Remembering to Forget

Imagine for a moment your home. Lovely in its way, whatever that is, and most importantly, yours.

Now imagine it for a moment with no garbage cans. The can in the kitchen is gone.

The smaller garbage containers in the bathrooms and your office, all gone.

If you’re brave, imagine your home with no sewage system.

Right, let’s move on quickly from that.

Now come with me and think about your brain. (I know, it’s a little like tickling yourself, but give it a shot anyway.)

Do you have the proper waste disposal system for your thoughts?

How cluttered is your brain after all these years of thinking, especially if you’ve never cleared it out?

Unlike our homes, we can’t move out of our brains and start fresh, so it’s imperative that we actively create and pursue a disposal mechanism for our thoughts. The alternative is slow death by too many thoughts – more popularly known as overwhelm, analysis paralysis, procrastination, and even, sometimes, plain old depression.

Have you ever read the story about the medical condition that – perhaps fictionally – cannot forget anything? One of our brain’s greatest gifts to us is the act of forgetting.  Think of it – of all the data that enters our lives minute by minute, the hourly task of sifting through what we experience and throwing away almost everything is a critical life skill.

So how about giving our brains a hand in this critical task and actively remembering to forget?

Instead of using our brain as a storage facility like some dilapidated shed, let’s learn to use it as a thinking facility.

Assume The Throne | People Like To Win, Why Not Give Them The Pleasure?

Cast YOUR Vote for the Next Top Newsletter Contest sponsored by Linda Puig

In coaching sessions lately, I’ve talked frequently about integrating the ‘gaming mentality’ into all aspects of business.  In case you missed a previous issue of Creating What Matters, and are sceptical about ‘gaming in busines’ as an important trend…don’t get left behind.
Google “Jane McGonigal” or watch her 2010 talk at TED.com.  World-changing viewpoints and definitely a doorway to breakthroughs in your business.

Linda Puig’s latest endeavour demonstrates how businesses of any kind can embrace the gaming trend quite perfectly, and I told her myself when we were catching up on the phone.  People just love to win.  And since High School, when was the last time you really competed? Do you remember the thrill of winning the cheerleading contest? Or envying the trophy the Head of Debating took home? Wherever your interests are on the spectrum that feeling of being acknowledged for achieving something doesn’t grow old.

Holding a contest requires you to ‘assume the throne,’ one of the steps to claiming your thought leadership.  In what way can you make a contest that lends you credibility, brings you traffic, and allows your community to play?

Because customers who play, stay.

For more inspiration, definitely head on over to (1) see how Linda’s set up the contest (2) cast YOUR vote for next top newsletter and (3) hang around for some newsletter wisdom, too!

Way to walk the line between ‘templating’ the systems part of newsletters and ‘celebrating’ the creative parts.  Wuhoo!

If you would like to kick start, dig deep and FOCUS in 2010…

Here then, is an invitation that answers to just that. Timing being what it is, it may or may not be right for you. If it is, please don’t hesitate to signal your determination and commitment by registering.

Seats are now open at the pre-launch pricing, going out to my community only – that’s you – the better to ensure seats are allotted FIRST to the inner circle. Obviously, an event can’t be about thought leadership without standing for something, itself, right? So I invite you take a read, just to see, what you might think – for yourself – about all of this.

http://www.WealthyThoughtLeader.com

Am I saying anything new, that you haven’t heard before? Am I walking my talk, or filled with baloney? What can you see?

For more info about these market shifts, and the event if you wish…

Email me at andrea at andreajlee dot com if a chat would help the digestion of all of this. I can do a limited number of these, but am perfectly willing. We aren’t in a one-size fits all world, so the approach mustn’t be either.

And if it’s NOT for you at this time, please do only one thing – reread the above with my blessing – just to digest it for yourself.

Thinking for yourself includes deciding for yourself if you agree with something, want to invest in something, or think something it complete, utter bollocks. Whatever your opinion it is, it’s welcome. Having a strong opinion about something is the start of the spark of all of it.

