a different look at the new year

Oh yes, it's that time of year when everyone's addressing the "best of" for 2009 or "why you should" and "resolutions" for 2010.  It's certainly natural to become reflective at the close of the year (and the decade for that matter) and to think about both the past and the present.  Trouble is, how do you turn this into something inspiring and motivating and not overwhelming?

This year I will - yes - create some goals for 2010.  As a good friend of mine said, "When you arrive at December 31, 2010, what do you envision for yourself?"  This is the exercise I'm taking my clients and myself through from a business planning perspective, so it makes sense to be thinking about them for my personal wishes too.  For me, this will be about wellness, energy, strength, stability, expression, creativity, technology and community.

In the meantime, I'm also thinking about where I've been.  What's taken place in my life that I'd like to carry forward.  Here are some of the things I'm thinking about:

• Gratitude: This year, more than any thus far, I'm finding myself incredibly grateful for the growth, change and energy that I have seen in myself.  Sure, some days suck but overall I am so glad that I have had this year to work out some of my own personal roadblocks, set fire to my new business and really focus on what's good in my life.  It's easy to feel overrun by all of the "other" out there, but I've taken a stance of gratitude and it's truly served me well.
• Catalysts: Who knows how to best describe the serendipitous meetings and happenings in your life?  I sure don't, but I'm certainly recognizing the importance of the people I've met and the experiences I've had this year as catalysts of change in my existence.  I've been introduced to new manners to thinking, completely different approaches to my business and even been shown a fresh lens on my personal relationships.  It never fails that these catalysts take on unexpected forms.  Staying open - in your heart, mind and soul - can bring some truly wonderful things into your life.
• Authenticity:  You gotta walk the walk.  Figuring out who you really are, what makes you buzz and then bringing that courageously into your life?  This is where authenticity begins.  I've been working on this for me, and helping others find it themselves.  Aside from cooking for those I love, this is one of the most gratifying things I do in my life.
• Food:  This is a year that's changed my perspective on, approach to and interactions with food.  I am excited about what's to come in this area as, well, food and I spend a great deal of time intermingling.
• Hope:  Sometimes it's the sheer audacity of being hopeful that gets you through the day.  It's about plunging ourselves out into the world knowing what we know, accepting who we are and being joyously thrilled because of it.  Not in spite of it.  How about that for a New Year's twist?
  

Happy 2010, one and all.

wheee! i can't help you!

"I can't help you"...one of the most freeing statements in the English language! And yet, one of the hardest to say.

I've realized lately that part of the reason I encourage entrepreneurs (and other individuals) to go through the personal branding discovery process is because I know the inherent value that comes along with it. I know it intimately because I tried to operate outside of my true, authentic self for many years and wound up a frustrated, directionless character filled with self-doubt. I was on a path alright, but it simply wasn't mine.

For me, dealing honestly with my true passions, strengths and what I have to offer to the world meant that I had to also honestly deal with what/who I am not. This took time - many hours of reading, therapy and plain ol' living my life. I didn't wake up one day with a fully formed idea of what it meant to be me. And quite frankly, I'm guessing this evolution will continue. I hope it will.

Hello, my name is Tracy and I'm a fixer. I fix broken relationships, workstreams and attitudes! I solve problems! I find solutions! I'm innovative, kind and engaging! I'm tenacious and strong! All of these traits that make me an ideal consultant - someone that people regularly seek out for advice and direction - also made me fundamentally unable to say no. When presented with a challenge, I ran into it as if I were saving it from a house fire. In my pre-consulting professional life, I wasn't sure how it happened but I was the one that leadership turned to when there was a problem. When someone needed to put a finger in the dam, or needed to create a business structure where there was none. No mountain was too high! And I never said no. I developed myself into a frenetic, multi-tasking utility player. Saying yes and plowing headlong into a challenge became my calling card: how I valued myself and how I identified myself. Without a nightmarish business challenge on my hands, who was I?

Sure, we could spend quite a bit of time reviewing my childhood and seeing where much of this started but the fact was, I never truly saw the big picture until massive change happened. Jobs disappeared. The economy tanked. Relationships failed. Once all those titles and paygrades and roles evaporated, I had to address who I really was. Who I really AM.

And then? What a relief. I finally realized I didn't need to - or want to - solve every problem all the time. By focusing on who I am and what I really value, I quickly saw how I could bring the best me to my clients, my relationships, my world. It isn't by tackling every insurmountable issue out there. It's about defining the sandbox I play in and realizing when others need help I can't provide. This is what I do. This is what I don't do. It's simplicity is maddening. I help my clients see that drawing a few boundaries around who they are and what they do doesn't mean stifling innovation or being less open to opportunities. In fact, it gives them even more room to grow. And somewhere in that process, I taught myself the lesson as well.

Now I really do feel freer. I am more focused on the areas of my practice where I really excel. And I help my clients call on someone else when I have to say, "I can't help you." It's scary because I'm leaving business on the table. But in the end, I think it's better for everyone involved. We're all taking responsibility for who we are and acknowledging when we need assistance that's outside of our normal comfort zone. The interaction becomes richer and deeper. And I know that I've done my very best. Which, I suppose, is what we all truly crave.

So just know...if I say "I can't help you," it's out of respect. For both of us. I want your success, maybe even more than my own. And I will doggedly help you achieve it. And because of that, sometimes I just may have to say no. Isn't that fantastic?

another candle on the cake

Though the weather isn't giving many visual cues, it's becoming that time of year when I start sorting through recipes, dreaming of holiday entertaining and thinking about what kinds of little gifts I can shower on my loved ones. I love the ritual of pulling out all of my old November and December cooking magazines (yes, I keep them all), making notes, remembering favorite recipes that HAVE to be included and adding a bunch that may be interesting new additions. I'm thinking of who's coming for Thanksgiving, fun cocktails we can make, movies we can watch.

In addition, because this has been a big year of refining my foodie behaviors, I've tried eating closer to home and supporting local food providers. I've been watching my pennies but still trying to eat fresh, organic, well-tended food. And I've been focused on cooking...even more than usual. Which, as you probably know, is the perfect excuse to get friends to pop over on a random night when I feel like having something bubbling away on the stove. "Hey, I'm putting chicken caccitore on...are you hungry?" almost always gets a great response. And all of this food focus really matters to me. It's something I truly live to enjoy.

In the past few years, I've also been thinking a lot about the "stuff" of life. And trying to make a conscious decision to not to over-accumulate or bestow too much junk on other people. Recycle, buy more vintage, and donate things I'm not using well. Give of myself and of my passions. I've been thinking intently about what I need and what I really don't need. And then asking my family and friends to help me focus.

Today, my birthday kicks off a season of celebration and gratitude. For me, finding my way forward in 2009 has been about embracing a bigger life. A life with huge experiences, fantastic moments - large and small - and with lots of learning. And, since this year has also been one cradling and nurturing a very delicate upstart business, I've been thinking a lot more creatively about money - spending it, saving it, using it wisely.

So, I decided to try something a little different this year and ASK people for things that I wanted. Bold, huh? But everyone was really excited about sharing their talents with me, or with giving me something they knew I would truly cherish. I have friends who are chefs and I put them to work - a fabulous birthday dinner with several bottles of local wine, a gorgeous birthday cake, a box of delectable slice & bake crackers. I can see baking off those crackers and popping a bottle of bubbly on a weeknight, just because. I got all of my knives sharpened as a gift and am even more excited to be in the kitchen now...with a box of Band-Aids handy, just in case. I have a new webcam so I can Skype with my friends and my dear cousin who lives in Switzerland. Talk about things which kick-start my experiential lifestyle! I got a bunch of surprises too: my newly certified natural medicine consultant pal provided me with an herbal remedy, tea and the gift of her time to enjoy it. I am enamored by a set of new (and by new, I mean 1920's) Japanese tea cups & saucers from my cat. And I got a much-needed gift card for Caribou - my oftentimes office. I mean, honestly. I just love the idea that it wasn't about "stuff;" it was all about being together, enjoying each other's company and celebrating life.

