| IN THIS ISSUE | Introduction
| Self-Study Course for Dreamseekers
| Create Your Own Discipline
| Book Review
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RECENT BLOGS
| Joyfully Jobless Inspiration
| Your Personal GPS
| Oh @#$%, What Do I Do Now?
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Welcome to my new subscribers this month. The mission of this newsletter is to provide you with inspiration, suggest some helpful resources, and to nudge each of you to move one more step toward your dream.
An important correction: If you are part of the Over 50 Crowd already subscribed to this newsletter and would like a copy of my e-book, For Mature Audiences Only: How to redesign life and work in the second half of our lives, click here and put e-book request in the subject line. I'll send you a link to the download. You cannot sign up on the newsletter form twice as directed last month.
As I write this, the interminable political campaign in the US is finally over and the holiday season is now looming ahead. All the changes that are going on in our economy this year are only going to increase everyone's stress level.
My advice is this - the old standby - K.I.S.S. Keep It Simple Stupid. That Thanksgiving meal doesn't have to be a Martha Stewart showcase, and true holiday gifts are togetherness and family fun. And remember Victor Frankl's words,
"The last of the human freedoms is to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances."
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Self-Study Course Coming in 2009
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As a result of the workshops I held this year, I realize that many of my clients have great ideas about their dream project, but they get bogged down once they go back home to real life.
I am working on a new self-study course to help dream-seekers get to their goal. It will be a combination audioCD/workbook set that you can work on at your own speed. Right now, the planned sections include:
Part I Plan, Organize and Prioritize
Part II Find the Time
Part III Find the Money
Part IV Find the Courage
Part V Resources
Each part will contain lots of tips and ideas for success along with recommended resources to help you along the path. A couple of 30 minute coaching sessions will also be included in the package.
Now here's the question - what are your biggest hurdles in getting your dream project off the ground? I want this to be a valuable tool that addresses your real concerns and problems.
So, let me hear it. If we were having coffee in a café together right now, what would you ask me? If I said, "where did you get stuck" what would you answer? Tell me what's keeping you from that next action. Send me an e-mail by clicking here.
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Create Your Own Discipline
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I just finished listening to a podcast by Sheila Bender, an author and writing coach whom I admire very much. One sentence right at the beginning really struck me. She was talking about how writers can work their writing into their lives but her comment applies to working on any project such as your dream.
She said, "we have discipline, but it doesn't match our expectations of what we think discipline is." I actually stopped the tape and listened to that line again. How true this is.
I frequently feel like I have wasted a lot of a day doing things that are part of my life but not part of my work. Whether you work at home with interruptions, or try to squeeze your project into your "spare" time around work and family, you probably also feel frazzled or even guilty that you aren't more "organized" or able to carve out bigger chunks of time. Maybe you are even putting off working on your dream until you "have the time."
We often assume that we should be sitting at our desk "working" in order to move ahead. But, in her example, she shows how you can work anytime. Her client was a retired gentleman who spent much of his newfound freedom chauffeuring his wife around, waiting for her in Dr.'s offices, stores, etc. He felt he never had time to work on his book project.
Sheila suggested that he take "field notes" while he was waiting - jotting down those nuggets of ideas or articles or game plans that occur to you at unlikely times.
Keep a small notebook or some index cards handy in your purse, pocket or glove compartment for this purpose.
You can continue to add to that card at another time, or take it out when you are at your desk or computer and complete the idea by writing the article, outlining the plan or making the phone call.
Just jotting down notes is not what most of us would call discipline, but done on a regular basis, it becomes your own discipline and way of getting things done.
I realized that one of my disciplines is always listening to a tele-class or podcast while I walk my 2 miles each day. I also carry my little pocket tape recorder everywhere so I can record my brilliant thoughts when the universe inspires me. Somehow, that happens a lot more in places away from my desk.
If this happens to you, pay attention and take advantage of it. Make it your discipline to use those nuggets of time to take just one more step toward your dream.
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While doing research for the self-study course, I am reviewing many of the books on my shelf and I came across one of my favorite gems. This Year I Will... by M.J. Ryan. This is a general "just do it" book that addresses all those things we resolve to do. Things like getting out of debt, changing jobs, losing weight, working less, exercising more or getting organized.
Finding the time, saving the money and accomplishing your next action steps requires an understanding of what holds you back and what motivates you to move forward. If you are having trouble keeping your promises to yourself around your dream project, Ryan just might be able to help you understand why. She explores the human psyche from a practical, common sense viewpoint that gives the reader a lot of Aha moments. It's available from the book page on my website.
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