Coaches! (of course).

Read Tannette Johnson-Elie’s great article: Business Coaches Can Give Entrepreneurs Advice, Motivation at JSOnline. You might pay particular attention to the 10th paragraph.

Oh, the joys of office skullduggery. Who said what, to whom. Who’s getting that special project and who’s getting shut out - and why. Who’s maneuvering for that potential promotion and who’s going to get their fingers burned if they don’t watch out.

It can be tempting and easy to get caught up in the trench warfare of workplace politics. And it’s not a difficult activity to justify - after all, you’ve got to keep your finger on the pulse of what’s going on, right? But swimming with the corporate barracudas has some serious downsides to consider, as well.

For starters, much of what passes for information is simply one-sided gossip and uninformed rumormongering. Plus, like any other game or soap opera, it takes a large investment of time to keep up with it - so much so that you could even find yourself neglecting the very work you’re paid to do. And with that investment of time comes equally large emotional and personal investments, and the accompanying stress they create.

Finally, while being part of the cubical confab may make you feel connected and important, what it’s actually likely to be doing is making you an inefficient and distracted worker who’s more concerned with winning the local game, regardless of the greater cost, than taking the broader view and doing what’s best for your career and for the company. And if you don’t think the higher ups will notice this or that it will affect your career, you’re dangerously mistaken.

Yes, you do need to remain both informed and connected. But you need to be smart and professional about it, as well. So how can you effectively deal with office politics and use the grapevine for your own benefit, without getting caught in the web of deceit, petty feuds and professional distractions? Here are three things you should consider when dealing with these issues: Read Post

Being rich is having money; being wealthy is having time. - Margaret Bonnano

Sometimes it’s hard to believe we all have the same 24 hours/day and same 7 days/week. While some people seem pretty organized and on top of things, many of us find ourselves running out of time. At the end of the day, there are still so many items on our to-do list and we don’t feel like we’ve accomplished all that much. We thought technology would ease our time pressures, but with overflowing email accounts and lost hours surfing cyberspace, it’s done just the opposite. Then juggling our work and personal lives seems to make it impossible to ever get control of our time.

If you feel like you are a slave to the clock, you’re not alone. Time management books, classes, and even software are plentiful and among some of the most popular how-to subjects. They offer myriad solutions to an age-old problem. Maybe you’ve read some of the books or taken some classes only to find you slip back into your old habits.

In order to master your time, you’ll need to take a little time to plan your strategy so that you can end your stress-filled days. I know it doesn’t seem like you have time for one more thing, but this is a top priority and will bring you back to more control of your time. You’ll need to create a schedule not only to include what you intend to accomplish, but for unexpected interruptions, most of which cannot be avoided. When we don’t leave space for those surprises, we wind up angry, frustrated, and feeling even more out of control of our time.

Here are some key solutions that I have found to be very effective. Follow these 8 essential ingredients to master your time: Read Post

Do you often find yourself making a commitment to do something, then not doing it and making excuses instead? We tend to do this more often with ourselves than others. We are less likely to break commitments with our clients, co-workers, friends, or family. If we say we will do something, we are pretty sure we will stick to that agreement.

Then what happens when we make commitments to ourselves and then break them? Why do we hold ourselves as less important than others? Think about this. Do you make commitments to yourself like exercising every day, or practicing meditation, or doing some action item on your list that will take you closer to a goal? And then time runs out, and you don’t do what you said you would do, and make excuses, rationalizations, and bargains. You might say, “Well I didn’t walk a half hour today, so I’ll walk one hour tomorrow.”

Take a look at what commitments you make with yourself that you seem to break a lot. How important are these agreements? Will they make a difference in your life? Will they help you reach your goals? Sometimes all we have to do is one thing every day to move toward our goals. But we even sabotage that small effort.

Catch yourself when you’re breaking a commitment. Read Post

It is nice to assume everyone had a happy childhood filled with joy and laughter. Nurturing parents doted over every little accomplishment, offering words of praise and encouragement.

