In The Pursuit of Money, Meaning & Beyond, Is It Time For Some Hair Of The Dog?

This thought-piece by Andrea J. Lee is excerpted here for the first time from the book, Money, Meaning and Beyond, Chapter 21

Ever feel like a fraud in your biz? Or, just stuck in a rut – again?? Whatever your business is, if you’re hesitant, embarrassed or shy about it, it’s just not going to work long term. Time for some hair of the dog.

Question: I’m totally stuck. I thought my business was going well, but I can’t seem to get anywhere these days. It’s like spinning my wheels in mud and getting deeper and deeper into ick. Plus, I have no energy anymore. When people ask me what I do, I just can’t seem to care enough to tell them. Please tell me what is up?

Whether you’re just starting out or been around the block a dozen times, the feeling of ‘I have no idea why but there is no energy around here’ is a common one to business owners of all stripes.

First things first. Remember, everything is energy. And when you’re stuck, experience tells us there’s something wrong inside – not something you’re doing – that is creating the block.

So here’s where the idea of Hair of the Dog comes in.

The phrase ‘Hair of the Dog’ originally comes from Medieval times when physicians of the time prescribed real hair from a dog to treat dog bites.

You know, someone would come into the surgery with a dog bite. And they would get a mouthful of tonic made from hair of the dog that actually bit them.

Now we don’t know if that worked from a medical perspective, but the phrase in modern times has come to characterize something more familiar, at least to some.

When you – or someone you know – has indulged a little too much in alcohol the night before, the morning after can be a bit of a trial.

And the phrase, “You need some hair of the dog” has come to mean, “Ya might wanna have another drink, buddy, it’ll take the edge off your headache this morning.”

It’s been a little while since I’ve tried this personally, but we seem to remember it works.

So what does all this have to do with your business? A lot, actually.

If you’re stuck in any way, or even if you’re not stuck but you want to amp up your flow of energy, ask yourself this:

“In what way could I be applying the things I sell, teach or stand for, to myself?”

“How could I – more thoroughly – be doing what it is I tell my clients they should be doing?”

The answers you come up with are…well…the things you must do to get unstuck.

Mini Case Studies:

• If you’re a massage therapist, how often are you yourself going to a therapist to reap the benefits of your trade? A grumbly massage therapist whose back hurts and forehead is wrinkled from low energy isn’t someone most people would go back to…
• If you’re a financial advisor, how are your finances? We’re not saying you have to be a millionaire to be a terrific financial advisor, but you must actively be pursuing what you believe is important in the realm of finances. If you aren’t, how can you do right by your clients?
• If you are a dentist, how are your own teeth?
• If you teach cold calling, how often are you picking up the phone?
• If you’re a coach or consultant, are you walking your own talk?

‘Nuff said.

It’s pretty simple really…albeit maybe a bit unexpected. When you start to apply the Hair of the Dog Principle, count on your energy starting to flow again. It’s like taking a little booster shot in exactly the right spot.

Wisdom nugget:

Make a list of why you think people should do business with you. Be thorough. Start with as many as you can write down, and come back a couple times as you think of more.

Example: They’ll save money. Or time. Or they’ll have a lot of fun. Or…whatever.

>>> Now make a list of ways YOU can live these things yourself.

What is thought leadership, anyway?

On Thursday January 21, I’ll be holding a class on ‘Everyday Thought Leadership for Entrepreneurs‘…

It’s no-cost, and I’ll be using 3 example businesses to demonstrate the concepts.

The words ‘thought leadership’ may sound on the fancy side, but all they really mean is:

• thinking for yourself
• creating value in a fresh way for those around you
• daring to be even just 10% different

In business, it also means acting on those fresh ideas and creating a business structure that delivers value to your customers. By the way, if you’ve gotten hold of a truly ground-breaking idea that changes the game – and isn’t TOO ahead of its time – your business will more than ‘keep food on the table.’ This is where it gets really fun and rewarding.

And, it’s where the big success stories are going to come, in 2010.  Because years ago, when the internet was a baby, it was easy for every ezine, product, or offering to be fascinating and cool.  Heck, when TV was new, all the programs seemed worth watching too, right?  Well, the Wild West of the Internet is definitely gone, and quality is now rising to the top.

You get to choose what kind of TV program you and your business will be.  So, what will it be?

To learn more about everyday thought leadership for entrepreneurs…

Click here to register.

