I’ve been doing some work with my coach Jane Deuber – as part of the Business Mastery Program. We’ve been honing in on our Mission. What am I put on this planet to contribute?

Working on my Mission Statement – something that explains my core…I’m amazed at once I have created the clarity around this I can’t ignore it. Opportunity is knocking all the time for me to LIVE this!

Creating Orange Slice Training and doing the work I do with students and staff in the areas of leadership development are defined by this Core. My Mission is – To shift the belief in others, that they too, can have the audacity to live a life filled with joy and purpose. A life where Possibility exists!

The Mission I have is rooted – and built upon the notion we have CHOICE in our life. Being able to uncover CHOICE with others is my work. Shifting your belief that you can have that CHOICE is what makes my heart sing.

And the Mission can’t be squelched. This week alone, I worked with two different groups where some of the conversation started to shift toward feelings of no CHOICE , no control, being stuck. It’s during those times we might believe – or try really hard to convince ourselves – we simply don’t have a choice. When in fact, sometimes acknowledging the CHOICE is hard. Like choosing to stay in a job that sucks the life out of you daily. CHOICE . Put up with It or Leave it Behind.

The economy hasn’t boosted back to employee’s having the pick of jobs – in some, maybe most markets, there aren’t jobs to be had. Still there is a CHOICE of Putting Up with It or Leave it Behind. If you consciously choose Put up with It – just acknowledge that CHOICE . There is no shame or blame. There is just a CHOICE that has been made. Today that may work. Tomorrow you might have to choose again. And no matter what you decide – YOU get to decide. I’m not debating leaving your current job and not being to find work is the best option – but it is an option whether you decide to take it or not is up to you.

If I can shift people to seeing OPTIONS – then it’s in that space we can BELIEVE in ourselves – have the AUDACITY!

I’ve become very clear in my Mission – and I love when it keeps showing up. It reinforces this is the work I need to be doing.

That’s what I’m up for – what are you up for?

This is a simple exercise you can use individually or with a group.  The purpose is to create more Joy, LIFE, Love for you – quickly!  Sometimes we believe ourselves that situations or circumstances need to drastically shift or change before we can experience the true meaning of Joy, LIFE, Love. There is just one thing that needs adjusting – our own Self-Awareness.  When we have a keen, strong sense of self — we are able to let Joy, LIFE, Love be a constant in our life.

Here’s a quick way to do this.   You need some paper, a pen, and egg timer….Okay, simple…you need 3-minutes on a clock if you don’t have a real egg timer.

Here’s what I invite you to do…For 3-minutes jot down a list of things that complete this statement: I experience Joy, LIFE, Love when….
Quickly. Go for 25. To do this just dump the mind and listen to your gut.

Ready. Go!

Now that you have your list – when was the last time you EXPERIENCED that?

• Today
• This Week
• Last Week
• Last Month
• 6 Months Ago
• 1 Year Ago
• Longer than a Year Ago

Put each of the secret ingredients — your list — into one of these categories. Now, what do you notice? Are some of the ingredients for Joy, LIFE, Love well expired or fresh as a snap pea?

To have some fresh ingredients and experience more Joy, LIFE, Love try these three things:
(1)Lean into it- it doesn’t have to be an all or nothing. The goal is to get closer to Joy, LIFE, Love each day, each moment. What might you do that allows you just to lean towards this?
(2) Be Here – be in the moment. This could be the moment that Joy, LIFE, Love just zipped passed because you were too busy to notice. Slowing down to be in the moment fully and engaged will allow you to experience more JLL.
(3) Be Intentional – create JLL for you. This might be starting your day with a 3-minute meditation on what JLL looks like for you today. Get a vivid image in your minds eye, create the intention to seek, find and notice JLL.
These 3 simple steps will also start to wire your brain to act, even in small ways, to get more JLL in your life everyday.

Can’t decide over which idea to implement – which program to plan next? Or do you need a tool to help your staff decide on the various ideas they throw your way? Here’s a simple formula…

Yep, maybe the image of the Pink Panther can really help us to decide whether we should move ahead with this idea or program or abort the mission.

Take your idea.

Now ask yourself – or your staff: What’s Positive about implementing this idea? Overall what’s it going to get us if we actually did this one?

Next…what’s Interesting about this idea? Hmmm…this is really going to get us to think – why are we choosing this over something else. It’s also looking at the unique-factor of this single idea.

Then…what’s Negative about this idea? Okay, here’s where it hits the fan. This question isn’t meant to stop us in our tracks – or kill the big idea people in your group. It just needs to provide us a dose of reality for what we might expect.

