Practical Partnerships

Whether you are a mom trying to find a way to take care of the children more efficiently, a singe person looking for companionship, an entrepreneur looking for collaboration and advice, it makes sense to magnetize yourself to a team of people who match your values and stage in life.  I have the delight of being on a team of people, who I speak every week to ten days, in support of one another’s goals.  Much like a Mastermind group, as recommended by Napoleon Hill in his book Think ‘N Grow Rich, our group follows a format to keep us from simply jabbering for an hour and half.  Each person gets 15 minutes to share their successes, goals, challenges and requests and inform the group how they did with the previous week’s goals.  Then we open call for 30 minutes to discuss specific ideas more deeply.  It’s not rocket science but it sure feels like it sometimes!  There is nothing like a good sounding board to help energize the day!  If you are feeling alone, find some like minded souls to create with.  You will be thrilled you did.  Think you don’t know any?  Just put the thought out that you would like to find your perfect partners, be willing to let them in, make a request, when they do and you will be amazed who shows up and how powerful the partnership can be.

Uncle Vern Remember You are a Divine Contribution

I have a wonderful 89-year-young uncle named Vern.  Actually he is my second cousin but when a person is nearly 40 years older than another, it just seems right to call them aunt or uncle.  Anyway, here is his Saturday blog from today and my response to him:

Folks, it’s March 1st allready! And yesterday was leap year, February 29th. How time flies..

 

This morning early I was roaming around in this great little book “The Intellectual Devotional” that I have come to love.You remember I have talked so much about this little gem, given me by Rebecca and Paul for Christmas. I will be through it in about another month although it’s designed to read a page a day for 365 days, but I’m too impatient.

 

Now that I’m to a point where I buy ripe bananas, and eat desert first, how do I even know I will be around 365 days from now? Well, I have no plans to the contrary.

 

Anyhow, under visual arts I picked up a page on Van Gogh’s “Starry Night”. He painted this on the evenng of June 19th, 1889. He was living in an asylum at the time.. The painting is 29 by 36 inches and now hangs permanently in the Museum of Modern Art in New York. One of my favorite museums, which is the permanent home of my favorite American painting, Andrew Wyeths “Christiana’s World, painted in 1948.

 

I guess everyone remembers Starry Night, one of Van Goghs best known paintings.The painting generally is believed to be his outpouring of his greatly troubled emotional state at the time.

  

The other day, in writers group we were talking about “audiences”, in other words, who do we write for?  Serious writers always have an audience they are or are attempting to write for. Well, this troubles me, because I really don’t know who I write for. In this pleasant little task which occupies a part of my Saturday mornings, I am obviously writing for and to my “family”, which now is a list of about 30 names. Yippy, I have an “audience”. But in everything else, I don’t know who I write for. I guess any one who is dumb enough to waste their time reading these little efforts on my part. Now, over 300 such little efforts, plus a family history. All I know is that I have had a tremendous lot of fun putting this togther. I write mostly, I guess because I believe I have something I want to say and that in itself is enough.

 

At this present time I am sharing with the writing group something that has been of tremendous interest to me, The 70 years and thousands of people it took to publish the Oxford English Dictionary, first edition published in 1928. This ties in well with something I did back in 1966 under the title of “The writings of Mortimor Adler” and the Encyclopedia Britannica which he served as editor in the last half of the 20th Century. Both of these ended up around twenty pages. Mortimor Adler was a fascinating guy. He published 20 of his 60 books after he was 80 years old.

 

Holy Cats, talk about being carried away on favorite subjects. WOW! Oh well, thanks for listening but it’s time to quit or I won’t have anything to talk about next week.

 

Do any of you have any birthdays or anniversaries in March? I don’t find a single one and it’s a little early to talk about April…

 

Well, take care of yourselves. Be happy, healthy and in love. The best formula for life! Love from Gramps, great gramps, POP along with my constant companion, Nancy Lee.

 

Dear Vern,

Most Saturdays, I am happy to simply read your message with my heart wide open for a man I admire; a man who believes in staying connected the people he loves, a man who is my 90-year-young father’s favorite cousin and dear friend, a man who clearly wants to make a positive difference for the entire time he is on this planet, a man who is humble and loving and kind and intelligent, a man who stays connected to the beauty of our world through his appreciation of art, a man who stretches his comfort zone by being a part of a writing group in his late 80′s, a man who is living life in his 80′s with an aliveness and connectedness not found in many men half his age, a man who always tries to be the best husband, father, uncle, cousin, friend he can be and a man who never forgets his connection to God… do you get that I am speaking about you Vern?

Your audience is all of us who have the privilege of being graced by you in this life.  And, if you publish your writings, which, in my humble opinion, I think you should, your audience will grow to those who want to expand and stretch themselves and tap into your wisdom.  Please do not disempower yourself by saying “But in everything else, I don’t know who I write for. I guess any one who is dumb enough to waste their time reading these little efforts on my part. ”  You have a gift and you are a gift!!!  Continue your writing and publish your words of wisdom with the interpretation of those of us who love and respect you.

