What I Have Learned So Far

What I Have Learned So Far

Meditation is old and honorable, so why should I

not sit, every morning of my life, on the hillside,

looking into the shining world?  Because, properly

attended to, delight, as well as havoc, is suggestion.

Can one be passionate about the just, the

ideal, the sublime, and the holy, and yet commit

to no labor in its cause?  I don't think so.

All summations have a beginning, all effect has a

story, all kindness begins with the sown seed.

Thought buds toward radiance.  The gospel of

light is the crossroads of -- indolence, or action.

Be ignited, or be gone.

~ Mary Oliver ~

 (New and Selected Poems Volume Two)

(Image by Sylvia Taylor All Rights Reserved)

Seems rather appropriate doesn't it? You can either light-up or stay in the shadows. It takes an intentional action, the swipe of a match against the tinder, the thought turned into movement. The time has come to be the spark, ignite the fire and burn brightly.

Be ignited, or be gone...

Smove: Inspiring Intentional Action

I can hardly believe its December and the new year (2010?!) is almost upon us. And I also feel like things are shifting, the energy, the attitudes and the ideas of so many people on the planet. My ideas about who I am, the work I do and the work I want to do to make a bigger, better impact on the world - all shifting... 

My clients are like that too. That makes me smile. Big. My intention and hope is to get more people to smile and make intention and service a part of what they do everyday. It's not a muscle that many of us are used to moving (or maybe we don't even know how to get started).

Well, these guys have found a way - a very inspiring way. It's called Smove, or rather Smile & Move. It's a movement. It's something we can all learn to do, in 9 simple ways, to create more ways to inspire intentional actionfor us, for our teams, for our families and friends. Check out this video - and SMOVE your way into the new year!

The 9 simple ways to smile & move:

1. Wake-up - engage with care and attention
2. Be thankful - the opportunity to serve is a gift.
3. Be approachable - we're at each other's service.
4. Complain less - being positive is more fun.
5. Smile. Really- it's where pleasantness begins.
6. Start early and go long - get lost in your service to others.
7. Exceed expectations - expect more from yourself.
8. Have a sense of urgency - everyone's time is valuable.
9. Be resourceful and resilient - results are what we're all after.

You can find more information about this inspirational work on their website.

5 steps to thinking big and making things happen

Visionary companies may appear strait-laced to outsiders, but they're not afraid to make bold commitments to Big Hairy Audacious Goals (BHAGs).

Like climbing Mt. Everest, going to the moon, putting a computer on every desk (sound familiar?), a BHAG can sound daunting, risky and maybe even dangerous...

... but the adventure, excitement, and challenge of it grabs people in the gut, gets their juices flowing and creates immense forward momentum. - Dan Zadra

2010 is the year to think big.After the last two years of status quo and major shifts in some paradigms, its time. And I believe it's high time to go BIG.

I'm inspiring my friends, family and clients (and myself!) to dream big, think big and then start taking baby steps, one small intentional action at a time, to make those things happen. I'm coaching people to get them inspired and wired to make things happen.

You can do it too. Your friends, family, clients, co-workers. Some ways to get you started.

1. Get clear about what you want. Crystal clear. Make a list of all that you want. Be specific.
2. Make sure it pertains to you. You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink. Make sure what you want is something you can effect.
3. Believe you can have it. Trust that it will arrive and know that it might not look like what you think it should.
4. Be grateful for what you already have. Say thank you. Over and over. Smile.
5. Build your community. Share your goal, your inspiration, your requests, your success. The universe does it all the time. What you put out, comes back to you (at least I think so). We help make that happen by sharing with others and that means giving and receiving.

Where do you want to go? What BIG things do you want? Share them!

'Tis the season and all that. And there's never a better time to start than now.

Because you're already here.

What to dive into 2010 with all your ducks in a row? What to jump start your BHAGs and get started now? Join me in January get to going full speed ahead!

Reactive or Proactive: its a choice

I recently re-read The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and was completely caught off-guard by something Stephen Covey wrote:

"…love is a verb. Love -- the feeling -- is a fruit of love, the verb.

...Reactive people make [love] a feeling...

