Dear

What a busy summer this has been.  The first two weeks of July we were on vacation – camping and fishing through Oregon.  I just knew this fancy new cell phone and laptop combination would allow me to keep connected and I could write my July newsletter on the road, but without getting into all the technical difficulties, suffice to say it didn’t exactly happen that way.

I did, however, follow the advice of my colleague and friend Cynthia Morris, magnificent coach to creative people everywhere, and wrote a haiku a day.  You can visit Cynthia’s blog here where she talks about writing while traveling and read my haiku here.  As she said, if you write a haiku per day, surely one of them will be good.  Write back and let me know which one you think it is.

Also, this summer, I was promoted at the University of Colorado.  I’m now the Office Manger of the Physics Department, a huge increase in responsibility and workload.  Part of me loves the challenge, but another part is sad that I don’t have as much energy to devote to my coaching.  Yet I’m still committed. 

In the article below, I talk about how to keep working at what Barbara Sher calls a “good enough job” while pursuing your passion at the same time.  It can be done.  I work with people all the time who pattern a new life while still maintaining the old.  If it’s time for you to begin or to complete the change your heart has been aching for, then it’s time to give me a call to get started.  I can help you with that.

May you hold fast to your dreams and make them come true. 

Blessings,

Debra

 

Monthly Quote

"You never change things by fighting the existing reality.  To change something, build a new model that makes teh existing model obsolete."

Buckminster Fuller

 Keeping Motivated

 

There is something about the heat of summer that brings a stop to all passion.  Cole Porter wrote a song, “Too Darn Hot,” that says:

                  “According to the Kinsey report, every average man you know

                   Much prefers his lovey-dovey to court, when the temperature is low.”

In other words, it’s too hot to even mess around with your sweetie pie!  Now that’s hot.

In the dead heat of summer, it seems the only energy you have left is to lick an ice cream cone with your feet up on the coffee table.  So, how can you think of changing careers, or staying on track to changing your career, when your energy is low?  How do you stay motivated? 

It’s especially difficult in the summer.  You just don’t feel like making that phone contact, or picking up that trade magazine.  I’m in exactly that place in a full time job with a huge learning curve demanding my energy, while my calling as a coach seems to be languishing by the wayside.  Yet, coaching is always on my mind and my clients are still being served well.

Here are the things I’m doing to keep motivated to stay on track.    

  1. Stay connected to the field.  I read the trade magazines on the bus to work.  I follow the discussion threads on the coaching e-lists I’m on, sometimes joining in the fray.  I subscribe to and read several other coaches e-zines, those that inspire me and challenge my perspectives and I write back when something they say hits home.
  1. Make commitments to myself:  Writing this newsletter keeps my awareness tuned to what issues are present to my clients.  It allows me to share what’s true for me in a way that my readers can relate to and use in their own lives.
  1. Commit to others:  This is the third month in a row that I’ve committed to writing a book review for the Colorado Career Development Assoc.  And next month, I’m on a panel with the Colorado Financial Planners Assoc. conference to talk about retirement lifestyle issues.  I’ve committed to one of my coaches to write more articles for my website and get published in other places on the web.
  1. Stay balanced.  I exercise regularly, watch my diet and take breaks.  No job is my entire life.  I play with my grandkids and camp every other weekend.  My son and I are planning a hike together for the end of the summer.  Days when I don’t read on the bus, I crochet.  These are the things I need in my life in order to take care of myself.
  1. Hold on to the big picture.  I know that there are only so many hours in a day and I can only do so much.  In looking at the big picture, I know that my inner life shifts in the summer and intensifies come fall.  I’m on this planet to help people make healthy changes, and I will do that no matter where I am.

Promise yourself you’ll take these ideas and use them to stay on track for your career shift.  If you’re exploring a new field, try it on as much as possible in small doses.  Subscribe to and read the association journals, commit to lunch or tea with new acquaintances who are doing the work you want to be doing.  Take care of yourself.

When you lose sight of the big picture, or need help clarifying what it is, give me a call.  My commitment is to help you Move Forward!  It’s time.

 

Upcoming Events

Certified Financial Planner Educational Conference

September 14, 2006 - Panel on Baby Boomers Issues Around Retirement

More details to follow as they become available.

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© 2006 Debra DeVilbiss.  All rights reserved. 

You are free to use material from Moving Forward! in whole or in part, as long as you include complete attribution, including a live web site link.  Please also notify me where the material will appear.  The attribution should read:

"By Debra DeVilbiss, CPCC, of Forward Momentum, LLC.  Please visit Debra's website at http://www.ForwardMomentum.com for additional articles and resources on creating your right livelihood."

Debra can be reached at 303-485-9853 or by email:   debra@ForwardMomentum.com

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