As a reminder, I am send you a copy of the Nelson Mandela quote that is often credited to Marianne Williamson:

 

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. 

Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. 

It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. 

We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, 

gorgeous, talented and fabulous? 

 

Actually, who are you not to be? 

 

You are a child of God. 

Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. 

There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking 

so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. 

We were born to make manifest the glory of 

God that is within us. 

 

It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. 

And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously 

give other people permission to do the same. 

 

As we are liberated from our own fear, 

our presence automatically liberates others. 

Nelson Mandela 

http://www.equinoxassociates.com 

Coping With Quantum Time

Not being a scientist I should probably not call my interpretation of time management challenges, quantum time but many days it feels like time is flitting by like time travel in a science fiction movie.  To cope with the challenges of quantum time, I have changed my measurement for success of any given day. Rather than reviewing my “to do” list, I think about the movement I have made toward the completion of any of my goals.  In some cases, the goal may be an unwritten desire to enrich my relationships with people I love.  In these cases, it is sometimes necessary to unplug from our cultural need to measure success by the almighty dollar.  Not to worry, tomorrow my work-a-holism will probably kick back in and I will be focussed on the target as always.  In fact, I just may start a work project after the 10 p.m. news tonight!

www.equinoxassociates.com

Go With the Flow

I was feeling like I had not produced enough today.  I had a luscious snow day; clients cancelled and I could sit in my office looking out at the beautiful, white wonderland, while I worked.  Maybe that was the problem!  Anyway, at 5ish, my writing partner called to have a planning meeting for our new book because she was feeling guilty about having not spoken to me all week to forward the action on our project.  We had a most productive meeting and talked for over three hours!  Both of us felt like we “moved a mountain!” and knew what actions to take next, on our creation.  Had I been as productive as I had intended to be all day, I would not have had the energy or been as willing to invest more time into our writing creation meeting, which is very high on my goals for the year.  If you have hours or days when you feel like your rhythm are off, relax and go with the flow.  Make the phone calls that pop into your mind and do the work that is right in front of you.  Be gentle on yourself, you might have a miracle to produce later in the day or maybe tomorrow. http://www.equinoxassociates.com 

Lumpy Carpets

I was having a particularly challenging moment this morning.  I do not have them often but when I do, like anyone else, I feel sad (sometimes to the point of having a good cry).  I feel sorry for myself and feel completely stopped regarding how to solve the problem and get on with my life.  Luckily, my moment hit while I was on a call with a member of my advisory board.  This woman is a trusted colleague and friend who knows how to listen powerfully and provide me the space I need to work through a challenge.  She said, “There are only so many times we can brush things under the carpet, until we can no longer walk on the carpet because it is too lumpy!”  What a great analogy!  Imagine all those negative experiences having shape and form and trying to walk over them, like a moving blob of disruption.  She also reminded me that emotional challenges which are of the highest priority to us, when stifled or ignored for long periods of time, help us to manifest physical ailments in our body that represent the stifling… like fat, aches & pains and God forbid, cancer.  What a wake-up call!  The second I made the decision to live my fullest, healthiest life and conquer my challenge, my trusted colleague also came up with the perfect resource for me to call next.  Commit to the change and mountains move to get out of your way!http://www.equinoxassociates.com 

Fast is Not Necessarily Efficient

When speaking to others, if we truly want to be heard, we need to slow down! I am constantly amazed at the number of people who call my business, with the intent to get me to call them back and leave voice mail messages that require me to listen 4 or 5 times to understand their telephone number. I am not a slow-thinking person. In fact, I have created a career around being effective and efficient, so what’s the deal? Are we in such a hurry to play “tag, you’re it!” that we forget to actually think about how the other person will hear our message or if they will even bother to listen at all? The result is either making our listener frustrated or worse, losing them all together.  So, if you are not getting call-backs from your messages, consider how fast you leave your messages and maybe sloooooowwwwww down a bit!  HINT: If I notice I have not taken a breath while leaving a message and have to gulp air, at the end, chances are I was talking too fast to get to the end of the message, so I could breathe again.  To anyone to whom I have ever left a harried message, my apologies!http://www.equinoxassociates.com 

Hello world!

Greetings! I feel a little like a kid in a candy store!  My goal in life is to make the biggest difference while I am here and this medium gives me the chance to add messages anytime I choose.  I believe there are people who create space and others who just suck the space.  I intend to be someone who creates space.  I applaud others who have obviously dedicated their lives to making a positive difference, like Oprah, Jack Canfield and Napoleon Hill, to name a few who play (or played) life in the “big league!”  Jack Canfield is one of my favorite people.  He is so connected and authentic.  Whether I am reading one of his books, listening to an audio of his material and shaking his hand, in person, he comes across as genuinely interested in who I am, how he can touch my life and how I might touch his in some positive way.  As the Aussies say, “Good on ya, Jack!”  I may never be as successful as Jack Canfield but I can certainly aspire to make the biggest difference in every life I touch!  Thanks for the inspiration!http://www.equinoxassociates.com