Take a listen to www.blogtalkradio.com/gritsandmatzoballs – - a show where master coaches and authors – - southern gal (DJ Mitsch) meets northern girl (Laura Berman Fortgang) – - to dish on all sorts of topics! Our guest, author and spiritual guide Barbara Bijou joined us Friday, December 18th, 9:30 AM to explore the joy of rituals! – Listening to this show may be the best 30 minutes you spend preparing for the holidays and the New Year! Barbara’s gifts of ritual ideas and why they are important will enlighten even those who celebrate many traditions and practices during this time of year! Happy Holidays to all of our relations and partners! Check out Barbara on YouTube and www.joyofritual.com
Contributed by Pyramid Associate Doug Silsbee
I am continually struck, in teaching and coaching with leaders all over the world, at the frequent disconnection between what people do for a living and what they really care about.
It seems that the minutiae of running a business or operating within an organization take over and fill the screen of our awareness, leaving little room for why we came to do what we do in the first place.
This past week, I taught in a classroom in the depths of the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, DC. There was no natural light, and the room was pretty tight. The people in our group worked for US Agency for International Development. They are both proud of what they do (development work, hunger, health, and education programs in some of the most desperate corners of our planet) and frustrated with the level of available resources and the complexity of getting anything done.
Yet, when they pause from their busyness, and they speak about why they are committed to their work, or when they slow down and allow themselves to be moved by photos of the children that are served by their programs, they palpably come alive. And, when I learn what they are doing, and what their work ultimately accomplishes, I experience myself as in service to their work and those kids. Like a young girl I met in Central America, they are not so different from my own grandchild. Through this awareness, my own commitment is rekindled and deepened.
It is this sensed connection to who we are serving that keeps us oriented, that allows us to draw from the taproot of our own caring and compassion in order to stay focused and effective in this challenging world.
So, what is being served by your activities today? For the sake of what, or of whom, do you do what you do? How, today, will you make this connection explicit and alive within yourself, allowing it to become a lived experience?
Submitted by our coaching associate, Dr. Marcia Reynolds, MCC. Marcia has done extensive research into women’s issues. Let us know what you think!
There has been a lot of press around the research that prompted Marcus Buckingham’s latest book, Find Your Strongest Life: What the Happiest and Most Successful Women do Differently. The studies declare women to be less happier than they were 40 years ago.
Really, less happy than my mother? I don’t think so.
I believe the research is flawed in that it uses happiness as a general rating without breaking down the factors that define what women need to feel “happy.”
In my research with women in the workplace, I find that women are often frustrated and disappointed at the inconsistent recognition for their achievements and the lack of frequent, new challenges to keep their minds and talents engaged. Yet these emotions don’t stack up to a general unhappiness.
When I asked my research participants to share one thing they would like to have more of in life, most of the comments centered on wanting more “peace of mind, contentment, a sense of purpose, serenity and spiritual connection.” Out of 100 respondents, NONE said they wanted to be more happy.
I believe that strong, active women are happy with the opportunities life now offers them. They are restless, busy and even exhausted at the end of the day, but they wouldn’t give up their lives to replicate what women had 40 years ago. They may be disappointed that their goals are harder to reach than they had expected, but they would rather have too many choices to deal with than feel restricted as our mothers did.
My mother was angry most of her life. She never had the opportunity to live up to her potential and achieve her goals. This is a picture of unhappiness. I may be working way too hard to achieve what she could not, but I am grateful and happy that I am living now and not 40 years ago.
There are some good tips in Buckingham’s book. You can find many of these in articles he is sharing around the Internet (Google Find Your Strongest Life). I just don’t care for the view that we are unhappy and unaware of our strengths. I believe the subtitle for my book, Wander Woman: How High-Achieving Women Find Contentment and Direction (to be released next June) better defines what is missing for today’s working women. Notice that I didn’t say “find happiness and personal power.” It’s time books for women recognize that we have evolved and quit comparing, defining, and judging us against our mother’s generation.
We have just released the revised edition of Mind over Mutter, now with 199 practical tips for giving great presentations. The original book (160 practical tips) was very popular with our clients and the new edition features a pocket-sized design and a colorful cover created by Brian Johnson, the same designer who worked on Mystic Grits.
