What Do You Want in 2019? 

January 2, 2019 

I know people talk about New Year's Resolutions. Others focus on setting Goals and Action Plans. I like to ask myself -- what is my Dream for this New Year? One of the reasons I prefer the word "dream" is because it gives me the freedom to step outside of the "normal" boundaries -- and imagine the possibilities. 

Very simply -- What Do You Want in 2019?

As one of my favorite authors, Paulo Coelho, says: 

When you want something, 
all the universe conspires
in helping you achieve it.  

If you are in search of an inspiring novel with deep wisdom, consider reading "The Alchemist" -- it is all about following your dreams and listening to your heart.  

As we start 2019, I want to wish everyone my very best for health and abundance in 2019.

I invite you to set your intention for 2019 and follow your dreams. If you have already done that, terrific! If you have written it down in your Journal --...

“Hope” 

December 6, 2018  

As we begin the last month of 2018, as we approach the longest night on December 21^st, the winter solstice in the Northern Hemisphere, as we set our sights on the coming year, may your heart and soul be filled with “Hope.”

I am not referring to hope in the sense of expectation, wishes and desires. Rather, I am looking to the spiritual sense of hope as trust and resilience.  

I believe I was born with “Hope” in my heart. When you read Chapter 8 in “Be Happy NOW!: Release and Rejoice”, where I share my story of tracing back my fears to when I was in my mother’s womb, perhaps you will understand why. When fear was all around me, when people were crying, when they did not put a name on my birth certificate, I was born. I came alive. In my age regression session with my guide, David Prudhomme, I was able to feel an amazing emotional release of deep-seeded fears and to connect with...

I AM Alive with Gratitude

November 21, 2018

“I AM Alive with Gratitude. “ This is one of the I AM affirmations from my personal list of 25 I AM affirmations around energy, an exercise we discussed in my last Blog, The connection I feel when I am deeply grateful is the emotional energy of joy.  

Please pause and take a couple of minutes to look at this exquisite photo of a sunset that was taken down the road from my Lake House overlooking Lake Erie. Thank you, Greg Peiffer, for allowing me to use one of your sunset photos. Greg is the CEO of WPCR/WPIB Radio, a friend and neighbor, who has a passion and talent for photography – and a journal of amazing sunset photos.  

We all have a sunset experience or a sunrise experience. What is the experience you remember of a sunset or sunrise when you paused and allowed yourself the five minutes to fully and deeply be in the moment, when the sun so quickly and amazingly disappears over the horizon? What...

Energy and Enthusiasm 

November 8, 2018

I am excited! I am enthusiastic! I am energized!

Paulo Coelho, a personal favorite of mine for creative energy and inspiration, writes: 

“When you are enthusiastic about what you do, 
you feel this positive energy. 
It is that simple.”  
                        --Paulo Coelho

We have devoted the past month to energy – how we create energy to live our lives with passion and purpose and enthusiasm.

Now, let’s tie it all together with a simple, practical exercise: Let us write 25, positive, I AM…  affirmations focused on energy.

Here is the exercise: Complete the sentence “I AM…”  or “I AM more…” and fill in the word or action statement that affirms your stepping into or doing more to raise your energy level -- physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually....

ENERGY: Release and Be Free

October 23 2018 

Picking up where we left off on October 16th: We are in the 4^th and final quarter of 2018. Let us create the ENERGY to Finish Strong!

I love this quote by St. John of the Cross:

             “The weight of arrogance is such that no bird can fly carrying it.”

This goes to the heart of my message in this newsletter: There is great power and energy when we learn to let go – to be free and fly.  

I am an experiential learner – I learn at a deeper level when I both read and experience the lesson. For this reason, I am including extra doses of meditations as a companion for you to both reflect on the ideas and to experience … the experience of “letting go”.  

Here goes. My next 3 tips to dramatically increase your energy are to bring a higher level of awareness and intention to: 

• Tip #4: Releasing Stress
• Tip #5: Releasing Judgement...

