How often do you have an idea and think, oh, “that’s cool.” You think you will remember it, and so you just go about your day. Then later, you have a vague memory of having had an idea, but for the life you, you can’t recall what it was. This used to happen to me all the time.

Now, I carry a small notebook or my I Phone everywhere I go. During the Fresh Air program described above, I had an idea while listening to the interview. I pulled over, took out my notebook, and wrote the idea down. In so doing, I was honoring my creative process. I was saying to myself, “my ideas matter.”

This is something I learned from reading about the tools of creative people. They always carry around a notebook, a pda or tape recorder to jot down their thoughts and ideas. You can do that too!

For additional ideas to tap into your creativity, visit:

http://oak-communications.com/

“Only that day dawns to which we are awake.”  Henry David Thoreau, Walden

What does it mean to be “awake”?

We train the mind to pay attention to the here and now, to be fully present.

We are often in the future – planning, thinking about what is next or in the past – worrying about what happened, rehashing conversations.

When our mind is in the past or in the future, it is like driving a car with the brakes on – it is inefficient and slows us down.

Why is this a problem? One tragic example of not being fully awake is the person who left his son in the car at the Bart stations recently. I imagine that the baby was quiet and the father was not fully present. He was thinking about the day ahead. This is an extreme example, but I believe it can happen to any of us if we are not awake to our lives.

Four Strategies to Wake Up

1.  Ask yourself from time to time, “Am I awake now?”

2.  Stop to notice your breath and your body. Take 2 deep breaths and relax.

3.  Look around and notice what is around you. Use all of your senses.

4.  Notice if your thoughts are in the past or the future and hit the “clear” button.

As a Coach, I help people to wake up and be present for their life. This helps them to be happier, reduce their stress, and be more successful in their work.

Client testimonial:

“I am spending more time on the activities that are most important to me and have set aside old patterns (like worrying too much!) that got in my way. Sue listens, responds, and makes effective suggestions in wonderfully supportive ways. Doesn’t everyone need a coach? From working with Sue, I’m convinced of it. She is helping me to achieve my interpersonal as well as career goals.” P

To learn more about my coaching services, please call or email me.

Sue Schleifer, M.A.
510.269.4434
Sue@Oak-Communications.com
www.Oak-Communications.com
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Other ways to think about values:

What you consider to be important to you in your life

What gives your life meaning

A framework for how you make choices

May change somewhat at different stages of your life.

By identifying your values, you are able to pursue what matters. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”

In the book, The Power of Full Engagement, Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz, write about how the city of Orlando, Florida planted a long line of trees along the highway. During the first storm with heavy winds, the trees blew down. After each storm the city sent workers out to prop up the trees with external sources of support, which continued to not be effective.

“It never seemed to occur to the folks in charge that if trees are to survive in a high-wind area, they must have a deeper root structure.  It did occur to us that we were observing in nature a phenomenon that characterizes many of our own lives. Because we so often lack deep roots-firm beliefs and compelling values-we are easily buffeted by the prevailing winds. If we lack a strong sense of purpose we cannot hold our ground when we are challenged by life’s inevitable storms. Instead, we react defensively, blaming the storm or simply disengaging and ceasing to invest our energy.”

One way to begin to understand and live deeply your core values is to look at a list of values and to identify those that hold the most meaning to you.

If you would like a list of Values, please email me (sue@oak-communications.com) and I will email a PDF handout to you.

After making a list or circling the words on a provided list, of those most important to you, identify the top 3 – 10. You may want to group words together in a string of values that go together for you.

Do your top values reflect how you currently spend your time? Are you living and working in terms of what matters most to you? If for example, generosity is a value for you, are you living generously? How can you transform your values into virtues?

You may want to reflect on the following questions. Jump ahead to the end of your life. What are the three most important lessons you have learned and what makes them critical? Think of someone you respect. Describe the qualities that you most admire in this person.

How can you incorporate what you have learned from these reflections into your own daily life and work? I recommend making your list of top values visible on your desk. Refer to them regularly and especially when you have a choice or decision to make.

To explore values further as well as other topics, please visit my website.

Sue Schleifer
Oak Communications, Coaching and Consulting www.Oak-Communications.com