Congratulations to 5 Winners of ‘Advanced Strategies for Multiple Streams of Coaching Income’ | Five Powerful Strategies for Making Multiple Streams of Income Work at an Advanced Level

There were over 20 entries in this online contest, and I enjoyed picking these 5 very much.

In fact, I was so inspired by the results that I upped the ante on myself and in addition to the prize of 5 MP3s plus notes, will be providing laser coaching answers to 3 questions from each winner, via this blog.

Have a warm wish to share with the winners? Read on, and then click at bottom to read full comments and add your note.  My coaching answers will be posted in the same spot in the next short while.

Caroline Ceniza-Levine

Nicola Bird

John Cameron

Randi Buckley

Jan Barosh

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Thanks to you we have a pink spoon (monthly free Ask SixFigureStart call), the funnel (from free to $3,000, more for corporates), and a healthy balance of business and tech (blogsite, pro shopping cart, downloadable products). We have doubled revenues from last year while moving to more passive income. Read more here…

Caroline Ceniza-Levine
sixfigurestart.com

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Following on from the advice in that book I then devised my own product funnel, created an eBook, dabbled with a membership site and created an online/group coaching programme, Making It Happen, as a companion to the Multiple Streams Of Coaching Income book to help other coaches do the same. I eat, breathe and sleep Multiple Streams, and help others do the same. Read more here…

Nicola Bird
morethanyourtime.com
nicola@morethanyourtime.com

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For non one on one coaching I facilitate groups of business owners who share their Income Statements and marketing materals with each other. ….The meetings happen 6 times per year and I do 1 on 1 coaching with them in the other 6 months so it is a good combo. Read more here…

John Cameron
rock-solid-business-coaching.com

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I read the book like a novel of possibilities! Since then I’ve tried out several, including ecourses, webinars and teleseminars (most recently I’ve partnered my relationship coaching with a nutritionist for “the Relationship Cleanse” (www.relationshipcleanse.com) and an affiliate program (http://tinyurl.com/yhykprd). Read more here…

Randi Buckley
RandiBuckley.com

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In Place (Pink Spoon and all 4 levels of the Product Funnel):

Private Clients, Group Coaching, Monday Miracles eColumn (weekly) http://www.Monday Miracle.com , Teleclasses, In Person Classes marketed by Women’s Center, 3 Coaching Programs ranging from 1 Month to 18 months to complete, Booklet, eCourse. Read more here…

Jan Barosh
CoachingSpa.com

See original blog entry and comments to read more and add your own comments.  Stay tuned for Andrea’s answers to the three questions each winner also got to ask as part of their prize.

The Secret of Type A’s: You Can’t Escape Who You Are

Insights into Tribe Leadership by Coach Kay Cannon

It happened again this week. I was talking with a fellow I had just met when he suddenly observed, ‘You’re like a lightning bolt!’

Those are the words of Coach Kay Cannon in her blog ‘What Just Happened?!‘ where she writes about the ‘secret life’ of Type A’s like herself.

Does this sound like you? If so, you can read more here, comment and even sign up for her  Lightning Bolts newsletter.

Or go here to visit Kay Cannon on Facebook, and become a fan.

Want a Leafy Car with Jelly-Bean Extension Cord? Get in Line in Vancouver in 2010

I first heard this sweeping vision at TED Palm Springs in February.  Shai Agassi’s talk of electric-car-charging stations – to replace gas stations – around the world was invigorating, but there were a lot of naysayers at dinner later.

Could the giant iceberg of existing infrastructure be stopped, and momentum gained in the other direction? Instead of plugging my nose when gassing up, could I get used to swapping the batteries in my car in a little electric car drive through? Where would Shai’s vision first break ground and when? Or would it?

Here is the TED.com video in question so you can see for yourself. Remember TED talks are all 20 minutes at most, and speakers are requested to give the ‘talk of their lives.’ Prepare to enjoy.

Cut to what, 8 months later? Today.

Via Nissan.

Nissan, along with the Canadian province of British Columbia, the City of Vancouver, and BC Hydro, have announced that British Columbians will have a chance to get their hands on Nissan’s LEAF electric car sooner than the rest of the world. Global distribution is planned for 2012, but Canada’s Westernmost province will see it come in 2011.

