Archive for the ‘stop trying - start doing’ Category

It’s been over a week since I stepped onto my treadmill. Yet 3 minutes and 20 seconds after starting a run I’m struck by a brilliant idea. It’s like my treadmill is a magic idea machine! This time the idea is for this blog: I need to write about my clients gems. Just 1 BIG gem at a time. Get their permission of course. And tell THEIR story. So that’s what I’m going to do. Watch for my very first client BIG gem tomorrow.

But before that, back to my magic idea machine. My husband Dave estimates our treadmill was built in 1986. The brand name is Free Spirit which would suggest it might actually be a relic of the 1960s. The belt whirs so loudly it would drown out a smoke alarm. Next to the golf-ball-sized twisty-knob speed adjustment is the bold acronym VEO. That stands for visually enhanced optics. I can only assume that refers to the oversize ticking numbers on the display, like one might see on an 18 year old clock radio on the bedside of your near-sighted great-grandmother. These are GIANT numbers.  And, of course, one can’t forget to mention the strip of wood paneling along the base.

Are you getting the picture?

Yet, despite all this, it is literally a magic idea machine. I get stumped at work…I don my runners, leap on that worn creaky tread, and minutes later, a BIG gem idea hits me! My buddy suggested that it might be the fact that I’m moving my body (instead of hunching over my keyboard) that gets the ideas flowing. But I’m sticking with the magic idea machine concept. Mmmmm…magic.

My friend and colleague Troy Payne talks about magic. Often it’s the magic created between people. The energy that’s created when colleagues brainstorm. Or when friends connect to support each other.

I’ve felt a magic in the clients I’ve coached lately. I’m really present with them and really connected. We’re plugged into the same mission: to achieve their goals and uncover something deeper. The questions I’m posing are causing shifts. And in that I’m discovering the truly powerful questions. It’s inspiring changes to my keynotes and workshops that really gels the concepts of one BIG gem I’ve been working with for nearly 10 years. It’s synergy. It’s exciting. It truly feels magical. So as a way to ACT on this latest BIG gem I’ll be writing about the powerful questions that have helped these clients have their BIG gem discoveries right here in the BIG GEM blog.

How might you tap into your creativity today? Do you need to move your body to shake off the cobwebs and come up with a better solution? Who can you connect with to generate renewed energy?

Join the conversation – write below to tell me what inspires your great ideas.  Here’s to a magical day filled with BIG gem ideas!

At 7:30 last night my husband Dave and I were finishing an amazing Thai meal with good friends at one of our favorite restaurants (Siam Orchid on Bernard Ave in Kelowna BC ) when I overheard someone zipping in for takeout. He hadn’t eaten lunch. He was headed back to the office. And he was, in his words “a mental midget” after all that work, no rest, no food, no daylight. He was busy burning out.

Are you busy burning out?

Seeing him in this frazzled state reminded me of a client I coached recently. Young guy, mid 20s, 18 months into his role and fully depressed. Expected EVERYTHING of himself. Never asked for help. It was like I was looking in the mirror.

So here I sit, an entrepreneur in my mid-30s, staring at my schedule for the week. Yesterday I completed 4 big tasks. I left 7 undone. What was I thinking trying to complete 11 big tasks in a single day on top of meetings and coaching clients? Completely unrealistic.

How often do you schedule yourself unrealistically? Are you swimming in ‘busy’?

We glorify ‘busy’. We assume that busy means we’re successful but it really means we’re unfocused. We put a high priority on everything, which devalues all of it. And when we constantly describe our lives as busy we get caught in conversations of busy one-upmanship…click here for the video clip on busy one-upmanship.

My fine colleague Hugh Culver put it well on Twitter this week when he noted “Busy people are just lazy. Lazy because they aren’t taking the time to reclaim their life. Don’t be lazy.”

So I certainly don’t want to be lazy. And I don’t want to burn out. I love my work. I love my life. And I want to have energy to really enjoy it. I want to focus on what’s really important to me. Do you?

