Articles
Keeping an eye on the prize (and the road)
Three words: Ophthalmic nurse truckers. Feel like you’ve seen and heard it all yet? Not even close. I love uncollapsing distinctions. My business partner Lisa is a hard-core business strategist…and a sultry tanguera. My husband is a corporate fund-raising genius who can drum Zeppelin’s The Ocean like it’s his…dare I say it? Job.
These are but a couple of people that I know who would love to somehow conjoin their loves with their work…and find ways to infuse the passions they feel for their loves in the everyday workday.
AND there is a merry band of ophthalmic nurses…(could this be more specific and specialized ?) that have found a way to merge their love of their cause (compassionate eye care for all) and their love of the road (I hear strains of the Everley Brothers…is that just me?).
So, imagine this: CNIB identifies the need for a public service for remote communities in northern Ontario. Specifically, eye assessments and treatments of certain diagnosed conditions. But, how do you provide the expertise of highly skilled specialists in places like Moosonee and Kapuskasing? No problem. Enlist the services of ophthalmologists from various Ontario cities and cart them around for eight months of the year in an 18-wheeler retrofitted like a medical clinic. They will service some patients by fitting them with new lenses. They will prescribe drops for early-stage glaucoma. And some will even perform on-the-spot surgery for minor conditions.
How do they get from A to B? The answer? Highly impassioned and qualified nurses who not only provide outstanding care for their patients, but ALSO have their truckers’ licenses so they can drive the whole show from town to town. HONK HONK. In my mind, I imagine the CNIB Eye Van missive goes something like this (and may well be something unrequited here for this trucking mama…though parallel parking often seems thrilling enough for me):
I’m gonna back off the hammer, for now. I’ve got a fat load of purpose and I’m going to have to log some z’s before next clinic.
Down’n gone.
CNIB has connected with Aviva Community Fund…a cool and novel way to reward fresh and innovative ideas (because let’s face it…golf classics are a bit of a snore) with new bucks. And boy howdy, is it needed.
Bravo, bravo, bravo to all of you ophthalmic trucking nurses! For finding a way to make it happen and for finding a way to make us care! We vote for you!
And for us mere mortals (or VW sedan drivers): as part of my quintessential questions, and even before I start coaching people, I ask them to identify what is so easy for them that they don’t even know it’s their gift.
So, I ask, what are YOU always being thanked for? How can you find a way to make that part of you that simply revel in, to merge with what you simply do…and even much much more?!
A cheesecake-baking personal trainer? Bring it! A eukele-playing librarian? Uh HUH!
Is there something ELSE that you’ve often wondered about but don’t quite GET how it fits tidily into your plan? (Hint…this may well be your personal brand of genius…RUN…don’t walk…towards it).
Check out my free training on the 5 Shifts Our Clients Use to Overcome the Imposter Complex and Grow their Income and their Impact
Where I pull back the curtain on five shifts to start raising voices, rates, and hands all while being the kind, congruent, and authentic leader I know you to be.
The Reframe
When I transferred from my old web site to my new (still shiny) site, I lost all of my emails. Every…last…one. Let me repeat: Every…last…one. After doing what every self-respecting Gen-X’er would do (going on Facebook to wittily bemoan my situation, which oddly enough, didn’t resolve the problem), I moved through the grieving process pretty quickly (am getting good at this):
Denial – No no, I’m sure it’s all still there. Let me close and open Outlook five to 25 more times…that oughta bring them back.
Anger – “Hello domain host provider…please tell me why my complete inbox has vanished and your explanation had better not start with ‘we told you to back everything up before your domain changeover’ because I am a woman on the verge here…oh no you didn’t just say that…let me speak to your supervisor… (note to self: be careful of this tendency to haul off on poor customer service reps…karma is a strange and powerful force)
Bargaining – Ok ok…if I don’t have the emails in my inbox, at LEAST let my sent emails be there….AAAACK (and back up to denial for a visit)
Depression – No words here…just the sound of me hitting the Hallowe’en candy but hard
Acceptance – I guess they’re all really gone. For good. Sigh.