2009 has been a deeply enriching, soul-searching year in which digging deep and finding my authentic truth has been central. Would I be the same person today if I didn't move on to my own business? I don't know. But I do know that taking the time to really focus on what matters to me - people I love, food that truly nourishes me, experiences which touch me - has returned a much more focused, confident and anxiety-reduced Tracy. And to me, there is no finer gift to celebrate another year of living. Cheers to that!


So, what about you? What do you truly crave this holiday season? If you don't want "stuff," can your friends and family support a charity that you care about? How do you wish to spend your holiday time? What new philosophies do you have to celebrate in 2009? And most importantly, what is YOUR favorite birthday cake? Mine's this one, hands down.

Here's to another fabulous year!

the trouble with self-marketing

It seems that regardless of why I connect with a client, our conversations all start in the same place: who are you, what do you stand for, what makes you unique, how do you describe yourself and how do others describe you? If you've hired me, it's likely because you want help marketing yourself or your business. And when you hire me, I'll probably push you right into some uncomfortable territory about why you and/or your business are different. Why you are special. What you bring to the table that no one else can. Because at the end of the day, being able to market yourself is the key to making your business a success. Yet it's the one thing that seems to hold great business people back. You're well-versed in why the business is great, but less comfortable talking about why you're so darned fantastic.

(There's a massive aside here about why I think every college student should be required to have more than just a basic understanding of business and marketing before they graduate. I also think they should get a lesson or three on personal branding and appropriate corporate behavior, though I came to that a little later in my career. But I'll digress at another time.)

With my clients, I get them to dig in. Ask some pointed questions - of themselves and of those around them. The idea is to pull out the words, phrases, sentiments, feedback and criticisms that have helped to form the external perception of who they are, but also the internal perception as well. And you can guess which one is more important.

I willingly admit to being a fan of the TV show "Biggest Loser." I can't help it. There's something very inspiring and real about how these folks overcome everything from complex medical conditions to defeating self-talk to break through the barriers (perceived and otherwise) to good health. You can literally see it when the lightbulb comes on. When they stop talking or acting out of responsibility to something "other" and start engaging deeply with themselves, for themselves. Without exception. But it all comes from understanding who they are and what messages they're sending themselves about who they are...two wildy different things.

In consulting, I'm trying to uncover not only the features & benefits of your business or your product or service, I'm trying to identify the areas where you may end up holding yourself back, despite your commitment to success. There's a little psychology here, but I know that in the end, you have to be able to market yourself in any situation. If you don't believe the key messages that I help you create, you're not going to succeed in delivering the value promised within. So we start with the big chunks of personal branding.

For instance: if you're a consultant just starting out, why should someone hire you? (Hint: it's not because of the technical skills you bring to the table. Who cares? There are lots of great technicians out there. What else?) If you're a mom trying to get back into the job market, what makes you a compelling employee? What do people say about you, and what do you want people to say about you? And most importantly, do we have alignment?

One of the more interesting things I've seen lately is that not only is there NOT alignment, there is a little bit of loss. The personality that tumbled forth naturally when you were in high school & college - once hit with the realities of the work world/adulthood/parenthood - started absorbing different attributes. For one of my clients, the risk-taking goofball who'd likely be found splashing in the corporate lobby fountain now comes off as reserved, deliberate and straight-laced after many successful years in the insurance industry. Some might say that this is a good thing - experience, maturity and growth are all positive. But have you left something of yourself behind in the process? My client was surprised - that shift had all happened over years, but went virtually unnoticed. How could that be?!

I think most of us feel that we have, in fact, lost something along the way. And there are a million reasons why that might happen. We followed a certain path until we didn't. We took care of others' needs ahead of our own. Whatever the reason, taking the step back and thinking about self-marketing comes like a shock to the system. What?! Focus on myself? Toot my own horn? Act as if I'm better than someone else? Hmm...well, if I did that, what would I want to say?

It's easy to see why this is uncomfortable ground. And why it's so important. Keep in mind that you don't have to do this alone. There are a plethora of great books out there about personal branding, marketing, life strategies and empowering yourself. And there are lots of enviable examples. My advice to you is to not walk this path alone. You're too close to this to be objective, critical, or more importantly, encouraging. Find a mentor, hire a coach, take a class - use an expert so you don't wallow in the weeds. I promise you, once you start understanding your skills & talents from an objective point of view, you'll get as excited as I do. You'll see your potential and start dreaming bigger about where you could go next. Who knows, you may even jump into a fountain.

i have to share

personal brand = a storehouse of power

The past few weeks have really had me thinking about the power inherent in the development of your own personal brand. (Stay with me here, I've been reading a lot of Oprah again.) But really, I've been spending time with clients and friends and we've been sort of sitting back, watching the last long days of summer slip towards the chill of fall and thinking about how smart we've all gotten lately. Maybe not smart exactly but aware. And somewhere in that awareness has brought about a sense of responsibility and strength that I haven't felt in a while.

I think the economy and joblessness has taken it out of people. The fear of the unknown and unpredictable has sunk into to each of us. But, when used as a launching pad, these uncertainties have also gifted us with the ability to recreate ourselves a bit. Or at least, peel back a couple of layers and see what's really inside. Through this introspection, coupled with not just a small amount of acceptance, we're starting to see people act from a strength that enlivens and inspires.

I hate the stigma that's become attached to the term "personal brand" because I think it diminishes the process somehow. In fact, it makes it more like an outcome and less like a journey, which I believe misses the point entirely. Remember when you worked in a larger company and you were prodded into this thing called "networking" which felt so fakey and contrived that you couldn't see the possible benefit? And, if you're like me, you didn't really get a damned thing out of it other than to tell your boss that you were out there "networking!" I think that's where we've gone with personal branding too. If you work in a company now and have seen "develop your personal brand" creep up on a yearly review, raise your hand.

Instead of taking the life out of personal branding (as I talked about in this post), why not visualize the personal and professional confidence we could gain by wandering down this path in the first place? What I'm talking about here is the self-assured, electric, powerful feeling that we get when we're operating within our values, passions, strengths, personality and so forth. When we're (quoting Oprah here) "standing in our truth." When we have no problem turning to a friend and saying "No, I don't do that." Or turning down a job - not acting out of panicky fear - because it doesn't fit our true self. In my opinion, THIS is what the personal branding process should bring. Alignment breeds power.

Martha Beck did a great piece in Oprah magazine this month about power (actually the entire issue was about power, but Martha really knows how to get me thinking) and how we feel when we're convinced we don't have control or options or power over situations, people, things, what have you. And she talks about the differences between acting out of fear and acting out of love. The reality is, when you find yourself in that sweet spot of acting out of love (or in my term, alignment), there too you will likely find the core of your personal brand. And then you can set out to use it for good, and not just for performance reviews.

Go on. Plug in.

zucchini & leek vichyssoise

This is a recipe from Ina Garten's Barefoot in Paris to which I have made a teensy alteration, simply because I think my stock was darker than Ina's and my potatoes weren't the white kind, so it didn't have that fresh, bright color I was looking for...so I cheated and added liquid sunshine instead. Also, if you - like me - are in the midst of detox or otherwise avoiding dairy, double up on the olive oil and skip the cream. I swear you won't notice a thing.

1 T unsalted butter
1 T good olive oil
5 c chopped leeks, white and light green parts (4-8 leeks - wash VERY well; soak and change water 2-3x)
4 c chopped unpeeled white boiling potatoes (8 small)
3 c chopped zucchini (2 zucchinis; unpeeled)
1 1/2 quarts chicken or vegetable stock (I love Pacific Organic)
1 t kosher salt
1/2 t freshly ground pepper
2 T heavy cream (I used half and half and it was just fine)
Zest from 1/2 lemon
1-2 T freshly squeezed lemon juice
Fresh chives or julienned zucchini, for garnish

Heat the butter and oil in a large stockpot, add the leeks and saute over medium-low heat for 5 minutes. Add the potatoes, zucchini, stock, salt and pepper; bring to a boil; then lower the heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Cool for a few minutes and either:

• process through a food mill fitted with the medium disc (Ina's way)
• blitz with a hand blender right in the pot (my way)
• process in small batches in the blender (careful not to fill more than 1/2 way; dangerous hot stuff expands in the blender)

Add the cream and adjust the seasonings. If you're looking for a brighter, summery-er flavor, add lemon. Zest the lemon directly into the pot, and squeeze in the lemon juice.