Bodily Incompetence | Ignoring what’s right in front of our noses. Or Ignoring our noses, actually. Free ‘Deshrimping’ Call Tues Oct 13

This thought-stream was originally sent out to members of the Columbus Group whose comments and questioning have infused this recovering meat sack.  New members welcome at the above link. The topic today is…bodily incompetence.

Yes, I said incompetence, not incontinence, though one might lead to the other in some cases.

Dear reader, has it ever occurred to you how much we don’t know about our own bodies?

Individually, sure. (Can you, for example, without looking, draw a map in your mind’s eye of all your major birthmarks or moles?)

But also on a general basis, how much we don’t know about this ‘thing’ this ‘flesh’ that we carry around with us, or is us, or…you get what I mean.

I’ve been marvelling at how unconsciously incompetent I am at being a human being. It’s fun, actually, and kinda funny.

I use this body, certainly, and sometimes to great effect, like when I pull out a splinter from the ball of hubby’s foot. Or eat a bowl of congee with chopsticks while the dog lies on my feet, and I read a book.

Really, life is a regular Cirque de Soleil, some days!

But lately, I’ve been asked some consciousness-raising questions. Questions like…

(1) For what reason do we have a skeleton? Why, please, do you think we have a skeleton? Really.

(2) When you think of your foot, and you think of the action that your foot makes when walking, you doubtless
know that your heel strikes the floor and your foot rolls toward the toes.  Where in your forefoot does the skeleton provide the most support for walking, do you have a sense?

(3) What shape are your leg bones, both your tibia and your femur? (Tibia – shin bone; Femur – thigh bone. Good enough for conversation.)

One thing I’ve noticed without prompting, you know, on my own… desk jockey and lover of laptop-screens I seem to be…is that I spend a lot of my life in ’shrimp position.‘ You know it, I’m sure, where the head falls forward of the shoulders, the back rounds and the chest drops in on itself? It’s uncomfortable, and yet, I’m very stuck in it. My body doesn’t know what else to do.
It dislikes so-called good posture, too, and can’t hold that either for more than a few seconds without attention.

So, what is a girl to make of this stuck place in my body?

Do I ignore it, stay asleep, and year after year, become more and more calcified into shrimp position? (Might we say lobster-like, even?)

How do I react when I see a significant newspaper advertisement saying ‘Having trouble wiping?’ showing an older person unable to reach around himself? I don’t make these things up, you know.

What does the future hold for my body and the mind that lives within it, unchecked? What about the body-mind of my cherished coaching clients – how do I begin this conversation – do I begin this conversation, with them?

What habits is YOUR body in?

What benefit would you get from noticing these? Is there a compelling reason for you to become more interested in your body, or is it a ‘whatever’ and I lost you at ’shrimp?’

What general thoughts about bodily incompetence do you have – personally and/or generally?

What else does this trigger, for you?

More another time, including thoughts about the three questions posed about the skeleton, the foot and the legs,
above.

Meanwhile, the second no-fee movement-based class I’m holding (by teleconference call) is tomorrow, Tuesday morning October 13. You can sign up here.

It’s completely no-fee, and 100% adventure, as this will be another practice lesson I’m teaching as part of my
practitioner-training.

Come to think of it though, be warned please, as the lessons are rather subtle. Think “am I doing anything?” level of subtle. And yet, therein lies some of what I consider cool magic that might just be an answer to the bodily incompetence you may feel. Later!

What Being Home Feels Like | ‘Fundamental Richness’

I’ve been home a day now, almost to the minute, and unfortunately at this hour, not sleepy. Was I ever, this afternoon, but alas, that demon jetlag has its grip on me! To fall to sleep, I’ve been counting, not sheep, but blessings. 

After a whirlwind trip with mom to bury grandma, my day has been filled with conversations: 3 big-hearted and intelligent coaching clients, 2 internal meetings, an upset brother, and one business meeting with struck-with-dental-pain-but-grinning-and-bearing-it husband. I feel tremendously lucky.

Locals in the Comox Valley often ask ‘why’d you move here’ from Calgary, to which I like to reply, ‘what’s not to like?’ Tonight, picking wild plums (yellow and red, the yellow are sweeter), buying a plate of swollen figs from a Portuguese neighbour near the estuary, then laughing at Reka eating blackberries off the vine, I reaffirm – it’s sweet to be home. 

