In this Issue

	January Ramblings
	Managing Work Related Stress and Creating Balance in Your Life: Be Realistic
	Inspiration Corner and Life Recipes

Beat Stress! Create!

The Lewis Center for Contemplative and Healing Arts,
215 W.88th St.,
NY, NY. Suite 1B

Offering a Creative Mapping workshop
Sunday, February 10
1:00-4:00 pm

Fee: $35

To register call 917-602-2490 or 212-769-9028

January Ramblings

Welcome and Happy New Year to all!

I have been thinking a lot about hopes and dreams. Isn't the beginning of a new year a good time for that after all? Of course, I think that every day is a good day to dream and hope, but there is something about January. The holiday season is over, everything has come to a halt, yet I can feel that something is gearing to burst forth once again. January is like the darkness before dawn breaks through the horizon in the early morning hours.

We are past the winter solstice and the light is increasing every day. There will be more snowstorms with cold days and frigid nights, but with each passing day we are getting closer to spring.

January is the time when I start thinking of my garden again. I look at seed cataloques and pour through garden books. I look at pictures of my garden from last summer and begin to envision possibilities for the coming seasons. Before I know it, it's spring again and I can start working outside, turning a winter's vision into a summer harvest.

What would you like your spring and summer to look like? And I am not talking only about gardening. What would you like your life's garden to look like? What seeds do you want to sow? What would you like to harvest this time around?

Now is the time to create the vision. Have fun with it! And if the experience of being in a group and getting support while crafting your vision appeals to you, check out the "Charting Your Course: A Personal Journey" teleclass series. A great place to start.

Get out your crayons and paints! My friend Ginger Hanrahan is a fabulous artist, and this month she shares a simple but effective way to chart goals and objectives

Best wishes for a year filled with all you hope for!

Managing Work Related Stress and Creating Balance in Your Life: Be Realistic

For the last three months you have been taking inventory of what works and what doesn't in your life or career. You have identified whether or not you can live with a situation and why. You have been able to define the nature of a problem and how it affects your sense of well being. You wrote down ideas on specific changes that needed to take place. What's next?

Usually, when we go through a process like this, there comes a point when we have to commit to action. That's when we can examine our thoughts, reactions, and lists and either feel ready to move forward or feel overwhelmed at the prospect of it all and...put our lists away.

Our level of readiness depends on our past experiences with change, conflict,  and boundary setting, among other things. Our fears will jump in front of us and remind us how some things will never change.

This month, I am asking you to be realistic. Be realistic about your needs and expectations, be realistic when you prioritize your action steps, and be realistic about your fears.

1. Look at your list of what needs to change and choose the one thing that is of most personal importance to you. Something that has great impact on your sense of well being and quality of life. Something that you have some control over.  As you begin to experience success with change you can become more adventurous.

2. Take a realistic look at how you behave in this situation and ask yourself, "What can I do differently in this situation?"Sometimes, doing one thing differently can change the whole dynamic of the situation.

I once worked with an executive who, in her effort to be accessible to her staff and make them feel comfortable with her, forgot to set boundaries and take care of her own needs. Her "open-door" policy backfired. Her staff would come into her office at any time of the day to ask questions and seek guidance. As a result, she could not get the uninterrupted time she needed to focus. She started staying at the office late and coming in on weekends in order to find quiet time to complete her work. It wasn't long before her frustration level increased and she started feeling at the mercy of everyone else.

When we talked about it, we agreed that it was important to continue being accessible while getting the time she needed to do her work. She decided to call a staff meeting and set new guidelines. She scheduled regular weekly staff meetings as well as half-hour daily "touch-up" meetings with key team members. Her staff welcomed the changes. In the end it was a win-win for all. She was able to get uninterrupted work time every day. She stopped staying late every day and her weekends were freed. Her staff, on the other hand, felt empowered to organize their projects and time more effectively. By knowing that she would only be available at certain times, they prepared better for those meetings, grouping their questions and anticipating challenges.

3. As you ask ,"What if I did . . . " and you hear your mind telling you, "Yes, but -- ", don't obey your mind. Keep your resistance and fears in check. Remember, you deserve to have your needs met as well as everyone else, and if something is not right, it's up to you to take responsibility and do something about it. Start small.  Be realistic.

4. Ask for help. Look around you. Who can help and support you? If you are one of those people who take pride in being a lone ranger, it's time to ask the question, "Does this really work for me?"
Why do it alone when you can have support? Engage your support system at work and at home. Be realistic about what kind of help you need and go get it.

5. Finally, make a decision and take the first step. One step at a time will take you where you are going. Why not take the first step today?

As you go through this month taking small, realistic but meaningful steps towards creating your reality, you will feel your perspective changing and your energy increasing. That means you will be ready for some vision work next month. I will meet you right here on the path. Be strong and don't forget to have fun!

© 2007 Yota Schneider, Open for Success. All rights reserved.
If you'd like to use this article in your own newsletter, on your web site, or on your blog, you are welcome to reprint it in its entirety with an active link to my web site and the following author info:
"By Yota Schneider of Open for Success. Working with high powered professionals and entrepreneurs to help them restore their sense of balance and purpose. http://www.openforsuccess.com."

Inspiration Corner and Life Recipes

My own garden of ideas

Because I am a very visual person my coach encouraged me to construct a visual representation of my goals on poster board. While working on this project my intuition guided me to create the map of a garden.

The garden consisted of big blooming flowers--my long term goals--and smaller buds--my ideas in progress--and leaves on flower stems--the steps I would implement along the way in order to reach my goals.

The garden bed was made of those things that make a garden grow: soil, compost, manure, worms, etc. For me home, family, friends, working with my coach and my therapist, are what support my journey. 

Now, it can be that compost, manure, and worms are not the best symbols for somebody else. I think any symbol can work as long as it gives you a good visual of your goals and helps you think creatively about achieving them. How about a movie theatre, a golf course, a Christmas Tree, the parts that make a car, a football field, whatever . . . you get the picture.

Good luck and have fun.

Ginger H.