Here’s where I thrive….it’s after acceptance. It’s my stage 6.
The reframe – Wow. Empty inbox. Huh. No more flagged important emails. I wonder how important they really were. Chances are, if I didn’t tend to them right away, they probably weren’t going to alter the course of anyone’s life. I literally have no one to answer to right now. This feels kinda nice. Freeing. Expansive. Spacious. Maybe I’ll make those calls I’ve been meaning to make…
Not bad for an hour and a half’s work of self-talk, eh?
I love nothing more than a good ol’ fashioned reframe…and let me be clear about what a reframe is NOT. It is NOT rooted in some type of Pollyana-esque eternal optimism, which can be painful to behold in large amounts (though a healthy dose of that never hurt anyone).
No, it’s actually deeply rooted in one magnificent trait: Curiosity. If this is a weak muscle for you, give it a stretch…especially if you fancy yourself an entrepreneur….you’ll need it.
It is quite simple and goes something like this:
“I wonder what’s available to me now?”
Want to give it a whirl? Some scenarios for you to try it out with:
Your boss wants to move you out of marketing and into sales. You hate sales.
Your business partner decides the new joint venture won’t work for her.
The book that lives in your heart simply can’t seem to find its way on to the pages. You are starting to think about scrapping the whole idea.
I see glorious possibility in all of these situations…if it’s hard for you, give me a call. We will find what is newly available, right and resonant for you…and move you into action.
Check out my free training on the 5 Shifts Our Clients Use to Overcome the Imposter Complex and Grow their Income and their Impact
Where I pull back the curtain on five shifts to start raising voices, rates, and hands all while being the kind, congruent, and authentic leader I know you to be.
And, LAUNCH!!!!
Welcome to my new website! I am so thrilled that you’re here. Really, truly and sincerely. This “space” is an amalgam of tons of thought, designs and words turfed, and new possibilities realized and embraced. It marks the end of me hiding behind a clever concept and invites all that I am becoming. In this way, I am now free to live my own brand…sigh…that’s truly lovely for me to write. Getting to this launch was not without its own unique set of challenges. Not from my peeps, mind you. D’NA showed up in their glory and did the design, development, and photography in wicked time like the pros that they are. I was the challenge. My Type A side clashed mightily with my Type L (Lazy) side. At times I wanted to manage every minute detail and at other times, I wanted to just eat Cherry Garcia and have someone else sort out who and what I am.
I had intended to launch the new site by September 28 (as a birthday gift to myself). I am a month late. I am okay with that…ONLY because Type A reminds me what we’ve learned about launching can be shared with you all.
How to launch anything (your business, your book, your BIG idea, your plan, your new direction etc)
Connect with the WHY of what you’re about to do. What is the desired emotion of accomplishing what you’re about to launch. What’s it going to give you? Set your intention in stone and then don’t let it drop.
There are many steps to take when launching anything. You will get bogged down in the details if you so choose. Recognize that this is your prerogative. And as you put up road block after road block, ask yourself why you’re still in your own damned way. Then politely ask yourself to please get the hell off the road…progress wants to happen.
Stop waiting to be READY. You’re smart. You’ve done your due diligence. You know this idea of yours is viable, resonant and that the desired emotion gives you goosebumps. You are probably already 90% there. That’s an A plus grade…good enough to get into most colleges and universities for goodness sake, but not good enough for you, eh? GET OVER YOURSELF! The world wants you to unleash your own brand of genius on us all! If you wait for 100% ready the boat may have sailed…and you’re stuck alone at the port, champagne bottle unsmashed. Reserve the word “ready” for cooking chicken to make sure you’re not poisoning family and friends with salmonella.
