Attitude Adjustment

Saturday, July 18th, 2009

I seem to recall that in the 80′s the phrase ‘attitude adjustment’ was used again and again. I’m not sure why it went away.

In the real estate world, I’ve learned that agents, buyers and sellers say that everything is location, location, location. I’m convinced that in the real world everything is attitude, attitude, attitude.

This is proven to me again and again. One of my favorite clients just announced that she has just completed her best fiscal year ever. She isn’t devoting more time to her business, she’s still the most devoted wife and mom and her church isn’t seeing any less of her either. What’s changed? Her attitude! She expects to bring in more abundance and prosperity, in all facets of her life. And she is doing just that. We continue her coaching sessions and she has added Reiki to her sessions as well as she has also discovered that self-care makes her more relaxed and more productive as well.

On a day to day basis life happens. We always have two options regarding any situation, no matter how dire or fabulous the situation may appear at first glance. We can celebrate the good, or positive aspects of the circumstances or we can bemoan the negative. This applies in all circumstances.

Yesterday, just about every bit of electronics that I own broke down or mal-functioned in some way or another. I couldn’t seem to find the directions to forward calls on my cell phone, then a few hours later it crashed altogether. No cell. My son had completely crashed and reconstructed my laptop less than a week ago, all cleared of viruses. Yesterday it was struck by another virus. It kept going down. For the life of me it seemed that I wasn’t able to figure out how to work the DVD player or the VCR. Two options. Get frustrated and upset, which wouldn’t have solved any of the above. Or enjoy a cup of tea and read one of the books I have around from one of my favorite authors. Guess which I decided to do.

Today, I am assured that the cell phone is covered under insurance and my virus protection found the virus for my computer, isolated and removed. Getting upset yesterday would have made me feel lousy and it wouldn’t have changed the situation. In other words a rotten attitude would simply have resulted in a rotten evening. Instead I enjoyed my book very much, and the tea eventually became a relaxing glass of wine. A quiet evening spent doing one of my favorite things with the dogs. Just what I needed. I woke up refreshed and relaxed today. In fact, I felt so good that I decided today would be more of the same. The only electronic time today is spent writing this blog. I am feeling blessed and grateful today.

We are always with the options of attitude regarding our circumstances. It’s that simple. My step-father, the man I’ve always called Dad, broke his neck and became a quadriplegic at the age of 29. He and my mother decided that wasn’t the end of life. He recovered enough to come home and raise children. She went to nursing school, something she had wanted to do all her life. They used the opportunity to benefit all of us, in fact my dad still refers to each day as a bonus. My parents are amazing life coaches.

This doesn’t mean that there are not frustrations, aggravations or grief in our lives. However, we have the choice to move through these emotions and reach for a slightly better feeling every time we experience them. Attitude counts.

I would encourage you to stop several times a day, notice how you are feeling, what sort of thoughts are going through your mind and what words are coming out of your mouth. If they are harsh, unkind or simply negative I would encourage you to take a few moments. Think and feel your way to a slightly better feeling, a slightly kinder approach. Adjust your attitude and I’m willing to bet your entire life will become just a little bit better.

I wish you a fabulous day and it will be if you choose to see it in just that way.

Warmly,
Sandy

Reiki All Day Long

Saturday, June 27th, 2009

If you had met me as little as five years ago, you would have met a hard-working, level headed, successful owner of a faux finishing business, wife and mom. My feet were very firmly in what I called ‘the real world’. I have always had firm faith in my God, held the belief that all things are possible and that a positive attitude was necessary for success in the world. Together with my husband I raised three level headed sons and truly believed that life in the real world meant dealing with events head on just plugging through. I also thought that those who were interested in anything new-age lived in the ‘woo-woo’ world. If you had asked me my opinion I would have patiently explained that these folks just didn’t get it.

What a difference a few years makes. My hard work ethic led to a torn rotator cuff in my shoulder and pretty much put an end to my faux finishing business when surgery resulted in a partial recovery. At around the same time I was experiencing incredible stress in my personal life for a variety of reasons. Enter Reiki.

The first time I experienced Reiki I did so to pretty much shut up one of my sons. He was of course aware of the shoulder pain and stresses in my life and he knew how I felt about taking medication, which was pretty much that I avoided it unless absolutely necessary.

My first Reiki session resulted in great pain relief and a general relaxed feeling of well being. I was so surprised and pleased that I told anyone who would listen about my experience. I continued to go and soon realized that there was something to this ‘woo-woo’ stuff. I won’t pretend that I understood how or why it helped me, but it did and that was good enough for me.

Fast forward a few years. I continue to receive Reiki as often as possible. I have become a Reiki master and added Reiki to my business, so that many of my clients receive not only holistic life coaching but Reiki as well. This benefits me, my clients and everyone that any of us associate with on a daily basis.

I have come to realize that those people I had always thought just didn’t get it, did indeed get it much better than I. I have learned to appreciate and respect the positive attitude that always came naturally to me, for I now know that same positive attitude and belief in a positive future is what creates that wonderful future. I have always trusted my gut, but I didn’t know why. I now realize that instinct and intuition; gut responses, are gifts that we all have and that our lives are generally much better if we trust them. My new friends and colleagues are not out there as I always believed; in fact they are generally some of the most grounded people I’ve ever met.

