It’s been two weeks, and all I’ve lost is two weeks.

You know, all I’ve ever lost on any of the diets I have ever dabbled in was time, a few pounds (that I subsequently gained back) and money.  Oh, and all self-control around chocolate.

Then, one day, I had a revelation. This revelation led to losing a serious chunk of change which I’ve kept off for 8 years.

I realized that I could eat when I am hungry, and stop when I am full – because there will always be more food later.

It may sound simple and obvious, but to me, realizing that I could listen to my body to know when to eat and when to stop was revolutionary.

My next revolution happened a few years later.

I was approximately 30 seconds into my first semester of law school and experiencing the beginnings of a panic attack, complete with brown paper bag to breathe into (once I dumped my lunch out of it).

With so many smart people out there in this 200-person auditorium, blood-thirsty and dangerous – and me feeling like Sookie Stackhouse in Fangtasia without Bill to protect me – I felt waves of fear, nay, TERROR, coursing through my limbs.

I thought, “Panick! Alarm! I will never be the top of my class! And I must be the best! or else I will never be successful!”

And then, it hit me: None of these people know me, just like I don’t know any of them. For all they know, I’m the smartest kid in class – and, what the heck, maybe I am.

I realized that I could create the reality of my law school experience. I am smart, so I’ll be smart in school, I decided.  I will be at the top of the class. I will have my pick of jobs, and I will not believe in this fear.

And that is EXACTLY what happened.

But that’s not the end of the story. (more…)

Snap Out of Career Coma

Are you in a career coma?

Your first step is to check these tell-tale signs to see if you just might be career comatose:

• You have one or more scary conversation about people getting laid off per day.
• You tally the severance and/or paid vacation days you’ve accrued, you know, in case you’re next.
• You feel anxious and stressed almost all of the time
• You find yourself trying to skulk in the shadows so that the powers that be forget you work here and thus forget to lay you off.
• You admit that your days a less productive and you find yourself staring out the window/staring into cyberspace often.

If this is you, read on to snap yourself out of your zombie-like state.

Why You Are In Career Coma & How to Get the Hell OUT

There are very understandable reasons you are being this way.  According to a great article in Details, by Jeff Wise, the culprit is your brain and your environment. I happen to agree (especially with your brain being the problem – plus it’s the quickest to fix).

THIS IS YOUR BRAIN ON FEAR:

In the Details article, Judith Gerberg, a career counselor, explains that:

“It’s like the brain goes into this fear state… This little part of the brain actually shuts everything down. People tell me that they’re just not as productive. They’re spacing out at the window.”

What she is referring to is that, when you are scared, your brain is operating on your sympathetic nervous system – you may have heard this referred to as the “fight or flight” part of your brain.

When this part of your brain is operating, the part of your brain (which operates your parasympathetic nervous system) that permits you to be creative, feel joy, sleep well and generally be productive, cannot function.

This mental state does NOT make you a very valuable employee.

Solution: Get out of your fear brain!  Some quick-and-dirty ways to do this are:

1. TAKE A DEEP BREATH. I know what you’re thinking – people are ALWAYS saying this and promoting deep breathing as a way to feel better, and it’s SO ANNOYING. I happen to agree with you. But, also, it works.  Remember this: your breathing is the one thing under your control that affects your brain waves the most.  You can literally alter your brain’s function (basically, you calm your brain) by taking three equal inhales and exhales.  Do this now. Really, do it NOW.  See?  You cannot help but feel better.
2. ACKNOWLEDGE THE STRESS: Pretending there is not a poisonous snake in the room when there is will not make you feel calmer – and the same thing goes with your fears.  Admit to your feelings and let yourself feel them.  Assess how realistic the fears are and identify plans of action (downsize lifestyle, sell car, work for Uncle Joe) if the realistic ones come true.
3. LIZARD FEARS: If the fear has anything to do with lack (I will live in a van by the river!) or attack (everyone is out to use my personal information to ruin me!), these fears come from your reptilian brain (the part of your brain that is like a lizard’s).  Lizard fears are not helpful but are always there. Acknowledge the lizard fear, and choose to move on.
4. CREATE. As mentioned above, doing something creative (write content for a meeting, make a power point presentation, generate new branding ideas) requires using a part of your brain that, when active, functionally prevents your fear brain to activate. Plus, at the end, you feel better and have produced something worth while.