Trust your instincts…you are wiser than you know. AND be prepared to turn on a dime… As Seth Godin says in his book, The Dip, “Fail fast.” Find the way to be attached to the plan and yet, NOT à la fois. This is the secret of the successful entrepreneur who knows all about dichotomies. Know that you can always reframe, repurpose and reinvent. Version 2.0 is always slicker, sharper, smarter and savvier. But there needed to be a 1.0 first. The heart of the idea will remain…it's the execution that may evolve.
So with this, I invite you to connect with what’s sitting at the very top of your heart…the thing that is ready to bust on out. It really wants to.
Again, welcome to my very own launch party. I am thrilled that you are here…please poke around, check out the pages and meet some people who have showed up for interviews.
And no party is complete without a loot bag…so before you go, please take this with you: to celebrate the launch of my website, I am offering twenty-five people who want to LAUNCH something (anything…big or small) a 45-minute coaching session. Just contact me and we can set it up. Please tell your friends.
Thanks for coming.
TG
PS – Oh...and while we’re celebrating, my dear friend Catherine Porter just launched her new column in The Toronto Star today – Woman’s Work. Funny, quirky, whip-smart and sleep-deprived…you’ll love her too.
Check out my free training on the 5 Shifts Our Clients Use to Overcome the Imposter Complex and Grow their Income and their Impact
Where I pull back the curtain on five shifts to start raising voices, rates, and hands all while being the kind, congruent, and authentic leader I know you to be.
C’mon baby finish what you started!
I am all about starting, launching and getting going. Propulsion thrills me. Velocity thrills me. “Your best you. Starting now”, remember? So, while I’m a big starter, I’m also pretty fascinated by those who are big FINISHERS. Enter the fabulous, inspiring and über-cool Dyana Valentine. Her motto? “Helping self-starters self-finish: one project at a time”.
She’s been on my radar for a while, though it wasn’t until she issued a challenge that I decided to say “howdy”. Her challenge : 40 Days of Our Bodies - a commitment to tending to our bodies for 40 days and noticing the shifts that arise.
I decided to jump on in with committing to 40 days of yoga. No small feat, right? Hatha = hard. Here’s the kicker though. I LOVE yoga. Making room for a daily practice is a challenge, yes, but I started to feel that I was cheating myself out of the substance of this exercise…kinda like a vegan giving up liver and onions for Lent. So I looked a little deeper and I didn’t much care for what I saw…which is precisely when I discovered what I had to do.
On October 3rd, I decided to give up the smokes. FOR GOOD. Yup…that’s right. I had been smoking “socially” for the past two years (again). It pains me to type those words: inner monologue goes something like “you should have known better”; “how can you coach people towards self-care if you weren’t walking the talk”; “yucky stinky” and so on.
But self-imposed judgment doesn’t ever work too well with me (which is why I hadn’t managed to REALLY quit before). Here’s what does work for me:
A good and resonant reason…love. I am 37. My mother died at 59. I am madly in love with my family…and I do not want to cheat them out of ME and what I bring to this life. Ain’t nothing more resonant for me than love.
A good challenge…with accountabilities built in. I shared with Dyana and she's been a valued source of support, inspiration and giggles. I knew she wouldn’t let me fall. And she won’t.
Am on Day 20. Half-way through Ms D’s challenge…and 20 days into a new and freer chapter in my blessed life.
What do you need to be finished with so that you can get started on your new path?
Check out my free training on the 5 Shifts Our Clients Use to Overcome the Imposter Complex and Grow their Income and their Impact
Where I pull back the curtain on five shifts to start raising voices, rates, and hands all while being the kind, congruent, and authentic leader I know you to be.
