Rain, Rain, Go Away

Yuck. Its been raining for days and that makes most of us feel yucky. Gray clouds. Wet roads. Damp places. What a better way to get our mood down and keep it there.

Up pops the sun and our attitudes goes up. Everything is brighter, clean and clear.

So what can we learn from Mr. Rain and Miss Sun.... whatever the weather you pick you mood and attitude. It's not easy and it takes a deliberate effort to stay in the sunny mode.

Just like in our life experiences rain doesn't last forever. Choose your mood and choose your outlook on what is your current circumstance. Sometimes we need to experience those rainy days to appreciate more of the sunny ones.

Sandra Larkin
http://www.sandralarkin.com/

Time With Mr. Rooney

All of us feel overwhelmed during any given day or week with a multitude of tasks and events that call for our attention. Sometimes these can be negative and, if we're lucky, they can be positive also.

I had come home from a very hectic day which became a very hectic week feeling overwhelmed with alot of positive events that were taking place. The sum total of these kept my head swimming with a huge task list and thoughts of direction about my future. I changed clothes and retreated to my bed where I needed to lie down to think and do absolutely nothing for a while. A cool breeze blew in from the open window and Mr. Rooney, my 15" beagle, jumped on the bed and sat beside me. As I began to give him attention, I decided that I was only going to concentrate on being with him and let the rest of the day and week take care of itself at the appropriate time.

I spent time with Mr. Rooney realizing that even when things get rough we can retreat to a special place with our family, friends or pets and close out the multitude of task and responsibilities that loom upon us. We are all blessed with people, health or job that we can focus on to take away the negative and concentrate on the positive if only for a few moments.

My time with Mr. Rooney provided me with an opportunity to savor the moment and put into perspective what was ahead of me. I came away with a fresh perspective of not trying to design my future in a period of few hours but to remain quiet and agreeable so that the future takes care of itself.

Sandra Larkin
http://www.sandralarkin.com

Past To Present Monuments

Wow, what a difference two years make.

I had an opportunity to revisit a few old business haunting places last week. Two years ago in these same locations, I was stressed out from the job and trying to manage an ongoing project with multiple vendors. In these same locations, business meeting and lunches were conducted with people that I loved working along side.

Fast forward two years later and I now own a successful business traveling the area and the U.S. with speaking, wellness and training engagements. Within one week, I revisited two of these locations with a fond memories (and not so fond) of the past but in a different aspect ... on my own terms.

When you have these defining moments in your life and career, they execute a monument to your past. The monument links your past to the present moment so you can understand where you were and how far you have come. For me, two monuments were erected for each place I visited. I realized that I am the same person I was two years ago but now with the drive, ambition and passion to succeed on my own terms.

I keep track of these monument's to remind me not only on where I came from but where I am today. The future is mine to choose. In a few more years, I hope to erect another monument in these same locations to measure my success on how far I have come and design a new plan for how far I want to go.

Sandra Larkin
http://www.sandralarkin.com/

Transitional Changes For Life and Career

Everyday we work in a transitional state towards a new direction or from a current challenge. This can be transitioning from being ill to well, career change, marital status such as divorce or business growth and development. The way in which we approach these transitions is through flexibility. This will determine their success for the long term and produce attraction for more positive ones in the future.

I have been through a number of transitions over the past two years. I resigned a long term position and gave up a 20 year corporate career, created a successful business, right-sized my health by participating in a physical fitness boot camp and worked through the rough spots on discovering who I am and where I want to be. This process has taught me that I needed to stop making decisions based on what my preset boundaries where at the time. I learned to physically stop, plant my feet firmly, look at the opportunity, evaluate it with a new set of eyes and sometimes take a chance by risking the outcome.

If you watch a willow tree in a storm or when high winds blow, you will see that it remains flexible to move through its current chaotic state. When the wind blows, it moves in the same direction of the wind ultimately standing up right when the storm passes. Nature has its way of teaching us to move through these transitional periods of our life. Technically, they come and go with little negative impact we somehow seem to manifest in our own minds.

The next time a storm moves in where you live, take a look outside and watch nature move through the transition from sun to dark and back to sun again. You will see that nature remains consistent with its ability to weather the storm. As we move through the many phases of our life, look to nature to teach you that you can make good and sound decisions by remaining flexible, moving beyond your comfort zone and sometimes just taking a chance. You have everything it takes to make the wrong right and the positive even better consistently !

Sandra Larkin
www.sandralarkin.com

Gone Fishing

I received a call from an "old" friend the other day. Someone I hadn't spoken to in a number of months. About 2 minutes into the conversation, I realized it was a "fishing expedition". In other words, a conversation that was initiated to gain information for the betterment of the caller. It's intention of keeping in touch was a false front to a bigger motive ... to gain FREE information so no payment is required. We have all been on the other ends of these calls. They are obvious unlike a true "old" friend who is wanting to reconnect (these calls I love!). It became a challenge to see how long I could sustain dodging the bait and being reeled in hook, line and sinker.

