We can become good at things or knowledgeable about topics, if we put the time into learning them. I remember Hyrum Smith, inventor of Franklin daytimers saying…if you want to be successful, do what successful people do. It is that simple. The people that are experts on a topic have spent years learning that topic. I am convinced that you can learn and become quite good at things, if you study and practice them for 3 months straight.
I had never been on a blog until Feb. 2008. 3 months later I had 2 years worth of entries and taught a class on it. We don’t know what we are capable of doing until we try.
What if I chose gardening. What if I visited nursuries, checked out library books on gardening, started working my soil and visited expert gardeners. How good do you think I could become if I did this 3 hours each day for 3 months? I would practically be an expert.

The 3 months are going to pass by anyway.
What is something that interests you, that you could start learning about?

Carla

This is a newletter I received from Connie Sokol, a successful life coach that lives in Utah. I believe what she says.

Hi Ladies,

I happened to catch Malcom Gladwell, columnist for The New Yorker, on a KUED interview as he shared the concept of “deliberate practice”. In his research of successful people, he discovered that most of them–no matter their profession, hobby, or pursuit–had in common one main thing. They had each “practiced” about 10,000 hours, which equals to about 10 years.

In relation to society “greats” such as Michael Jordan or the Beatles, what made them successful is that they got an early start. But early or late, if you put in your 10,000 hours of deliberate practice, meaning focused efforts and fine-tuning weaknesses, you will be a success in what you choose. Does this mean after almost 16 years of mothering I should be a stellar mother?!

Consider what you love to do currently and WOULD love to do in the future. Start now, a bit here, a bit there, gathering your 10,000 hours of deliberate focus. And who knows what you can do to change the world!
All my best,
Connie

Jodi made this really cute sign. When the women got off the elevator this is the first thing they saw.

Then Jodi had little signs on the doors of the main rooms so it was easier to know where to go. One room was called the fun room. It was for line dancing, picnic, future self exercise and our dancing queen training. There was also the girl talk room. That was for our workshops and cooking class. And our fabulous yum yum room where we had wonderful meals, candlelight dinner, crafts and a little dancing on the table. It was all so fun! We’re already trying to figure out how soon our next one is going to be. I really appreciated my willing team. I asked a lot of them right before Christmas and they all really stepped it up. I enjoyed listening and participating in every class taught. Dodie (the life coach) and Shari (the wellness coach) enjoying one of the activities. This was the Top Card activity that Dodie facilitated. This was some of the women’s favorite activity. Here are women working on their dream boards. I got reports from the ladies that they have hung up their strengths craft and dream boards in their closets and bathrooms so they can see them everyday. This is the strength craft. They turned out beautiful!

I taught classes on daring to be yourself, goal setting, exercise and thoughts create how we feel.

I didn’t get a picture of Allison teaching her fashion class but she was fabulous! She gave us all some great information and motivation. I have heard reports of people buying shoes, altering clothes and buying new foundation garments. Whoo hoo!

Jodie teaching us line dancing. Yes, we eventually got dancing pretty well. We had to watch her for awhile first.

Shari teaching her wellness class.

Our candlelight dinner eating Shari’s gourmet healthy food.

The food was awesome. Here is the panini bar with had the last night. We also served roasted red pepper soup, tortilla soup and a yummy salad. I will put some of the recipes on the blog in the future.

Two of the teachers, Dodie and Michele, looking gorgeous! That night Michele gave us an inspirational talk of word and song. She writes music of hope for women. I love to hear her tell how and why she wrote the songs. Then of course the best part is hearing her sing them.
We were lucky enough to hear 4 of the songs that are going on her new album that will be out in a few months. I love these songs so much, I will let everyone know when they are finally available.

Fun girls

Mindi and her mom Ada

wonderful women who came to my first retreat and helped make my dreams come true. I have had this idea for a long time and with their support I was able to take the leap and try something that up until now was only a dream in my mind.

I was surprised how happy I was with the outcome. I thought it was a “10″ both days! I had been worried that my perfectionism would creep in and I would have regrets about doing this or that better, but I thought it was perfect. I have lots of ideas for more in the future. Let me know if you are interested I already have a waiting list. Yay!

Dodie (the life coach) and Shari (the wellness coach) enjoying one of the activities.