Flossing my teeth in my own bathroom tonight, Chapter 13 ‘Fundamental Richness’ from The Pocket Pema Chodron sang to me, so I share it here with you:

“Fundamental richness is available in each moment. The key is to relax: relax to a cloud in the sky; relax to a tiny bird with gray wings; relax to the sound of the telephone ringing.

We can see the simplicity in things as they are. We can smell things, taste things, feel emotions, and haev memories. When we are able to be there without saying, ‘I certainly agree with this,’ or ‘I definitely don’t agree with that,’ but just be here very directly, then we find fundamental richness everywhere.

It is not ours or theirs but is available always to everyone. In raindrops, in blood drops, in heartache and delight, this wealth is the nature of everything. It is like the sun in that it shines of everyone without discrimination.”

—-

How are you fundamentally rich in this moment? What does being home feel like to you? Does home feel like its where you are now, or elsewhere? If fundamental richness doesn’t feel accessible to you now, what DO you feel? To feel something different, it’s often helpful to feel what you feel right now first, fully…

Fake-Chicken Spam: If Businesses Are Listening, What Shall We, The Consumer, Tell Them?

How many times have you been unhappy about something you bought, ate, or experienced? Something you spent money on with a corporation or business? And of those times, are you among the many, myself included, who’ve said nothing?

“Oh well, someone else will say something.”

“No one is listening anyways, why bother?”

“I can’t believe they’re so ignorant to have treated me this way. They don’t deserve the opportunity to improve. I’m taking my business elsewhere.”

And yet, as this quote shows, some businesses – perhaps the best ones – are listening, and willing, it seems, to act.

“I have learned, based on my experience, that everything is dominated by the market. So whenever we are struck with any obstacles or difficulties, I always say to myself: ‘Listen to the market, listen to the voice of the customer.’ That’s the fundamental essence of marketing. Always, we have to come back to the market, back to the customer. That is the Toyota way.

So, whenever we’re stuck, we always go back to the basics. Because branding or image are determined by the customers, not us. We really cannot determine anything. The customer does that. That is the essence.”

– Yoshio Ishizaka, Executive Vice President, Member of the Board, Toyota Motor Corporation

Putting aside the more obvious lesson for business owners such as you or I, which could be to adopt Ishizaka-san’s philosophy…aha! I’m celebrating coach-like behaviour – also known as an advanced level of listening – from a corporation. But looking at the quote from the flip side…

As increasing numbers of businesses seize this radical notion of listening to each of us, what, I wonder, shall we the consumer, tell them? 

Sure, some companies may be getting info about us in ways we don’t like to think about. (Tracking your clicking behavior online is just one of them. There’s always analyzing credit card purchases, too.) But focusing on that kind of behind-our-back listening misses a potentially important point.

What if we told them - proactively and up front - what we want, what we believe is important, what we would most value in their services/offerings, what more dollars we might spend with them if they changed…

On a daily level as a consumer, I know I could volunteer genuine feedback more often. More consistently when something occurs to me.

For example, when someone gives me great service, filling out that comment card.  Or how about, on the occasion of ordering lemongrass chicken with vermicelli pho, and discovering fake-chicken spam? Yes, spam chicken exists, who knew? Hmm. Where I now live, there are only two Vietnamese restaurants – I guess you could say I have a vested interest to (possibly) affect change. 

At its possible best, I imagine constructive consumerism to be  just like that - a way of being a consumer that becomes powerful, like a vote that means something.

For just a moment can you imagine changing what’s stocked on shelves, served on the menu, and otherwise sold to us, by acting like members of the board ourselves? Isn’t that what happened before grocery stores starting stocking organic produce, anyway? Hey, we’re more powerful than we realize.

What other ways are we influencing businesses to change, up front, that we can become more conscious of?

As businesses listen to us more and more, I wonder, what good things will we have to say?

The Lone Ranger Syndrome

It’s time to stop doing it all…

(An excerpt from Chapter 15 in Money, Meaning and Beyond)

It’s not unusual for either of us to get variations of this question:

“Tina, I want to build my website, set up some Pink Spoons and manage my different streams of income, including online. So how do I become tech-savvy?”

Our response: “Why should you become tech-savvy?”

It’s easy when adding online elements to our business to think that we need to do it all ourselves, which simply isn’t true…

As a small business owner, isn’t your time better spent elsewhere, such as delivering value to your clients or building your business? When your time is limited, doesn’t it make sense to work on the stuff that only you can do in your business?

