| Now It Really is Fall |
| November, 2007 |
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Welcome to the WORKIN' MY WAY Community
This
newsletter is intended to be a source of inspiration and ideas to
help you follow your dream to create a better life
that honors your values, talents and desires. Check back
to the web-site and blog often for more resources, articles and
workshops to help you get there. Feel free to ask
questions or comment to
jane@lifeandworkbydesign.com
What could be better
for that morning jog in the park than a WORKIN' MY
WAY hoodie? Colder temperatures will come soon (I
think...) so there are two sweatshirt styles in gray or
white.
Follow the link
below to order yours today......
WORKIN'
MY WAY GEAR |
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News and Announcements
Do
you need help sorting out your interests, dreams and career
ideas? Don't hesitate to take me up on a free 30
minute consultation. I guarantee a fun
conversation , and it will help you clarify your thoughts and
identify just where you are in the process of making creative
changes in your life. Just send me an e-mail and
we'll set an appointment. Times are available in the evenings and on
Saturdays. Contact me at jane@lifeandworkbydesign.com
I'm
looking for stories - you will notice in the coming months
that I am doing some special work on people over 50 who are finally
realizing their dreams or using their "bonus years" to do
something they care about passionately. If you know anyone who
has an interesting story to tell, I'd like to interview them for a
book that I'm working on. Send a brief description of
their journey and contact information to me at the e-mail address
shown above.
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Book Review
This Time I Dance by Tama J.
Kieves is a treasure! It now sits on a special shelf along
with a selection of poetry and inspirational books - these are the
ones that I can pick up at any time, open to any page, and find
something wonderful.
This is the story of Tama's
personal journey from life as a corporate lawyer to that of a
writer of poetry. There are many self-help books available
that detail similar journeys, but no one expresses it in such an
honest and forthright way and with words that are positively
lyrical.
Listen to her. "By the time I
left law, I practically couldn't breathe anymore. I sensed my
spacious office shrinking, my file folders sulking, smirking and
accusing, and the phones ringing louder. With each passing
day, I knew I had to escape that marble-lined, cream-colored
elective incarceration.
Of course, I had a
thousand and three questions. How will I support myself?
What if I can't find another job? What if I'm really not good
at writing anyway? What if I ruin my legal career forever and
I can never find anything else? But the day came
when I wanted another life even more than I wanted the answers to
those paralyzing questions. I guess you could say I had to
find a way to twirl a Pontiac on my pinkie on a hot summer day, and
so I did. It's that simple, and that amazing." (p. 22)
Her own story contains
challenges that many of us face such as issues of self-esteem, weeks
of procrastination, and bouts of depression. She speaks of her
feelings and experiences with honesty and candor. She forged
on and now tells the whole story with a happy ending in a way that
is uniquely hers. Through her journey, she gives the rest of
us permission to proceed in our own way
also.
It's hard to choose a favorite quote from
the little side-notes, but here's
one:
"I've just noticed that we only tend to find our mission once we
take an intermission
from
the work life that doesn't work."
(p.52)
Order a
copy today |
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Notes and Tips from My Journal
Fear of Change is a Natural Reaction
I've had several people contact me
lately to say that they just aren't sure what they should do
next. They are
resistant to signing up for a coaching session, a workshop or even a
free consultation. Each
one has said in some fashion, I'm afraid of what's next." That's because they are
thinking about changing something in their lives.
I
recently saw an anonymous quote that said,
"The only person who likes a
change is a wet baby."
Roy Blitzer said, "There are 2
basic rules in life;
1) Change is
inevitable and
2) Everybody
resists change."
Why is this so hard for us? Because anytime we
contemplate doing something that doesn't feel absolutely safe and
comfortable, our feelings of dread, anxiety and even outright fear
start to surface. This
is a natural instinct of human nature that dates back to
the beginning of civilization when men had to fear
predators in the form of large animals and natural
disasters. It happens to everyone. Our minds are
designed to react with dread anytime something threatens our
well-being and in turn, our bodies react with real physical feelings
of discomfort.
It doesn't take much to trigger
this reaction. In most everyday situations when we know what
we are doing, we unconsciously push these feelings away. But,
when we enter the strange territory of changing course in our lives,
the fears kick in and the voices start. Are you
nuts? You can't do that! What about the
bills? You're too old or you're too young! You don't
know how to do that!
Two of my favorite biographies of
successful women, Katherine Graham and Barbara Streisand, tell of
times when they experienced absolutely paralyzing fear of doing the
very thing that they each were born to do. But Katherine went
on to become the very successful owner/publisher of The Washington
Post and you all know that Barbara learned to control her stage
fright.
Sometimes we have to listen to those voices, or feel
the feelings, and recognize them for what they are and move on
anyway. As we take small steps toward change, our bodies and
minds sense that it is ok, and they calm down again. This is a
necessary growth process if we truly desire to live a greater life.
Barbara Sher says, "If you want all your anxiety to go away,
eat lots of chocolate or drink lots of beer and spend your days
changing channels. It works." (Live the
Life You Love, p. 61)
But I don't think you would be
reading this newsletter if you were content with that life.
So, push those feelings aside for now, and resolve to take another
step forward. Try to spend one hour a week Googling,
browsing the library or bookstore, or talk to someone in order to
gain information about something you are interested in doing.
Start writing what you learn in a new notebook called, MY
BETTER LIFE.
Tama Kieves
says,
"Be even kinder
to yourself when you feel fear. Love, not anger, inspires
right action."
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My Dear Jane letters
I've received several notes from people saying that
they would love to start working on something new, but they just
can't seem to find the time. Obviously this is a
universal complaint in our society. We seem to be doing and
going constantly, but at the end of the day we feel like we haven't
accomplished much or at least, not the things we would like
to.
There is a good exercise in time
management that I found several years ago that I'd like to share
with you. This is included in a book by Karen Levine entitled
"Keeping Life Simple". She includes a
chart to use for a week that is a daily log of how you spend
your time. The difference in this chart is that the columns
have the following titles across the top:
When am
I Doing It?
What am I Doing ?
How
Satisfying/Pleasurable is it?
How Efficient Am
I?
What Role Am I In?
By looking
at your activities from this perspective you may be able to
find those things that are truly wasting your time and make
decisions to eliminate them. We all have things we have to do
that we don't necessarily enjoy, but there are also many instances
where we are doing things just because someone else expects us to,
or because we have always done it that way.
To begin a
process of change, you must be willing to make an investment in
yourself with time. That might be as simple as turning
off the tv an hour earlier in the evening, taking lunch at your desk
so you can surf for information or read, or just telling someone no
when they ask you to bake cookies for one more
meeting.
Write out a list of small steps that
you can take to work toward your goal, figure out how much time
the step will take, and then find those minutes in the next day's
schedule. You will be amazed at how much you can accomplish in
30 minutes or an hour if you know exactly what you are going to do
and don't let yourself be interrupted in any
way.
Remember that Better Life
Notebook? Make one section your My Next
Actions area where you list what you intend to do and when
you will do each
one.
Send
Your Question for Next Month |
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A Quote To Ponder
People who soar
are those who refuse to sit back, sigh and wish things would
change. They neither complain of their lot nor passively dream
of some distant ship coming in. Rather, they visualize in their
minds that they are not quitters; they will not allow life's
circumstances to push them down and hold them
under. Charles R.
Swindoll
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