If your going on a "fishing expedition", here are a few dont's so you can at least save face and your integrity.

DON'T
* Call the person before 8:00 a.m. ever just because you have the time open to talk.
* Assume that the time you do call is a good time for the other person.
* Start the conversation with a bunch of compliments and a longing to reconnect.
* Dive right into questions concerning someones educational background.
* Interrogate the person's business or career and how you can fit in to gain employment .
* Sell the person a product or service at the end of the call. This is TACKY!

When you receive a "fisherman" call, here are a few DO's to help you feel good about not being someone bait.

DO
* Allow the caller a limited time to be engaged in a conversation with you. At least you can be courteous and they won't post a blog about your bad behavior.
* Think before you answer giving limited access of your knowledge.
* Ask more questions than the caller .
* Keep the subject matter to family, friends, church or hobbies .
* Be kind but get off the call quickly. The caller obviously is interested only in themselves and has bigger internal issues they should be dealing with.
* Recommend books like Dale Carnegie's "How To Win Friends And Influence People". It can go something like this "Hey, I am reading xxx, have you heard of it?".

At some point you will need to step back and think about your relationship with the caller. They are using your friendship as a way to seek professional paid advice for free instead of fee. Some people think that all of their friends are their personal free paid board of directors: therapist, doctors, lawyer, business or career consultants, hairdressers. They don't have to worry because "My friend is a " and will help me rightsize all my challenges.

I am complimented that someone wants to model themselves, their career or business after what I have accomplished. Just don't make it so obvious. Use your own talents and qualities to be successful.

Sandra Larkin
http://www.lostandfoundlifecoach.com/MediaRoom.htm

Spring Self Renewal

Spring is in the air .. or so it seems with snow still falling. Through parts of the U.S., we had a taste of spring/summer a few weeks ago then back to cold and snow. It seems that we yearn more for the warmer days when cold ones set in upon us.

And so it is with renewing commitments for spring and summer. We become energized at the possibility of playing outdoors, gardening, swimming or just relaxing. We also commit to changes for the warmer months ahead dieting, exercising, spending more time with the family to name a few. As distractions take us away from our goal, we settle in for another round of missed commitments.

How can we successfully navigate through these new found commitments? Let's start with ...

* Make one commitment ... and only one.
Make one commitment to experience success building your way up to a mounting challenge. Getting use to a new process or way of life takes time. Give yourself permission to accomplish each goal effectively one at a time.

* Take a different perspective
If you've chosen exercise, look at it from the perspective of better health verses losing 20 lbs. Not all commitments are meant to be dealt with straight on but need a different perspective to help motivate us to change slowly.

* Set a minimum
Set a minimum timeframe of what your effort will be. Reaching for the maximum on day #1 will make us feel defeated on day #10 if we don't accomplish some or all of it.

* Track your progress
"Hey, how are you doing with xxxx?". You should be able to answer this question if a friend ask you. Knowing what you have done and where you are in the process helps you keep on the path of change. It also lets you know if we've been a little more aggressive in your goal setting then your current life/career situations can handle.

Spring is a great time to commit to those New Years resolution long forgotten. So you didn't lose 50 lbs in 3 months. It's really ok to start over and make the next 6 months count. Spring is a time of renewal. Be a new you!

Sandra Larkin
http://lostandfoundlifecoach.com/MediaRoom.htm

I Can't Be Sick. I'm Too Busy.

Like you, I don't have the time to be sick with the flu or something worse. I'm busy managing my business, personal life, health and wellness. But guess what. We all get sick to some degree during the times we are extremely busy.

On an off the week after New Years, I have been battling the flu. One day I'm up out of the bed and the next day I'm back in. I decided during this cycle to take a closer look at what I could learn from this down time and here is what I came up with.

#1 - I needed to think about a few ideas and directions in more detail. This allowed me to get focused to strengthen these solutions. Laying in bed allowed me to not be distracted by any other areas of my life so the solutions came to me with clarity.
#2 - I needed to move off of areas that were not healthy for me to be thinking about. This included relationships I needed to evaluate along with outcomes to problems that probably will never happen. In other words, I cleared my thinking about most things.
#3 - I learned that I have a great life compared to those "people" on soap operas. Wow, they all need a coach to help them with their problems and stay married to one person long enough to have the ink dry on the marriage certificate.
#4 - I learned that my health is important to me and although I do take care of myself with nutrition, exercise and vitamins I could do more.
#5 - I learned that the housework and laundry will wait another day or week or so. Otherwise, someone else in the household will have to do it. I have a great home support system.
#6 - Sometimes being sick allows other people to see how important you are to them and appreciate all that you do.

Most importantly, I learned that everything and everyone can wait another day. I am important to myself and my family.

During your sick moments, take time to heal both physically and emotionally. There is benefit from feeling really bad for a short period of time.

Sandra Larkin
Certified Professional Coach

www.lostandfoundlifecoach.com