It’s a pet peeve of ours to see people waste their time and effort learning skills that are a poor match to their talents, they don’t enjoy, and in many cases don’t benefit their business!

So why is this so common? Most people think they can’t afford to hire help for themselves and their business, especially in the early days when cash flow may be tight. And so they resign themselves to either:

• Doing everything themselves and letting their business suffer, OR
• Under-utilizing the help that they do have, thus hampering their growth.

On behalf of your sanity and the growth of your business, hire some help sooner rather than later.

One of the best resources for support available these days is to hire a Virtual Assistant. Also known as a VA, these skilled professionals are able to help with anything from general administrative tasks, customer service, technical projects, marketing initiatives and more. The word Virtual simply refers to the fact that they work from their location, not yours, and that may mean they’re up to half way around the globe.

Because VAs usually work as contractors, you can hire them for as much or as little work as you need, be it just a few hours each week or up to full time hours as your business grows. Since VAs work from home and have their own equipment, you save the cost of hiring and housing a fulltime local assistant.

But won’t a VA – or any other kind of help for that matter – cost money? Money that you may not feel you can spare just now? The answer is yes, however there is one key point about turning a VA from a business liability, into a true asset.

Think of them as a Profit Center.

Instead of an expense, like stationary, office furniture, or your internet connection, a Virtual Assistant can be a profit center.

Most people don’t think about ‘getting help’ this way, so it’s to your benefit if you do. By focusing your VA on profit generating tasks, you leverage yourself, add capacity to your business and in fact, alleviate the pressure on you to be the only ‘bread winner’ in the business – a very common situation if you’re working solo.
Although it seems simple on the outside, this one mind-set shift will differentiate you from other business owners if you go ahead and implement it.

Ask, “How Can My Virtual Assistant Be a Profit Center In My Company?’

This mindset-shift is one of the main reasons why we have been able to help build our client companies so quickly from six figures to seven. Think about it. Being able to add capacity in a way that makes it possible for you to do much more work, more quickly, is a pretty neat thing. Not to mention bringing in more money!

Let’s talk a bit more about what these profit-generating tasks might be. First, the best VAs are NOT just glorified secretaries.

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

The Final Word… A Personal Note And A Poem From Hafiz

It’s been a tumultuous first six months of 2009 for me, in many ways, so I’ve decided to take June 1 as a reset button… a new start to 2009. What have I learned?

• Recognize karma when it is staring me in the face. (Dance with who persists in showing up in your life. There might be something in it.)
• Learning is what happens when I really, really, really don’t know what to do. (It might be interesting to stay with not knowing more often, instead of trying to get unstuck all the time.)
• A formerly nerdy, plays-piano, goes-to-Chinese-school-on-the-weekend, favorite hobby is ‘books’ Asian girl can become (joyfully) athletic. PR for squats = 100 pounds, for benchpress = 80. (Sorry, no photos. Maybe later this summer.)

I turn 39 today. Yes, it’s my birthday and as you read this I’m off, probably being spoiled by my hubby Mike. 40 is right around the corner, and maybe I’m feeling just a little grown up these days.

May I punctuate the end of this newsletter with a bit of poem with questions I’m asking myself, at the end? Perhaps there’s something here for you, too.

From ‘Then
Winks’ by Hafiz

 

Everything is clapping today,

Light,
Sound,
Motion,
All Movement.

A rabbit I pass pulls a cymbal
From a hidden pocket
Then winks.

This causes a few planets and I
To go nuts
And start grabbing each other.

Someone sees this,
Calls a
Shrink,

Tries to get me
Committed
For
Being too Happy.

Listen: this world is the lunatic’s sphere,

Don’t always agree it’s real…

Possible Questions…

What box am I playing in? What box would others have me play in? What
box do I choose to leave in order to construct what other box?

How can I dial down the ambient noise of sameness, all around? How
can I break free into a quiet pocket of space to hear myself think?

License To Tweet Website Launches To A Flock Of Enthusiastic Tweeples At, You Guessed It, Twitter.com | Thomas Leonard Success Strategy #8: Shamelessly Leverage Others

 The lighthearted website we launched this week is a great example of something else Thomas was known for, sometimes controversially, and that was the use of volunteers.

Leveraging others can become a negative thing, but when done right, it is a thing of business elegance, and everyone feels like they got a great deal.  This has come to be known as developing your business evangelists, and by other names, but I call it simply “shamelessly leveraging others” or Thomas Leonard Success Strategy #8.

