Welcome Note

If you are enjoying some leisurely vacation time this month, you are in good company. And, judging by a recently reported study, you are doing good things for your health and vitality.

Thank you to those of you who forwarded my newsletter to colleagues, clients and friends. Although I didn’t meet my goal of doubling my subscribers, the number went up nicely. If you know anyone who might find the newsletter of interest, please forward it to him or her!

Oya News

One of the joys of entrepreneurship is the freedom to pick and choose people with whom one wants to be allied.

This month, I accepted the invitation to become a regular columnist and “resident” Executive and Personal coach for a non-profit organization, Moms Making Money (www.momsmakingmoney.org). The organization’s goal is to provide support, expertise and community to women who are deciding or have decided to build businesses from home, while being available to their children. This is a cause that is dear to my heart!

Feature Article: When your “Yes” is really a “No”

Your favorite colleague asks you to complete some work for him while his relatives are in town, you offer to serve on a committee that no-one else is volunteering for, or your boss asks you to stay late several nights a week to entertain new prospects. Anything familiar about these or similar situations? The kind that make you groan inwardly because you want to help or be a team player or win brownie points, but your plate is already full.

How about the occasions when you say “Yes” to another fun social engagement, hour of TV, or serving of that delicious dessert? You don’t groan right there and then – in fact, you are delighted - but you berate yourself later for your lack of will.

Your “Yes” is also a “No”. It may be a resounding “No” to time at home with the family or time to take care of yourself. It may also be a “No” to being productive, being focused or just simply being.

Saying “Yes” involves a choice. It means agreeing to do or be something at the expense of something else.

Then there are the situations in which you say “Yes” to what is really important and valuable to you. “Yes” to developing your skills instead of goofing off, “Yes” to taking action and “No” to procrastinating, or “Yes” to setting aside a monthly dollar amount to invest for the future and “No” to purchasing a non-essential item right now.

As much as you ask yourself “What do I want more of in my life or career?”, ask yourself “What do I want LESS of?”
Practice saying “No” at least 3 times a day, at times you might have said “Yes” in the past out of habit.
For every “Yes”, figure out what the “No” is, and decide if that "No" is acceptable to you.

On Track: “Clear, Clean, Complete and Delete”

Thanks to Vanessa Summers, author of Get in the Game: the girl's guide to money and investing and whose workshop “Wealth and Success” I recently attended, I am recycling one of her phrases.

Think of all the little things that sidetrack you from time to time during the day. Disorder, clutter, too much “stuff’ in your closets, items you spend time hunting down, half-finished projects or books, incomplete tasks, broken household appliances, leaky faucets, unfulfilling relationships, to name a few.

In the workshop we were challenged to list the items in our personal and business lives we wanted to clear out, clean up, complete or delete. In coaching, we call these “Walk the Talk” lists. Even though I have been doing this work for a while, I was surprised at how long my lists were!

It is difficult to maintain a clear focus on your goals when your energy is pulled away by distractions.

Make a list of what you want to clean, clear, complete and delete in your personal life over the next month
Make a list of what you want to clean, clear, complete and delete in your job or business life over the next month
Get started right away
Aim for “Relief!” – that feeling you get of a burden being lifted from you, as the task lists get shorter. This enables you to turn your energies to creating “Joy!”, which comes from tackling and completing the goals that excite you.

Book of the Month

This month, I am giving you a two-for-one review! A book and a set of cards. The set of cards is the Creative Whack Pack , described best as a creative thinking tool. It contains 64 cards, each of which bears a different strategy to unlock your creativity. “Let your mind wander”, “Rearrange”, “Look somewhere else”, Be dissatisfied” and “Ask a Fool” are just some of the card titles. Each card comes with a brief explanation and a provocative question. A booklet accompanies the set, with various rules of the game, depending on what you are trying to accomplish creatively.

The book is A Whack on the Side of the Head by Roger von Oech, a Stanford Ph.D. and president of Creative Think. Succinct, simple in concept, full of mind-bending exercises and challenges, it is absorbing and quick reading, providing the background for optimal use of the cards.

I found the most useful concept to be the notion that we have mental locks, or inbred attitudes, as a result of our education and child-rearing, that interfere with creative thinking. Von Oech addresses each mental lock and provides ways to circumvent or remove it.

This is a wonderful book and card set for individuals, business teams, creative partners or company boards, to inspire innovative thinking.

Have an enjoyable month!

Philippa Kennealy MD MPH
The Vision Realization Process
President, Oya Consulting

Dr. Philippa Kennealy is an Executive and Personal Coach, dedicated to your professional and personal success and fulfillment. To schedule an initial FR*EE consultation, to learn more, or to inquire about having her speak to your group or organization, contact her at:
pkennealy@oyaconsulting.com or click here.

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