Serve hot or icy cold with chives or julienned zucchini threads across the top. If you have a bright, fruity olive oil (or chive oil or similar), give the top a little drizzle with this as well.

Green tip: don't be silly; this is a great way to deal with that insane garden bounty. I suspect you could cut some yellow squash in for some of the zucchini with great success although I haven't tried it.

oui oui! midsummer bounty

I've been feeling rather French lately. I blame the vegetables. And the weather. And Molly Wizenberg. And the fact that it's August and - let's face it - I'm wishing I was with Anna right now in Brittany, soaking in the sun, buying cute little French soaps and sea salt (Anna, please - for the love of god - please don't forget my salt) and enjoying a nightly apéro.

But mostly I think I can blame the vegetables. Between my first week of being a CSA member, my effusive love for my Farmer's Market and my darling mother's garden...well, let's just say that my produce cup runneth over. And over.

First up, ratatouille. My dear friend Anna actually turned me on to this delightful dish several years ago and I have proceeded to enjoy it yearly since. There's something very effortless about whacking up a bunch of seasonal veggies and turning them into a hearty stew-like dish...which, after sitting in the fridge waiting for me, only seems to get better and better. I had just the right ingredients from the market and mom's garden: zucchini, yellow squash, eggplant, onion, garlic. I got some peppers and started rifling through cookbooks - here, at Barnes & Noble, everywhere - looking for ideas. I went back to my old standby: Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything layered and baked number. On the first day, we enjoyed it with soft cooked polenta (his with cheese and butter, mine without...detox, afterall) and a crispy rosé. I plated up two little Apilco round au gratin dishes with leftovers, sent a bag with the chef to be turned into a stew the next day, and left the rest in the fridge for nibbling. The following morning, I drained the au gratin dish a bit, dug a couple of holes and cracked two eggs into the dish. Baked those at 350 for about 13ish minutes and I had the perfect breakfast. Of course, a toasted baguette would have been the preferred accompaniment but on the no-wheat adventure, I was happily surprised by simple corn tortilla chips stepping in and doing the job nicely.

Next task, leek soup. Or at least that's where I thought I was going with this. Only serving to exacerbate my little French problem, I also picked up the new-ish paperback version of French Women for All Seasons: A Year of Secrets, Recipes, & Pleasure (Vintage) and remembered her original advice about leek soup. I think it was called "Magical Leek Soup," in fact. So I was thusly inspired. Checking out my cookbook collection - and considering the rest of my bounty - I aimed instead for a slight riff on Ina Garten's Zucchini Vichyssoise instead (from Barefoot in Paris: Easy French Food You Can Make at Home. Now THIS would be the answer to my late night, no energy for cooking question. This soup is meant to be eaten either hot or cold, and I'm guessing it will not be the first time this season it will be made. It's going gangbusters on the stove right now and will fill the lunch gap nicely.

Next up, addressing the lettuce situation. Every weekend I get this wild idea that I need salad. Lots of salad. So much salad that I might explode. And, of course, I buy salad greens. But my fridge is not a salad green-friendly location. In fact, it doesn't like much of anything that prefers to be crispy and sturdy. So I'm trying an experiment. About 3/5ths of my lettuce is just fine, 4+ days later. 1/5th is dead and headed for the compost. The remaining 1/5th seems salvageable; I'm soaking it in ice water to see if the shock will stiffen it up and make it lunch-ready. Feeling a little lousy about this, but I'm trying to recover. We'll see.

Lastly, I'm drooling over Molly Wizenberg. You may know her as that Orangette blog lady, or the writer of that great book A Homemade Life: Stories and Recipes from My Kitchen Table for which I waited patiently (ahem) from the library while 13 other people had holds on it, and the proceeded to buzz through it in 2 days. Now, I'm torn. I love almost every one of the recipes in there. Should I scan them for my collection, or should I bite the bullet and buy the book? (Those of you who know my book situation would probably calmly advocate for the former.) It's due tomorrow, I can't renew it (lots of others waiting in line) so I need to decide quickly. In the meantime, won't you check out her blog and, in particular, her index of recipes? She's a major Francophile - which shines through nicely in her recipes - and her husband is a vegetarian.

Because really, how much inspiration do you need this time of year? Gotta go, time to blitz the vichysoisse! Au revoir!

(Update: the soup was absolutely amazing - recipe coming later today - and the lettuce snapped to like good soliders. Successful lunch all around! Now, where's that baguette...sigh.)

Back at the beginning

I'm on another adventure...this time, dealing with my health and well-being. Not unlike many other women (and men, for that matter) I have hit a point in my life where I am starting to feel the cumulative effects of many years of eating well, sitting at a desk, traveling for business, not being active enough, and trying desperately to find some sort of equilibrium in my life.

Yep, that sounds just like life, right? And add to it, in the five years past I have earned a check mark for almost everyone of those “top stressors” in life: divorce, job loss/change, moving (three times), death of a parent and – not inconsequentially – working with a couple of the least well-balanced people imaginable. Stress: been there, done that, starred in the made-for-TV movie.

As a result, I’ve seen my weight go up rather dramatically. Ok, maybe it’s not dramatic to you, but an additional 20+ lbs – though I can wear it pretty well – puts me comfortably over the edge into “not so healthy land.” Further, as I’ve started to peel away the layers of what’s really doing damage here, I have also seen some of the baseline wellness checks coming back less than perfect. And did I mention that my pants don’t fit?!?

A little more than two years ago, suffering mightily with some new fangled allergies that I hadn’t experienced before, I decided enough was enough. (And by that I mean enough Minute Clinic visits for sinus infections and definitely ENOUGH ANTIBIOTICS – I’m allergic to most of the big ones and really want to keep my usage to dire conditions.) I decided to call on a naturopath.

My initial consultation was pretty unique. I am very much an alternative medicine/holistic approach sort of girl, so the idea of this kind of assessment, diagnosis and treatment appealed to me. After hearing all of my complaints (weight gain, stuffy allergy head, poor digestion, etc) and doing some rather unconventional assessments, the first thing she did was place me on a very serious detox plan. Suspecting food allergies, we set about eliminating anything and everything that was potentially allergenic and went from there. Result: definitely wheat, maybe dairy. My naturopath also suggested to me that a periodic detox (1-2 times per year) could help keep my system functioning better.

Results were great. I was already engaged in Weight Watchers and throughout the summer lost just over 20 lbs. I felt much better. And then life took hold yet again – a serious relationship ended, a crazy job began and then during the winter, my dad passed away quickly from an aggressive form of cancer. Before you knew it, the tenuous hold I had on my own health and wellness started slipping. Five pounds became 10. I struggled through some pretty serious blues. Nothing much felt good. Ten became 20 again. All in all, 2008 was really not good for me at all. I made a painful job change the end of the year and vowed to start 2009 in a better place.

And I did. But I still hadn’t put my hands around what EXACTLY needed to happen to bring me back around to healthy and well again. The weight was killing me. After I got myself back to my fighting weight the year before, I got rid of everything that was more than a size up. I just KNEW I would never go back there again. Yet, there is precisely where I found myself.

