Queen of Bliss, Joeann Fossland

I've been enjoying some weekly audio interviews that Speaker, Healer, Author, Jennifer McLean offers. Last week she interviewed Dr. Judith Orloff who has a new book, Emotional Freedom: Liberate Yourself from Negative Emotions and Transform Your Life, and shared some wonderful tips on staying away from the negative.

One of her themes is to look at EVERY single experience as a growth opportunity and to be aware of what that situation is teaching you. In my coaching experience, I have found the stuckness that occurs for many clients is not learning anything from a previous lesson and getting to revisit the same situation in different clothing, over and over and over. By becoming more aware and LEARNING the lesson, you can evolve and move to the next place.

I love the quote from the Dalai Lama who said, "When you lose, don't lose the lesson."

Coach's Tip:

1. Start your day with an intention that it be wonderful and then look for evidence all that that it IS!
2. Examine if there are places you are stuck that you could recontexualize the meaning you have attached to the circumstances, and accept the lesson that is there to help you grow.

I was thinking of how many wonderful people I have the opportunity to be connected with. So in the next few tips, I am going to mention some of them and the resources that they have that I believe you will find valuable.

This week, meet my friend, Susie (The Frog) Hale: Sus ie is one of those people whose infectious attitude heightens the vibe everyplace she shows up. She is one of the best connectors I know and she knows everyone. You can benefit from her networking by reading the interviews and articles in her FrogPond newsletter: You can read last month's issue here or subscribe here!

Do You Procrastinate?

Speaking of FROGS.......How many do you eat each day?????

Is there an area where you aren't being responsible (you know IGNORING)?
here is a very cool video on Procrastination.

I believe in the concepts of the Pareto Principle that says 20% of your actions will yield 80% of your results. Often, those are the things we put off.....so remember, you must adamantly refuse to work on tasks in the bottom 80 percent while you still have tasks in the top 20 percent left to be done. Make sure that every day, you start the day by identifying w hat 3 actions would give you the biggest payoff in the long term and keep this question in front of you as you move from one activity to the next:"Is this task in the top 20 percent of my activities or in the bottom 80 percent?". Live in 20% more and create more time for yourself! And then go have some fun!

The movie is part of the wonderful little motivational clips available at www.simpletruths.com Great to motivate yourself or to share with your team/office or chapter.

As I watered my garden this morning, I saw several volunteers that I hadn't planted but that had taken root. I have a compost in the garden and some little seeds and a potato had decided they liked the environment. I moved them to a better place with more sunlight and have some brand new plants that are going to yield goodies for me. Gardening has so many good metaphors for doing business in a "green" way, in tune with the natural (and attractive) ways of nurturing "seedlings."

 Spring comes early to Tucson, of course. We are actually expecting 100 degree temperatures this week, so I planted many seeds about a month ago. My tomato plants are 3 feet high and loaded with ping pong sized tomatoes. I also have loads of wildflowers that I intend to harvest seeds from once they have flowered. It is so satisfying to plant these seeds, and them water and see the results in the future.

But back to the volunteers...... I am not sure a potato plant will thrive in Tucson, but I am going to give it lots of water and see what happens. I also have a couple of tomato plant volunteers. Much of my garden is kinda unstructured, wild and unplanned. I doubt that surprises you given my style. I tend to plant stuff here and there and then see where it thrives. Since my personality isn't given to lots of structure, so this fits for me....going with my strengths!

Because of this, I am constantly surprised with my harvest and the volunteers are my favorites. They have started to grow on their own. Now, it just takes nurturing and they will turn into a nice harvest. The analogy for me while I was watering was understanding that there were lots of volunteers or additions to my garden that had shown up but were not going to flourish unless I nurtured them.

In my business life, I find, there are volunteers all around me. I try so hard, sometimes, to prove my self-sufficiency not seeing I am surrounded by wonderful people all around me who can help; who would love to grow in my garden; who could add something unexpected and extra to my life. How often have I tried to do it all myself, instead of looking for the volunteers? When I take my eye off perfection and allow the natural flow and abundance take me in a little different direction, my results expand and there's usually lots more fun and collaboration.

Where are the volunteers in your life? Have you been ignoring the opportunity to find clients that are unexpected because you didn't plant them? Or you didn't plant them or expect them there? I bet you also have volunteers all around you that would love to give you business if you'd give them water and attention.

Are you doing things YOUR way, using your strengths instead of trying to find a magic pill outside yourself? Are you assiduously planting the seeds for the future AFTER you close that deal to ensure that there will be a future harvest, remembering to drip on those seeds, even if it is going to be another season for harvest?

This week, look for the volunteers. Water them. Ask them to lunch! Have fun with the process and smell the flowers!

Dick is a real expert in SmartPhones and has lots of information if you are trying to decide. I've been a die hard Palm fan and think the Pre may be for me!!!

What about you?

Three Top Women....

I am SOOO Excited to be part of the May 18th FREE session with Margaret Rome in Baltimore!
If you are anywhere close by...Please come and share and network with all the BEST!!!

Last week, there were two videos that got my attention.

1. If you haven't seen this video of Susan Boyle, you are probably living under a rock, but I am posting just in case that is the case:

As my friend Stephen Fells, from Agency Logic, says... this proves you can't tell a book from its cover.  I got tears in my eyes watching it. Do you think there's no hope to attain that dream you really, really want? Think again.

Here is a great article that takes it to the next level

http://budurl.com/stepoutnow <----- Susan Boyle And You!

2. And.....This explains a LOT! How men's and women's brains are different. Even my husband, Bub, related and laughed. Share it with your significant other and see if you can relate. We are talking A LOT about me getting out of his empty box and leaving him ALONE!!!!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Michael Bungay Stanier is such a fascinating guy. He is doing weekly interviews with people on the topic "Doing Great Work." Many of his interviews are about how to work less and how to eliminate the clutter and crap that gets in the way. You can access the Finding Your Great Work Interviews and choose the ones that speak to you! Or, be like me, and listen to them all! And then thank Michael.

In the interview with Bill Jensen, who wrote The Simplicity Survival Handbook, he shares that information is doubling every 55 days and he asserts we can never expect to keep up with it all or handle it all. We need the courage to start to saying no, and to start eliminating all of the things that don't really make a difference. A new distinction he brings is "speed freak clarity," saying it will save 2-4 hours a day. More on Bill's website: www.SimplerWork.com.

A reminder...I write a weekly tips newsletter every Tuesday with great resources like this. You can check it out and subscribe, if it's for you at www.joeann.com/newsletter.htm

My hard drive crashed last week...I wrote about it in my newsletter

Here's a few of the things I learned

1. Several of you shared good experiences with Mozy and Carbonite, both online backups and Norton Ghost. I think one of these will be the way for me to go.
2. Even if you have backups...it isn't easy or fun to reinstall everything. I'd been using a Maxtor Drive for backup and there seems to be some compatibility issues with Vista that are giving us fits. Bottom line if their program isn't able to open and restore.
3. I was thrilled I had Carolyne's Organizer (You too could get one from Carolyne [carolyne@carolyne.com]) because I've kept all my disks, and purchase information in one place.
4. The old saying about if your hard drive hasn't crashed... it will, is one to believe.