And lastly…what are the Consequences? Break the mold – this can be negative or positive…trick your brain and start to drum up the positive consequences you might experience by choosing this one. Then flip the coin and go after the negative consequences.

This quick decision-making method can be useful to do in small groups – each one preparing a separate poster (or list) for all four PINK elements – or if time is of the essence, give each group one letter to tackle P-I-N-or K…and then do a large debrief.

At the end of it – you’ll know you’ve taken into important elements that can guide you to a better decision. Who knows, you just might starting seeing PINK!

Ever wish you could create a life worth living?  A life that is full of joy?

A life that is best described:  Juicy?

Create Your Juicy Life is a practical, hands-on approach to creating just that – a life that is full, ripe and delicious!

For a limited time, I am offering the first section of this new book online to you FREE.  Simply complete the contact form with your name and email and I’ll gladly send it your way.  I can’t wait for you to start designing YOUR juicy life.

In this book, you will be provided with exercises to create your juicy life.  Take stock of your current reality – and then CHOOSE.  Notice. and Act.

This book is great if you are feeling stuck, need a nudge, or just want to experience more joy in your life.

If you could get more JOY in your life – what might that be like?  Well, now you have some practical tools to use to answer the question – and EXPERIENCE the answer.

When you are asked, “What do you want?” how do you respond?

How about this, “What do you really want?”

I’ve been listening to Michael Neill, Supercoach, and he suggests that we really only allow ourselves to “want” about 10% more than we currently have.  Think about that.  If we are staying in the comfort zone of 10% – is this truly getting us the results we want to achieve?

I say NO.

Our brains our programmed in a way that self-doubt, limitations, and dreaded reality get in the way of our DREAMS. It gets in the way of really wanting anything more than we could ever imagine for ourselves.

As a coach, I like to play BIG. I like to dream.  I like to encourage in spreading the reach WELL past 10%.  If you just want 10% more in life than what you have – you can do that on your own.

Now, if you want to unleash and go after something – something you couldn’t imagine possible because your brain wants to quickly snap you back into reality.  That message you hear – maybe all too loud – “who does she think she is?” – keeps you contained.  Keeps you stuck.

It’s like the story about the gold fish.  Swimming in his bowl.  Peering out of the bowl.  Swimming up to the edge of glass – never to get any further than his “comfort zone.”   Plunge that fish into a bath tub. Expansive waters await.  What does the fish do, swim in circles up to the outer edge of his limits – the bowl he’s use to swimming in.  Not to venture out any further than his comfort zone.  Force of habit? Force of nature?  Yes to both!

Do you want to take the plunge – or swim in the same waters?

Living a JUICY, rich and full life can be achieved by working with a coach.  Swim beyond the 10% comfort zone your brain allows.

So, What do you REALLY want?

Check out my FREE ebook – Create Your Juicy Life and start living well beyond your 10% thought capacity

What is a juicy life anyway?

It’s one that is full of energy and emotion, ideas and challenge, and it’s one in which we have decided to live with both feet in.  You know, some people approach the pool and dip a toe in – testing the waters of sorts.  I’ve seen very few people actually take the plunge after just testing it with a big toe.  It seems like the water is always too cold and there is something better to be doing than getting in a cold pool.   Now, the two feet in approach usually starts with a run or leap and blop – two feet in, followed by your entire body.  Shocking. Freezing. Invigorating.

And you spring to life! You soon realize, maybe it’s not as cold as you thought and you hang out a bit.  Or realize how refreshing and reinvigorating taking the plunge really was.  You’ve woken up!  A juicy life is one where you’re awake – free to choose, free to be, and free to take the plunge.

We are currently offering a NEW CLIENT program that includes 3-months of coaching, action and results.  Do you have something you’d like to achieve?  Just haven’t gotten to it yet?   A Coach helps you see results and develop skills to create your JUICY life.

Complete our contact form for a FREE worksheet and more information and you too can start living the Juicy Life.

Much has been written about goal setting and success.  From all that I have read I’ve come up with a simple form to help each of us achieve the success we desire.  There are 3 elements critical to goal setting and success:

1. Clarity. Being able to set you aim and focus on something specific helps you to achieve your result.  The more specific, the more likely you are to be successful with achieving your result.  First, What do you want? Get yourself really clear on what this is.  A deeper question that might be helpful to explore is Why do I want it?
2. Chunk it down. Now, I don’t need any study to show me that being able to take bite sized bites of something is easier to swallow than taking one large bite.  When a project is too big, too hairy, to scary – I don’t do anything.  Chunk your goal down into bite sized pieces.  What are you doing every day that gets you closer to your goal?
3. Action. To achieve your results, there needs to be action not just thoughts, not just “try’s”  (i.e. I’m going to try to do it) – but deliberate actions.  What are you doing?