There has been one positive and changing force that has been woven throughout all of this, and that is my passion for food and being a bit greener. Together, those pieces of me have set me on a path toward awareness and excitement for the efforts around local and organic food, and about limiting the toxins in my life. As you may know, this is not about perfection. This is about a journey and I’m happy to say that I’m well into mine. Which has helped spring me forward…

…to a new space and time. I went back to the books and studied hard. I read Jillian Michaels’ new Master Your Metabolism. I re-read Dr. Weil’s 8 Weeks to Optimum Health and Natural Health, Natural Medicine. I revisited Michael Pollan’s In Defense of Food. Then I went to my doctor and had a few tests run to see just where I was at. Today? Total cholesterol is a little high, but good cholesterol is great (maybe to do with all that sushi?!); triglycerides are slightly elevated; alarmingly, blood sugar is also a little higher than it should be. And I’m still kicking around a virus that has been hanging with me since late last year. So I sat back, checked all my references and put myself back on track. Combining the learnings from these books about dealing with hormone levels (insulin and cortisol, anyone?), anti-oxidants and anti-inflammatory diets with my already developed knowledge for the benefits of certain kinds of foods, along with my naturopath's suggestions, I’m off like a shot.

Here’s what’s happening:

• First, another detox. I’m spending about 3 weeks this time (as long as my supplemental powder holds out) cleaning out the stuff that’s bad. YET, I’m not being insane about it either. I am not chasing a food allergy this time, I’m just trying to give my liver and a couple of other vital organs a break. Key for me is the food choices, and limiting my wine. And those are: no caffeine, no sugar, no wheat, no dairy, no meat other than fish. I’m keeping eggs this time and paying attention to the glycemic load of my fruits, veggies and rice.
• Daily exercise. We bought bikes a few weeks ago and have been enjoying trying to get out and about in our town. I’m also walking a day or two a week with friends, and as much as I can in the course of my day (it’s fab living downtown and being able to walk everywhere). And last weekend we even spent 2 hours paddling down the St. Croix in a canoe. I realized that – for me – it’s all about keeping it fresh and fun. I neeeeeed to be outside in this glorious late summer weather we’re having (it’s crazy) and I need to stay engaged and not get frustrated. We’ve signed up to do a little golf tournament next month. I’m just trying for 30-60 minutes of something or another each day.
  
• Supplements. This is where many people think I have gone ‘round the twist. But amping up my vitamins and supplements are important to my detox and also to the idea that I’m trying to kick my metabolism and immune system in the ass. I haven’t run on a healthy immune system since high school and therefore pick up and carry around every bug known to mankind. I need my immune system to rebound, shake off this virus and support me going forward. So yes, I choke down nearly 30 pills a day – everything from the standard multivitamin, fish oil, additional D, C, calcium to Astralagus and Lysine and a few other oddities. I’m also trying to take bitters again before meals…this one is less convenient but it sure is good for your digestion!
• Portioning. This is actually easy now. It’s just a decision. Eat half, add a salad.
• Cooking. I haven’t been spending quality time in my own kitchen for some time. Dating a chef means – unsurprisingly – that he doesn’t necessarily want to cook at home. He wants to go out! See what’s new! Try something different! All of which is very, very good but the by-product is that it has disconnected me from my kitchen. I’m back now.
• Shopping as local as possible. Most of you know that I’ve been helping Lee over at www.SimpleGoodandTasty.com and using that as a big fat excuse to avail myself of many more local delights than I was before. I’ve always been a HUGE farmer’s market fan and visit mine weekly. But I’ve also joined a co-op this year and taken a crack at a CSA for half the season. So I’m experimenting and feeling more inspired in my food choices.

I’m just one week in so far. I’ve lost 3 lbs. And I know my system is running – ahem – cleaner already. I’m almost through my caffeine/sugar withdrawal headaches, but feeling a little under the weather again. I know the allergens aren’t helping matters (must deal with those next), but I’m feeling like the tides are shifting.I’m in the groove now and I’m getting lots of support from those around me (much appreciated). Now we’ll just keep on in a forwardly direction to being a healthier, happier me.

Here's to wellness!

have a dream, bring a lifeboat

Wow, do I ever strongly (ahem) encourage my clients to stay on top of their content production...particularly when said content is a critical path to business development and execution of a strategic communications plan. I can see the forest, I can see the trees. I know how to help and guide. But you, gentle client, have to do the work. And then I go and do a pretty bad job at keeping up on it myself. For all of the very same reasons that my clients struggle. Life, business, busy-ness, summer, visitors, new clients, old clients. I could go on, but this is nothing new to any of us. And content development is just one of those areas that can fall off our radars. So, what's a consultant to do?

I guess I'm trying to put myself in your shoes, figurative client. And think about how I might help you through this facet of your business. There are so many "knowns" out there, so many reasonably expectable bumps in the road. And my general answer to this conundrum is two-fold:

1. Have a plan.
   
2. Anticipate the bumps.
   

You don't get into a car without fastening your seatbelt, right? You (theoretically) pay attention to the flight attendant's safety demo. If you have an allergy to bee stings, you don't leave the house on a sultry summer's evening without your trusty Epi pen. And most of the time it happens so subconciously that you don't even consider what the plan is. Mostly that's a good thing. But in other, trickier places in our lives - like our businesses - a little more cognitive, purposeful thinking helps.

So let's start at the beginning: a plan. How many entrepreneurs start businesses without a decent business plan, marketing plan, schedule to allocate their time, etc? Most of us are guilty of this...and in more than one of those categories. For whatever reason, we believe it's better to just get started than it is to plan. And believe me when I say, I'm impatient, quick-thinking, speed-talking and an Activator. I tend to jump first and measure how high that cliff was later...and not even always then. So it's one of those places where I have to work hard to impart the importance of a plan on not only my clients, but myself as well. Without at least a general map of where you are headed, it's going to be very difficult to get there.

Then we think about the glitches. I believe contingency planning is just as important as planning those basic elements of your business. What I refuse to believe is that naming and acknowledging contingencies is the same thing as opening yourself up to defeat. I appreciate those that say "failure is not an option" because I absolutely believe in the need for setting your mental energy in the right direction. But this isn't failure I'm talking about. It's the inevitable ups and downs and twists in the road that require our sharpest thinking and creativity. And it's difficult to be thoughtful and innovative when disaster (real, imagined or whatever) is at our door. Long-term planning is for stretching, big fat hairy audacious goals. Short-term planning is for tactics and contingencies, and identifying little course corrections that might be required to navigate through tricky waters.

Laying bare our fears of failure and thoughtfully addressing the "knowns" can make the unknown little surprise events much easier to manage. We aren't in crisis mode ALL THE TIME (have you ever had a job like that? I have.). We can stay level headed, we can ask for advice and brainstorming from other smart people, and we can put some switches in place should they need to be flipped.

So give it some thought. What are the top 5 things that MIGHT happen? Are they related to money, reputation, amount of work, what? What are the worst case scenarios? How would they affect your business and what ideas do you have about mitigating those impacts? Who would you call on for help? Advice? A kick in the butt? And what might you do next time to potentially avoid this situation in the future?

Create a plan. Then find the emergency hatch so you know where to find it.

bee in my small business bonnet

Small business owners – listen up. There’s no sense running around any longer pretending social media isn’t for you. This is a brand new marketing world these days. No one’s saying you have to give up the old ways in order to embrace the new. And no one’s saying you need a MySpace page. Somewhere on the continuum of traditional horses and new media ponies, there is a ride for you. But, particularly for smaller businesses, eschewing this new fangled media because you don’t understand it or see how it could work for you doesn’t make great strategic sense. At this point, I just beg you to stay open minded enough to consider the possibilities. Ok? Ok.

Sorry about this, I had a couple of frustrating conversations last week with clients that made me want to whip out my PC and start blogging on the spot. My point isn’t that traditional marketing and advertising are bad. Nor is it that only new methods of marketing will help your business. That’s not my point at all. But, let’s face it, most small businesses are operating on a limited budget and cannot afford to put all of their eggs in a single gilded basket. A well-planned, thoughtful and strategic marketing and communications plan will help ALL businesses regardless of which marketing levers you choose to pull. Whether you’re retail, B2B, a consultant – whatever – there are ways to manageably blend social media marketing into your strategic plan to help build your bottom line. But the first question always should be: where on earth are you trying to go?