Electric Cars in Vancouver
Gregor Robertson, the mayor of Vancouver (host of the 2010 winter olympics) said:

“Moving towards a zero-emission mobility program gets Vancouver closer to our goal of becoming the world’s greenest city.

We’ve moved very aggressively to bring in electric vehicle charging infrastructure regulations for Vancouver that is a first for North America.

The City will need electric vehicles to charge on that new infrastructure.

We are very pleased to be the first Canadian municipal partner of Nissan, a global leader in electric-vehicle technologies.”

So now it’s ‘we have the infrastructure planned for and coming, and we need some cars.’ Nice!

New legislation in Vancouver requires developers of new condominiums and apartments to make electric outlets available in a minimum of 20% of parking spots. Can downstream items like slick extension cords in jelly bean colors be far behind? Shai, what have you started?

I’m happy for Vancouver, in its lovely vision, along with the new Leaf, or should that be Leaves, soon to fill its streets. And, well, I like the color of the model. Did they steal it from Flik, the main ant character in A Bug’s Life, do you think?

Read more about the Leaf here. If you’d like a report on the test drive, as soon as I can get one, stay tuned.

“Old-School Marketing No Longer Working? Blame Canada!” By James Chartrand c/o Copyblogger.com

Note from Andrea about this reprint: As one of dem Canadians, eh, I rather adored this article. It’s unique AND has something tongue in cheek to say about marketing. I bet you’ll enjoy it, too. In fact, I bet you a Loonie.]

Canadians are a funny lot.

They use strange words and spell with a U. They kiss cod. They enjoy being frozen solid nearly 8 months a year, and they call their money Loonies and Toonies.

Don’t get me wrong; they’re nice people just the same. They’re nature lovers and humanitarian and they like things simple and friendly.

And contrary to popular belief, they’re actually pretty smart.

But there’s just one problem. Your marketing strategies? You notice how they’ve been changing? That the old-school methods aren’t working anymore . . . at all?

Well, I’ve figured out whose fault it is.

Blame Canada.

You see, Canucks have a strange mindset. They’re gentle people, and mostly kind of quiet. If you drove up to the frozen tundra and started screaming, “Buy my stuff!” at the top of your lungs, you’d probably startle the wildlife and be ushered off (politely) by Mounties in red coats and really great hats.

It’s happening all over. Those wily Canadians are causing a marketing revolution, and it’s spreading too fast to contain. Think about it for a minute. All of a sudden, your potential customers hate screaming and being pushed around, don’t they? It’s almost like they’ve been influenced by an evil foreign power.

The Dalai Lama Visits Taiwan Sunday | Will he stand in the same spot?

Pic taken on my August trip with Mom, for Grandma’s funeral. This was in front of Taipei 101. And yes, I am wearing one of my aforementioned gorgeous $10 shoes.

The 10-Second Flush | Making the Right Things Difficult

There is a lot that could be said about toilets in Taiwan, or Asia as a whole for that matter.

One thing was for sure, coming off an exercise high, I was rather rudely reminded that leg workouts and squat toilets don’t mix.

In memory of my grandma, toilet-wise, I should also mention the time I accidentally walked in while she was squatting on the seat of a western toilet. Those odd  dust marks on the seat all those times? All of a sudden made sense.

Hey, old habits die hard. I get it, and it makes me smile to remember. But sorry, no I don’t have a photo.

This was the sign above our very fancy toilet in the Rich Garden Hotel in Ximen, Taipei. Happily, it validated my trifecta of language skills – wow, a sign I could read all of in all 3 languages! A minor miracle, except it was inconsiderately posted behind the toilet, rather than in front, where I might cherish my talent and reread a few times.

Is there a serious point here? Well, I’ll give it a go. Don’t you think they’re onto something? It really did take standing there for a good 10-15 seconds to flush that toilet.  Making it difficult to flush saves water. You know, mellow yellow and all that. Making it challenging to throw away garbage – wouldn’t that correct human behavior accordingly as well? And making it so easy, SO easy, to reuse or otherwise do the right thing…you get the point.

Incentivizing the right behavior can apply in all circumstances, not just a hotel bathroom in Taipei!