TOXIC ENVIRONMENT

The article goes on to explain that “Emotions are contagious in a workplace… Companies have become fear factories. As a result, people don’t want to take risks.” They don’t want to rock the boat.”

Solution: Take some breaks and cut out the crap.

1. BREAK IT UP: At a BARE MINIMUM, one time per day, go outside and take a walk.  Getting out of the building and noticing whatever you see on your mini-break does wonders for making you a thermostat instead of a thermometer
   
   (get it???  Like, you SET the temperature (or at least your own), you don’t just register everyone else’s)
   
   for your office’s collective emotional state.
2. BE SELECTIVE: Don’t just shoot the breeze with anyone. Be selective with whom you chit chat with.  Scared people are scary, and if the scariest person in the office wants you to lunch with them every day
3. BE THANKFUL.  The reality is that you have  a job.  Be thankful for the health care benefits and pay check, even if those are the only two benefits you appreciate.  There is a reason you have chosen to work. Remember those reasons and remember – it is your choice to go to this job each day.

ULTIMATE SOLUTION: START LOOKING NOW

If you are in a career coma, and snap out of it, and realize that you still hate your job even though you think you “should” be happy to have one, start looking now.

Do not mistake having a job for being happy in your job.  If your plan is to wait until the recession turns around to begin looking elsewhere, think again.

Now may be the perfect time to start your own business. As the Details magazine article explains:

One of the most beloved maxims in commerce—”Buy low, sell high”—applies not only to investments in the stock market but also to those in bargain-basement real estate and tech start-ups.

• “Don’t only evaluate the potential downside of action. It is equally important to measure the cost of inaction,” says Tim Ferriss, author of the best-selling book The 4-Hour Workweek. “If you don’t pursue those things that excite you, where will you be in one year, five years, and ten years? This period of collective panic is your big chance to dabble.”

This is great advice.  Dabbling in times of recession results in some of the most successful business ventures – think of recessions past… where do you think Google came from?

As the Chinese proverb says, “Fish when the water’s choppy.”

By getting out of your career coma and thinking out of the box, you can find something that you really want to do. With the flush time’s perks gone, liking your job seems more and more important. And doable.

Being thankful does NOT mean is to be complacent, and being more productive at work does not mean forgetting about generating contacts and networking towards a better-fit-for-you position or career.

What it does mean is job security and leverage into your next venture.

What do you think about creating your Plan B while sticking with your current job?

Get Thee to the Helpery

Here at BluePrint Balance, we know that you are awesome and smart. We know that you make things happen and do stuff.

And we know, like you know, that none of what makes you awesome, smart and do stuff is getting you a job that you love.

Don’t get us wrong – you definitely are really awesome, and we are being serious about that.

But all of your awesomeness won’t get you unstuck because you. need. help. And all your friends and relatives need help, too. EVERYBODY needs help to make their lives a decent place to live. No one does it on their own.  Get thee to the Helpery, wenches!

WE ARE EXPERTS (sort of)

You know, we have been stuck before. Oh, have we ever. It sucks. We get stuck and think we can get out by working on it all alone, in a corner of an empty room. This results in failure in a lonely, empty corner.

We, too, have once been in a job that we suspected was sucking the life out of our faces.  It got worse (much, much worse) the longer we stayed.

We searched inside ourselves for some godforsaken answers and because our little self had been ground down to a tiny nub, and we had zilch to give us.

Moments before the job ate our soul, we FINALLY reached out for some help from a real, live human. And approximately 1 second after visiting the Helpery, we felt a little better.

Not long after that, things got MUCH better.

Now, we are so very happy.  We still go to the Helpery* all of the time to keep good things good and bad stuff gone.

*aka Pam, Martha, Havi …. which reminds me, RED ALERT! Havi is first internet crush.

I met her blog recently – where the heck have I been?!??? – and within minutes bought everything there is to buy on her site, even though she said to read a bunch before doing that.

But I didn’t listen because Havi wants me to be me and I am someone who buys all of her stuff.

