6 Strategies to Transform Your Professional Life

Transform Your Professional Life with Chris Gardner - The Pursuit of Happyness Links Website Blog Life & Business Coaching Young Adult Coaching Past Newsletters Press Purchase a Copy Welcome to May! In May, we are focused on moving past what holds you back from living your most full life! As your coaching I want to encourage you to dream wildly, love wholeheartedly, persevere relentlessly, believe in yourself unwaveringly and give abundantly! If you are new this week...welcome...let's make 2010 your best year yet! For a recap of what we've covered so far visit the ARCHIVES. God Bless, Margaret. This Week's Topic: Transform Your Professional Life with Chris Gardner - The Pursuit of Happyness Dear Friend, "Baby steps count, as long as you are going forward. You add them all up, and one day you look back and you'll be surprised at where you might get to." ~Chris Gardner, The Pursuit of Happyness During the month of May we are focused on transforming your life -- making changes that you never thought you could make. Now I'm not suggesting that your changes will be over night, but rather with some preparation and diligence changes will occur! This week we are going to look at your job and how you can transform your professional life. Who better for us to learn from than someone who did it himself? Chris Gardner, the man whose real life story inspired the movie, The Pursuit of Happyness. Below are six key pieces of advice he offers. You Must Have a Strong Passion for the Work You Do When we don't love what we do our job becomes drudgery. If we have a passion for what we do it makes it easier to become an expert and therefore easier to be better. Those most successful in their field love spending free time researching, analyzing and learning more about what they do during the week. You Must Focus You can't be an expert on everything, but if you narrow your focus you can be an expert. Get clear on your focus. And once you get clear, focus your time and focus your energy. You Must Set Goals Without goals how do we know where we are going? The truth is we don't! Daily, weekly and monthly tasks lead us to annual goals. You can't accomplish everything you want in a day or even in a week, but with diligence many of your goals can be achieved in a year. Studies reveal we underestimate the compounding effect of daily activities. Do a little over a long period and you get big results! Career Change Means Sacrifice Nothing that is ever worth accomplishing comes without cost and sacrifice. If you want to make a change realize there will be sacrifice. Create a plan so that you know exactly what you are sacrificing and you can better manage it. Keep Asking Questions, Keep Learning Be curious, open and ask questions. Take classes, read books and magazines, befriend experts - do whatever it takes to learn as much as possible, from as many angles as possible. When we stay in a state of learning - opportunities and ideas have a way of finding us. Just Keep Moving Forward When Everything Looks Bad It difficult times it is easy to become like a dear in headlights and freeze. Resist that temptation - move forward powerfully. Remember, perserverence and character are built in the midst of challenges. Make It Happen This week review Gardner's six ideas. Select one tip to focus on this week. Think about what you need to do to build this area of your life. Begin to create a plan to build the skills you need for success. May you be blessed, for you are a blessing! Encourage your friends, family and colleagues by sharing this newsletter with them and invite them to subscribe! Direct them to www.MargaretPundmann.com where they can sign up. The "Powerful Living, Powerful You" newsletter is written and distributed by Emerge Enterprise, LLC. Copyright © 2010 Margaret Pundmann Fortner. All rights reserved. www.MargaretPundmann.com.

Tranform Your Life with Byron Katie's Four Questions

Transform Your Life with Byron Katie's Four Questions Links Website Blog Life & Business Coaching Young Adult Coaching Past Newsletters Press Purchase a Copy Welcome to May! In May, we are focused on moving past what holds you back from living your most full life! As your coaching I want to encourage you to dream wildly, love wholeheartedly, persevere relentlessly, believe in yourself unwaveringly and give abundantly! If you are new this week...welcome...let's make 2010 your best year yet! For a recap of what we've covered so far visit the ARCHIVES. God Bless, Margaret. This Week's Topic: Transform Your Life with Byron Katie's Four Questions Dear Friend, "An unquestioned mind is the world of suffering." ~Byron Katie During the month of May we are going to focus on moving past what holds us back - at work, at home, in relationships, in our health -- in every single area of your life! To kick start our month of exploration I want to share Byron Katie's four extremely powerful questions with you. These questions if applied correctly have the ability to change your life, perhaps in an instant. Give your self a private, quite space to perform this exercise. If you don't find answers immediately allow yourself the entire week to practice When you are stuck on a negative thought or limiting thought use this exercise to transform the way you view your thoughts. Here are several points of departure: I'm not good enough. I can't succeed. I will never be financially secure. I'm a terrible parent. It is my genes that keep me from a healthy weight. ________ (event or experience) was entirely my fault. I don't deserve a significant other. My marriage is doomed for failure. I don't deserve it all. Once you identify your thought or feeling, write down your thought or feeling on a piece of paper. Question 1: Is it true? Be still, review what you wrote down and ask yourself if the thought you wrote down is true. Question 2: Can you absolutely know it's true? Open your mind and go deeper into the unknown, to find the answers that live beneath our initial reactions and thoughts. Let go of what you think you know and truly reexamine what is on your piece of paper. Question 3: How do you react-what happens-when you believe that thought? This question is designed to help you begin to notice internal cause and effect. You can see that when you believe the thought, there is a disturbance that can range from mild discomfort to fear or panic. What do you feel when you believe that thought? How do you treat yourself, when you believe that thought? Make a list and be specific. Question 4: Who would you be without the thought? Imagine yourself in that situation without believing the thought. How would your life be different if that thought had no validity? How would you feel? Which do you prefer-life with or without the thought? Which feels kinder, more peaceful? Turn the thought around: The "turnaround" gives you an opportunity to experience the opposite of what you believe. Develop two or three turnarounds to your initial statement. In other words write down two or three statements that are the opposite of what you initially wrote. Now that you have found several turnarounds to your initial statement find three specific, authentic examples of how each turnaround is true in your life. Make It Happen This week take time to practice the exercise above with negative, non nourishing thoughts that invade your consciousness. Remember there is no sense in suffering over thoughts that you haven't fully questioned and examined. May you be blessed, for you are a blessing! Encourage your friends, family and colleagues by sharing this newsletter with them and invite them to subscribe! Direct them to www.MargaretPundmann.com where they can sign up. The "Powerful Living, Powerful You" newsletter is written and distributed by Emerge Enterprise, LLC. Copyright © 2010 Margaret Pundmann Fortner. All rights reserved. www.MargaretPundmann.com.

