Issue #68 - February, 10  2001 <<Create Environments that Grow You!>>

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
brought to you by Laurie Riddell Geary, M.Ed., PCC.
Coaching you to get your life IN GEAR by making shifts, getting
unstuck, finding balance, accelerating your growth, and mapping
the best route to your chosen destination: a life filled with
passion and purpose.

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<Table of Contents:
        1. Reader Feedback and a Poem
        2. Some Quotes
         3. Topic:  <<Create Environments that Grow You>
                4. Recommended Tasks
        5. Recommended Book/Assessments/Resources
                6. Upcoming  local Workshops
                7. Subscription information

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Reader Feedback:

<Laurie,
Great newsletter! I don't know how you do it. Great information and resources>
PW

<The newsletter this week hit home for me now as I am facing my fear head on.
Thank you for a perfect topic>.MB

<Hi Laurie...I loved the poem in your last newsletter....
I'd like to share the poem that hangs in my office to remind me to keep going during the tough times...
                The Quitter
<When you're lost in the Wild, and you're scared as a child,
And Death looks you bang in the eye,
And you're sore as a boil, it's according to Hoyle
To cock your revolver and . . .die.
But the Code of a Man says:  "Fight all you can,"
And self-dissolution is barred.
In hunger and woe, oh, it's easy to blow . . .
It's the hell-served-for-breakfast that's hard.
"You're sick of the game!"  Well, now, that's a shame.
You're young and you're brave and you're bright.
"You've had a raw deal"  I know -- but don't squeal,
Buck up, do your damnedest, and fight.
It's the plugging away that will win you the day,
So don't be a piker, old pard!
Just draw on your grit; it's so easy to quit:
It's the keeping-your-chin-up that's hard.
It's easy to cry that you're beaten -- and die;
It's easy to crawfish and crawl;
But to fight and to fight when hope's out of sight --
Why, that's the best game of them all!
And though you come out of each grueling bout,
All broken and beaten and scarred,
Just have one more try -- it's dead easy to die,
It's the keeping-on-living that's hard.>
by Robert Service
Betsy Dalbeck

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Quotes:

<Be steady and well ordered in your life so that you can be fierce and original in your work>.
Gustave Flaubert

<Environment is stronger than Will> Bucky Fuller
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

<<Create Environments that Grow You>>                   ***all rights reserved, Laurie Geary, February, 2001

        Our environments are always affecting us: we respond and react to the people and things around us all the time.  Therefore, why not be purposeful in creating environments that will affect us positively? In my newsletter issues I have been writing about taking steps to build your self esteem...steps to take responsible risks...steps to find your passion. Why not simply create environments...at home, at work, in other places.. that will pull us forward to reach our personal/professional goals? It is possible to shape our environment to affect us in ways that will grow us...environments that bring out our creativity..environments that simulate our thinking...environments that challenge us to learn new skills...environments that de-stress us and relax us...environments that can evolve us.  We can purposefully create environments that support us in taking action towards reaching new goals and creating our ideal life.