It’s my first internet crush. But I’ve always been a late bloomer.

Anywho, not only have we been where you are now and tasted sweet freedom, but we, like all human beings, still feel kind of lost sometimes, and we still need help.

It’s the way of the world – be helped, get help. Repeat.

What’s more important than our fancy “life coach” *  certification is that we really, really care about you feeling better and having work you love love.  It’s kind of, like, our thing.

*Oh, unfortunate name! Remember my wager. Improve it and I give you my devotion.

Go to the Helpery for help.  Your Helpery may be this blog where you can hear the voice of someone who might want to consider not speaking up so much.

But regardless, that Laurie, she does, and our intention is to be a voice of encouragement and a safe place for you to be you with all your hot buttered trails of glory.

If this is not your Helpery, find the place that feels like you will get your personal brand of help.  Because help is the one thing you definitely need to do to figure out your shiz.

Do it sooner and you prevent a public melt down.

HELP IS HERE

After much ado – well, a little ado – we have a class that will help you. But before you think about taking it, read through some posts and get a feel for what I’m like.

Maybe consider sitting it out if you don’t sound like one of My People (which is totally cool, you gotta be you just like I gotta be me).

But if you are My People and you’re scared and stuck and need some help and it sounds like I’m speaking to you when you read my little slice of the blogosphere, rock on!  Let’s do this!

Find Your Passions, Wednesdays, November 4 to 18 @ 7pm (have not linked on purpose so keep reading).

The course is targeted to those of My People who really want to LOVE the job you’re in and you suspect you do not love the job you’re in now (your suspicions are probably right).

In 3 classes, we do things like:

Lesson 1:  Why not feel better now?

Progress is slow when you walk around feeling terrible.  Work on your fears (which are natural and part of you, it’s all good) and your thoughts and feel better now (without the use of any artificial substances) which, basically, feels a lot better.

More energy means you make faster progress towards getting the hell out.

Lesson 2: Figure Out What Makes You Awesome. We help you identify work that you love love.

Sure, knowing that when you were a kid, your passion was to climb trees is helpful if you want to be a pro-logger. What you loved when you are five is only a tiny piece of the puzzle for most of you.

You’ve been ever-so-slightly disconnected from yourself ever since you started doing stuff that you thought you “should” do and that “everyone else” thought was a good idea.

We help you thaw yourself out and get to know the real you and what the real you wants to do with your life.

Lesson 3: Hammer out what your very own perfect-for-you job looks like in the world.

Like we were saying before, you are awesome and smart.  We really like you.

You are so smart that know, even if you don’t KNOW IT yet, what the right job looks like for you.

We help you access that knowledge and get clear on the deets.

We also give you resources to continue your journey once class is done because we like you the most when you are happy at work and loving your job.

The 3 classes are recorded. They are yours to keep forever and ever

Ready to find work you LOVE?  Great!!!  We are ready to help you.

WHAT IT’LL COST:

The classes get your revved and going in the right direction.  It costs you $99. If you look around, you see we are giving you a very good deal.

But, wait!!  Even better deal – ho!

Sign up NOW (before Oct. 15) and it’s even cheaper, $75.

Join us to get some help and feel better while we teach you tools to figure it all out. Before we sell out!

All sold out already! Sorry sorry sorry. Check back soon for more programs to Youify your life.

BUT! If you are into the idea of figuring out what work you love, check out I’m ME. You’re YOU.

I’m ME. You’re YOU.

In the words of your mother when she realized she was losing control over her teenager: Who do you think you are, mister?

I mean, who is YOU?

If you were not a student, or a girlfriend, or a daughter, or the difficult one in the family or whatever your outside identity is called, who might you be?

This is who we are:

(more…)

Oprah.com Article: Live Your Passions

Artist Sandra Magsamen contributes a new article on Oprah.com that gives you some tips on finding what you are passionate about - Click HERE to read it.

(For you guys reading this, remember how Dennis Leary said that he’s an Oprah convert & there’s more for guys on Oprah.com than ESPN?)

Sandra contributes what has worked for her.  I really like the clarity and simplicity of her article and her clear steps. I wholeheartedly agree that finding what you WANT is vital to finding a job you love.  No matter how vague that may be at this point, writing down what you want will still be very helpful.