Shamelessly because when it’s a win on both sides, there need be no shame involved, only joy.

So in addition to visiting www.LicensetoTweet.com to pick up some terrific Thomas Leonard-isms for your tweets, or just plain old  inspiration for yourself, check it out from the point of view of this direct question:

How can you equip other people to enthusiastically align with your cause and help drive it forward?

Visit www.LicensetoTWeet.com now won’t you, and see what else you can decipher between the lines? I look forward to hearing how you apply this for yourself.

Open House Call: What Does Knowing How To Say Goodbye Have To Do With Being A Great Coach, Consultant Or Other Conscious Business Owner?

Open House Call on Wednesday April 15, 2009
Led by Andrea J. Lee

Have you ever fired a coach or been fired by a client? Were those goodbyes constructive coaching moments, as good as or better than the rest of the relationship?

Goodbyes, like little deaths, are one of those tough things in life, and as usual, I have high expectations of coaches to lead the way in tough things. Great goodbyes can be things of beauty, openings to unique moments of learning, and are a mark of personal mastery.

Join this call to learn what to do, and what to avoid when saying goodbye to a client, or a client is saying goodbye to you. Together, we’ll discuss the necessity for coaches to proactive anticipate and facilitate a positive goodbye, and how to begin doing that.

As our mastery of coaching grows, this topic needs addressing for the simple reason that the fear of saying goodbye prevents greater intimacy. When you can get courageous, committed, yet detached from any associated pain of goodbye, that’s the moment you can engage to the fullest as a coach. Got comments on this topic? Comment below.

Date: Wednesday, April 15th, 2009

Time: 10am PT /11am MT /12pm CT /1pm ET

Cost: Nothing, except your own long-distance telephone charges

Just enter your name and e-mail address below to register for this teleseminar now:

Your Name:
Primary Email:

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.

“In Case of Emergency, Ask Question” by Lable Braun

What I’m about to share is, I know, going to be a highlight of the year, and here it is only the 12th of January. 

A new book has come into the world, and that in and of itself is nothing special. There’s many a book that’s born that never meets its mark, barely even ripples the surface of our attention, a waste of paper and ink.

This particular book is a short one, just shy of 100 sweet pages, and it’s the first print book by my friend and colleague Lable Braun.  It’s title is “In Case of Emergency, Ask Question: Finding Your Path in Life’s Most Challenging Moments.”  Now why might this warrant your attention? See if any of these pass your litmus test:

• It is a uniquely wise book.

Lable is one of those writers who you read and then wonder, is this person 130 years old, his writing has so much simple and enjoyable depth.  When in conversation with him, I often feel as though he’s read all of Greek mythology in the original, a ton of sociology, science (all the schools) and of course, the mandatory philosophy, just so he can apply the collective reading to what we’re talking about.  He’ll be embarassed by this, but it is heartfelt.  I see him as a personal Google that – bless him – thinks on humanity’s behalf, except that in this book, he **gives** us just one central question, rather than demanding we ask a dozen before giving us what we seek. 

• Lable has chosen to release this to the coaching community first.

Lable’s gifts aren’t widely known yet, which makes this a rather exciting offering for coaching, doesn’t it?  The questions and stories within the book are very fresh, and all the more powerful as tools to communicate with our clients.  Once his work becomes more mainstream, which it undoubtedly will, your clients may say ‘oh yes, I’ve heard of The Tree of Questions’ and ‘I know which branch needs attention.’  While it is our goal to make that the case, there is something delicious about being first to break the material, I feel.  Purchase the print paperback in singles or packages of 5 or 10, the better to send as gifts.

• The book is in perfect time.

As you’ll hear within the pages of the book, Lable’s own life involves turmoil of the likes most of us will never experience.  Still, turmoil is a word being used often today, and human beings planet-wide dealing with changes in fortune, health, basic survival, and of course, the earning of a living and the making of a meaningful life.  In those “queasy” moments of life when we’re most tormented by what we think we have to do, or what we wish we could do but think we can’t, “In Case of Emergency, Ask Question” will, I hope, be a balm.

Those are just three reasons you might be interested in the fuss I’m making over this book.  You could say I’m supporting Lable as a friend, but it goes farther than that.  I see it as my professional duty to support its success. It has that much of a chance to help; it’s the right thing to do.