Your Highest Self, part two

Your Highest Self, part two Links Website Blog Life & Business Coaching Young Adult Coaching Past Newsletters Press Purchase a Copy In April, we are celebrating the vibrance and color in your life! April's Recap Week 13 - Express Your Gratitude Create a gratitude journal Speak your gratitude outloud Don't hold back! Share what you feel! Week 14 - Turn Over a New Leaf Select one behavior you would like to change Decide how you will make this change - a plan! Get reinforcement to back you up - accountability! Week 15 - Your Joy List What is your on your list of things that bring you joy? Build your list Place it in a place where you can see it daily, or more! Week 16 - Your Hiighest Self What things knock you out of alignement with your highest self? Build your list Take note of what is on your list and adjust your life accordingly As your coach I want to encourage you to dream wildly, love wholeheartedly, persevere relentlessly, believe in yourself unwaveringly and give abundantly! If you are new this week...welcome...let's make 2010 your best year yet! For a recap of what we've covered so far visit the archives. In April we focusing on the color in your life! God Bless, Margaret. This Week's Topic: Your Highest Self, part two Dear Friend, "Do all the good you can, in all the ways you can, to all the souls you can, in every place you can, at all the times you can, with all the zeal you can, as long as ever you can." ~John Wesley Last week I asked you to consider what things knock you out of alignment with your highest self. I hope you came up with some good ones...and that you've been able to avoid them or dampen their impact in your life. This week I want you to explore what brings you into alignment with your highest self. It is those activities that allow you to be and do your best -- activities that set the stage or foundation for you to be prepared to face life with vigor. When we focus on and do what brings us to our highest self - our best emerges with ease and grace - and the world gets to experience our true magnificence. Ask yourself, "What brings me into alignment with my highest self?" Here are several points of departure: Exercise Prayer Meditation Healthy Eating Sleep Naps Intimacy Strong Relationships Massages Time in Nature Thrill Sports Art (Painting, Sculpture, Drawing) Gardening Make It Happen Create your own list of what nourishes you and allows you to be your best. Then look at your weekly or monthly calendar and ensure that you get at least some of these activities every month and many of these activities with greater frequency In this month of focusing on your flourishing life I want to pose that question to you so you can discover what allows you to from be your best. May you be blessed, for you are a blessing! Encourage your friends, family and colleagues by sharing this newsletter with them and invite them to subscribe! Direct them to www.MargaretPundmann.com where they can sign up. The "Powerful Living, Powerful You" newsletter is written and distributed by Emerge Enterprise, LLC. Copyright © 2010 Margaret Pundmann Fortner. All rights reserved. www.MargaretPundmann.com.