What else could be made difficult, to a good purpose?

8 Figures. There, I said it. And may the honor in the number not be diluted…

It’s a sentiment devoutly to be wished, by me.

Eight figures, you say? Yes… that’s $10 million and up. $10,000,000 to $99,999,999 as opposed to$9,999,999.

(At $10 million, that’d be $833,333 per month in income for the given project or business initiative.)

Not to be flip about the numbers and all, but I know it can take a moment to click. And, may the Universe forgive me, once said in this tweetin’, hootin’, hollerin’ viral world of ours, I’m sure it will only be a matter of time before the ‘Make 8-Figures’ meme hits mainstream marketingville and it’s all over except the hitting of the delete key. In fact, I may as well throw down the flag…let the domain-buying wars begin!

And/but, I still choose to say it, placing it with the care I can in this world of words. 

It’s been a while since I’ve said it so baldly, so boldly shall I do so here:

Money is like a language of its own and its favorite topic of conversation is v.a.l.u.e.

Money is like the scent of a rose – it is an indicator of where the beautiful value grows.

Certainly, some people value different things than you or I do – beauty is in the eye of the beholder, after all. But, if enough people value that thing, be it food, shelter, drugs or alcohol, child care, a chauffeur, medicine, coaching, virtual assistance or, hey, insert YOU…

…there will be the scent of money, flagging that value, like a photograph gets tagged at Facebook.

One of the great honors conveyed upon this thing we call money - 5, 6, 7, 8 figures or any amount really - is in its signalling of value transacated. Or, of course, not transacted as the case may be.

As we work on opportunities to create what matters to us – money, meaning and value for those around us – I hope we remember this original honor of money – 8 figures or otherwise – no matter where marketingwhoville goes with the meme.

More conversation to come about 8 figures, what we’re doing that may call forth this much value, and how this might impact you, whether that’s a specific goal for you or not.  Call it good old-fashioned yoga for the mind.

For now, one of those thinkey things I like to do with quotes, turning them a bit from the inside out:

“‘People who look to religion for God, are like people who try to eat the menu when they’re hungry.” — Rumi

“People who look to money for money’s sake, are people who scream ’8-figures!!’ without looking for the value represented.”

By the way, these are the same people who come  insisting on the magical answers, bullish with their pointed questions ‘Andrea, how do I make this (insert thing) make a boatload of money?’  To which I must again answer, with respect… have something frigging amazing to say, or do, or provide.  Think what would make this ’thing’ of immense, undeniable value.  And hang the packaging, marketing, frantic joint venturing until then.

In a post-ponzi scheme world, where our understanding of ‘paper wealth,’ how the economy works, and our all-too-personal experience of stock market volatility, what does the word ‘value’ mean to you in the bigger picture?

On a micro level, what value are you creating in your business and your life? What is your sense of your personal inherent value?

Value is created in so many ways, from scratch, even. Where is your value?

Comment below.

For more thinkey stuff, be sure to sign up for updates at top right, choose one of the freebies at right (the small box banners) or, dive into some serious mind bends, stretching included, with our most popular no-fee recordings. They’re at the red button at top called, you got it, ‘Free Calls.’

Cellular Abundance | Knowing There’s Enough, For Sure

For all the talk of abundance, principles of attraction and more, I know in my cells there’s only one real way of breaking the grip of scarcity thinking:

Experience overwhelming abundance in some small way, best if it occurs on a multi-sensory level.

Examples:

- Go blackberry picking in the height of the season.

- Paddle out into the middle of the ocean until all you can see is waves.

- Visit a large fishmarket, squat down so you’re as close to lying among the piles of fish as possible.

- Speaking of lying down, doing that in the middle of a field of daisies, an acre of corn, or even face down on a sandy beach, can also work really well.

Yes, all of these examples are in the natural world, easy to do if you’re in the middle of the Comox Valley at harvest time. Still, I’m sure you have a fresh market of some sort within reasonable reach of you, or something equivalent, to do the above exercise. If not, try getting friendly with the multitudes of blades in a patch of grass.

