Sunday, February 14, 2010

XLR8 The Passionate Leader: (G + L + F = JOY!!!)

Weekly Inspiration: You Can Do It! (click) Affirmation by Louise Hay from her 2010 calendar:

  • “Today my love shines out from my heart and touches everyone I meet.” I suppose this is appropriate for Valentine’s Day. Elaine and I have returned from two weeks alone together in Hawaii. Over our 27-year love affair, we have always made time for ourselves. Whether it is a walk alone together, a date night, a long weekend in the Adirondacks or now two week vacations, this time together continues to renew our love and appreciation.
  • After our last leadership week in June, we signed our follow-up e-mails with: “What’s the coach’s job?…to love us; what’s our job?...to love each other.” It was a quote from Joe Ehrmann, a pro football player bad boy turned high school football coach featured on HBO’s Real sports with Bryant Gumbel. It is worth the time to watch for your family and your co-workers. Joe Ehrmann Video (click)


Your Happiness List – How to live your passions daily:

As I have mentioned over the last several weeks, I have listed my revised passions and markers as a reminder and example for you to do the same annually. I now have them on a postcard that I keep in several spots where I will look at them every day. I also interpreted them into daily reminders - my happiness list of how I want to bring them more fully into my life. Since I am working on life balance, they cover physical, mental, emotional and spiritual practices. Last week was the physical and mental aspects. This week is emotional and spiritual.

  1. I recognize my emotions for what they are – teachers of my internal wisdom.
  2. We gave each other our special hug today.
  3. I practiced my spiritual disciplines: affirmations, vision board, passions, angel cards
  4. I took some quiet time for myself today to meditate.

I read these every night before I go to sleep to “marinate” it into my thoughts and dreams. I read it again when I wake up to start off my day with passion. Try it!


XLR8 The Passionate Leader: The New Formula for Business: G + L + F = JOY!!! (This is the second excerpt from Chapter 2)

Why Is Change So Difficult?

Can it be more effortless … In Search of Adventure?

The operative word in Patanjali’s poem is inspiration, or in spirit. Webster’s dictionary defines it as “divine guidance or influence exerted directly upon the mind and soul of man.” It goes on to say “the act of breathing in; inhalation.” How easy is breathing? It’s effortless!

For the most part, our spirit is invisible, unless we attempt to visualize it in written form to the best of our ability. While it is only a reflection of that moment in time when we write it down, it puts a stake in the ground and lays the foundation for continued growth through clarification and focus. As I thought about it, practiced it and taught it in the XLR8 YOU!!! Leadership Excellence process over the years, a model formed in my head.

When I wrote my chapter for Wake-Up Live the Life You Love – Empowered in 2008, it forced me to rethink how to make what I do more visible and understandable. It began with a word empowerment. Empowerment is probably the most overused and under-utilized concept in business. Why? Because an organization cannot empower people; individuals must empower themselves. This is exactly what I try to do for myself and those I love – family, friends and my executive coaching clients. I try to get them to empower themselves and inspire others by their examples. My formula for this empowerment is G + L + F = Joy, which is a timeless formula for personal and organizational fulfillment.

You have been oriented that you must pay a price in order to get somewhere, and in the process, you’ve come to believe that getting there must be really important, therefore, it must be your purpose. And we say, but if you’re not getting to joy, then you’ve gotten nowhere. Joy is really where you’re going.

Abraham-Hicks

The story about how this formula and subsequent model was formulated will be in next weeks’ blog.


Be part of the book. Each chapter will feature a real life story or two pertaining to the content of the chapter. While I have some folks in mind, I’d love to hear from you! I wouldn’t be writing this book in the first place if you had not come into my life. Don’t be shy – yours may be THE story that inspires someone.