Week 16: Your Highest Self

Your Highest Self Links Website Blog Life & Business Coaching Young Adult Coaching Past Newsletters Press Purchase a Copy In April, we are celebrating the vibrance and color in your life! April's Recap Week 13 - Express Your Gratitude Create a gratitude journal Speak your gratitude outloud Don't hold back! Share what you feel! Week 14 - Turn Over a New Leaf Select one behavior you would like to change Decide how you will make this change - a plan! Get reinforcement to back you up - accountability! Week 15 - Your Joy List What is your on your list of things that bring you joy? Build your list Place it in a place where you can see it daily, or more! As your coach I want to encourage you to dream wildly, love wholeheartedly, persevere relentlessly, believe in yourself unwaveringly and give abundantly! If you are new this week...welcome...let's make 2010 your best year yet! For a recap of what we've covered so far visit the archives. In April we focusing on the color in your life! God Bless, Margaret. This Week's Topic: Your Highest Self Dear Friend, "Each morning when I open my eyes I say to myself: I, not events, have the power to make me happy or unhappy today. I can choose which it shall be. Yesterday is dead, tomorrow hasn't arrived yet. I have just one day, today, and I'm going to be happy in it." ~Groucho Marx Several weeks ago fellow coach, Cheryl Richardson posed this question to her community, "What things knock you out of alignment with your highest self?" In this month of focusing on your flourishing life I want to pose that question to you so you can discover what keeps you from being your best. So here goes: "What things knock you out of alignment with your highest self?" Here are some points of departure for what takes you off your path: Interruptions Cutting remarks Wasting time People who waste my time Unexpected emergencies Being disappointed by someone Passive aggressive people Eating too much sugar Not keeping promises to myself Saying Yes when I know I need to say No Staying at my desk for too long Fighting with my kids/spouse Worrying about things I can't control Unsolicited advice Too much TV or Internet Being criticized in front of others Someone succeeding at something I want to do Too much clutter Make It Happen This week make a list of five to ten things that knock you out of alignment your highest self. So that we can all learn from each other consider visiting my Facebook page and post what you discover to share with our Facebook community! I bet you will also uncover some new ideas! May you be blessed, for you are a blessing! Encourage your friends, family and colleagues by sharing this newsletter with them and invite them to subscribe! Direct them to www.MargaretPundmann.com where they can sign up. The "Powerful Living, Powerful You" newsletter is written and distributed by Emerge Enterprise, LLC. Copyright © 2010 Margaret Pundmann Fortner. All rights reserved. www.MargaretPundmann.com.

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Your Joy List

Your Joy List Links Website Blog Life & Business Coaching Young Adult Coaching Past Newsletters Press Purchase a Copy In April, we are celebrating the vibrance and color in your life! April's Recap Week 13 - Express Your Gratitude Create a gratitude journal Speak your gratitude outloud Don't hold back! Share what you feel! Week 14 - Turn Over a New Leaf Select one behavior you would like to change Decide how you will make this change - a plan! Get reinforcement to back you up - accountability! As your coach I want to encourage you to dream wildly, love wholeheartedly, persevere relentlessly, believe in yourself unwaveringly and give abundantly! If you are new this week...welcome...let's make 2010 your best year yet! For a recap of what we've covered so far visit the archives. In April we focusing on the color in your life! God Bless, Margaret. This Week's Topic: Your Joy List Dear Friend, "I feel like a tiny bird with a big song!" ~Jerry Van Amerongen, Ballard Street Since we are celebrating your life this month, this week I want to discuss the joys of life. The joys of your life are people, events, experiences and things that make you smile just thinking of them! It can be a little confusing differentiating between our gratitudes and our joys. Use this simple rule: you are grateful for all of your joys, but each gratitude doesn't necessarily bring your joy. For example, I'm grateful for my computer - without it I would be a mess and unable to do much of my work, but my computer doesn't really bring me joy. Now the screen saver on my computer of my husband and me at a wedding in Seaside, FL ... that picture brings me joy! See the difference? Make your joy list filled with people, events, experiences and things that light you up, that make you feel alive and flowing with energy (most of the time!) When you simply think about the items on your list...you will feel joyful! To help you begin writing your joy list I want to share my joy list with you...enjoy! My Joy List 1. Faith 2. Family 3. Puppies 4. Evening summer rainstorms sitting on a covered porch in a rocking chair, with a blanket 5. Spending time with girlfriends 6. Travelling 7. Swimming 8. Holidays and traditions shared with family and friends 9. Meeting new people and having a connection 10. Change, improvement, goal attainment 11. Laughter 12. Champagne 13. Making everything - FUN, even a boring meeting! Make It Happen This week make your own joy list and put in a place where you will see it often and frequently! For example, I have mine on my nightstand and in my organizer. Next, try to add as many of the items on your joy list into your daily activities. When we do what brings us joy - true and pure, joy - our mood increases, we are reminded of the blessings in our life and our attention on what isn't working in our life diminishes. My Joy List (put as many items on your list as you want!) 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. P.S. I appreciate your encouragement on procrastination...I'm a "work in progress!" May you be blessed, for you are a blessing! Encourage your friends, family and colleagues by sharing this newsletter with them and invite them to subscribe! Direct them to www.MargaretPundmann.com where they can sign up. The "Powerful Living, Powerful You" newsletter is written and distributed by Emerge Enterprise, LLC. Copyright © 2010 Margaret Pundmann Fortner. All rights reserved. www.MargaretPundmann.com.