There’s nothing like coming eyeball to eyeball, nose to smell, feeling to feeling, for a cellular experience of abundance. Let your senses fully register the data – wow, that’s a lot of X! Once your brain cells grasp what it’s like to acknowledge far more than enough of SOMETHING, you can begin to transfer that feeling to other areas of your life.

‘Finite’ is just a concept, like all the others. So if the idea of knowing there’s enough, for sure, relaxes you, I invite you to try the above.

Excerpt from Zen Guitar, by Philip Toshio Sudo

Sound Painting, or What Does Coaching Sound Like?

After a particularly invigorating week of coaching new clients, I was reflecting on the sound of coaching. It seemed to me to be like music. A sense of rhythm yes, but also of ‘attack’ or drive. Or the stretching of silence between notes, and most of all, of enchanting harmony, in those most illuminating moments.

In this happy connective fugue state of mind, I remembered one of my favourite books, ‘Zen Guitar’, and pulled it out. Sure enough, within I found a nugget that captured what I felt. Have you ever noticed the sound of your own coaching, that of your own coach, or, if you’re in coach training, the sound of coaching being demonstrated to you?

May I invite you to read this article twice, or on two levels? First, straightforwardly, for the delight of the words by Sudo-san. And secondly, replacing the words music and guitar, as they occur with ‘coaching’ or your service offering. In other words, what does coaching sound like? If it was a painting what would it look like? Can you be a coach on a multisensory level to some use or pleasure? Does this notion enrich your coaching?

“Every guitarist has a special quality of sound. The best ones will use a good ear, much sensitivity, and a thorough knowledge of music to prepare the nuances and colors of sound.” – Andres Segovia

Though we do not see it, sound has color. The black-belt player in this dojo thinks of sound as paint, using the guitar as a paintbrush.

When we speak of musical scales, the very word chromatic means of or relating to color. What gives a sound color is its tone and relationship to the notes around it. A painter knows, for example, that a blue placed next to a red looks very different from the same blue placed next to a green. So it is with musical notes. The same notes can sound bright or dark when played against different notes. Study the way sonic colors work together to produce various feelings.

When applying color to canvas, some artists throw cans of paint against the wall. Others display a touch as delicate as an eye surgeon. So long as the action is filled with emotional context, either method can work.

See the music like a painter and let the air be your canvas. Then, when you go to the museum, hear the songs that sing on every wall. When all five sense convege to one, you will know the Way of Zen Guitar.

The Art of Sprinting or ‘How to Get More Done, Your Way’

An article by guest author Michael Neill of www.geniuscatalyst.com.

Preamble from Andrea: Michael’s hit the nail on the absolute head with his latest article on pacing yourself in business, reproduced in full below. I personally am definitely a sprinter, and love the way he’s expanded the analogy here. Have a close read, won’t you? It may help you understand yourself in a very different light. Highly recommended and a definite theme for 1-1 business coaching sessions to come.

People sometimes ask me how it is I get so much done and seem to take so much time off. My answer is that I have learned “the art of sprinting” – that is, how to give my all to a project and then rest, recover, relax and renew.

Here’s a recent example:

At 11:45pm last Wednesday evening, I pushed the “send” button on a writing project that accomplished in 5 intense weeks what most writers would spend anywhere from 5 months to 2 years to accomplish.

I say this not to show off (well, maybe a little, but not mostly to show off – I say it to show what’s possible if you make use of one simple distinction in how you manage your energy and your time – the difference between a marathon and a sprint.

Here’s how sports psychologist James Loehr puts it:

To visualize the difference between a 100-meter sprinter and a marathoner, think about their energy before and after a race. At the end, the marathoner looks like a train wreck, while the sprinter looks excited and energized.

The reason sprinters are so excited and full of energy is that they can see the goal line right in front of them. I could give 100% of my energy to reach that clear a goal. But the marathoner can’t see twenty-six miles.

And our work lives aren’t twenty-six miles, but thirty or forty years. So it’s no surprise that most people are not fully engaged in their jobs or home lives. They are afraid to give too much because they will run out of steam. And once you run out, you are dead.

When you see your life (or work or marriage or pretty much anything) as a marathon…

Read more

Are You Treating Your Market Like You’d Treat A Best Friend: With Respect, Love And Fierce Advocacy?