A targeted consultant needs to build up “subject matter expert” cred. A retailer needs to connect with her customers and know what they want. A restaurant needs to keep track of what other restaurants are doing in their market, genre and industry. And hear this: all of these things end up generating revenue! But you can’t just pull levers and push buttons willy-nilly and expect a successful (much less repeatable) result. Nor can you pull the blanket up over your head and wait for it all to just go away, already!

Social media is so NOT on one of my potential client’s radar that she laughed out loud, rolled her eyes and informed me that Twitter was only used by 20 year olds. (Her customer is 30-55 year old women.) I hesitated. Because realistically, any single tactic is not going to work if a client is disinterested to the point of venom. I realize that just because I have consumed the sugary beverage, it doesn’t mean others are here with me.

And yet this is where I go sideways. Because I think the best small business owners are the ones with natural curiosity and a desire to learn what’s affecting them. They are willing to put a goal in place, fight for it tenaciously but then retreat and course correct when necessary. Shutting down and fighting evolution in business – and believe me folks, you could call social media one of those evolutionary points – means potentially atrophying and dying off prematurely. Like everything else in life, leading from a place of fear and lack of knowledge does not propel you to wisdom and success.

Social media, like any single platform or tool, will be neither your deliverance nor your demise. It’s not a silver bullet and it does take some time and thought to implement. So, no. Social media isn’t for everyone. Unless you want to have a direct and immediate conversation with a particular audience, that is. To me, that’s an incredibly powerful reason to dip a toe in the water and ask a few questions. Dream a little. Adapt and evolve. Grow up.

take care of you

When you're on an airplane, they always tell you: if the oxygen mask drops, put yours on first before helping others. We understand the issue here - if we can't breathe, we can't help. The "duh" factor is high.

Which makes the considerations I took out of out of my week of "Unapologetic Self-Care" and the self-care retreat that I attended on Thursday rather pronounced for me. First, a bit of a recap:

The workshop I participated in was filled with women of all ages (roughly 25-80) and in various states of wellness. Two, including one instructor, were cancer survivors; one has Stage 4 breast cancer and is going through chemo. One young lady has Crohn's disease, she was joined by her 2 sisters. One older woman is living with her husband's dementia; another lost her husband 3 years ago. Two women were in major personal/career transitions - one had just parlayed her love for her teaching career and Theology into a new PhD and a new career; the other recently retired and is interested in figuring out what she wants to do next (how great is that?). I was humbled by their braveness. And their insight - these ladies all knew that self-care should be on their radar, even if just by signing up for the retreat. We all had stressors to leave at the door.

The retreat itself was lovely. This wasn't a fancy spa or a time of indulgent, expensive pampering. We were in the basement of a former convent surrounded by healing practitioners, a library full of books and instructors who wanted to instill upon us the importance of taking care of ourselves. They created a simple, comfortable environment, walked us through an introduction to many concepts and techniques, and sent us away with some affirmations to try as well as a little marigold to grow. Lovely.

We explored a bit about how our mental attitudes and preconceptions impact our decisions around caring for ourselves. We talked about warning signals that stress sends (physical, emotional, behavioral, cognitive) and a basic roadmap to coping and problem solving. We had a 30 minute yoga class and started talking a bit about energy healing. We ran out of time which meant that a few things got dropped off the schedule, and unfortunately I think we missed out on a couple of potentially great lessons...but perhaps next time. And we got to connect and share with the other women in our group - uncomfortable at first, but once you start talking it's always such a great experience to hear that others have similar experiences or reactions or challenges. Overall, we were given a lot to think about and much inspiration to go on and learn more together or on our own. Definitely worth the price of admission.

And I got what I wanted out of my time there - inspiration and some renewed energy toward this "take care of myself" concept that I'd been intuitively sorting through. What I learned here:

• Take care of your health while you have it: Since many of these women were having their well-being challenged through illness, death and even growth, it was obvious how important it is to build up not only our health but our healthful practices when times are good. Just as pregnancy may not be a great time to start hitting the gym, developing these habits today will help support us down the road. There are many sub-lessons that go along with facing women in these situations: be grateful, stop making excuses, stop feeling sorry for yourself, stop ignoring spirituality, basically - lean into life, even the tough stuff.
• Don't underestimate the power of community: The woman facing Stage 4 cancer doesn't have a personal support group. Girlfriends. How could this be? The one that survived cancer (twice) and lost her husband found that her circle couldn't support her through those challenges. One of her key stressors, in addition to worrying about money, is aloneness. Again how can it be that in a society such as ours these bright, brave women wouldn't have a thoughtful friend or two they could lean on? So many studies, books, even our own personal experiences tell us how important it is to have a circle of friends. Not every friend "gives" us the same thing as every other. Some are "soul friends" - a term I learned this week - those that we connect with at a deeper level, those that we will likely keep with us til our end. Some are people who find their way into our lives for a reason - something to teach, something to learn, an experience to cherish - even if they may fade out of our life again. So, build your circle and build it well. These people will quite literally make your life.

I left this event inspired to create a retreat like this for those in my personal and professional circle. This group has nailed down how to support women who are living with health crises. I want to reach out to other kinds of women - those in other times of growth and learning. Other transitions that touch our lives. Can't you look back and see how interesting something like this might have been when we were 25? Or following divorce or a job layoff? The language changes, the lessons get more specific but the underlying message is there: know who you are, know who supports you best, take care of you. We aren't as strong and big as we could be in our lives unless we ensure our health and well-being needs are met first. Now, if we could just make that as plain as the symbols on the emergency card in your seatback pocket...

self-care, the workshop

In honor of my "Unapologetic Self-Care Week," I signed myself up to attend a fabulous looking retreat. Well Within, a local nonprofit holistic wellness center, has put together a full day of learning self-care techniques in order to restore balance. Very cool indeed!

I have been doing yoga fairly regularly for the past 5 years, but unsurprisingly, it's one of the first thing that goes when LIFE interferes. Which makes absolutely no sense because it can also be the one thing to keep me glued together. I figured I could use more tools like this.

The Well Within brochure describes the retreat as an introduction to a variety of techniques which could be used for self-care in our everyday lives. I am already bought in on yoga but I'm also interested in getting a little head's up about meditation, healing touch, guided imagery and mindfulness. All of these resonate with my approach to wellness; and there's no doubt elevating self-care activities (as in, we need ACTION here) will give me more tools in my toolbox for when times aren't so predictable and stable.

Cami Smalley, program director and wellness coach (and personal trainer!) told me to expect some light stretching so to dress comfortably and in layers. They'll provide food and I am bringing my favorite journal and pen. This I can do. And in the meantime, I'm working through my own week of self-care with learning, moving, thinking, sharing. I can't imagine a better way to find my center ground again.

Well Within describes balance as:

• Balance
• Awareness
• Laughter
• Awake
• Nurture
• Create
• Explore

EXACTLY what I need; can't wait to report back on Friday.

If you're interested in the retreat - either this week at Well Within or to bring the event to your own community - get in touch with the delightful Cami by calling 651.308.2763. Check it out online at: www.wellwithin.org

the role of self-care in your personal brand

You know how this vicious cycle goes: get stressed, fall behind, stop taking care of yourself, sleep horribly, feel icky, fall off wellness wagon, lose patience with loved ones, miss a deadline, throw a muscle in your back...etc etc...next thing you know, you're immobilized on the couch in your least-restrictive fitting yoga pants, with mac & cheese and TIVOed reruns of Law & Order SVU, and wondering when the laundry will start doing itself.

Life happens. And there's nothing we can do about it other than decide that we're going to deal with it, hopefully with positivity and with good humor. A very smart friend of mine, in retelling a story of her own last week, explained the central thinking behind her enthusiastic and upbeat - but calm and thoughtful - approach to her life: "I can't control what's going on out there. I can only decide in here (pointing at her head) how I'm going to handle it." This is a woman who, not unlike me, has experienced just about every major life stressor that can be conceived of in the past 18 months: job change, death in the family, financial upheaval, work stress, and so forth. So to me, her mantra rang true. And I know she can't possibly feel that confidence every minute of every day, but it inspired me to think more about how I can bring my own tenacity, creativity and centeredness back to the forefront.

