Coaching Program^™ and the insights from my From Stressed To Best^™ practice:

1. Create Your Own Morning Ritual: This morning ritual is a 3-part...

Radiating Peace  

December 18, 2019  

I believe inner peace is there for all of us --- even if it is, at first, only for a moment. 

Do you agree? Do you have an image of peace in the mind-body and soul? Do you feel the energy of peace? These are a few of the questions we will explore in our last newsletter of this year, this decade. 

I grew up on Long Island, New York and was always drawn to the ocean. I went to Jones Beach and loved it -- even more in the solitude of winter than in the heat and crowds of the summer. I love the Great Lakes and am blessed to now live and overlook Lake Erie. The background picture for many of the quotes I post on Facebook and for this Blog is a summer sunset looking out from my Lake House. I am looking forward to taking a new picture this winter when the lake is frozen, and the horizon disappears. 

Sometimes the lake is rockin’ n’ rollin’, sometimes the waves are gentle and sometimes the lake...

My Daily Gratitude Ritual 

December 1, 2019 

Today’s newsletter on gratitude takes shape as a personal note and reflection on my daily Gratitude Ritual and how it has evolved and deepened over the past 10 years.  

I trust that you have crafted your own gratitude practice that serves you. There is a wide range of gratitude practices to choose from, such as: starting and ending your day in gratitude and prayer; creating a Gratitude Journal or a Gratitude Jar; writing a Gratitude Letter; making a special Gratitude Call; or incorporating gratitude into your art, be that poetry, music or painting.  

I offer my gratitude journey as it may give you new inspiration and/or renewed commitment. In my opinion, a daily Gratitude Ritual is foundational and transformational.  

One day in May 2010, I started an intentional daily gratitude practice. In Be Happy NOW!: From Wall Street Ambition and the Illusion of Success, My Path to Happiness, I write:...

Now Is The Time

November 17, 2019

Now is the time of year that many of us ask:  

1. Have I accomplished what I set out to do this year?
2. How can I salvage the year with the time remaining?
3. What am I grateful for in my life?
4. What are my plans and goals for the coming year?
5. What are my dreams for the next 5 years?
6. How can I stress less and get through the upcoming Holiday season? 

“Not so fast my friend,” as Lee Corso would say. Whether you are a sports aficionado or not – I believe you get the point. While these are totally appropriate questions -- when we start here, we might miss the most important first steps.  

In my opinion, the first and most important questions to ask are: Am I fully Present? Do I… will I … can I …. fully accept myself…. just as I AM… in this present moment? Have I let go of some of my negative, limiting beliefs and emotions and started to accept that “I am good...

Stress Less  -- You CAN Do It!

November 2, 2019 
 

When we Stress Less – when we become more aware of our everyday stress, when we learn how to Respond rather than React, when we learn the Relaxation Response activated by taking deep diaphragmatic breaths – we change the way we see our world.  

“If you change the way you see things, the things you see will change.”

-- Wayne Dyer 

Stress Less – I did, and it changed my outlook on Life. I know you can do it too!   

The physiology of Stress – the well-known Fight or Flight Response as well as the equally famous, Relaxation Response – is exactly the same for all of us. However, what stresses you out may be, and very likely is, quite different from what stresses me, your partner, your associate, your child, etc. Typological Stress varies according to our Personality Type, which is why we say stress comes from within – our innate hard-wired...

What If ...? 

October 6, 2019 

For the next several newsletters, I will be posing the question: What if? 

What if…  we gave up worrying about the future and the unknowable? What if… we gave up losing our perspective of the big picture and getting stuck in the details? What if… we gave up being outwardly critical and inflexible? What if … we gave up emotional outbursts and being hypersensitive to criticism? 

What if…we could learn to be more aware of when we are stressed... and remind ourselves to take 7 deep diaphragmatic breaths and trigger our autonomic Relaxation Response? What if we knew the true source of stress was inside of us, rather than “out there” in the situation or the other person? What if … we could learn how to respond rather than react? 

Of course, we know the answer… we CAN learn. We can learn to take control. It takes practice. We could use some tools. And, some...