Enough! The more I write, the more words you need to read here, when I’d like for you to read his.  Here then is the back cover matter from the book, with the buttons to purchase below.  Do consider the bulk order – it will save you on shipping and handling, not to mention the reorder when you give your copy away.

“stopped me in my tracks and had me storming through the pages”
Ernest F. Oriente, President of PowerHour, www.powerhour.com

“A ‘must read’!”
- Donna Karlin, Executive and Political Leadership Coach, Lecturer and Author www.ABetterPerspective.com

“A clever guide for asking life’s biggest questions, offered in the storytelling style and finesse of the wizard Merlin, the primary archetype of its author!”
- Darelyn “DJ” Mitsch, Master Certified Coach, Past President -International Coach Federation, Author, Entrepreneur, Speaker, Inquisitive Mystic, and Mom www.pyramidresource.com

“One of those books you’re going to want to keep on the bedside table for years to come. I was profoundly moved by this book!”
- Suzanne Falter-Barns, Platform Building Expert www.getknownnow.com & www.howmuchjoy.com

“a wiser and dearer friend I could not ask for, and now he has a book so you can befriend him too”
Andrea J. Lee

What if a single question could guide the most important decisions of your life?

Coaches know questions, so by golly, this is a pretty bold claim. What if all our questions could be boiled down to one mother question, one that could grow or shrink to adapt to the situation, or, like the perfect little black dress, dressed up or down, was perfect in all sticky occasions? 

Drawing on wisdom from around the world, this book spotlights the one question at the root of all of life’s most crucial moments – yours.

Calling forth two giants from very different traditions, Hillel, a great Talmudic scholar, and Socrates, the towering figure of Western Philosophy, Braun deftly reveals teachings perfectly in time to address the chaos we’re challenged with today, even as they cross a gulf of more than 2,000 years.

But perhaps most notable is how a book that reads like a favorite novel can offer such a practical method for navigating the most gut-wrenching of situations.   ‘In Case of Emergency, Ask Question’ will both entertain and free you. Rooted solidly as it is in the collective consciousness of the human race, you will be able to put it to use immediately, and in doing so, feel much less alone.

(1) Click here to purchase a single copy of ‘In Case of Emergency, Ask Question’ by Lable Braun. 

$13.95 plus shipping and handling. (S&H will vary according to the address at which you’d like to receive the book.)

(2) Click here to purchase a bulk order of 3-9 copies.*

$11.95 per book, plus shipping and handling.

(3) Click here to purchase a bulk order of 10 or more copies.*

$10.95 per book, plus shipping and handling.

E.g. For an order of 10 books, that will be $109.50. Where else will you find such a meaningful coaching-centered gift for under $11?

*Important note re bulk orders: All 3 or more copies will be shipped to a single address of your choice. We apologize, we cannot offer the bulk discount for multiple addresses. If you wish us to ship your books to more than one address, please use the link for single copies and specify the address on the order page.

For bulk orders greater than 30, or questions regarding foreign rights, white label versions under your brand, corporate discounts, review copies or other inquiries concerning Lable and this book, please allow us to help you more personally.  Email or call at support@mythoughtpartners.com or 1-888-988-7465.  

About Lable Braun:

Emulating his hero Socrates who made his living as a stone mason, Lable Braun lives one foot each in the world of ideas and the world of work. With a degree in Psychology and Classical Literature, he is also a technologist and a corporate executive. A student of philosophy, mysticism, and science for decades, Lable finally admits he may have something worth saying and has become in demand as a particularly affecting speaker. This is his first book.

Lable resides in East Windsor, NJ and Hendersonville, North Carolina with his wife, Virginia.

Help Us Support this New Author

As you might imagine, it means a great deal to us to support groundbreaking ideas and concepts such as those in Lable’s first book, and we’re preparing to launch a new company that will do more of just that.  Specifically for Lable, I’d profoundly love your assistance in this endeavor.  Click here to tell friends about the book, here to sign up for our affiliate program (it’s a small book so the $ is small too, but still we’d love to send it to you) or, twitter, comment and link back using the tools below.  Thanks!  More to come about the new company soon…

A Parable: Kindness in the Holidays

With the hustle and bustle of the end of the year, I notice it’s usually the littler things things that last in my memory.  So at the beginning of the busiest season, I was touched to read the below parable sent by the class act that is Coach 
Diane Krause-Stetson. Thanks for sharing it, my dear.

