Day 61 (2008-08-30): Learned helpless in my business

A happy convergence of two separate ideas:
First, earlier in the week I started reading Learned Optimism by Martin Seligman in which he explains learned helplessness, a condition that results when a person is in a situation where he feels like nothing he does matters.
Second, yesterday I read the New Coaching Manifesto by Milana Leshinsky in [...]

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Day 60 (2008-08-29): Focus (Integrity Day, Part 9)

I used today’s Integrity Day to develop a new teleclass on overcoming procrastination.
The great lesson — a common one from Integrity Day — is the power of focus. I focused for almost 4 hours on completing this project, and I did it.
It’s common sense that when we focus on something our productivity increases, and when [...]

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Day 59 (2008-08-28): Integrity Day, Part 8

I learned two valuable lessons from today’s Integrity Day:

I wrote for the first hour and it flew by. At the end of the hour I was convinced I’d hardly written anything at all. When I did a word count I discovered I’d written 765 words! So my subjective experience was not a reliable indicator of [...]

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Day 58 (2008-08-27): What I do matters

Last night I was feeling negative and mildly pessimistic about two apparent setbacks, one personal, the other business. In both cases, things that I thought were going in one direction became uncertain, with a clear possibility that they might go in a different direction. (I’m choosing not to describe the specifics.)
What I’d read in Martin [...]

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Day 57 (2008-08-26): Reading as inspiration for writing

Source of inspiration: Learned Optimism by Martin E. P. Seligman
I completed my short stint watching my nieces. Both days this week were early and long, and I did not write in the mornings. This evening I began reading Learned Optimism by Martin Seligman, and I’m fascinated by it. It fits amazingly well with what I’m [...]

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Day 55 (2008-08-24): Weekends, Part 2

I’m meeting some friends in New Hope today. My intention is to be present with them, to feel relaxed, and to release any expectations I form as to how the day “should” go.
I’m also going to leave open the option of returning home sooner than I typically would. In the past, I’ve tried to cram [...]

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Day 54 (2008-08-23): Weekends

I could have over-scheduled myself today. I had several social options to choose from, and it has been my tendency to try to fit them all in. Which leaves me feeling less than relaxed.
I’m getting clear that weekends can be like mini-vacations for me. A time to relax and rejuvenate. In Stephen Covey’s language, a [...]

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Day 53 (2008-08-22): Mornings are the best, Part 2

I wrote this morning. I completed an article very quickly, and it led me to create another teleclass, which I’ll announce next week.

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Day 52 (2008-08-21): Mornings are the best

Positive and successful writing time this morning. Mornings are definitely the best writing time for me. I’m energized, my mind is clear, I feel more grounded.
Plus, the longer I wait to write each day, the less I enjoy the experience.
So writing in the morning is really a win all the way around. I start the [...]

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Day 51 (2008-08-20): Plenty of good reasons to not write

Day 2 of my 90-Day Game (yesterday) was a successful writing day that included progress on a big marketing project.
Today is Day 3, and I’ve already fallen victim to a series of “plenty of good reasons to not write today.”
Not as justification, but for the sake of recording them, here they are:

Stayed up very late [...]

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Day 50 (2008-08-19): Integrity Day, Part 7

I did another Integrity Day today and experienced it in a positive way. I wouldn’t say I reached joy, but I was well out of the “this feels like work” way that I experience most Integrity Days. To put words to it, I would say that I was conscious of a sustained “This feels good” [...]

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Day 49 (2008-08-18): Writing, my 90-day game

Today I began the 90-Day Game I announced a few weeks ago. It includes writing my book. And my intention is to write every day.
I’m excited…and a little afraid. But if you read yesterday’s post, you know what I say to fear, don’t you?
One of the support structures I’m going to use to help me [...]

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Day 48 (2008-08-17): Fuck fear

(A note on my use of profanity: Readers of this blog know how attentive I am to the language I use. Words conjure feelings and create realities like spells. The title of this blog is not casual, but purposeful.)
Today I had a powerful conversation with my friend, Jim Stevens. We were discussing how fear limits [...]

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Day 46 (2008-08-15): Integrity Day, Part 6

Did another Integrity Day today. My intention was to work on a project joyfully. My habit is to get very serious and critical, especially when I’m creating content for an article or teleclass. Today I intended to bring joy into that process.
At the end of each hour I realized I’d slipped into my “hard work” [...]

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Day 45 (2008-08-14): Language and layers

I looked back at the phrasing I used yesterday and am fascinated:
“I don’t want to be a coach.”
In that statement, “coach” is an identity. And as I learned yesterday, it is the attachment to that identity that I was releasing in my admission. I experience little or no suffering from actual coaching; on the contrary [...]

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Day 44 (2008-08-13): I quit

I don’t want to be a coach.
I’m stating this publicly because it is something I feel sometimes (including now), but I have been afraid to admit it to myself let alone other people. Even now, seconds after typing it, I feel a release.
Let me expand on my statement…
First, I love to coach. It is rare [...]

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Day 43 (2008-08-12): Enjoyment & Acceptance

I tried a little experiment today, somewhat unintentionally. I chose to focus on some activities I knew I would enjoy.
And what I discovered was how much easier it is to accept tasks that I don’t enjoy when they are surrounded by things I do enjoy.
It’s like I hit a threshold of felt joy that gives [...]

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Day 42 (2008-08-11): What am I attached to?

As I sat in the jury waiting room this morning, I re-read the section in A New Earth where Tolle talks about awakened doing. I mentioned this here the other day, and wanted to revisit it in the context of what I was feeling yesterday.
As I was reading about acceptance, I thought to make a [...]

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Day 41 (2008-08-10): Crying for a dream

Today I found myself experiencing a deep sadness, similar to what Scott talks about in the interview clip I posted yesterday, crying for a dream.
I went to my primary purpose (as Eckhart Tolle teaches in A New Earth), becoming present and accessing a deep peace. But on the surface there is still a big question: [...]

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Day 40 (2008-08-09): Feed your soul

My friend, Scott Foster, gave me a powerful message today which fits well with what I learned yesterday:

What is true for me?
What is my soul purpose?
What about what I do feeds my soul?

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