For me, and I think my above-mentioned friend, this boils down to self-care. Yes, another phrase bandied about by every self-help, Oprah-spewing life changer out there...but bear with me. My friend prioritizes her attitude and mental decisioning as part of her own self-care. And this process serves to help her stay authentic, to live her personal brand.

Being authentic to your brand means taking care of it. Growing it, nurturing it, caring for it when it's under the weather. Redirecting it when it gets off on a tangent. In a way, thinking about attending to my brand resonates with me. It's easier for me - and I suspect many women- to drum up energy and enthusiasm to grow or care for something as opposed to "taking care of me" in some esoteric, philosophical sense. This, I can get my hands around!

It's easy to see what happens when you get out of sync but like any smart strategic plan, it's critical to identify the risk factors and figure out how to use them to course correct. Notice, I said "course correct" and not "COMPLETELY CHANGE YOUR LIFE." Because I don't know about you, but the idea of "COMPLETELY CHANGING MY LIFE" seems a tad overwhelming. Gulp.

So here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to declare this "Unapologetic Self-Care Week" here in Trixieland. I'm going to sit down and take stock of the patterns in my life that have caused me to wander off the road and I'm going to name them. I'm going to think about how each of these recurring scoundrels affects me and what I might do to address them immediately and with proactive attention. If I have a setback with my business, how do I usually "fall apart?" What can I do to self-care my way through that setback so that "falling apart" looks like a blip on the radar and not a Richter-sized event?

I've also carved out a day to tuck myself into a retreat and let the self-care techniques and strategies wash over me. This should be fun. We'll be learning about such things as guided imagery, meditation, setting intentions, journaling, guided touch and yoga. By Thursday of my "Unapologetic Self-Care Week," I should be primed to put on my beginner's mind and see what techniques I can try in my strategic plan to care for my personal brand: me.

strategic life planning? lifestyle blueprint? personal branding? ...shoot me now?

I'm stumbling around in verbiage these days. Up to my knees and tripping through all of this overused linguistic blah-blah-blah. So called trendy terminology that only seems to make people feel more out of the loop than in it. And I'm finding myself paralyzed instead of inspired. My personal triggers these days are words like "life coach," "personal branding," "hurried woman syndrome," and when I see them I am overcome by the urge to crawl into my bathtub with a box of wine and the 5th volume of Harry Potter, never to emerge again.

I'm coming around to one of those big "life defining statements," I believe. I'm trying to unearth my true self, give her room to really breathe and grow, and challenge her to become more than she ever thought possible. Or maybe, I'm trying to get me out of her way so that she can be as big and forceful as she's always known she could be. Waaaay down deep. But part of me being in my way is that I need those damned words and concepts to help outline what it is that I want to make my living at.

As I've said before, I'm more of a lifestyle person vs. a work/life balance seeker. Instead of trying to measure myself by how many hours per week I work and how much time I allow for myself and for my family & friends (and then become increasingly bitter and overwhelmed by the whole equation), I'm approaching things from a slightly different perspective these days. I don't want work/life balance, particularly not in that order! In fact, I think it's a truly unattainable concept which serves mostly to frustrate and deaden our sense of true fulfillment. Who came up with this ideal anyway? It's based (in my opinion) in a very dangerous weighing of work on one side of the scale with everything personal on the other. Yes, we have to earn a living. And yes, we have to care for the people, spaces, pets, plants, and communities to whom we are responsible. But who gets to define what "balance" looks like?

It would be easy to dismiss my perspective. Sure, I've done the 70 and 80 hour work weeks, but I've never done them with kids at home, more than one mortgage or a life-threatening illness. But I did hop on the habitrail and wore the corporate dunce cap so snugly around my head that I destroyed my marriage instead of growing it. I made a lot of money, I made a lot of truly exceptional friends. I've been hired and fired and laid off. I dabbled in small businesses and large corporations. I don't mind saying that I've been forged by fire and I know what it's like out there - both by the unique and personal experiences of those dear to me, but also by the trial and error that is my life. I'm not saying I have all of the answers because if I did, I'd have picked the winning Powerball numbers long ago and punched out of this rat race. But I have my battle scars too. I like them. I earned them.

My argument is that the very acceptable pressures in our Americanized lives - personal ambition, family pressures to have this career, the simple choice of our college majors - all serve to define our boundaries instead of open our eyes. My approach these days is to remove all of these barriers - perceived, self-imposed, guilt-ridden - and let our creative selves out to be innovative and thoughtful and free! But we sometimes need the words to help us clarify and tell our stories. And then we get into trouble by trying to weigh one of those words or phrases against another. How much does "mommy" weigh? What about "Vice President?" Or how about simpler things like friend, sister, daughter, mentor, inspiration, energizer - because we need to be these things too sometimes. And we likely won't be getting paid for it.

But all of these words, they're killing me. So what do you call this process? Is it blueprinting your life? Charting a course? Creating a strategic life plan (much as I would create a strategic business or marketing plan)? And if I help someone else do it, what does that make me? If I tread near the "life coach" waters, am I only credible if I have a certification from some trade organization in order to call myself coach? I don't want to be a therapist; there are too many good ones out there that do amazing work. What on earth do I call myself?

I want to be a map maker, I guess. I want to help you start to put some focus on your journey, identify a few potential destinations, brainstorm a couple of possible routes, list the necessary equipment to navigate, and pick out some worthy travel partners, and provide a backstop upon which you can bounce crazy sightseeing adventures.

That's why my business is called Segnavia Creative; in Italian segna means sign, segnare means to mark or indicate. Via means road. "Finding your way forward" is my mission, both for individuals and the businesses I serve. Now, if I can just figure out what to call this voodoo that I want to doo...

quick & spicy tomato and chicken soup

Modified this recipe after one of Giada's that struck my interest on a recent episode of Everyday Italian. It was a kitchen basics show and featured things you could probably whip together out of what you already have on hand. I altered it slightly to compensate for a quart sized chicken stock (didn't want leftovers), cavatappi (was on hand) and less than a full jar of sauce (was already leftovers). Also, with the addition of the breast meat of a rotisserie chicken for protein, this came in at 4 ww points for each of 6 servings.

2t EVOO

3 med carrots, diced

1 med shallot, diced

1 garlic clove, minced

2/3 of a jar of marinara sauce (really, whatever you have on hand works fine)

32 oz chicken broth

1 can cannellini beans, lightly rinsed

1c cavatappi pasta

14 oz chicken breast, in bite sized pieces (again, this is what my chicken had, use whatever you have)

Lemon juice from 1/2 fresh lemon (if you don't have fresh, just skip this)

Heat EVOO in medium stock pot, add carrots and shallot and saute for 2-3 minutes. Add garlic, saute another minute or so. Add sauce, broth, beans and bring to a medium bubble. Add pasta. Once the soup comes to a bubble again, reduce heat and simmer 8-10 minutes or until pasta is cooked through. Remove from heat, stir in chicken. (If your chicken is cold, you may want to add it sooner to ensure it heats through before serving). Squeeze lemon juice, if using.

This makes 6 sizeable servings.

Trixie's tips:

Add sprinkle of parmesan or crumbles of goat cheese as a topping.

Add chopped freshed parsley for a little more fresh zing.

Another suggestion from the comments on Giada's recipe recommended adding chicken sausage - yum!

busily separating eggs or baking cakes?

How many times have you started an organization project by buying a bunch of cute baskets, clear boxes and a label maker? Or in a panic, dealt with a stressful job situation by applying for a bunch of wrong-level, wrong-fit jobs just because they happened to be on CareerBuilder? Or, like me, started a self-helpy project by throwing a library's worth of books, new journals and smooth-writing pens at the problem? Sigh. I wish I could express to you how many virtually new journals I am staring at right now...

