Personal Development

never my 7-year-old grandson forgets what he is supposed to be doing and does something else instead, he tells me, “I got distracted.” We both consider that an explanation, not an excuse.

That’s also the explanation for why you didn’t get the link to the recording of the relationship interview we did a couple of weeks ago. So here it is now, with apologies for the delay: http://excellerated.com/audio

It’s called Rethinking Relationships and is on a page with loads of other interesting looking teleconferences. You are welcome to listen to any of them.

I’ve been distracted by supporting my family in reconnecting before, during and since my daughter moved to Paris with part of her family nearly 4 weeks ago. That involved as many as 9 extra people sleeping at our home on at least 2 different nights.

I expect to stay distracted for a while longer. Next week we will take our two oldest grandsons (ages 7 and 10) to Paris to join the rest of
their family.

I don’t expect to see much of Paris right away because their furniture just arrived a couple of days ago and the 2 1/2 and 4-year-old boys will have kept her too busy to get everything done. We’ll be helping her get organized.

(By the way, Rachel is doing a blog about her adventures. You can see it at http://momzen.blogspot.com/ )

Next we are going to Dublin for a week’s pure vacation before returning for a more relaxed few days in Paris. This really is just fine. We have been to Paris several times and love it and we have never been to Dublin.

Meanwhile, in the midst of this chaos (that I volunteered for and enjoyed) I have been invited to write for two different very busy websites. I am thrilled with the opportunity to reach more people and I have told both groups that I can start in Septermber.

In fact, I feel like I am starting a whole new life in September!

I hope you are having a wonderful summer. I promise I’ll be back…after I’m through indulging in all of my wonderful distractions.

Warmly,

Laurie

P.S. Remember, you can download an MP3 of Rethinking Relationships at http://excellerated.com/audio

Technorati Tags: Relationships, Self Help, Self-Improvement

Most women understand that there is a connection between the mind and the body, but most of us don’t know how to apply this understanding to ourselves. It’s hard to know whether to take a non-traditional health product, talk to a therapist, or visit your physician, massage therapist, or chiropractor when you encounter a problem.

The choice has just become easier. A wonderful book and tape series by Christiane Northrup, M.D., gives us clear information about tuning into and interpreting the signals our bodies and minds continuously send to us. Dr. Northrup is one of the very few women physicians who combines non-traditional healing practices with training as a gynecologist and obstetrician.

Women’s Bodies, Women’s Wisdom: Creating Physical and Emotional Health and Healing (752 pages) is the finest, most balanced book I have ever encountered on women’s health. The first few chapters show the problems caused by the way our social conditioning disconnects us from our inner intelligence. She writes “All emotions…have physical effects. Unexpressed emotions…are illnesses in incubation.” (p. 19). Later chapters discuss specific information about how different physical systems function and a variety of approaches to attending to physical and emotional problems.

The audio version of Creating Health is also available. Topics covered are Creating Health (a general orientation), PMS, Nutrition, and Menopause. I loved listening to them, because Chris Northrup’s warmth and humanity, as well as her clarity, made it easy to absorb the information. I was very impressed when I met Chris several years ago at an American Holistic Medical Association meeting. I am thrilled that her wisdom is now so easily available to help us all become partners in our own health care.
Is this you? “I don’t need therapy, but I could use some advice about…”

Technorati Tags: Self Help, Personal Growth, Health, Women’s Health

I just gave my husband a birthday present — the experience of floating in a 120 mile per hour wind tunnel. And I decided to try it too.

I can’t believe I did this — or at least, I couldn’t until I saw the pictures of it afterwards. I know, I felt that it while it was happening, but it was so quick and the feeling went away.

All I can actually remember is thinking with wonder, “Oh, this is how it works and encountering the sign that said, “smile” — so I did!” The rest is a blur, and I was surprised when the instructor gave me a high five after I was through. People were smiling and proud but I didn’t understand why.

And I was so scared I almost backed out before I started. Actually, I thought of backing out with one part of my mind while moving forward with my body. I heard constant mind chatter of “Why on earth are you doing this? You could have just given this to Jon as a birthday gift. You can still back out.” The warnings went on and on and on. Fortunately they put me second in line, so I didn’t have much time to think about it.