S-u-c-c-e-s-s
What a fabulous word…it’s succulent, sexy and yet somehow soulful. Yes, I am a sucker for alliterations, but I do love this word and its ambiguities. You can’t utter it without inferring “yes” and yet, the inherent question is “what do you need to say yes to in order to succeed?”. Early morning musings after a late night, to be sure…but I do wonder…what is success to you? To some, it may be all about the benjamins. For others, a spiritual renaissance. While I am still blissfully defining and refining my own version of truth about success, I do know that by all accounts, last night’s Coach Buffet in Montreal was indeed a success. How do I know? I saw it in the faces of the clients and coaches, felt the energy in my scalp and toes, and read the glowing feedback forms from everyone involved.
There is no one secret to success (just google that and you’ll see that there are ostensibly 106,000,000 secrets). But for Coach Buffet, there were 3 very good reasons…none of them a secret:
WHAT - It is an excellent idea. Props here to Lisa for conceiving of it…she asked me to partner early along and we coached each other to the place of making it happen, but success does indeed come from innovation. People are hungry to learn about coaching and Coach Buffet is the perfect place to sample different “flavours” of coaching styles. Lisa was right…as she often is.
HOW - We worked hard…this is a core value for both of us. We clocked several hundred hours executing the strategy. Period. And managed to keep it fun and are still the best of friends.
WHO – We needed two types of people to say "yes" to this event to make it a sucess and we are ever-so-grateful:
a) We promised high-calibre Montreal coaches and by George, we delivered high-calibre Montreal coaches. Julie, Amanda, Martine, Marie-Claude, Michele, Roch, Anne, Ian, Minnie, Corry , Louis and Alain are some of the finest coaches I’ve had the pleasure of working with. They helped promote the event and showed up last night with full intention of serving the participants’ needs. Their powerful coaching (even in short increments) absolutely blew the top off of the joint.
b) The participants who came out…a beautiful group of pioneers. This had never been done before and yet they trusted the guiding force of their intuition that there was something for them in this evening. And resoundingly, it looks like they got what they came for. Bravo to the fearless and the brave early adopters!!!
So, I leave Montreal this morning, unabashedly basking in the glow of success for a job well done…and excited to refine for Toronto’s Coach Buffet on November 17th. We do hope you'll come out, hungry for possibility and even, if you can imagine, just a little bit more.
Check out my free training on the 5 Shifts Our Clients Use to Overcome the Imposter Complex and Grow their Income and their Impact
Where I pull back the curtain on five shifts to start raising voices, rates, and hands all while being the kind, congruent, and authentic leader I know you to be.
Thanksgiving
You’ve been here often enough to know that I am ALL about gratitude. For rejoicing in the many gifts that I’ve been given and hopefully spreading that gratitude around. So, of COURSE, Thanksgiving is one of my favourite holidays of the year. What’s not to love? Cool crisp days, warm cozy homes filled with the smells of sage and onion stuffing, wine, family, autumnal decorations and a festive note in our hearts. Here’s the problem. We gorge. We overdo it. Too much stuffing. Too much wine. Too much pressure to pull it all off. Heck, even too much family (yup, I dared say it….now please read on for the reframe). What I mean here is that it’s a hectic, crazy blur. Look outside your window right now…do you see any life? NO, because everyone’s on their couch rubbing their bellies with the phones turned off and watching the Seinfeld marathon on TV Tropolis. It was all too much to handle.
There must be another way. A softer, more moderate display of our gratitude for what we all have in abundance. Other ways to tell family that we love them and that we care: more frequent (and shorter?) visits. A little less butter on the turkey skin (uh-huh…1200 calories per serving…we did the math). One less bottle of wine. A little more chatting and one less side dish.
I am grateful for much…and choose to tune into it all on a daily basis, rather than binging on it over one weekend in October.
And now, I’m off to make a sandwich and see what the gang in Manhattan’s up to these days…but will leave my phone on in case family wants to talk.
Check out my free training on the 5 Shifts Our Clients Use to Overcome the Imposter Complex and Grow their Income and their Impact
Where I pull back the curtain on five shifts to start raising voices, rates, and hands all while being the kind, congruent, and authentic leader I know you to be.