In our fast-forward world, it's so enticing to grab ahold of the latest fad diet, popular relationship guide book or - let's face it - anything Oprah says. In these resources lie some sort of inspiration or appreciation or probably better defined: aspiriation. Something in there hooked us and made us believe that that resource ALONE was the answer. Or worse, again like me, I grab at pieces of this and facets of that and never end up pulling together anything in a complete sense. And spend a lot of time spinning.

So here's my advice (which, yes, it's probably the same thing you've heard from your therapist, Dr. Phil, Bob Greene, and Oprah herself), but maybe this helps put the concepts into a language that you're willing to grab onto.

1. figure out where you're going

Any time we undertake a big journey, we need all sorts of things. We need a map, a compass, snacks, fun people, a place to get off the road for awhile and rest. But if we don't even know where we're headed, we don't have any hope of getting there even with the top of the line GPS. Again, you may not have to say that you're going to Naples, but it's probably good if you can decide some basics: island, snowy mountain, tropical, a lake, a city, Europe...and so forth. Naples, Italy is a far different place than Naples, Florida and the journey there takes a whole different set of resources.

2. find your native tongue

I spent a few hours with a good friend the other day who's struggling with this. She proudly pulled out a notebook with tabs and colors and lists and sticky notes and declared THIS ONE "the Bible!" I took a deep breath and informed her that, no, that was in fact a notebook. A tool. A helper in her journey. But where on earth was she going? We talked through a marketing analogy (my bailiwick) and this spurred something in her. She landed on a baking analogy (her bailiwick). Spending time choosing the best chocolate in the world, having the best mixer or whisk or whatever, researching velvet cake recipes, calibrating your oven and so forth wasn't going to do her any good if she was trying to make a lemon cheesecake.

3. figure out who you are, where you're starting from

This is where those darned personal branding exercises come in so handy. Simply put, it's an authenticity check point. If you go on to the dreaming step too soon, there's a danger that you'll start wandering around in someone else's version of success, your own "baggage" version of fulfillment, some random number that you've always wanted to see on your paycheck but don't remember why. This process is critical to getting you on the path. Using the analogies above, it's sorta like admitting you're really not an airplane person even if you might randomly visualize yourself in First Class traveling at the speed of sound. You might truly be more of a train person, wandering a little more slowly, seeing the countryside pass by. Or in my friend's case, is she a key lime pie or a 6-layer wedding cake? And then accept it. If you're a cupcake, embrace being a cupcake. If you're a pedal biker, then give your bike a big warm hug.

4. dream big

I've talked about this before but when you're determining your destination, don't let the realities of your current job, the city you live in, your relationship with your spouse, your debt, your anything get in your way. This isn't a "visualize it and it will come" or "ask the universe" perspective, I promise. It's probably not a good idea to visualize yourself as Will Smith's wife, or Donald Trump's second in command because those jobs are sorta filled already. Trust me, I double checked.

But if your dream is to create a lifestyle that allows you to spend time watching your children grow up vs sending them to daycare, or exercise by walking on the beach each morning, then we've got something to work with. Are you fulfilling your personal destiny by serving the hungry? Are you becoming the go-to realtor in your market? Are you transitioning from the corporate world to teaching? Let your mind wander here a bit. Even if you decide later that some of it really isn't where you see yourself going, it's important to consider all sorts of things that appeal to who you are and what makes you tick.

5. then break it down

Whether or not this is career-related or relationship fueled journey, where do you see yourself waking up each morning? What kind of work do you do, functionally? In what environment? What kinds of people do you need to meet to learn more? Where do those people hang out? What do you need in hand to be ready to talk to them? Here you can start a list of tools you'll need, what the best ones look like and where you can acquire them. You can figure out the best way of tracking your progress (a calendar, a to-do list, a "bible" notebook) because now you know what progress should look like. You know where you're going. You know whether to whip egg whites into a stiff peak or melt chocolate.

This is the part where so many of us buy the label maker and have no clue what to type. Stop. Deep breath. Put the label maker away and go back to the dreaming a little bit more, in whatever way works for you. For me, it's a giant poster-sized sticky note and a Sharpie. Brainstorm. Figure out what feels right. And if you consider something as a tool, ask yourself: does this tool serve me on my journey? Or is a distraction? Because that networking group that someone told you that you HAD to join might just be a time suck that is taking you off track.

In the end, this is a process that no one can do alone. Again, trust me, I tried. You know how it's so much easier to perfectly see what's going wonky in a friend's romantic relationship or a business that you read about in the paper? It's called perspective. And lack of involvement. And a critical - though loving - eye. We can help each other see through the complications and emotions that tangle us up. So find yourself a first-mate (or whole crew, if you need one). Identify your transition team. Keep in simple and keep it tight. Then your journey can begin in earnest.

who's afraid of a little personal branding?

Personal branding has become quite the buzz phrase these days. Information is coming at us in every direction saying why personal branding is "CRITICAL TO YOUR SUCCESS, TO YOUR VERY SURVIVAL EVEN!" Which has unintentionally made it a little scary. I've been trying to figure out what it means to me, and how people can really use it in "normal" life.

Part of this, for me, goes back to the idea of creating a lifestyle that supports and nurtures both my creative and wage-earning side (right now, much more creative than wage earning, but we'll get there) and my personal fulfillment side, or what it means to actually live in this life I have. These things are so inextricably intertwined for me as an independent, one-woman-show entrepreneur that they're hardly worth trying to sort out as different elements. Or are they?

Well for sure, I have a personal brand. Tracy Morgan. It's my personal values, strengths, personality, attributes and mission/vision that guide my decision making and my prioritization. These are the core of who I am, who I'd like to become. These days, I'm proud to say, they're more authentic and real than they've ever been. And they inform the brand that I've created for my business, Segnavia Creative. But because the business is its own entity with its own goals and measurements of success (however linked to me as an individual entrepreneur), it also has its own values, strengths, and so on. Several of these are the same as my personal brand. Several are different. Most are nuanced and refined versions of who I am, using the lens of what services the business provides.

When it comes to personal branding as an everyday thing, going through this exercise myself has highlighted to me why it's important for everyone to do. Big things like career changes, job hunting, etc need to begin with the end in mind. It's a little like planning a vacation - you think about where you want to go, what "kind" of vacation it would be (lying low and relaxing, intentionally soaking up the local color, or visiting every duomo in Italy?) and then start mapping out how to get yourself there. What form of transportation, what you need to pack, who you want to take with you. Resources you need. Questions you want to ask.

My version of personal branding puts you in a place to think about all of these things as they relate to your own individual journey. Thinking about how you want your life to look and how you want to spend your days - in a year, in 5 years, in 10 years - you can start to fit in the work you'd be passionate about, the way in which you prefer to share your talents, the type of job you'd like to do within that work/industry/service area, etc. Lifestyle first. Truly authentic to who you are. What a concept, right?!

So in the example of looking for a job, you consider where you want to end up. Think about how you package yourself - are you a marketing consultant? Virtual assistant? Public relations pro? Think about the types of people and environment you want to work in - in an office, with a W2, without a boss? Think about the people you need around you to get there, aka your network or - as in my case - transition team. Think about the tools you'll need - resumes, bios, LinkedIn profiles. Think about how you present yourself - what your image, dress, attitude, web presence, references say about you. Then, from a place of strength, you can push yourself forward.

It's easy to lose the core and possibilities of personal branding in all of the buzz words, technobabble and salesmanship lingo. Don't be afraid! In the end, think of personal branding as both a process and a tool. Acknowledging and celebrating who we are has inherent value even in the most general sense. And specifically, developing your personal brand will help you sight, measure and course-correct all the way along your journey.

launching some stuff

I have been working on a model for a self-coaching circle as a way to experiment a little bit with my personal branding and coaching ideas. I figure, get a few friendly guinea pigs in a room together, start talking about how we all got "here" and see if that might be a reasonable method for getting us all in the mindset for self-improvement. A little inspiration, a few good ideas, some shared stories. All good right?

Except what I'm hearing from so many of my friends of all ages is the struggle with weight loss. It's not like the world needs another diet or online chat room or weight watchers meeting. Those all are fine and good, and many of them are truly helpful. What's missing is a venue for real connection and a big fat dose of the loving kindness we are all forgetting to give ourselves to get through this process.