I spent 30 minutes this morning rescheduling tasks for the next 3 weeks. Some got dumped. Some got bumped by a few days. I asked this 1 big question: what’s REALLY most important for THIS day?

Now I feel focused! Each morning I can focus on 1…act on 1. Just 1 at a time. 1 big gem at a time.

And this morning I managed to squeeze in a quick game of mini sticks hockey in the basement (my son Isaac beat me 3 to 1) and dance with my daughter Sarah to her favorite song of the moment Black Eyed Peas “I gotta feeling”. Come to think of it…I gotta feeling…that 2010’s gonna be a good year!

What’s with the rubber edging around your shoes? Are those shoes going to play bumper cars with other rubber edged shoes?

That’s right. My sister Amanda was talking about my shoes. She posed this particular zinger this summer as she stared down at my comfy shoes. The shoes I love wearing on stage, out for drinks, to the park. Yes…most of my shoes do have rubber edging. It’s not cool, but it’s what I’ve worn for years, ever since I swore off high-heals.

That all changed last month. I found myself hunting for a pair of boots to match an amazing new dress I’d bought. And there I was, trying on non-rubber-edged heals…and liking them!

The whole decision was loaded with meaning. You see, I was in the midst of redefining myself in my career (this new web design is part of that) and even in my life.

So suddenly it had nothing to do with the shoes. The shoes had become a metaphor – the BIGger question was, Who am I? And who do I want to be…in work and in life?

Do I wear a bumper-car-flat shoe (steady, grounded and comfortable) or a saucy-healed-boot (adventurous and bold)? Which is the genuine me? Switching shoe styles felt akin to a personality overhaul!

Marcus Buckingham, in his book Go Put your Strengths to Work says that as we grow in our careers “we become more of who we already are.” So if that’s the case, who am I?

It took another conversation (less sarcastic on her part) for me to have the BIG gem moment. I don’t need to choose just one element to define me. I’m evolving. I’m exploring different ways of expressing myself in work (and apparently in fashion). I can wear both types of shoes until one no longer feels genuine. I don’t need to pressure myself to pick now.

So here are a few “stop trying…start doing!” questions for you:
- How might you “try on a new pair of shoes” this month? In work? In life?
- If you’re an entrepreneur, remember that you and your business are separate entities. It’s okay if you are in fact MORE than your business. It’s very difficult to capture ALL that you are in your business – it’s image and marketing and style. How might you cut yourself some slack and allow yourself to evolve in the business and outside of it?

If this entry inspired a BIG gem for you tell us about it! What BIG gem are you committing to this month. Focus on one. Act on one. Just one BIG gem!

I bolted into our dark and frosty backyard on Tuesday evening with a bucket of peels for our composter. As I dashed back toward the house I heard, out of the silence, a clear steady ream of chimes. Then just as suddenly, it was silent again.

My amazing friend Cheryl bought those chimes for me as a birthday gift months ago. I loved them immediately: when the wind hits them just right they ring so clearly.

That chime is like a BIG gem: it comes out of nowhere…rings clear…and then it’s gone.

For years I’ve been using the BIG gem analogy to describe that light bulb moment of clarity. When, for an instant I know exactly what’s important. I learn something about my habits that suddenly explains why I’m stuck. It’s a flash of realization about something that gets me really excited.

And then it’s gone.

The trick is to recognize that true ring and DO something about it!

So that’s what this blog will be all about. BIG gems. And doing something about them before they disappear into the silence.

Each time you have a BIG gem moment think about Yoda’s famous quote “Try not. Do. Or do not. There is no try.” Hear more about yoda on our video page.

So have you heard that clear chime in your head lately? That light bulb moment of clarity? That’s your BIG gem. Now how will you act on it this month? Stop trying…start doing!

Tell us about your GEMS and how you act on them in work and life. Comment in the blog and inspire other readers.