And, forewarned is forearmed, as Diane puts it.  This one is a heart tugger.

The Passenger

I arrived at the address where someone had requested a taxi. I honked but no one came out. I honked again, nothing. So I walked to the door and knocked. Just a minute answered a frail, elderly voice. I could hear something being dragged across the floor.

After a long pause, the door opened. A small woman in her 90’s stood before me. She was wearing a print dress and a pillbox hat with a veil pinned on it, like somebody out of a 1940s movie. By her side was a small nylon suitcase. The apartment looked as if no one had lived in it for years. All the furniture was covered with sheets. There were no clocks on the walls, no knickknacks or utensils on the counters. In the corner was a cardboard box filled with photos and glassware..

Read more

For inquiring minds: the tree we planted at our wedding

I finally found this lovely inquiry from Sandy from back in August. Thanks for the inquiring mind, Sandy.   See below for the wee answer…

From: Sandy
Sent: Monday, August 11, 2008 4:28 PM
Subject: Re: 2 timely invites, and more…

Andrea,

Thank your for sharing about your anniversary celebration. It took a few times looking back at your wedding photo to realize that the two of you are planting what looks like a tree together in a shiny silver pot. Can you share your story about that? It seems so lovely and wondering if you could share a little about that. Is it a Canadian tradition or just and ajl created thing?

Cheers,
Sandy

Well, your eyes have served you well, Sandy, you deduced right; we planted a tree sapling at our wedding, and actually had a small sapling as wedding gift for each guest.  They were small white pine trees which are our favorite trees ever.  With their soft, soft pine needles and arching glorious tallness when fully grown, white pines are the essence of Canada, or at least the province of Ontario, especially when lining a lake with the call of a loon to boot. 

It’s not a Canadian thing at all, as far as I know, just a little thing Mike and I did for fun.  We know of at least three of the saplings which are growing, two in Quebec and one in British Columbia. So I guess it’s our spin on that other touching idea for weddings: having the roses from the wedding grafted and planted so that at one’s 20th anniversary, the glorious rose bushes can be part of the celebration.

Kinda fun remembering how we made meaning in our day – I wonder what we’ll think up for our 15th, coming soon, maybe we’ll have to resurrect something tree-ish! Thanks for inquiring…

Great News in Not-So-Great Times?

A wee rant from Planet Andrea…

With all the talk in the world, my question for us, this tribe of forward-thinking coaches, is this:

“If during good times we talk all about harnessing the law of attraction, tapping into the ‘Secret’ and so on, why during not-so-good times do we mostly conveniently forget? Where are the creators of the Secret now? If we really are the creators of our own reality, which one of us created THIS?”

It would be funny to imagine the collective us looking around the room, accusingly – was it YOU? Except that it’s for real. So in light of our current reality, here’s a second line of questioning:

“If we manifested this, what purpose does it serve, because it must serve some. For what reason might we be having this economic downturn? How could this be ‘perfect.’ actually? Really.”

It may seem rude to ask this kind of question, and I mean no disrespect. I have a client whose stock portfolio has left his marriage bruised if not broken, and working with him is my starkest connection to the reality. No, I ask these questions because I hope they are useful.

“When hard times strike on an individual basis, what happens as a result? Let’s say the household budget in your world was cut in half, right now. What would you do? What could you do? What would/wouldn’t you eat? What (different) choices might you make for the coming holidays? Why wouldn’t you make those choices anyway?

What does it say about what’s important to you, the difference in the choices you’d make?”

Tough times, while not actively sought by most, do serve a purpose, they must, or dare we say it? They wouldn’t exist. We might not put it on the nose like that to our clients, I’ll give you that. But like the natural environment around us that is also under siege, tough times are ‘nature’s way’ of recalibrating a system that’s unbalanced, too complex to be sustainable.

Instead of fighting it, I say take the simple route and ask a final set of questions – at least for this rant. It’s what I’ll be savoring for the next 30 days because I have a spidey sense that the answers might be the truly great news, if I am/you are/we are — willing.

“How can I use this time of change to recalibrate for myself? ‘Live’ off less – use fewer resources to live an even richer life. Become more efficient and effective at achieving what I want for our world. A lean mean coaching and change-making machine? How can my life become pared down, more simple?”

Post your thoughts below, if you so desire. And stay tuned for a future issue of Creating What Matters, for more thoughts on this topic.

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