In a perfect world this is exactly how things would be. Unfortunately our world is far from perfect as are the people in it. Each of us has our own strengths and weaknesses, our proud moments and the ones we are ashamed of.

When you really consider how childhood unfolds, even under the best of circumstances, it is amazing we emerge from it as productive adults at all. Too much doting and we are incapable of coping with adversity. Too much abuse and we learn to be guarded and distrustful. How do parents find the happy medium that teaches us resolve and determination balanced with love and compassion? And how do we manage to function in a world where just growing up can be far more challenging that it would initially seem?

1. Revisit Your Inner Child Read Post

The ancient Greeks believed the human psyche was responsible for behavior. It embodied the concepts of soul, self, and mind. Another way to view the psyche is as the forces that influence a person’s personality, thoughts, and behaviors.

Sigmund Freud believed there were three components to the psyche, called id, super-ego, and ego. Id is described as instinctual drives that are part of the unconscious mind. The super-ego is the conscious internalization of forces viewed as morality and societal norms. The ego is described as a conscious integration of the super-ego and id. Freud believed that neurosis occurred when there was a conflict between them.

The psyche could be viewed as those beliefs that cause a person to behave in certain ways. It incorporates thoughts, feelings, prejudices, and fears.

As many people seek self-improvement and personal growth, they run into difficulties because they may not fully understand what is important to them. Read Post

Let’s face it - we can all use a little help when it comes to streamlining our lives. But improving productivity problems can be a bit of a paradox. We’re so busy that our lives tend to get clogged up with tasks left undone, half-digested projects and poorly thought out systems, which impairs our productivity. But because of all these obstacles, we’re too busy make the time to uncover all the best tips, ideas and tricks that can help unblock our flow.

Luckily, making life easier for you is my job. And I’ve compiled a list of some of the best places to go for the best tips, tools and resources for improving productivity at home, at work, dealing with technology and more. Read Post

It is virtually impossible to achieve any sort of work life balance without the assistance of a reliable support network. Today’s busy lives virtually demand you engage the help of others if you hope to reach your goals. Your support network may consist of trusted friends, family members, clergy, counselors, child care professionals, and even pet sitters. Long gone are the days when you were able to attend to every one of life’s details personally. In order to be fair to yourself and your family, you must be able to delegate some of your responsibilities to others.

Take the first steps in easing up pressure by hiring a gardener, a housekeeper, a pool maintenance professional, or anyone else who you can afford to take some of the load off of your shoulders. Ridding yourself of daily chores frees up your precious time so you can use it where it is most important – like playing in the park with your kids.

There are a number of other types of support you need in order to assure your ongoing physical and mental health. Read Post

“The secret to life is to know when enough is enough.”

- Dr. Vincent Ryan

I know you know when enough is enough. Or do you? Do you ever find yourself complaining that you need more or want more of something? Time, money, love, space, material possessions, happiness–what’s your “never enough”?

We continually pursue more, thinking more is better, more will make us happier. We work harder thinking if we’re more productive we’ll make more money. Instead, if we slowed down and took more time to refresh ourselves, we’d probably be more productive with a lot less effort and time. We buy more stuff, only to find the thrill is gone when we get home, and now we have more stuff to maintain and store. Read Post

“The key to life is accepting challenges.

Once someone stops doing this, he’s dead.”

– Bette Davis

One of the great keys to personal growth in this life is the ability to face challenges and meet them head-on. Easier said than done, because facing and meeting challenges involves overcoming fear – fear of embarrassment, or fear of failure.

The purpose of challenge is to give you greater experiences and to broaden your perspective. We become pigeon-holed into one way of thinking without having our beliefs challenged.

Challenge plays an extremely important role when it comes to character. Character is not necessarily created by facing challenges, but rather it is revealed by them. We may be completely unaware of our own character until met with seemingly daunting obstacles. It is the manner in which we deal with them that reveals our true inner self.

There are several things you can do to help yourself deal with challenges more calmly. Essentially you need to open yourself up to new possibilities, new experiences, whether you think you are ready for them or not.

1. Allow Yourself to Publicly Succeed Brilliantly or Fail Miserably Read Post