… Proactive people make love a verb. Love is something you do: sacrifices you make, the giving of self, like a mother bringing a newborn in to the world...

...Love is a value that is actualized through loving actions. " (7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey, pg. 80).

This was a business book. A book I was reading to help my executive coaching clients become more effective. What was he doing talking about 'L-O-V-E'. Was I one of those people that was being 'reactive'? (At that moment, yes).

So much of our language these days is reactive. And it's becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy. I hear my clients, my friends, family and associates using language that is reactive and then producing evidence to support the belief. There is an increased feeling of being a victim and out of control, not in charge of their life or their destiny. It's no surprise the blame falls to outside themselves (other people, circumstances, even astrology) for a situation of their own making.

But how do we change that?

Start noticing where and how often you're doing it. Some phrases you might hear yourself (or someone else) make that are Reactive:

• "There's nothing I can do about it."
• "She makes me so mad."
• "He won't allow that."
• "I can't."
• "If only."
• "That's just the way things are."

You know what? Those statements absolve the person saying them of any responsibility. Yet, aren't we responsible? We don't live in the paradigm of determinism (all circumstances are out of our control). We determine what happens.

Here are some ways to make the language Proactive:

• "Let's look at the alternatives." (What can I do to shift things?)
• "I control my own feelings." (She knows how to push my buttons, but it's my choice to get mad.)
• "I can create an effective presentation." (I can make a different choice, consider alternatives.)
• "I choose." (Because we always have a choice.)
• "I will." (I choose to.)
• "I can choose a different approach." (Because there's always another way.)

Over the last few years I have become a MASTER at proactive statements and positive thinking. Many of my friends and clients comment on it ("Your positivity is infectious!", "You always come up with the silver lining", "Are you always so positive?"). After working in a high-stress, high tech company, I had to start making different choices if I wanted to be able to survive, or even thrive. One of those choices, was to remind myself, I always had a choice.

My biggest choice was to do something I loved, in a way I loved doing it. I stopped being reactive and started being a whole lot more proactive.

I went and make love a verb.

What can you do to be proactive? What do you already do that is?

Join me for a Small Group, Proactive, tele-coaching program. 4 weeks. Better habits. Better results. Breakthroughs. Starts Monday the 16th. 2 Spots left.

Intention is the compass, goals are the map

How often do we put things we intend to do at the bottom of the list because more urgent (not necessarily more important) things come up?  We make an intention and don't put structure or set-up any support to help make it happen.

Looking back, looking forward, thinking big. By Sylvia Taylor

Intention is the compass, goals are the map. We need both. Goals help keep us focused and intentions keep us on the right map.

I look back at my 30 Day Challenge: Fit or Fat by 40, and realize that it was about time and choosing to put time in my calendar to be physically active for at least 30 minutes, everyday, 7 days a week. That's a lot to ask, and a challenge for me. I had to keep it a priority, as big a priority as a client meeting. And yet, it was just for me, so I could make the choice to cancel it, since no one would know but me. However, I also made the choice, the commitment, that this was something important to me and I had to give it the time (to put my money where my mouth was).

See how that works? I made the choice to give it time. It's important, so I supported myself to make it happen, by putting it in my calendar and following through.

You know the funny thing? My biggest learning came from intention: I had intended to blog about the experience. I blogged twice.  And that intention, without a structure or support, completely fell through. I ran out of time and it kept getting put on the back burner. But what a gift! Now I know it's something I need to schedule and to create a block of time to get it done.

So, what intention have you had for a while and not done anything about? What intention or goal have you had that didn't get the right structure or support to help make it happen? Start over. Try again.

You can also join me for a 4 week Tele-class (starts next Monday, only 2 spots left) that can help you make big breakthroughs with this kind of stuff. You'll learn a lot about intention, setting inspired goals, creating structure and support to get it all (and more) done. In only 4 weeks. And you'll be able to keep the learning going long after the 4 weeks is over.

The year isn't over yet. Here's to getting more done and following through on our intentions.

The size of success is limited only by the size of your thinking. Thinking big begins with believing big.

~David Schwartz