Consider this additional thought in conjunction with her tips:

What holds you back the most from finding your dream job, or from taking actions to make your dream job a reality?

For most of you, the answer is going to be a sentence that translates to: My fears.

Dissolve the fears.  There are practical steps you can take (planning, testing, identifying your strengths & skills) that make many of your fears moot.  Reducing the power your fear has over you means feeling better all of the time and freeing yourself to do what you love and be who you are.

The biggest obstacle to you finding a job you love is you.  Get out of your own way, and good things really start happening.

With your fears in check, your headway through Sandra’s 4 step plan will be fast and breezy.

The Last Weight Loss Class You’ll Ever Need

Tuesdays @ 7pm EST October 20 to November 24.

Back by popular demand! And just in time for the holidays…

Up front, a diet promises you weight loss. You WANT what they say to be true, so you bite.  And then you eat nothing but protein for a month (so hard to do; also, doesn’t work), or drink nothing but the stuff the “cleanse” permits (you won’t lose weight on a cleanse) or stop eating at 7pm every night, religiously (fat knows no time).

At best, you lose weight and then gain it back. At worst, you only get bigger. Ugh. Stupid diets. The vicious cycle of obsessing over what you’re eating, overeating and then berating yourself for overeating continues.  The food thoughts and dissatisfaction with your body can be all consuming (and never fulfilling).

You have permission to feel stuck.

You’re frustrated with the constant struggle. As you should be! The diet industry is terrible. Terrible! It exists ONLY because diets don’t work – every customer who buys into a diet has to go back to the market place for more diets every time.  This is, in my belief system, is very, very not okay.

Because, the reality is, it takes more than knowing to eat less and work out more to reach your ideal weight. You’re not crazy for knowing that and yet still wrestling with losing weight, gaining it, exercising enough, doing the right exercises — it’s really exhausting.

The good news is that you really and truly can reach at your ideal weight and just live in our own skin like a naturally thin person seems to do.

My background: or, why even bother listening to me.

Obviously you don’t want to learn from someone who doesn’t get it, and hasn’t been there. Like some ineffective guru who does everything perfectly. Or some perky, hyper-enthusiastic “let’s get going” mile-a-minute motivational former-camp-counselor-from-hell that is not realistic about the demands of your life. Nooooo!

On the other hand, there’s also no point in learning from someone who has your problem and hasn’t turned it around. I’ve turned it around. I’ve done the work and I’m doing the work to stay at my ideal weight.

My name is Laurie. And I seriously believe that if you deeply want to be in the body that is YOUR body instead of carrying the extra weight around, you absolutely, 100% can do it. BUT! You have to be willing to look and see what’s going on on the inside (we talk about feelings and there’s no stinkin’ way around it).  And we figure it out in a compassionate, intelligent and conscious way.

Qualifications: I got some

• My personal success story: 35 pounds gone and I’m never going back. Hello, skinny jeans that fit all of the time! (10 years ago, I never thought I would say that)
• Lapsed disciplinarian.
• Knowing what doesn’t work in this process, having tried all sorts of useless or barely useful weight loss programs and “systems” to no effect.
• Knowing what does work, having tested my techniques on myself and clients.
• Coaching certification (and accompanying 9-month long, weekly training course) with Martha Beck, Oprah’s life coach and Harvard PhD smarty.
• Jumping-up-and-down-they’re-so-happy clients with wonderful stories to share (check out those stories!)

The zero-stress ridiculously sincere guarantee:

I know how miserable it is to try something that isn’t right for you. Plus the whole “working on your issues” thing even when it gets the weight off can be pretty intimidating. It’s important to my inner tree-hugger that you have the most anxiety-free experience possible working on your stuff.

So: if you give your best effort and aren’t satisfied with what you’ve learned, I will pay you back and I will ask you to gift the class materials to someone who could really use them. That way you get to be a connector and a giver of goodness, and someone else gets a path to relief.

I want the class info to be in the hands of people who love it. If it’s not right for you, no worries.

How much?