Colette being coached.

I taught classes on daring to be yourself, goal setting, exercise and thoughts create how we feel.

This was the Top Card activity that Dodie facilitated. This was some of the women’s favorite activity.

Here are women working on their dream boards. I got reports from the ladies that they have hung up their strengths craft and dream boards in their closets and bathrooms so they can see them everyday.

This is the strengths craft. They turned out beautiful!

I didn’t get a picture of Allison teaching her fashion class but she was fabulous! She gave us all some great information and motivation. I have heard reports of people buying shoes, altering clothes and buying new foundation garments. Whoo hoo!

Jodie teaching us line dancing. Yes, we eventually got dancing pretty well. We had to watch her for awhile first.

Shari teaching her wellness class.

Our candlelight dinner eating Shari’s gourmet healthy food.

The food was awesome. Here is the panini bar with had the last night. We also served roasted red pepper soup, tortilla soup and a yummy salad. I will put some of the recipes on the blog in the future.

Two of the teachers, Dodie and Michele, looking gorgeous! That night Michele gave us an inspirational talk of word and song. She writes music of hope for women. I love to hear her tell how and why she wrote the songs. Then of course the best part is hearing her sing them.
We were lucky enough to hear 4 of the songs that are going on her new album that will be out in a few months. I love these songs so much, I will let everyone know when they are finally available.

Fun girls

Mindi and her mom Ada

wonderful women who came to my first retreat and helped make my dreams come true. I have had this idea for a long time and with their support I was able to take the leap and try something that up until now was only a dream in my mind.

What do you think about the new blog design? I think Daphne at Parasol Designs did a great job. It is me to a T. I hope the women who aren’t girly girls can still read my posts through all the pinky frou-frou (definition-Fussy, Ostentatious ornamentation) I am writing this blog as a way for others to get to know me and at the same time get to know myself.
I am in the business of coaching women to be their best. I feel that the more we get to know our true selves and live into it, the happier we can become.
Years ago I read a book, Daring to Be Yourself by Alexandra Stoddard. My eyes were opened to the choices we make everyday. What kind of pen do I write with? If someone were to see it, would they say, “Oh that must be Carla’s pen it looks just like her?” When someone comes into my home does it show my personality or is it just what is in style right now? If you are someone like me that loves certain colors do you have them splashed here and there throughout your home or are you letting trends dictate the colors? After reading her book I decided that I would look inside myself and ask what is my style? What colors do I like? What kind of furniture, cars, food, designs, flowers etc. do I like? When I have to buy something like a pen, which one is the perfect “me” pen, not just any pen. When we start appreciating our unique likes and dislikes and start having things around us that reflect our uniqueness, we start feeling happier. When we can love ourselves for who we are, life becomes more full.
Too many women are chameleons. They wear what others wear, do their hair the same, decorate the same. No wonder so many women loose themselves and start wondering who they are. They are loosing themselves to the groups likes and dislikes. It is riskier to do your own thing, but by doing it, it helps you find and appreciate yourself more.
I know my blog is not very business like. If I were to go to other coaches blogs they would look VERY different than mine. My motto for myself is I’ve gotta be me. I have found joy in finding myself. I could look like other coaches with a business looking blog but then I wouldn’t be practicing what I preach. I believe there is only one me and only one you. If I am not going to be me, then who will?

John Gray, the author of Men are from Mars Women are from Venus, is such a relationship genius. I love to watch his free classes on the internet. I have seen him speak in person and have watched many of his classes. My very favorite one is called “A Woman’s Work is Never Done” you can learn soo much from this one hour. You can put it on and listen to it while you are doing something else so it won’t take any extra time. I highly recommend listening to this class!!
It gave me new perspective into why women work and work and have an endless to do list and men can relax in the middle of chaos. If you get frustrated with your husband because you work 24/7 and he only works from 9-5 you need to watch it. It will change your life. It completely changed my attitude. It seems like an issue that plagues relationships and he answers it with ease.
On the right side of the page are his video’s on demand. Scroll half way down to

“A Woman’s Work Is Never Done, or Is It? 05/30/06″

Copy and paste this in your address bar.
http://www.modavox.com/modaview/10265/player.html

