“Add energy, inspire hope, and blow the coals into a useful flame…”

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

Many people just need that inspiration to get them going; to wake them up. Leadership is about inspiring – blowing the coals! What will you do today to inspire? And what will you do tomorrow and beyond to keep the flame going?

Set Goals; Stay Happy, Disciplined, and Succeed!

It’s one thing to set goals – it’s another to stay disciplined, and happy, while achieving them!

Have you ever gotten too attached to the goal and forgotten to enjoy the ride? You’re not alone if you said yes. Finding that balance between being focused on the goal, but not going “over the line” and becoming too attached, is the secret to achieving goals, and remaining happy while we’re at it.

Staying aware of our thoughts is the key. Let your emotions be your trigger to alert you, whether you’re enjoying the journey – or not! Adjust your thoughts about your activity, and adjust your activity if necessary. Let’s take losing weight as an example, the goal is to lose 20 pounds but there is no motivation to get there. The thoughts are, “exercise is boring, I never see any results, I’ve already tried that before.” How can you turn it around and enjoy the process of losing weight? Realize that you have all the power, the power to succeed or not. Change your thoughts to achieve your goals. We are the only ones that can guarantee our own happiness and success!

Stess Less This Holiday Season

The best gift you can give yourself this holiday season is to not get stressed out!

Here are 4 tips that will make a huge difference:

1) Simplify. Cut a few things out if you’re feeling you don’t have enough time, money, etc.

2) Watch your thoughts – we get hung up on thinking “I don’t have enough.” Switch it to “I have enough time, money, etc. Our thoughts are what drive us crazy – not what is actually happening to us.

3) Don’t lose sight of what’s important: family, friends, sharing time together – being happy! Be present in the moment and grateful for the friends and family you have.

4) ‘Elf Yourself’, or better yet, ‘Elf’ someone else, its sure to make you laugh! http://www.elfyourself.com/

Enjoy the holiday you create for yourself!

What role do you play in life?

Why is it that we get so hung up on everyone else. We feel responsible for everyone else’s life, or, we think others are responsible for us. When people get married, they think it’s now their spouse’s responsibility to make them happy. When they get hired, it’s the workplace and everyone else, like the boss, who should create the right environment. Some of us are still hanging on to our parents being responsible. Obviously, we all play a role, but isn’t it ourselves who play the biggest role in our lives?

What role will you play? What kind of day, week, month, life – will you create for yourself?

“You dance in my heart where no one sees you but I do. And that vision becomes this art.” -Rumi

What are you imagining? What are you creating that no one else even knows yet? Our ability to visualize is a great gift – and to create your vision is your art. Dream, imagine, visualize – dance in your heart… and have the courage to create!

Can you visualize your business (and/or your life) where you want it to be? What will it be like? Who will be there? How will they be? How will you feel? What is your intent – who are you serving/helping?

Expand or Contract?

“The most basic choice we have in life is whether to expand or contract, whether to bring our creative and expressive energies out into the world in positive or negative ways. No matter what our circumstances, we have the power to choose our directions. “ (The Life You Were Born to Live by Dan Millman)

“In each of us are heroes; speak to them and they will come forth.” -Anonymous

It’s like with the two wolves – which one will you feed? Will you speak to the hero in yourself and inspire him/her to emerge, to come forth, to create what you were born to do?

Enjoy the day you’ve created for yourself!

Two Wolves

This was forwarded to me today and I thought it was so powerful that I wanted to share!

Two Wolves

One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people.

He said, “My son, the battle is between two wolves inside us all.

“One is Evil -  It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.

“The other is Good -  It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith.”

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather: “Which wolf wins?”

The old Cherokee replied, “The one you feed.”

Are we really free?

Everyone talks about freedom. All around the world different people, different races, different countries are all fighting for freedom. But what is freedom? In America, we speak of living in a free country. But are we really free? Are we free to be who we really are? The answer is no, we are not free. True freedom has to do with the human spirit – it is the freedom to be who we really are.

“Who stops us from being free? We blame the government, we blame the weather, we blame our parents, we blame religion, we blame God. Who really stops us from being free? We stop ourselves. What does it really mean to be free? Sometimes we get married and we say that we lose our freedom, then we get divorced and we are still not free. What stops us? Why can’t we be ourselves?”  –don Miguel Ruiz, The Four Agreements®

This is my favorite part of the entire book. Think about the Accountability Ladder and your life. Where are you on the ladder? On the bottom rungs – Waiting and hoping? Blaming and complaining? Or maybe not even aware?  Or on the upper rungs: Acknowledging reality, taking ownership, seeking solutions and making it happen?

TAKE IT – it’s yours. It’s your life to enjoy!

And remember to Thank a Veteran Today!

Calling All College Students! Video Project Opportunity!

This is an exciting opportunity to create engaging and entertaining training videos for our firm! These projects will be great portfolio pieces! Candidates should possess creativity, great communication skills, attention to detail and be highly organized.

The projects consist of two videos. The first is a video explaining a tool that we’ve created and will be used by clients to train their employees. The second video is on customer service tips, this will also be used by clients to train their employees. Both of the videos need to be engaging, humorous, and look professional! We have all the content created and need to present it in a coherent manner in which the people watching the video will walk away with the necessary skills to implement the content. We’ll look to your video expertise and story-boarding to come up with a good sequence of events. You’ll work with the actors for the videos, as well as the owner of the company, and the Creative Director.

The completed projects are due by January 15th, 2010. Use in your portfolio and a solid work reference is granted upon successful completion. UCS will own the finished product. More details will need to be worked out. Teams are welcomed to apply.

To apply:

Send a letter of intent, your resume, and your portfolio to barb.rauscher@unlimitedcoaching.com or call 585.248.9322.

“You’ll teach by being yourself.” – Sheelagh Mawe

We’ve all heard the saying, walk the talk; what talk are you walking? What messages are you sending? Do as I say – not as I do? It’s a fact that people learn much more by watching, and copying our actions, not by the words we pass on to them.

Take a few minutes each morning to hold up the mirror. Choose your thoughts and your actions so that they align with your authenticity. Visualize the image of what you want to project – remember, you are teaching everyone around you!