Think about what being at your ideal weight is worth:

You’re feeling energized and extremely confident in yourself, now that you have finally overcome this major life obstacle. And how many times have you gotten lost in that familiar vicious cycle of lecturing yourself about figuring this out. Stupid cycle. You know how it goes. Not losing weight.  Getting mad at yourself for not losing weight. Getting mad at yourself for getting mad at yourself for not losing weight. Ugh.

You will absolutely make back as a result of productivity, confidence and perspective shift what you spend on this in hardly any time at all.

Like this. I used one of my own weight loss techniques the other day, after catching myself avoiding responding to an email. What I wanted to do was go to the kitchen for a snack (interesting diversion tactic! but not original) instead of responding to it.  Doing the technique took five minutes. The snacking and self-loathing which would have successfully put off writing the email and is part of a cycle that puts on weight, ended up getting me a little consulting gig and bringing my business a heck of a lot more money than this program costs.

The point is, when you know what to do to lose weight – not just what to eat and how to exercise, but how to deal with the cravings and the compulsive eating – you save yourself not only all the pain, angst, self-loathing and merciless beating-on-yourself, you also lose weight – permanently.

My Fabulous People in the last Lose Weight Permanently class say:

• “Had to tell you – I have lost weight. Just 2 weeks in! I am kind of shocked. Mainly because I have been trying for a long time and never succeeded until now.”
• “WOW!!! I know it is just the first class, but I just got my money’s worth.  So awesome!!! Ok if I forward the recording to a friend?”
• “LAUUUURRIIIIEEEE!!!! I can’t tell you how helpful its been, PARTICULARLY class 3.  DUDE!  like, MAJOR and deep revelations about my life, beliefs, thoughts and how they can all be so self sabotaging!!!

Location: Anywhere you have a telephone and can dial in!

Time: Tuesdays @ 7pm EST October 20 to November 24 (1 hour for class plus an optional 15 minute Q&A)

Cost: $199 after September 30

OUTLINE:
Class I: Everything You Need You Already Have, Part I
Class II: The New School of Exercise
Class III: Feelings are Not for Eating
Class IV: Think Thin Thoughts
Class V: Everything You Need You Already Have, Part II
Class VI: Tricks to Keep Your Success Successful

Giving people relief now and transforming lives is what I love love doing.

My whole thing is that I really love NEW challenges and innovate FRESH ways to do this, this will be the last time I offer the class.

What if:

• You don’t have the time. It is okay if you have a conflict one night – the classes are recorded, you won’t miss out on a thing.
• You are already on a diet. Your diet is compatible with what we do because I don’t tell you what to eat or how to move. I teach you how to think, how to end the war with yourself and our work will not ruin your diet. (But when I’m done with you, you won’t need diets no mo’!)
• You have an active social live and don’t want to devote 1 hour per week. Well, that’s dumb.  You have one hour per week for you, and that’s cramping your social life? I don’t buy it.  Especially because it’s done by 8pm and on a Tuesday.
• What’s a weight coach, anyway? A weight coach, at least what I do as a weight coach, is someone who gets you over those obstacles that have kept you failing all of these years.  Together, we look at your role in this weight battle, the role of your thoughts and also anything in your environment.  And we freaking change it. It’s fun and a fast way to make changes that stick.
• Money is an issue. This is way, way cheaper than other classes on the market. What’s more is that I’ve been really effective in weight coaching, I’ve been there and I’m a normal person that happens to be a “life coach” (terrible term, let’s really figure out a better one). Plus, my program has loads of bonus stuff that’s killer:

1. New information and discussion
2. 15 minutes of Q&A after each class
3. Weekly assignments
4. Weekly tips and updates
5. Personal feedback
6. Full email access to me in between classes
7. A group of like-minded classmates to learn from and support/be supported by.

You can opt out – no questions asked – anytime before class starts in case you get cold feet too. Just email info(at)blueprintbalance(dot)com and you’re out, baby.

Space is limited to 8 people!  I’m considering making it 6 people, though, because I have a good feeling about 6 weeks and 6 people.  The last class sold out weeks before it started and you can always get a refund, so if you’re thinking this is for you, you might want to reserve a spot.

Being in your right body is not overrated. Being in your right MIND while also in your right body is the best state of existence I have ever experienced.

