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A Few Notes From Cheryl
> Do you want to create more time in your day? See the feature
article below to benefit from my recent experience and create as much
time as you want!
> Starting a business? Already a
business owner? The key to making more money is not working
harder or longer hours. Join us for the f-r-e-e June 2 teleclass
and/or the in-person workshop on June 18 to learn how you can create a
business that is fulfilling in all the ways you desire. Details
are below, at
www.goalsinsight.com/teleclasses.htm and
www.goalsinsight.com/workshops.htm
. If you have friends or colleagues starting a business or
already business owners, you're welcome to share this e-zine with them.
> June is often filled with milestones, so first I'd like to send a
Happy Father's Day wish to all of you who are fathers and/or
are father figures to others. And, congratulations to all
of you who are graduating this month,
whether you are graduating from high school, college, or another
program. If
you're looking for a meaningful gift for the dads or grads
in your life, consider the gift of tools to create a more balanced and
meaningful life at www.goalsinsight.com/products.htm
. These programs are lasting gifts of a personal coach -- dads
and grads can listen to the CDs
over and over and have the support needed as they enter this next phase
of
life.
> As always, we love to hear your feedback on this e-zine, so please
send us your comments and ideas on the topics you'd like to read about
in the future.
Enjoy your June,
Cherylreturn to
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Feature Article: How Much Time Would You
Like?
Last month, we talked about 8 steps to a Balanced Life (if you missed
that issue, it's at www.goalsinsight.com/Newsletter.htm
). In the spirit of maintaining balance in my own life, I spent
the past 8 days at a mindfulness retreat center in Northern
California. It was a wonderful experience, and something I do
every year (for background info, see last year's article " Have You
Lost Your Mind(fulness)?"at InSights-June
2004).
Being on retreat for me is a way to significantly slow down my typical
daily pace of life. It's hard to fully describe the retreat
experience, but one metaphor is that if your normal pace of life is
like driving 60-70 miles an hour at freeway speed, a mindfulness
retreat is like downshifting many times until you're moving at just
5-10 mph. For me, a mindfulness retreat is a way to slow down,
learn more about myself and really experience each moment as fully as
possible because there are no distractions (no e-mail, phones, talking,
etc.).
One of my mindfulness teachers at the retreat, Sylvia Boorstein,
commented that true mindfulness is about experiencing each experience fully, so that we can learn
to be more present in our daily lives. Another teacher, Sally
Clough, said that on retreat we are able to see what the truth of our
experience really is. Our third teacher, James Baraz, said that
one of the benefits of retreat is that we can simply be with things as
they are.
One of the questions I asked myself this year was how this retreat was
so different from my daily life. I realized that the biggest
difference for me is that on the retreat, I was able to slow down and
more fully experience each moment because I had all the time I
needed. My schedule was spacious and flexible -- yes, there were
a few things I had to show up for at certain times (meetings with
teachers, meals, etc.), but in general I had all of the time I wanted
to do whatever I wanted to do. It didn't matter if I missed a
meditation session, or wanted to take 45 minutes to mindfully enjoy
eating my breakfast and really savor each bite of delicious food...I
had the feeling that I had all the time in the world, and there was no
need to rush.
Now that I'm back in the "real world," I'm realizing that I want to
feel as though I have all of the time I want and need each day so that
I can more fully enjoy each experience. Based on the challenges
that my coaching clients have on this same topic, my guess is that this
is something you may wish for yourself, too.
Here are some questions to explore on this topic:
- Where in your
daily life do you notice you hold the perspective that you DO have all
of the time you want and need? Think of a specific example
where you are able to take as much time as you'd like and you feel
really good about it. Taking time to mentor an employee?
Spending time with a child or loved one and really listen to them?
- Using that
example, what do you notice about the perspective you're holding?
For example, when you spend time mentoring
and coaching an employee to further develop her/his leadership skills,
what is the mindset you're in -- are you noticing that this feels like
time well spent, because you're truly making a difference in this
person's personal and professional development and you feel really good
about it? Notice what the mindset is that you have about time and
notice how you show up in the moment because of this mindset that
you're in (my guess is that you're showing up fully present and able to
enjoy your experience).
- Now, let's
look at the opposite: where in your life do you feel that
you DON'T have as much time as you want and need? Think
of a specific example where you often feel rushed and moving faster
than you'd like. Rushing from one meeting to the next without a
break? Trying to get all of your e-mails answered before the next
phone call? Taking one child to piano lessons while the other
child is attending soccer practice, and then racing around again to
pick them both up?
- Using that
example of feeling like you don't have enough time, what do you notice
about the perspective you're holding about time? Are you
saying to yourself "I don't have enough time to get everything done
that I need to" or "I'm running out of time"? Notice what your
mindset is and, most importantly, how you show up in situations because
of this mindset. Are you really being the person you want to be?
My clients often say that they feel there are not enough hours in the
day. I find myself saying that sometimes, too. The funny
thing about time, though, is that when I was on retreat, I had 24 hours
in the day...and today, while I'm back at work, I also have 24 hours in
the day. The bottom line is that we all have the same 24 hours in
the day, right? It's
our mindset, or the perspective that we choose to hold about those 24
hours that can make a difference.
So, my last question to you is: What
is the perspective you are choosing right now, in this moment, about
time? And remember...it is a CHOICE -- if you don't like
the current mindset you are in, you have the power to change it!
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Upcoming
Workshops and Teleclasses
Facilitator: Cheryl
Mann
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Corporate
and Board Retreats / Off-Site
Meetings: Is your
department or Board planning a Summer or Fall retreat? Do
you want to enhance your employees' relationships through teambuilding?
Consider a workshop or a facilitated
meeting on topics
such
as:
- Riding the waves of change
- Setting and achieving meaningful
goals
- How to make your job meaningful and fulfilling again
- How to become the leader/manager you desire
- Create the balanced life you desire
See topics at Goals InSight
Coaching Workshop Topics on our "workshops" page.
This is a great
way to
show appreciation for your team and enhance their productivity,
thereby improving the bottom line for your organization!
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About Goals InSight Coaching
Goals InSight
Coaching helps individuals and organizations achieve your desired
goals in the following ways:
- Individuals and Executives: one-on-one
coaching to
achieve your desired goals so that you can have the life and career you
want
- Teams, Departments and Other Groups:
achieve your group/team's goals and ensure
successful
implementation of your strategic plan
- Keynotes
Speeches, Workshops,
Presentations and Teleclasses -- visit Goals InSight
Coaching Workshop Topics on "workshops" page
- Audio CD /
Workbooks: see http://www.goalsinsight.com/products/htm
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June
2005