Energy to Finish 2018 Strong

October 9, 2018 

We are in the 4^th and final quarter of 2018. Let us create the ENERGY to Finish Strong!

No matter whether you set goals for this year, or not. No matter where you are on accomplishing those goals, or not. The most important thing, right now, is to do yourself the favor of bringing all your enthusiasm and energy to your life to finish this year strong.

I love this metaphor from one of my mentors, Brendon Burchard:

“The power plant does not have the energy. It generates it.”

Energy is my favorite high performance habit because it flows through and enhances and accelerates performance on all levels – physically, mentally and emotionally.  (For easy reference, the 6 High Performance Habits, are: clarity, energy, necessity, productivity, influence and courage.¹)

So, today as we step up to the challenge of how to generate energy, I will offer 6 tips. The first 3 tips are all tactical and start...

Hello: I Am a … Role Model – here is your name badge for today… for every day. 

Indeed, I am a Role Model. You are a Role Model. We are all Role Models. The question is: When we show up in the world -- in our personal life and in our professional life -- what are we role modelling? How, exactly, are we showing up today… in this moment?  

I am inspired to write today’s Blog by the confluence of 2 recent events. First, in a recent coaching session on Influence – High Performance Habit # 5 -- we discussed this excerpt from Brendon Burchard’s new book, High Performance Habits: How Extraordinary People Become that Way, (page 248):        

“High performers give a lot of mindshare to thinking about being a role model. Seventy-one percent say they think about it daily. They say they want to be a good role model for their family, the team, and the greater community. 
….

To be clear, high...

Courage to Continue   

September 11, 2018   

On this day, 17 years ago, I stood on the curb at LaGuardia Airport on my way to an important client meeting on the 99^th floor of the World Trade Towers. I saw the unimaginable --- smoke billowing from one of the Towers. I want to dedicate this Blog on Courage to all the heroes of that day – all the First Responders, the strangers who acted to save others, the people who tragically lost their lives, and to all the family members and friends who lost loved ones.

Today, I am writing about every day courage – the courage to continue. Winston Churchill famously said:

“Success is not final,
failure is not fatal: 
it is the courage to continue that counts”

What does courage look like to you in everyday life? How do you define courage? 
 

Initially, when I thought about writing on courage – I said to myself: “Who are you to write on such a deep and profound topic?”...

Saying Thank You

August 28^th    
 

Saying Thank You is about the daily practice of gratitude, the potential to change your perception of yourself and how you see your world, the new scientific evidence supporting that you can rewire your brain, and practical advice on a range of ways to cultivate a daily gratitude practice. I will also offer an original poem – just because it comes from my heart.

Thank you, dear friends and readers.

As the Zig Ziglar quote says:

        “There are three things you can give and still keep,
          your word, a smile and a grateful heart.”

When you say, “thank you” with intention and a grateful heart, you give a gift – and you get to keep that gift. It is a wondrous example of how giving and receiving are one.

Gratitude is a foundational element in my stress management coaching practice and underlies many of the habits in high performance...

Create Your New Morning Ritual  

 August 14, 2018  

How you start your day is very important. Do you start your day off to the races with your head filled with your “To Do List?” Or do you start your day with gratitude, intention, and feeling grounded? Which way do you think best sets you up for success?

In my corporate career, I started my day at 4 AM. I made my cup of coffee, turned on CNBC to see what had happened overnight in the Asian and European markets, and to assimilate the market-moving issues that might be the focus for investors. If my Wall Street Journal was not at my door by 4 AM … I was pissed.

Ten years ago, I dramatically changed my morning routine—and transformed it into a ritual. Before I opened my eyes, I started with reflecting on 3 gratitudes for the day and took 7 deep diaphragmatic breaths. Then I arose, made my morning coffee, and settled in for an hour to read poetry, scripture and philosophy and...