Not in a hype-y way, in a really deep and meaningful way.  I realize now that on some level, I knew that before I lost the weight and that’s part of why I really, really wanted to lose it.  I bet you have the same suspicions. You are so so right.

[Hi guys! We are sold out! Sorry sorry sorry. Sign up here to be the FIRST to know about the next class]

Recruit Your Jedi Council

Self-doubt comes with the finding-your-passion territory. You are searching for work you care about because you have changed internally, and with no external signals to people that things are different now, it is natural to feel a little unsteady.

If you are surrounded by friends and loved ones that vigorously support you in finding a job you will love, consider yourself lucky and take advantage of it! Share your dreams and doubts to give them the opportunity to cheer you on or bring you down to earth, as needed.

If you are not surrounded by a band-stand full of supporters, which is more likely the case, you may feel a little isolated and uncomfortable putting in the work to find a job you love.  When you do take the risk of exposing the brand new thoughts and ideas you’re having, they may be swatted down like flies. Ouch.

There is a solution for finding the support you need today. Instead of befriending hoards of new people, you can recruit your Jedi Council.

High Council of Jedi Knights

It is very important for you to feel supported in your search because you will arrive to where you want to go more painlessly and much faster.  You are more likely to create the connections you need in a new field, to have the courage to investigate your interests and to tame your irrational self-doubt when it’s rearing its ugly head.

Find a strong group of supporters in the annals of history, in popular culture or in your own community to be your personal Jedi Council, a term and concept coined by friend and mentor, Pam Slim.  Here’s how to choose who is worthy:

• Inspire Admiration. Who have you always deeply admired and felt inspired by? For example, I’ve always had a thing for the Barefoot Contessa, a.k.a. Ina Garten, a cookbook author who also hosts a TV show.  She worked on the Hill creating the nuclear energy budget until her passion for food lead her to buy a specialty foods store in the Hamptons. That was 30 years ago – now she and her husband have homes in NYC, Paris and the Hamptons.  They are both extremely successful, work part-time and enjoy careers they are passionate about.
• Inspire Excitement. Notice the kind of people in the world who get you really excited.  Are they authors, painters, musicians, designers, computer programmers, spiritual figures?  This is another place to look for your Jedis.
• Ask: Do they use their powers for good? Someone can be brilliant, charismatic and accomplished, but how are they using their life? (In Star Wars terms, do they lean towards the dark side or the light side of the Force?)
• Kindred Sprits. Who has faced a similar challenge and moved through it with success?
• Good “Coaches.” Who would be gentle and loving while still pushing you to live up to your highest potential in the field you truly care about?

When you create your list of these highly productive, creative and accomplished people, find their pictures online and print them out.  Artfully put them together where you can see you Jedi Council supporting you and primed to give you feedback when you need it.

These are real, live human beings who faced the same fear and doubt as you, but moved forward anyway.

The next time you are in the throws of self-doubt, regretting that you can’t make yourself like the work you’re in or do something more conventional, or nearly in tears with frustration over a goal in your search, reach out to your Jedi Council for advice and support.

Be comforted by the Jedi recruits.  May the force be with you.

I know what I love. Why is it SO hard to get myself started?

Here’s a great question sent to me today: I know what I love to do – exactly the model and field and everything.  I just am totally stuck in my job.  And I hate it! UGH.

This is a great question.  When you know what you want to do (and you know because of the way you feel when you are doing it, learning about it, thinking about it), but you have done nothing and find yourself in the same job that you are increasingly hating, the work you have before you is almost entirely in your head.

I will be frank: You are doing nothing because of your mind dungeon.  Your thoughts are keeping you stuck in your job.

What is ironic is that once you clean up your thinking, you may find that you actually like your current job. Perhaps not well enough to be happiest of all, or stay forever, but you don’t have to feel miserable while chiseling out your Plan B.  You can have your cake and eat it too.

When I say “clean up your thinking”, I mean that there are thoughts in your head that are keeping you stuck (not circumstances, or people, or logistics, but thoughts).

I would like to suggest that some of the reasons you think you cannot have the career you think you want are not as real as they may feel today.  Entertain my suggestion for a moment.  Consider the idea that you can begin towards everything you deeply want.  Why not play with getting the obstacles out of the way?