Use the 2Day 2Achieve Worksheet to move you closer to your goal.  Action by action, day by day you will start to see what you are doing to create your own success. You can use this form at the beginning of each day to plan out what actions you will take.  Or, you can use the form at the end of the day and reflect on what two actions did you take today?  Either way you can’t go wrong when you are using this tool.

Just 2 a day.  What do you choose?

More importantly, what are you getting from the actions you’ve taken?

Today I was coaching a client and asked the question, “What’s the story you are telling yourself about that relationship?”

The Story.  Yep, the story.

I’ve been to a number of different personal development sessions where this concept comes out – Landmark Education, Coaching Certification, and the book Language and the pursuit of happiness.  This concept of story is something very powerful when you can just stand with it.  Live with it. Own it.  And then get to choose – how is it serving me?

Think about that relationship in your life where you might benefit from a deeper connection.  Maybe it’s your brother, you boss or barista at your favorite coffee shop.  What’s the story you have about that relationship?

Once you’ve become aware of the story that you have – get yourself clear about what it truly is. What if the story was written a different way?  (your brain might shift to autopilot and convince yourself it’s can’t possibly be another way than it currently is today, or it’s not possible to change – because they aren’t going to change!)  As a coach, I’m not really interesting in spending the time and energy around why it can’t change – I’m interested in “if you want the story to change, what can you do to rewrite it?”  Here’s how:

1. Create the story you want to live in.  What is the story that would make you jump for joy, throw your hands up, pee your pants because – holy crap, I never knew it could be that good.  Describe that story.  Write it down.  What is the story you want to create?
2. If you got to live in that story – what would be different for you? What does this story sound like? look like? smell like?  What does this story evoke in your heart, head and soul? (write down a few notes about this)
3. And if you had that, what would you have? It might be a fuller relationships, a sense of letting go, peace, harmony…what else might it be for you?
4. Move to action to live in this story.  Identify 25 things YOU will do to show up in a way that lives this new story. (BTW this list is about you, not the other person)

Doing this simple exercise to repair, renew, revive a relationship in your life might have a profound impact.  I don’t know if it ends happily ever after.  I just know today might be uniquely different from days in the story of the past.

What’s it worth to you to see how you can rewrite the stories of your life  - or better yet, what are you risking if you don’t?

Do you ever pay attention to how you are listening?  More importantly, what are you listening for?

I typically start my workshops off with some sort of goal setting by the participants.  I’ll ask individuals to set a goal they have for themselves as a result of attending the session.  My intention is to have them answer the dreaded what’s in it for me question.

I have the participants write this down on a 3×5 card or a giant post-it. Something they can keep in front of them during our time together.  After they have completed this, I then follow it up with these simple instructions:

“Now, listen for this as the content of the workshop starts to unfold.”

This simple instruction can create a filter, a perspective, a point of view in which to hear everything from.  It’s the easiest – and quickest – way for me to get learning to stick for individuals and tie back into the goal they have created for themselves.

When we start to LISTEN FOR something, we start to make connections.  We also start to be engaged as learners.  As learners we start creating meaning for the content that is being shared.  It’s when learners can create context and relationship where real change in performance can occur.

So, what are you listening for today?

Who knew Oprah and the Black Eyed Peas could teach us a thing or two about Employee Engagement.  I was asked today to provide an example of a short, inspiring video that could be used by an OD practitioner.  What came to mind was the viral vid that’s been circulating the web since September.

I believe this video teaches us two important lessons on engagement.  Take a look what do you see that relates to engagement here?

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1. Provide clear direction.  This was accomplished through rehearsal and practice, by the some 20,000 who chose to participate in kicking off Oprah’s 24th season.  When people are provided a clear sense of direction it’s amazing what can be accomplished.  In the workplace or on the streets in Chicago.
2. Co-create with your group.  This one I think is the biggest lesson.  After viewing an interview with the director of the video, it was clear that the Black Eyed Peas put ego aside to co-create.  In a typical rock concert the spot light is on the stage.  Here the spot light extends all the way down Michigan Ave.  They let the audience in.  They let the audience be part of the show.  Takes a confident leader to allow this, don’t you think?

Research from the Corporate Leadership Council suggests that by simply providing a clear direction to the goals of the organization can yield an increase in up to 34% in effort.  What do you think the impact to engagement is when people get to be part of the “show” and co-create with their leaders?