In retrospect, I have heard that chatter before. I think I started learning that I could do things even when I was scared the time I got back on, after falling off the horse when I was 11.

When I first walked on hot coals I thought the risk was huge, but I really wanted to. At the time firewalking was a rare opportunity and I thought this might be my only chance to experience it.

But I was really scared. I was leaving on my very first trip to Europe in a few days and burning my feet would severely mess up my plans.

The voice in my head told me I could just watch — that I could stand in the observer line. The voice said, “ Don’t take the risk.” But my body went into the participant line anyway. I walked!

I did get one tiny burn when I didn’t wipe an ember off my foot. (This was before the footbath at the end of the firewalk was added for protection.). My foot was fine the next day and my European trip was fabulous. Since then, I take being scared much less seriously.

Now I remember the exhilaration I always feel when I take the (exaggerated, imagined) risk and do it anyway.

Be sure to watch both videos. The first shows me, dressed in pink, and my husband, dressed in yellow, indoor sky diving for the first minute. The second is the end of my third minute— the experience I just described.

http://tinyurl.com/62qzft

http://tinyurl.com/5tparx

Technorati Tags: Self-Improvement, Personal Growth

Living in Colorado, I love to watch mountain streams. I’m especially fascinated when a piece of wood or a leaf gets stuck in a backwater and stays still. While everything else moves on. Then something happens that makes its start moving again.

I feel like I’ve been one of those pieces of wood — stuck and not moving for no apparent reason. Unlike the wood though, I recognized my predicament (with a little help from my friends) and did some things to get myself moving again. Now, thankfully, I’m on my way again.

The problem has been my reaction to Read the rest of this entry »

February is National Self-Esteem Month.

Dr. Joe Rubino, an internationally acclaimed expert on the topic of self-esteem has written an article entitled “The Impact of Lacking Self-Esteem on Business Professionals.”

Check it out along with his offer of $129 in complimentary gifts just for taking a look. http://www.cprsuccess.com/selfesteembusiness.

You’ll also receive more than $10,000 in free bonus gifts with any purchase at http://www.SelfEsteemSystem.com.

Communicate skillfully about sensitive subjects in business situations. Have the challenging conversations that lead to cooperation and success. Http://www.DareToSayIt.com/blog

Technorati Tags: Self Help, Self-Improvement, Workplace Relationships, Personal Growth, Self Esteem

The Universe is making fun of me. I’ve been listening to a recording of Crazy Busy: Overstretched, Overbooked and about to Snap: Strategies for Coping in a World Gone ADD, by Edward Hallowell, MD. I have vowed to make some changes
— not New Year’s resolutions, but real changes, and so far this morning when I went to work
out…

• The parking lot was jammed and I had to park much further away than usual,
• The locker sections right usually store my stuff were full, and I was put somewhere else altogether and
• Someone new was standing in the place I usually stand for my aerobics class.

OK, it is the new year, and the “Y” is always crowded in January. I decided that the universe wanted me to remember that I intend to be more flexible this year. But then,

• I got a note that the client I expect to see at 10 a.m. was sick and had canceled.
• I got home and discovered my housekeeper, whom I expected on Wednesday had come on Monday. It was my mistake, not
  hers.
• The first thing she told me was that she had accidentally knocked over a bottle of pills. I had left it out to remind me to be sure and take the antibiotics on schedule. Six pills went down the drain. Fortunately two remained. (I’m healthy, it’s just a follow-up to some dental work.)

So I decided to adapt (to the Universe?), get the pills replaced and write to you about the real changes that are coming. Some very exciting things happened over the holidays.

While I was having a blast visiting my daughter’s family in Sugar Land, Texas and playing with my four grandsons, the most well-known self growth site on the Internet opened its social networking process. It’s sort of like FaceBook or MySpace for people in the helping professions.

Since I’m already listed as an expert, amazing things started happening. I started getting e-mails from other experts asking me to be part of their networks — offering friendship and collaboration. Of course I said yes, and I now have over 30 new professional friends, and an incredible number of new resources I’ll be able to share with you in 2008.