When the only obstacles are your thinking, you have the control to change your reality. Change your own future.

And you can start right now.

Lose Weight Four Days at a Time

Secret to losing weight permanently: Live in 4 day intervals.

Step 1: Identify a very, VERY doable goal for the next four days. Maybe you want to start exercising, or stop overeating at dinner time, or exercise in the morning, or work on the quality of foods you eat.  Maybe you want more control over your eating habits.

Step 2: Cut that goal in half. If your goal was “start exercising”, your halved goal might be “identify exercises that I enjoy” or perhaps “find a place I would like to go to exercise that is convenient”.  If your goal was “stop overeating at dinner”, your new 50% -sized goal is “take one bite less at dinner” or even “focus on drinking more water at dinner. Note that the goals are readily and specifically quantifiable.

How do you feel when you think of your new, smaller goal? If it seems like a piece of cake, or pie if you’re me and are not that into cake, but pies, fuggetaboutit, then you’re all set, move on to step 3. If the goal seems like it might require a modicum of discipline to accomplish, cut it in half again and again until it’s a walk in the park.

Step 3: Each day you accomplish your ridiculously easy goal, you get a prize! Winner!  This is particular to your preferences and needs to be non-food based. Some of my prizes are a trip to the bookstore, putting an item to sell on eBay (love doing this! great way to clean out the clutter that feels like a fun game), and writing posts for my blog.  You ONLY get the prize if you complete your goal. That’s the rule (and why the goal needs to be easy-peasy).

Step 4: After 4 days, you get a BIGGER prize if you completed goals each day. Mine include getting a pedicure, watching a good movie, buying a foodie magazine and a long convo with a good friend.

If you do this, you will be amazed at your progress.  You may be thinking, “Easy goals? 4 measly days? Pshaw. Not worth my time!” This is sinking thinking.  If you think about how long you’ve wanted to lose weight, and how little you’ve accomplished, you see that the tackle it all at once strategy is a bust.  Small steps are THE way to get moving – so get small-stepping, right now.

Thanks to Martha Beck for this concept, which she calls the “4-Day Win”.

Would love to hear your thoughts!

Can’t Think of a Career? Strategy is key.

Carve out a framework to find work you love.

By using the tools that I am organizing via Seth Godin’s “Hierarchy of Success”, stay in your current life while uncovering what the best one will look like for you.

1. Attitude
2. Approach
3. Goals
4. Strategy
5. Tactics
6. Execution

The six steps to success provide a tidy little order to the question: How do you come up with a career that you will love? Answer: Thaw out a framework that will guide you towards the right career for you by taking it one step (out of six) at a time. Sound good? Great!

You can look back on your work here and use it as a rudder to steer you towards better waters, no matter which career you find suits you best.

#4 Strategy

There is no quick fix when uncovering work you will love. I promise you can get there if you really want to and will do the work, but there is no single answer to fit all people.  I devote my blog and work to providing tools that have worked for me, my clients, Martha Beck’s clients and the compelling work of colleagues.

Many of the tools I advocate are based on the effects that certain exercises have on the brain, which basically means the exercises help you get re-work your thoughts and get out of your own way.  You already know what work you will be passionate about. The work you do here uncovers what you already know, you just aren’t conscious of it yet.

Your Strategy is to take back the night.

To execute your Tactics, you need the time to do so.  I know there is one night each week where your activities of choice are not furthering anything good or special in your life.  If you’re like me, there is mediocre TV time, or the obligatory time spent with people you don’t actually like, or hours on email that would not kill you to cut out.

Just one of these nights, take back. You don’t even have to reclaim the whole night.  Devote a minimum of 30 minutes during take-back-the-night (TBTN) night to execute your Strategy.

Execute each #5 Tactic again and again on TBTN night.  After reading each and every tactic (there are five, this is not hard), repeat the ones that feel effective for you. Be sure to add ones you hear about elsewhere or come up with yourself.

Do this for 1 month (just four evenings total, a small commitment to make) and see how you feel.  I am betting the farm that you feel better each and every day, not just on take-back-the-night (TBTN) night.

Here’s what is even better:

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