So many of us launch into weight loss in a fit of self-hatred. Sick of the way you feel, sick of the way you look. Sick of feeling guilty for sitting on the couch and watching "Biggest Loser" with a glass of wine and 1/2lb of cheese (oh wait...is that just me?). Sick of everything, really. And unless you're a mindshifting magician, that's not a very positive place to start what is undoubtedly a tough journey forward.

You bang yourself about the head and make up irrelevant goals. "I'm going to lose 20 pounds by the reunion", "I'm going to fit into this dress by the wedding," and so forth. But these kinds of goals really don't speak to us. They are false ideals and fake milestones that just feed off the fear. They don't dig deep and address what really motivates us to take on such a challenge. And one size does NOT fit all here either - what truly inspires one person to take positive action, may not even register with another.

And in truth, one of the big reasons we haven't addressed our weight issues is because we haven't quite been willing to face it. We avoid the scale, switch up to the next elasticized waistband, and stop looking quite so closely in the mirror. We're in pain here, people. We are NOT ready to push all of that aside and just turn into that rose-colored-glasses-wearing woman we've heard so much about. And what a shame too. Because this is not the moment in our lives when we want to be encumbered by our more creative avoidance tactics. Like trying to figure out what is going to motivate us "this time." It's really supposed to be the ignition switch for us to shine.

This is the time when you need to feel as if you've been launched into the sky by the most brilliant power. You have wings! You have strength and stamina for the flight! You have places to land and nourish yourself, replenish yourself! You have outright approval for a martini! But how on earth do we keep ourselves aloft when the flight is so long and hard?

So that's why I thought it might be interesting to see if we could use the weight loss/health & wellness adventure as a topic for our first self-coaching circle. Self-coaching because what you learn here is meant to be used as tools for helping you along your journey. Circle because we recognize the need for the camaraderie, kindness and enthusiasm that we find so hard to provide to ourselves. I'll keep you posted.

(And while we're in the business of launching things, I'd like to introduce you all to my new logo. See? Up there on the right? Cute, huh? Many thanks to Kara Nielsen Design for creating yet another beautiful logo. Website is next...wild rides R US!)

cold carrot soup

This recipe was originally featured in the June issue of Martha Stewart Living, and I gave it a go last week. Of course, I couldn't leave well enough alone and amped things up just a bit. I then proceeded to serve this as a starter to 6 men and myself for dinner. Nice odds, eh?

Half gay, half straight and they ALL enjoyed the soup. Can't argue with results.

2T unsalted butter

1/4c diced onion

2 lbs carrots, peeled & sliced 1/2" thick (loving my mandoline for this job)

4c chicken broth

1 1/2c water

1T honey

1/2 t ground ginger

1/2t white pepper

1t salt

juice of 1/2 lemon

topping:

1-2 t evoo

1/2c fresh unseasoned coarse breadcrumbs (I tried panko but they were almost too light)

2T finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Melt butter in medium saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and cook until softened (about 4 minutes). Add carrots, chicken broth and water and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer until carrots are very soft and cooked through, about 30-35 minutes. Remove from heat; add honey, ginger, salt, pepper and lemon juice. Check taste and re-season as needed.

Use an immersion blender or regular blender (in batches) to puree soup. Chill soup at least 3 hours (using a metal bowl speeds this process along) or overnight. Before serving prepare breadcrumb topping.

Heat olive oil in small saute pan over medium-high heat. Add breadcrumbs and saute until toasted and golden brown. Spread out on a paper towel lined baking sheet and allow to cool fully before mixing in parsley.

Serve by topping each serving with 1T of breadcrumb mixture.

Notes from the chief mess-maker:

• soup, sans topping, registers in at 1 point per serving (assuming 8 servings) on ww
• if you don't want to bother with the topping, try a dollop of creme fraiche, sour cream or goat cheese on this
• seasoning with chinese 5 spice would also be delish

missing in action

I'm a little lost this week, some journey-related directionlessness and some plain ol' busy-ness. So my apologies for the lack of post, but I will say that I have a number of good things on tap for the blog in the coming days. I'm thinking about:

• why we will run headfirst into a wall for everyone else in our lives, but wait and wait to prioritize our own health, happiness, security
• building a self-coaching circle
• where is the balance in the misadvertised "work/life balance" sham?
• book report on: Green Babies, Sage Moms
• good tools for calculating your carbon footprint...and then what to do about it
• my latest pea soup and carrot soup recipes

I'm also looking forward to spending some time with MY mom tomorrow. She's had a slew of MN-caught crappies on ice and we're going to thaw those babies, bread them in corn flakes and fry them up just like HER mom used to do for us! Really ready for that.

So, again, apologies. I'll be plugging in again shortly.

series: personal branding - dreaming it up

When was the last time you took an hour or two to just dream a little bit?

I know so many people that, like me, are approaching the middle of their lives wondering how they've gotten from their childhood dreams and aspirations to...well, here. Part of this has to do with the concepts of personal branding, about which I've written in this blog and there are umpteen resources on webwide. The way *I'm* approaching personal branding is: Figuring out who you REALLY are, who you are REALLY meant to be and getting back on that path. But what I'm thinking about right here and now also has to do with acknowledging our child-like minds and letting them have some time in the sun.

As I consider my work in helping both businesses and individuals (frequently, entrepreneurs) find their way forward, I've been pondering ideation. Not in our all too familiar stuffy corporate-speak, but pure and simple dreaming. Laying on your back in a sunny patch of park and letting reality, encumbrances, the economy, swine flu, the last thing that showed up on your review as a "challenge", the number in your 401k - all of it - just float away with the passing clouds. Getting all of those boundaries - both positive and negative - out of the way long enough to let the mind play a bit. Wonder what could be. Ruminate on who might be there and what it might look like.

I love a book called The E-Myth, now in it's ba-jillionth reprinting I believe, authored by Michael E. Gerber. I don't just appreciate this book because of his lessons and the way he brings you through them (although these are really quite good indeed), but because of the way he approaches the creation of the business. Or reinvention, if that's what's applicable to you at the moment. I'm purposely glossing over the bulk of his message but not because it's not important to entrepreneurs and small business owners. Of more broad-based appeal, however, is his first step in putting together that business development plan...or as I'm thinking of it, a kind-of personal development plan. Your Primary Aim. He asks:

• What do I wish my life to look like?
• How do I wish my life to be on a day-to-day basis?
• What would I like to be able to say I truly know in my life, about my life?
• How would I like to be with other people in my life - my family, my friends, my business associates, my customers, my employees, my community?
• How would I like people to think about me?
• What would I like to be doing two years from now? Ten years from now? Twenty years from now? When my life comes to a close?
• What specifically would I like to learn during my life - spiritually, physically, financially, technically, intellectually? About relationships?
• How much money will I need to do the things I wish to do? By when will I need it?

Whew. What great questions! And not just for entrepreneurs and business owners, right? What if we started our personal branding and development journey by sitting back and conceiving of the life that we most want, now? Answering a few of these types of questions? Does this mean we wave a magic wand and every thing we dream of is possible for us? Well, probably not. Unless that wand lands you a winning Powerball ticket, but not guaranteed even then. I think if we take the time to think positively about our dreams (none of this "oh I wish I would have", "I couldn't possibly" business) and commit to acting in small ways towards reaching a couple of goals, I believe the resulting boost in our self-esteem, self-appreciation, perspective, and attitude would be immeasurable. Think of how great you feel after spending time with positive, energized people. It's a heady flush of possibility! I know I feel lighter and more nimble. My inquisitive nature is piqued. I start seeing connections and alignment between ideas, people, dreams. And the more I move toward understanding those ideas and people and dreams, determining if there is a role for me between the, well I naturally move toward action.

Sometimes it's just dreaming. But sometimes it's the start of a whole new adventure.

(Note: items in bold, italics above are directly quoted from Michael E. Gerber's The E-Myth Revisited.)