I do not make New Year's resolutions. I am in agreement with Anais Nin when she said "I made no resolutions for the New Year. The habit of making plans, of criticizing, sanctioning and molding my life, is too much of a daily event for me."

Photographer: Tisseur DeToile

During some coaching training, I came upon the idea that for everything I say "Yes" to, I am saying "No" to something else. That started me thinking about what it is I say "No" to. I kept finding that it was much more effective for me to say "No" to things to make the space to fully say "Yes" to those things I really, really wanted.

 

I ran across an article recently by Gary Ryan Blair, aka The Goals Guy®. It was an article talking about making the resolve to give "No" the strategic resolve it deserves. Here it was! Exactly what I had been doing lately in my life. Learning to say "No" is one of the most powerful things to do for yourself.

It helps you set boundaries, be clear about what you will not do, what is not acceptable to you, and makes you feel like you are in total choice about where you spend your time and energy. Saying "No" to watching TV for example, sure frees up time to say "Yes" to what you really want to be doing with this one precious life.

The questions below are the top questions I ask myself and find I get immediate results when I answer and act on these:

• What strategies, initiatives, and activities will you say "no" to?
• What relationships will you not keep?
• What customers will you not target?
• What television shows will you not view?
• What excuses will you not engage in?
• What thoughts will you not entertain?

Use your power to say "No" regularly. It can be a powerful strategy to keep you going in the direction you want to be heading.

And as we close this year and begin another, this is my wish for you:

Step into leading and play a Bigger Game in your life...don't wait...model leadership...the World needs us to do this.

Lead strong!

Pat

The Green Island

I had the amazing experience of seeing Coleman Barks perform this month. He is the most well known translator of Rumi's works. Rumi is one of the great spiritual masters and poetical geniuses of mankind and was the founder of the Mawlawi Sufi order, a leading mystical brotherhood of Islam.

The poem below was one performed that evening. It reminds me of the times we are in right now. It seems just when our fears subside... something in our own mind triggers the fear again and reminds us of scarcity and what may or may not happen in the future.

The Green Island by Rumi (as translated by Coleman Barks) There is a small green island where one white cow lives, alone, a meadow of an island. The cow grazes until nightfall, full and fat, but during the night she panics and grows thin as a single hair. "What shall I eat tomorrow? There's nothing left!" By dawn the grass has grown up again, waist-high. The cow starts eating and by dark the meadow is clipped short. She is full of strength and energy, but she panics in the darkness as before and grows abnormally thin overnight. The cow does this over and over, for many years, and this is all she does. She never thinks, "This meadow has never failed to grow back. Why should I be afraid every night that it won't?" The cow is the bodily soul. The island field is this world where that grows lean with fear and fat with blessing, lean and fat. White cow, don't make yourself miserable with what is to come or not to come.

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• Too Nice for Your Own Good : How to Stop Making 9 Self-Sabotaging Mistakes by Duke Robinson
  
  
• Wherever You Go, There You Are by Jon Kabat-zinn
  
  
• The Power of a Positive No: How to Say No and Still Get to Yes by William Ury
  

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"A wonderful workshop which is very inspirational and important for anyone who is trying to find their way through life."
~ Ryan Hendren

What is it you're in this life to do? What Vision do you hold for your life, your work, how you seek to change to the world?

Your unique vision directs the way you integrate your spirit, relationships, mastery, principles and gifts, your trials and wisdom, resources and desires - how you place yourself in context with Humanity. It's your Quest.

The Vision Statement Movie workshop is a deeply edifying opportunity using specially-designed technology and imagination to help you see and feel your purpose in a creative new experience. Workshop participants have said, "It's captivating!" "It's magical." Find out more at www.visionstatement.org.au.

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• The Green Island read by Coleman Barks
  
  
• De-Stress Kit for our Changing Times
  
  
• A short article, from the Mayo Clinic, with some great tips on Stress Relief: Learn how to say No - Why, When and How to say 'No'

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"Working with Pat, I had a major breakthrough about the life I want to lead. Now that my goal is clear, everything else is falling into place. She provided the safety and space for me to dream big. I now have a very clear vision of what I want and am working towards it."

~ R.Hughs, Web Designer

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