Reiki has now become something that I use all day, everyday. I offer Reiki to my gardens when I am outside, planting or simply walking through the path. My dog Indy receives Reiki several times a day. It’s become second nature to offer Reiki to anyone who is feeling less than well, to offer Reiki to my husband when he stubs his toe or has a headache. In fact it now feels completely normal to offer Reiki to my husband as we fall asleep at night and first thing in the morning. I send distant Reiki to my grown sons living far away, to family and friends on a daily basis and to the world at large for peace and health.

I will always have a foot firmly planted in what I used to call the real world, that’s my background, my personal history and it helps me to connect many of my clients, family and friends. I truly appreciate and am grateful for that. This new-age world that I am coming to appreciate more each day is not new at all. These friends and colleagues help me to embrace and appreciate the past, my present and my future.

Reiki has helped me to appreciate both my old and new friends. I am so grateful. I now say with great love and amazing respect that I do embrace the woo-woo and I encourage others to do the same.

Warmly,
Sandy

A Positive Change of Viewpoint

Saturday, October 25th, 2008

She needed to do a business plan for her new business. It was required for her to move forward and she was only too well aware of that detail. She had never done a business plan; always felt they were far too restrictive, indeed she feared that it would box her in more than offer her a roadmap to the future.

She decided that if she had to get this done, she would do it correctly. So she searched the library for books on business plan. They were strewn all over her kitchen table, opened to various pages. She also searched the internet, bookmarking site after site for reference. Still when she sat down to work on this plan she felt frustrated and made little progress.

Finally one day she was lamenting her lack of progress to someone who knew her very well. He told her not to worry about it. Instead of writing this plan according to someone else’s rules, simply write it according to her own rules and to suit her personality and business. Truly an ah-ha moment for her. That simple suggestion which seems so obvious in hindsight was all that she needed. She collected all of the books from her table and set them aside. Closed up all of the internet sites and got to work. In no time she had her outline and from there it was easy. Several hours of steady work later she realized that she had indeed written the business plan that was ideal for her and her business.

The point of this little story is simple really, and I have no doubt that you already know just what that point is. Hopefully the life coach inside of your head will nudge you to try to look at any situation or problem from more than one vantage point. The business plan felt insurmountable to her when she looked at it from a traditional point of view, but as soon as she shifted, she felt optimistic and enthusiastic. From there she was able to soar.

When she shared her frustration with someone who knew her and her business it was quite a release for her. The solution was very clear to her friend and when he shared his suggestion with her she was finally able to see everything in a whole new light. Perhaps next time she is frustrated and becoming stressed she will seek out this friend and have a simple chat with him. Lesson learned from her own personal life coach. What a great friend to have!

I hope that you have someone to share frustrations with and that they are able to help you to shift your point of view from frustration to fabulous enthusiasm.

Warmly,
Sandy

Loyalty Leader

Saturday, September 6th, 2008

Yesterday I attended a Chamber of Commerce meeting. The speaker was Ms. Debra Schmidt, owner of Loyalty Leader, Inc. Her talk was directed to businesses, owners and managers but everything she spoke about applies to us equally on a personal level.

Ms. Schmidt spoke about treating clients as valued people. Looking them in the eye when they speak and giving them your undivided attention while you are having your conversation. She talked about keeping your promises, something that most take very seriously in business. Unfortunately, sometimes when we are dealing with friends or family we don’t take our promises as seriously, thinking they will give us a pass. As a life coach I would suggest that you make your relationship with family and friends just as important.

Ms. Schmidt gave many good tips and suggestions in her hour talk. Recognize and appreciate your clients, be sure not to stereotype clients, remember to treat them as individuals. Be willing to admit mistakes and take steps to remedy those mistakes. Give sincere compliments to co-workers in front of others. Thank co-workers and clients alike, again, always with sincerity.

As you can see, while Ms. Schmidt was talking about good customer service and good workplace behavior, every one of these examples also applies to our personal lives. We know that pre-judging and stereotyping people gets us in big trouble, after all we’ve heard since we were small that it’s a huge mistake to judge a book by it’s cover and no two people are ever just alike so stereotyping is bound to be wrong. When we admit that we’ve made a mistake and take steps to correct it, not only do we feel better about ourselves, but those that are involved in the situation usually appreciate the honesty as well. Sincere compliments are wonderful! After all, who doesn’t like to hear that they are wonderful? I know I sure do appreciate hearing that I’ve done a great job on the gardens, or that my new red sneakers are fabulous. And here’s one of the best things about compliments, not only does the receiver feel fabulous but so does the person offering the compliment. And of course we all know that our mom’s told us to thank others for what they have done for us or given to us. Once again, mom was right. The person being thanked knows that you appreciate them, they feel good and are much more likely to do something else that’s nice for someone else or even for you again. And as a bonus, you feel terrific for putting that extra sparkle in their eye.

I’d like to suggest that anyone who would like to learn more about building customer loyalty visit Ms. Schmidt’s website www.TheLoyaltyLeader.com. And remember, what’s good for the customer is almost always good for our family and friends as well. Thank you Ms. Schmidt, for sharing with all of us.

For today, remember to treat your family and friends at least as good as your clients, I assure you that you will feel fabulous tonight as you brush your teeth and think about your day.

With warmth,
Sandy