Mind over Mutter is a great resource for any one who needs to improve their presentation skills. Copies can be ordered directly from Pyramid by contacting Beverly Anderson at 919-677-9300, ext 100.
There is a story awakening in each of us. It is a hero’s journey to wisdom. Each journey begins with “someone went on a journey, or somebody came to visit…” Example – YOURS.
Consider the impact of mentors and role models, challengers and loves in your life. Your story of success is dependent on many things – your origin, traditions, faith, intelligences, relationships, failures, successes, contributions, passions, fears and loves. Inherent in each coaching conversation today, we find clients wrestling with the bigger questions about their contributions, wanting to write a new chapter in their lives or go for something more – - or less – - and find a still point to express fulfillment and happiness, to more consciously enter a new phase.
This is the truest and most important exploration in a coaching conversation and more powerful than conversations about skill development, business acumen, bottom line, sales targets.
“How we lead people – - connect with them, embrace the unknown and mysteries of life will make us more relevant to the conscious revolution underway in our world.” DJ Mitsch
If you want to join DJ in this expanding dialogue, please note this Special Invitation for Coach’s View Readers.
Authors and Master Coaches “DJ” Mitsch and Laura Berman Fortgang will be presenting a special debut workshop called “Goosebumps and Ah-ha’s” on July 23, from Noon to 4:00 at the Matthews House in Cary. The workshop will be an afternoon of exploration about meaning in your work and what’s next in your life. A buffet lunch is included.
Blogs readers can call Beverly Anderson at 919-677-9300, extension 100, and receive a special 2 for 1 rate on the regular $115/person fee for the program. This offer is open till July 15.
The workshop is based on two new books, DJ’s “Mystic Grits” and Laura’s “The Little Book of Meaning.” The program promises to provide a forum for creative thinking about your life journey.
We are already half-way through 2009. How are you doing on those New Year’s resolutions and goals you set for this year?
Writing down your goals can be very powerful, but making them “visible” can help you focus even more energy on getting what you want. Creating a vision board can help you make your goals visible.
Get a piece of posterboard, a pair of scissors and a glue stick. Search the web for images that match your goals and post them on your vision board…and hang it in a spot where you see it often. Give it a shot and see what happens.
It is often said that if you can conceive it, you can acheive it. Over eight years ago DJ Mitsch started writing a book with a working title, “Mystic Grits.” With great persistence and ongoing support from her circle of friends, the book has become a reality. Check it out on Amazon…Mystic Grits
Coaching opportunites can come at any time in the workplace, often with those casual conversations around the water cooler. The Pyramid Resource Group created a web-based program known as Water Cooler Coaching a few years back, and that concept has been reborn in the form of a radio show featuring Master Coach DJ Mitsch. Interviews with DJ by popular radio host Kitty Kinnin can be heard locally on most Monday mornings here in the Research Triangle area. Links to Kitty’s show and other information can be found at www.watercoolercoaching.com.
Some notable figures describe one of the central ingredients for coaching. Wisdom. Enjoy!
Contributed by Coach Marcia Reynolds, MCC, PsyD
The brain’s primary job is to protect you. Therefore, most people tend to be pessimistic. They see the worst case scenario and conjure up all possibilities when the worst occurs (and the media loves to play into this drama).
In times of downturns, chaos and fear, what can you do to keep your head above water? Many people are doing quite well. I am having my most successful year ever. What can you do to rise above the muddy waters to stay in the light of possibility? Here’s a few quick ideas:
- Stay away from people who only talk gloom and doom. Then make sure you have a “community of climbers” around you who want to keep climbing up the mountain together. They will see where to grab and place their feet in order to get to the top where others only see a wall.
- When you look at your checkbook or the price at the gas station pump, shift into gratitude to decrease the fear and anger. What do you have that most people in this world do not have? What possibilities lie before you?
- Where will the world be in ten years really? Remember that ten years ago we were just figuring out how to access the Internet and use cell phones. What is the real potential that is moving behind all this crazy stuff that is tossing and turning our world? What gift lies in this moment that will change your life forever? What great things lie ahead? What can you do right now to make the changes work for you?
Tell your brain, “Thank you for protecting me, and I am fine.” It’s only your brain. It is not the truth.
