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Independence Day – in reel life and real life

The column "Find Your Buried Treasure" appears weekly in the Chanhassen (MN) Villager. This column was published on June 30, 2011. Our family’s 4th of July celebration will be pretty traditional. Our son will come over for a visit. In the morning, we’ll stake out our favorite spot for watching the parade, and later on we’ll enjoy the parade and the other festivities taking place in town. At night, we’ll watch some of the many area fireworks....

By |July 1st, 2011|Accountability, Columns, Family, Holidays, Values|Comments Off on Independence Day – in reel life and real life

A “Murphy’s Law” day wreaks havoc with schedule

The column "Find Your Buried Treasure" appears weekly in the Chanhassen (MN) Villager. This column was published on June 23, 2011. I had a crazy and challenging day not long ago. It was a Tuesday, and I had a coaching call first thing in the morning with a client who lives out of state. We usually do video sessions via Skype, but for some reason we couldn’t get a connection and had to do our call the old-fashioned way – by phone. This wasn’t a [...]

By |June 24th, 2011|Accountability, Coaching, Columns, Family, Values|Comments Off on A “Murphy’s Law” day wreaks havoc with schedule

Three things a day can help you reach success

The column "Find Your Buried Treasure" appears weekly in the Chanhassen (MN) Villager. This column was published on April 14, 2011. A Dream Coaching client of mine made a great comment recently – the kind that makes me think I should be paying her for advice instead of the other way around. She said she’s started adding the practice of doing at least three things each day that she doesn’t feel like doing. That excuse, she said, tends to keep her from accomplishing tasks that she could easily finish and remove from her to-do list. It reminds me of the advice written on the cover of a journal a friend of mine has...

By |April 15th, 2011|Accountability, Coaching, Columns|Comments Off on Three things a day can help you reach success

“Impossible” songs inspire impossible achievements

The column "Find Your Buried Treasure" appears weekly in the Chanhassen (MN) Villager. This column was published on March 31, 2011. “Impossible” songs inspire impossible achievements “To dream the impossible dream, To fight the unbeatable foe, To bear with unbearable sorrow, To run where the brave dare not go...” Many of you immediately recognized – and may already be humming – the opening lines of “The Impossible Dream,” from Man of La Mancha. It’s one of my favorite songs, from one of my favorite musicals....

By |April 1st, 2011|Accountability, Coaching, Columns, Music/Singing, Values|Comments Off on “Impossible” songs inspire impossible achievements

Feeling secure is more important than feeling comfortable

The column "Find Your Buried Treasure" appears weekly in the Chanhassen (MN) Villager. This column was published on February 3, 2011. My husband and I flew to Chicago last weekend. It was the first time I’ve been on a plane since full body scanners were installed at the airport and the controversy began over the pat-down of passengers who refused to go through full-body scans. A number of people have complained – and even initiated lawsuits – over the pat-downs they describe as an aggressive and humiliating violation of their rights and their privacy. For several years now, I’ve had to go through the full pat-down every time I travel by air. Not because of any issues over a full-body scan, but because I’ve had a pacemaker implanted due to heart damage caused by chemotherapy years ago...

By |February 4th, 2011|Accountability, Columns, Family, Respect, Uncategorized, Values|Comments Off on Feeling secure is more important than feeling comfortable

A Christmas gift illuminates a bright new plan

The column "Find Your Buried Treasure" appears weekly in the Chanhassen (MN) Villager. This column was published on January 13, 2011. Sometimes it’s a lightbulb that goes off with a flash of brilliance, giving us an innovative and exciting new idea. For me, it was a candle. Specifically, it was a scented candle that I got as a Christmas gift. And it’s become part of a new daily practice for me, one that has already put more peace and pleasure into my morning, and more productivity and efficiency into the rest of my day...

By |January 15th, 2011|Accountability, Columns, Holidays, Values|Comments Off on A Christmas gift illuminates a bright new plan

A quiet request brings a joyful response

The column "Find Your Buried Treasure" appears weekly in the Chanhassen (MN) Villager. This column was published on December 16, 2010. A friend and I went to a nearby restaurant last week for a breakfast meeting to discuss some plans and projects we want to get started on. She and I have very similar values and beliefs, but very different skills and talents. We complement each other well, and have already worked on several projects together. We had a lot to talk about and a lot of catching up to do, in both our personal and our professional lives. It was one of those conversations in which we had to keep making notes about other things that came up, so we could keep track of things we wanted or needed to talk about later...

By |December 17th, 2010|Accountability, Columns, Holidays, Respect, Values|Comments Off on A quiet request brings a joyful response

Multiple incentives increase success for many

The column "Find Your Buried Treasure" appears weekly in the Chanhassen (MN) Villager. This column was published on November 4, 2010. Although newspapers are often filled with bad news, I saw two items recently – totally unrelated to each other but with a few things in common – that really got me excited. They gave me hope and faith in what people can accomplish when they set their minds on positive achievements, when they’re working toward something that benefits others as well as themselves, and when they have the right motivation...

By |November 7th, 2010|Accountability, Columns|Comments Off on Multiple incentives increase success for many

Simple advice makes a powerful impact

The column "Find Your Buried Treasure" appears weekly in the Chanhassen (MN) Villager. This column was published on October 21, 2010. Every so often I come across some deceptively-simple advice. It is condensed to just a few simple words, but could replace volumes that have been written on the subject. One example is the five-word directive to “Eat less, exercise more, repeat,” which could replace thousands of books about how to lose weight. Last week I heard another five-word piece of advice that could benefit many people, myself included. It came from a client who was working through an “assignment” I had given him that was designed to process, complete, and eliminate the type of excess baggage, clutter, and unfinished business that many of us carry around with us. It can be physical, mental, or emotional, and consists of things that haunt us or nag at us, and that take up space in our homes and our heads. And because it can weigh us down or keep us anchored to the past, it also keeps us from moving forward on our dreams and goals. At the very least, it slows us down more than we realize...

By |October 22nd, 2010|Accountability, Coaching, Columns|Comments Off on Simple advice makes a powerful impact

Accountability comes up in survey responses

The column “Find Your Buried Treasure” appears weekly in the Chanhassen (MN) Villager. This column was published on August 12, 2010. I filled out an online survey recently, and something about it has been troubling me ever since. I get these surveys every so often, and always ignore the ones in which it’s obvious that their main – or only – objective is to get information about me for marketing purposes. This one, however, was a follow-up to an annual conference I recently attended, and its purpose was to get feedback about the event so the organization could evaluate this conference and decide on changes to make for the next one...

By |August 13th, 2010|Accountability, Columns|Comments Off on Accountability comes up in survey responses