January 19, 2011: Renewed

Heaveno!

Wanna an infusion of energy or clarity?

Clean something.



Seriously!  I have been working slowly but steadily this past month on reclaiming my office.  Today was a big milestone, because my desk is clean and organized and ALL of my crap is filed - not piled - (Ang, well, she doesn't get as much time in our office so, she's still got a pile... DOH!)  Anyhow, it felt SOO good to get to this level of clean and organized.  I feel so much less cluttered mentally than last night when writing you.  Thank you for your kind and gentle words.  I definitely felt the love and had a warm smile on my face when I finished reading your comments.



Today was also a good day because it was my coaching day!  I have 2 coaching clients that call in weekly and 2 that call in monthly.  Wednesdays are currently my coaching day, so I got to coach all day today, clean in between (and watch my Arsenal handle Leeds United in the FA Cup 3rd Round after surviving last match by the skin of their teeth).  I coached from my office, from my couch, from my back patio.  Man, it was just AWESOME.



Can I just tell you how much I love coaching?  I first started coaching in 2002 and I LOVED it, but it wasn't the right time to pursue it.  Last year, after Bella was born, I kind of saw the writing on the wall... I was going to need to learn how to earn money from home so I could take care of her and still feel like I was contributing financially (if to nothing other than my whopping student loan and tiny retirement plan).  So, I self-published Bella's Blessings; a Humble Story of Providence, hoping to make a little money and raise a little money, and I started coaching again.  Well, a year later, I've only sold a whopping 201 books (not much to live on or contribute, but at least it's a start!), and I have 5 clients (one I travel to work with her once a month in person).  Hey, it's a start!



My favorite thing about coaching is that we simply cannot see ourselves as clearly and objectively as another can.  Maybe there are a select few walking the planet who can be the unbiased observer of their experience, but for the rest of us, allowing another person to get in 'under the hood' and see things from an objective, unbiased position allows for blind spots to be easily brought to light.  The light bulbs that go on on the other end of the phone while working with someone on an area really important to them, man, it is just THE BEST.  I can HEAR IT go on.  BING!  What a feeling of gratitude at the end of a call to KNOW I've made a positive difference in the life of not just another person, but that difference instantly ripples out to the people they interact with... family, co-workers, the whole bit.  Too cool.

Okay, okay.  Lastly, I have written about this before, but what a difference a day can make.  Listen to what a completely different place I am writing from tonight!  24 hours.  Cause breakthroughs in others lives all day and I guess I'm bound to cause a breakthrough in mine too if I want to be coaching from a space of authenticity and integrity.  I was more present and ease with Ang and Ali tonight than last night, that's for sure.  See, the ripples are good for me too!  :-)

So, if you had a bad day, just think, if a guy out in southern Cali can turn it around in a day, in the midst of losing his little girl only 3 months ago, so can you!  You and I get a whole new day tomorrow!  Then, if we underutilize or even blow tomorrow, well, chances are good we'll be back Friday to try again!

NO guarantees, mind you, but I say the above to hopefully give you hope if hope is currently missing.  It was missing for me yesterday, but not today.  Now don't get me wrong, I got some crazy bad news today on TWO FRONTS regarding the conference I am planning for late March/April, but one thing I have learned from this whole journey and now coach others on is this:

The events / circumstances of my life don't have the final say, I do.

Said another way, I give very little say to the events and circumstances in my life.  They are a rather small percentage of what determines in my head what is possible.  No matter what happens, I always get to choose how I want to relate / respond to any event or circumstance.  So, inside that, I try to choose wisely, because I know I am the one choosing.

For example, I found out today that the hotel hosting our conference will not be able to process our members' discount code on their website FOR THE NEXT MONTH.  Now, I don't know what world they are living in that anything takes a month to fix online, but ALL of my marketing pieces including my website drive people to the hotel website to register.  None of my members will be able to book their hotel for the next month at the rate I promised them.

When I heard this I literally started laughing out loud to my convention manager.  I asked her how many heads rolled for THAT blunder!  Seriously, someone must have REALLY screwed something up to have them off line for discounts for 30 days!  That's like ETERNITY online! LOL.  The news was so stunningly BAD, I literally just had to laugh.  I mean, you couldn't have told me that could happen; I simply wouldn't believe you.  Now, I don't have a clue how I'm going to deal with this on my end, but as an entrepreneur, I think that my job description really is "Chief Problem Solver."  So, it's really just par for the course.  I know that, as my mom loves to say, I always land on my feet, so I'll make it work - it won't be perfect, but what ever is?  I don't NEED to stress out about it.  I could, of course, but that is MY choice, it's not a requirement.

Do you stress out or get triggered by things automatically?  Try "not" doing it for one week.  See if you can!  It's not easy.  It is simple, but not easy.  We tend to wire ourselves for "if - then" clauses... i.e. if Johnny does X then I will get mad.  I used to do that with Ali a lot, and I'm really happy to say that I have really worked at not getting automatically triggered by a 4.5 year old for being 4.5!  LOL.

Who triggers you?  Why not abstain from "getting triggered" for a week, or even just a day!  See if you can, and if you do, see if it makes any difference FOR YOU.  We can't change anyone else (after all, can someone change YOU against YOUR will?), but we can always change ourselves.  What a gift that is.

Lastly, if you think having me as your coach might be right for you, I'd be honored to talk further about it.  Just reach me at timothy@thedivineplanet.com.  Since you're from the blog, if we work together, I'll donate 50% of my fee to PUCK as well.  I'll leave it at that.  Thanks for remaining by our side through this journey.  We still feel blessed through it all.

God night.