You can see my page at http://www.selfgrowth.com/experts/laurie_weiss.html

Watch for a letter on February 5 that will tell you how to get a popular self-esteem book, and a ton of bonus material for very little money. And I’ll be contributing a bonus too ­ a downloadable hour-long recording about relationships.

I’m really excited about the things I’ll be able to share with you.

I’m also excited about the Crazy Busy book. Although I’m not crazy busy, I often feel overwhelmed by opportunities. Dr. Hallowell’s insights help me recognize that it’s the world, not just me. I also have new tools to help me choose among the many distractions. I face continually.

You’re probably distracted, too. I’ll write more about staying focused later. In the meantime, I highly recommend the book.
And do visit my new “experts page” at http://www.selfgrowth.com/experts/laurie_weiss.html

Have a wonderful beginning of 2008.

Technorati Tags: Self-Improvement, Personal Growth

I am proud of my 11-year-old granddaughter. For several years she has been helping me select gifts for people around the world through Heifer International.

This year she wrote:

“My choices for…this year are, 1 trio of rabbits and the gift of honey bees. I chose the bunnies because they quickly multiply to 72 bunnies after one year. The honey bees are becoming extinct and people need bees to make honey.”

Her mother told me that Gilena made the choices entirely on her own after doing the math herself because she wants to help a lot of people at once.

In order to make choices Gilena read a gift catalog from a magazine that I must confess, I seldom read. The magazine, World Arc, details the impact that the gift of animals has on the lives of people living in extreme poverty.

Last week I dropped a copy of the magazine into my suitcase as we left for a lovely vacation in Mexico. This time I did read it and I was blown away by the stories.

One story, “End Hunger Now! Why we can — and must — change the world” pointed out that the technology to end hunger exists now. What’s lacking is the awareness that this is a solvable problem.

As I read it I realized that what Gilena and I are doing together is that we’re both learning about the solution to the problem. Then it
dawned on me that most of my friends are in a position to do the same thing I’m doing. Here’s what you can do.

If you are about to buy gifts for a child who already has an abundance of everything, try something different. Go explore the Heifer International Gift Catalog together. Use this link and click on “the most
important gift catalog in the world” in the upper right-hand corner.

See how many possibilities there are to help other people help themselves. Make a donation. Even a small donation can make a big difference.

Help a child you care about grow into a caring adult who knows that he or she can make a tangible difference for others.

P.S. At this fun and stressful time of year, you may find this article helpful. Just click to take a quick look at “What Do You Say When the Answer Is No?”

Laurie Weiss, Ph.D. is a Master Certified Coach and communication expert. Dr. Weiss has spent 35 years helping clients resolve conflict in business and personal relationships. Take a look at Being Happy Together: How to Have a Fabulous Relationship With Your Life Partner in Less Than an Hour a Week.

My life is full of miracles and sometimes I don’t even notice them. But this week I did. Somehow, when we were teaching in Dallas, I started telling Judy’s story.

Judy was an abuse survivor who used her talent as a sculptress both to heal herself and to argue passionately for the protection of children in dangerous situations. Judy died 6 years ago and I still miss her. I worked with her for many years and she had a huge impact on my life.

During the conversation in Dallas I, mentioned that a videotape existed of Judy describing her artwork. The recording was made 13 years ago. Two people asked for copies of it.

I discovered only one copy in my files. The phone number for the business that owned the master tape did not work.

I found the original owner in the phone book. He had closed his business 7 years ago, and was about 3 days away from disposing of all the remaining masters.

The next day this kind man, George Kinzer, delivered the master tape to my door.

OK, that’s a minor miracle. The real miracle was the work that went into producing the recording. It starts with Judy’s survival and sanity. It continues with Read the rest of this entry »

I found this article in my files. It was written in 1996, during one of the many attacks on Hillary Clinton that occurred while her husband was president. Now that she is running for president herself, I decided that it was relevant to share again.

Hillary was demonstrating her commitment to understanding herself in her situation by Read the rest of this entry »

Affirmations are basically lies. They are statements of the things that you are, that you do, or that you have that you don’t believe. You don’t believe them because they’re not true, but you wish they were true.

Although many programs for working with affirmations would have you believe Read the rest of this entry »