I am trying to grow my coaching and women’s retreat business. I decided to do the blog so I could connect with more people. I have met many people through the blogasphere so far, and I’ve found it to be a valuable and fun tool. I was listening to a teleclass on line and they mentioned getting a Facebook and Linkedin presence also. I have been working on those two for the last 3 days. Facebook is like Myspace. My daughter said that Facebook doesn’t have soo much smutty stuff on it. She did wonder why her mother needed a Facebook page when it was more for kids. I learned at my class that Facebook started out for highschool and college students but today business is using it in a big way including huge corporations. What is great about Facebook is that you can stream your blog onto it automatically.
Linkedin is more business oriented but is also a social networking site. It was explained to me that what country clubs and golf courses were in the past to connect and introduce people, are now being replaced with online networking like Facebook, Linkedin and Twitter.

Do you have a messy closet that’s cluttering your mind and getting you down? Sometimes the women I coach can’t move onto bigger things until a little spring cleaning gets done.
When I first started coaching I asked a client what she wanted to be coached on. She told me the first thing she needed to do, before anything else, was to get her pantry and boys closet cleaned. I was speechless. I was ready to help her with life changing issues and she gives me closets?! Since then I have had several women want the same thing.
I feel like we carry our huge, never ending to do lists, with us everywhere we go. Then to top it off we carry around every messy drawer and closet in our heads weighing us down. Sometimes it gets to be too much.
Do you have one of those closets? Do you need a little motivation?
I love missussmartypants.com. She has an article that shows some closet makeovers and the steps to take.
http://missussmartypants.com/CDA5240F87574D8387EBDE8FEC733210/page/page.asp?id=17624

Team Hoyt
WOW! What a story. This video is truly inspirational. It’s about a VERY loving and dedicated father. Get out the Kleenex:)

I was assisting at The Adler School of Professional Coaching all last week. The coaching world has the most wonderful, caring, big hearted people that you could ever meet. In general, each coach I meet has the same goal. It is to make a difference in world. I have heard it so many times it is almost a cliché. They really think they can change the world…and I am right there with them:)
When people get coached, they are able to make shifts and changes that they might not be able to make on their own. I’m happy when I can be part of that change.

When I was in coaching school we learned about this free tool. It is a questionnaire that you take online. If I remember right, it takes 30 or 40 minutes. After you finish the quiz you can print out your strengths in order and it explains a little about each one. I think self help quizzes are fun, especially when the answer is how great you are:) It seems like all we think about is our problems and where we need to improve. This tool helps you see just how wonderful you really are. The test helps by showing you your unique strengths.
In life it is best to concentrate on things that we do well. Whatever we pay attention to increases. Why not pay a little attention to your best character traits?
It is called the VIA Signature Strengths Questionnaire. If you would like to take it go to this website:

www.authentichappiness.com

After the page is opened click VIA Signature Strengths Questionnaire and a login box will appear. You will have to give them an email address and get a password. ( I took this test a year ago and haven’t received any emails from them. ) It is given from the Positive Psychology Center at the University of Pennsylvania.

The coaching method I am trained in is from Alfred Alders Positive Psychology through Adler School of Professional Coaching. The coaching that I do is strength based. This means that we identify your strengths and build on them instead of working on your weaknesses. It is very effective, enjoyable, and a person can get faster and better results than going it alone.
Coaching is not counseling. Coaching looks to the future while counseling looks to the past. We find your values, strengths, purpose and passions. The coach is beside you as an equal partner, where as a counselor is placed higher as a person of authority with the answers.
Will Craig a mentor coach said this about coaching, “Personal coaching (or Life Coaching) might be most easily described as customized self help books and tapes, brought to life.
Coaching is the equivalent of attending a motivational seminar where the speaker only talks about you and how to make the most of your gifts and talents. Coaching creates an environment where you stay positive and charged up–not for a day or two–but week after week.”
I have read human development and self help books all my life and have listened to more than 1000 hours of seminars on these subjects. My husband of 26 years and I have 5 children and we have owned over 20 businesses. I bring all of these experiences and knowledge to my coaching. My newest business is Time to Blossom seminars, coaching and retreats.
If you are ready for a change, more balance, passion, or need help getting unstuck. Please email me for further details. carlajorg@gmail