The Money and Meaning Movie was where this conversation began, so it’s fitting that we circle around and take another look at what it said:

“Ever wonder why some business owners succeed while others fail?

Why some prosper, while others lose everything?

Why some retire young while others never stop?

It’s because they understand they aren’t building a business. They’re building relationships.

They treat their market as they would a close friend.

They listen to their market’s needs. They give more value than is expected. They respect people as individuals not as numbers.

There is more to business than just making money. You can make money AND meaning. If you treat your customers like a number, they come and go. But if you treat them with care, you’ll build a business for life.”

Coaching Questions:

1. If you were to treat your clients/customers like the best of friends, how would you proceed differently this week?
2. If it were possible to honor your customers like friends sustainably, for the life of your business, what would you do/provide/offer/invite?
3. Do you feel as though the idea of your market as a friend is wickedly unsustainable? May we suggest you may not be taking as good care of yourself as you could? 

Especially in tougher economic times, it can be very telling to answer the above questions. Post your comments/questions below.

Since launching the Money and Meaning movie years ago, it’s been played to great effect at corporate meetings, training events, and on the desktops of hundreds around the world. Click to view it or share it here:

www.themoneyandmeaningmovie.com

Does Being Creative Drive You To Drink? Elizabeth Gilbert Is Worried

The presentation given by Elizabeth Gilbert, author of megahit book  ’Eat, Pray, Love’ is being touted by many as the best talk of TED 2009. I started hearing this at dinner the day she spoke, and was, quite frankly, astonished. 

Don’t get me wrong, Elizabeth is awesome. I’m a fan, even though I get what people mean when they say her ‘Eat, Pray, Love’ was self-indulgent.  Still, she has a VERY nice turn of expression; language comes alive around her, as you’ll see in the short video below. The subject matter is of real interest too, and I wish her well in her new book about Genius.  She believes something is very wrong in the state of creativity and she’s taking a stand for it.

But the reason I was surprised by how well this went over was this:

The audience at TED is a LOT of scientists, computer and industry folk, wonderful geeks all. The artsy types are there, but definitely in the minority, and more the high-tech artsy types if you know what I mean. I think in all the people I met, there was one person who wrote children’s books and painted, and for her day job ran a graphics design company.  There, even artier than me, the coach, consultant, writer. 

Anyway…for a person who works deep in the bowels of the automotive industry, on enterprise-level software solutions, to say to me ‘Man, that Elizabeth Gilbert put her finger right on it…I get stuck in creative ruts like that ALL the time!’  Surprising.

Which just goes to show the power of transferring ideas from one area of expertise to another.  You never know what sparks might fly.  (A lot potentially, if sleeper hit Jill Bolte Taylor’s TEDtalk from last year is any indication.) I learned a lot from my new science, math and economics friends that will help me be a better entrepreneur, writer, and thought partner. In surprising ways.

So, all you self-help mavens, coaches and conscious entrepreneurs, your assignment is to watch this TEDtalk, and acknowledge that yes, much of this message you’ve heard before in some other format, at most coaching or self-help conferences.  Also acknowledge that you likely speak about or present something along these lines yourself. Okay you don’t have a megahit book, but the underlying DNA of what Elizabeth is saying is similar to your message, yes?  “Be all that you can be” and all that.

But don’t stop there. As you watch, also try asking yourself for whom this message would be revolutionary, a shock, like said auto-industry person.  Into what life would what Elizabeth is saying be a thunderclap?  Then ask yourself the same thing about your material.  Who hasn’t heard you/your message before; who would hear you with fresh ears, dropping-jaw?

My goal here is twofold. For you to think about new markets, certainly. But also to flip that on its head. If you feel your current message is landing on deaf ears, maybe it’s because you haven’t cross-pollinated anything lately.  Where are you getting your thoughts and ideas? Not the same bathtub as last year, I hope. As you seek to nourish others, what delicious fuel are you giving yourself? Comments welcome.

Meanwhile enjoy this tasty vide0-snack courtesy of TED.com and Elizabeth Gilbert.

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