Feb 29 2008
Posted by Michael under Coaching, Television
Ellen talked about 15-year-old Larry King who was murdered by a classmate for being gay. She really shares how we need to make a difference and stop the hate.
Take a few minutes and listen to her message - Click Here
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Feb 29 2008
Posted by Michael under Coaching, Relationships
We all have our own baggage we carry with ourselves. I am not going to dwell in all the areas these negative feelings, ideas and thoughts can stem from. What we do about that baggage is the important part.
You have choices to make when dealing with our emotional baggage:
1. Carry it. It is your baggage so you can do what you want with it. Carry it with you everywhere you go. This will allow it to open up and surprise you in all sorts of locations such as family events, dates, and evenings with friends. It also gets very tiring carrying the baggage around because as we add more and more the heavier the load becomes. It drags us back in life, so we achieve less and less. The heavy baggage load holds us back from our hopes and dreams.
2. Wrap it up. We could always make it look pretty in a nice Gucci bag. The handles help us carry it and it looks good when it is with us. Of course, that beautiful bag just covers up a whole lot of ugly inside. In time, people are going to want to know what is inside all these nice bags we carry and what will they say when they see it? Dressing it up nice doesn’t make it much better.
3. Leave it with the porter. Sometimes you need to look at your baggage as what it is, heavy baggage! Do we really need to bring all this with us everywhere we go? Can we not learn from it and move on? Sometimes you need to open your bags, see what is inside and let it go with the porter. This will lessen your load and let you begin healing. I know it is scary when you get hurt but the only way to truly move on and heal, is to open yourself up again for possibilities.
Look at the baggage in your life? Are you tired of carrying it? Are you ready to see it for what it is worth and stop ignoring it? Are you ready to let it go so you can learn, heal and open yourself up again?
It only takes the first step…
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Feb 28 2008
Posted by Michael under Coaching, Quotes
“Worry gives a small thing a big shadow” ~ Swedish Proverb
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Feb 27 2008
Posted by Michael under Coaching, Self Reflection, Stress
Stress can help us get motivated and make things happen. Being under pressure can help us to achieve extraordinary results but too much stress can cause negative results to our work, lives and health. It is all about learning how to manage our stress that determines our success. Here are ten ways I manage my stress:
What are some things you do to let go of stress?
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Feb 26 2008
Posted by Michael under Activity, Coaching, Leadership
I was working with a client in her office last month, when I looked around and noticed it was so boring. I asked her why her office was so dull. She said she wanted to be promoted and this was how an office should look for that.
I didn’t need to ask by who’s rules she made this choice because I knew she was determining it by the company culture and year and years of old management rules. Well times have changed and to be a leader you have to be willing to change as well.
I asked her if she feels energized by her workplace. Do people feel enthused when they come to see her. She said yes, by her actions, but people tend to avoid her office. She even prefers not to be in it. So I made the bold request that she make her office fun!
She was shocked at first and hesitated at the thought. It wasn’t until she started to really decorate her office did she see the results she received. People wanted to come to talk to her more. She was even getting more work done in her newly decorated office. People even mentioned that they didn’t know much about her until she started opening up this past week the same time she changed her office.
The simple truth is an office doesn’t make a professional person, a professional person makes an office. It needs to represent who you are. You want people to get to know you, build relationships and have fun. We are so afraid to be who we are because it could keep us from getting a promotion BUT who we are is exactly what they want.
There are thousands of cookie cutter people who go along with the everyday who could be moved into boring positions. Organizations know you need to find leaders who are different, personable and willing to bring change to move your company along.
I want everyone to add one fun item to their office this week. Regardless of what your office looks like now, add one new fun item this week and see what happens…
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Feb 25 2008
Posted by Michael under Coaching, Quotes, Sex and the City
“As we drive along this road called life, occasionally a person will find themselves a little lost. And when that happens, I guess you have to let go of the coulda, shoulda, woulda, buckle up and just keep going.”
Carrie, Sex and the City
The Sex and the City movie full movie trailer has hit the internet. Check it out here!
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Feb 22 2008
Posted by Michael under Coaching, Fitness
Do you remember my fitness goal for this year? Well I signed up for the Expedition Everest Challenge. It is a 5k race with an obstacle course and then a fun scavenger hunt. When you finish you get a medal and get to attend a very cool after party in Disney’s Animal Kingdom. This is the first year they are doing it so I am sure the medal will be extra special and the whole event will be a good time. This is also a fun way to get me motivated about fitness. I get to spend the next months training for it but not having to over do because it is only a 5K. All the training will pay off with a fun event and celebration! I also get to cross off getting a medal for finishing a race on my life list. So what is a goal you currently have and what could you do to motivate yourself to keep working towards it? What will you do to celebrate when you achieve your goal?
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Feb 21 2008
Posted by Michael under Activity, Coaching, Self Reflection
Just a simple activity to help you change your perspective on one thing in your life: Think of one thing in your life that you currently blame someone else for. Now think, what if you took responsibility for that one thing, how would things change? What could you do with your new control over this one thing?
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Feb 20 2008
Posted by Michael under Article, Coaching, PlanetOut
Please take moment to read my article about “How to Get Lucky”
Leave me a comment here and let me know what you think!
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Feb 19 2008
Posted by Michael under Coaching, Self Reflection
I really believe excuses are lies. It can be hard to be honest with others and with yourself. It is easier to give an excuse so you can not truly take responsibility for the situation. It may be easier but is it the most healthy? When a friend asks us to attend an event we do not want to go to, we make an excuse so not to hurt their feelings. Is that really why we do it or are we making an excuse so they will not dislike us? Are we giving an excuse to save our friend or to save our own face? Excuses come back to us choosing not to be responsible for our own personal choices. Wouldn’t your friend not mind if you were honest with them? Don’t we want our friends to be honest with us? When we are honest, the people in our lives learn more about us and how to better interact with us. By making excuses, we are keeping people from really learning about ourselves and truly developing relationships with us.How about the excuses we make to ourselves? We tell ourselves it is OK we didn’t start our exercise program this week because we had a long day. We tell ourselves it is OK we didn’t get invited to our friend’s wedding because we really didn’t want to go. We tell ourselves it is OK we didn’t get that job, we didn’t want it anyway. It is easier for us to lie to ourselves about a situation than to admit our true emotions about the situation. We don’t want to exercise says we blow it off. We are disappointed and hurt about the friend’s wedding but we would rather ignore the hurt instead of heal it. We wanted the job and we are sad we didn’t get it, why can’t we be sad about it for a bit before moving on. Why can’t we just admit the truth to ourselves?Because the truth forces us to be real, open, and vulnerable. We have to face ourselves and others. We have to be held accountable for our choices and emotions. It is easier to push everything under the rug but trust me, it all comes out in the end. It may seem hard to deal with it now, but it will be better for us in the long run. For now on when you hear yourself making an excuse, think about why you are saying it? As time goes on and on, you will learn it is easier and so much healthier to tell the truth.
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