<<Top Ten Ways to Create Environments that Grow You>>

1. at Home:
        -De-clutter: simplify, organize, eliminate clutter in order to create a space that you enjoy, feel relaxed in...
                (Take the Clean Sweep* or Wheel of Life assessments)
        -Reduce tolerations: energy drains (see newsletter issue #39)
        -Build Reserves: of time, money, supports...to free you up for new avenues of growth (take the Super            Reserve Index*)
        -Surround yourself with beauty: fresh flowers, lovely pictures/paintings, beautiful furniture, nice music and           sounds of nature, books, candles... Think about how you want to affect all your senses: sight, sound,           smell, touch ...
        -Pay attention to the Feng Shui approach which attaches much importance to the arrangement of furniture                 and objects in our environments.
        -Sound: reduce or eliminate unwanted noise...choose to live in quiet places that don't irritate or distract you.
        -Minimize exposure to television...computer games...other mindless activities.
2. at Work:
        -Same as above
        -find work that you love...where you feel stimulated and challenged and supported; get away from work
                environments that diminish you or that keep you from developing your potential.
3. People:
        -Surround yourself with people who support you..encourage you...inspire you...challenge you..give you           unconditional love.
        -Find role models/mentors who show you how to be the best that you can be.
        -Hire people who will do work for you (administrative or virtual assistants..see newsletter issue #38...,               professional organizers) in order to free you up for new work opportunities and challenges.
        -Hire people who will support you in your personal/professional growth: coaches, therapists, teachers,          trainers..
        -Minimize your contact with toxic people: people who keep you from growing by diminishing you or putting                you down or harming you.
4. Pets: Dogs and cats, especially, are known to reduce our stress....even reduce cholesterol levels..and they  provide unconditional love which can support us in our growth.
5. the Outdoors: Nature's Classroom:
        -Enjoy and learn from nature...trees, flowers, mountains, animals, birds...also the sun, the wind, the stars...
        -Engage in activities/sports in the outdoors that stimulate your senses and that challenge you to push yourself                 physically.
6. Lifelong Learning:
        -Put yourself in creativity-stirring situations: go to concerts, plays, museums, movies; take courses to learn          new skills and gain new knowledge.
        -Read and study....at educational institutes, community centers, libraries...
        -Explore and learn on the Internet.
7. Create a vacuum....a space... which then will allow new things or people to come to you.  The "law of physics"       says that the universe wants to fill a vacuum/space, so if we deliberately create a space in our professional   life or personal life, new opportunities/people will show up to fill that space!  We need to trust this "law"..
8. Take Risks! - Get out of your comfort zone and take risks that will move you forward faster towards
        reaching new goals and creating new opportunities. (see numerous back issues of my newsletter on
        risk-taking topics: www.ingearcoaching.com)
9. Volunteering: Spend time with people in need and give of yourself at shelters, nursing homes, hospitals...lbe        open to all that you can learn in these environments
10. Travel:  explore different countries, immerse yourself in other cultures, learn new languages..

Other ideas?  Please send me your ideas for ways we can create environments that grow us.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Recommended Tasks:

1. Ask yourself: how can I create environments that will grow me?
Look back on your life at different environments that have affected you.  What did you learn?  How did you grow?

2.  Call or email me for a complimentary half-hour COACHING session  to support you in creating environments to grow you.  Voice:617-494-1422;  email: laurie@ingearcoaching.com

3.  Contact me for an assessment that will help you determine better how to re-design your environments.

4. Come to my upcoming teleclass in March on <Taking Risks for Personal Growth>
Register @www.teleclass.com or www.womensu.som or email me: laurie@ingearcoaching.com

5. Go to my Website www.ingearcoaching.com for back issues of my newsletter to read
 more articles on taking risks, building self esteem, finding your passion...and much more
..
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Recommended Reading and Resources:

<The Portable Coach> by Thomas Leonard
read chapters on designing your environments, reducing tolerations, creating vacuums..and more on the 28 principles of attraction.or go to www.theportablecoach.com

<Assessments*>
-100 point checklists: the Clean Sweep (assess 4 areas of your environment), the  Super Reserve Index (identify and build your reserves).
 -The Wheel of Life: take an assessment of your life balance.

<A Perfect Life>
Take a teleclass on how to create your perfect life; register @ www.teleclass.com or go to www.aperfectlife.com
or contact me (as a recently certified "perfect life coach") to coach you in creating your perfect life

<The National Association of Professional Organizers> www.napo.net.

<Virtual Assistance>go to  www.assistu.com or www.julnetsolutions.com

<Feng Shui> go to www.amfengshui.com or www.fengshuidirectory.com
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

**Check out my new booklet on experiential activities for trainers: 75 of my favorite activities
learned from years of working as an instructor for Outward Bound Professional Development Programs.
GAMES & INITIATIVES for NETWORKING, ENERGIZING, & TEAM-BUILDING...now available...hard copy ($20) or pdf. file ($15)
Send check to Laurie Geary, 4 Canal Park, PH9, Cambridge, MA 02141;  email request to: laurie@ingearcoaching.com or order at my website: www.ingearcoaching.com

and look for my upcoming workbook on <Risk to Grow>

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

UPCOMING LOCAL WORKSHOPS:

ATTRACTING WHAT YOU WANT IN LIFE
...Learn the 28 Principles of Attraction...
*Middlesex Community College -
Saturday, February 24th, 9 to 4 pm

RISK-TAKING: THE PATH to PERSONAL GROWTH
*Boston Center for Adult Education -
Tuesday, April 10, 2001 and Thursday, June 7th,2001
6:30-9:30 pm.    also
*North Shore Community College (NSCC)
 Wednesday, February 21, 2001, 9-3pm

BUILD YOUR SELF ESTEEM WITH THE 8-A SYSTEM
*NSCC: Wednesday, April 4, 2001, 9-3pm

BE A PERSONAL & PROFESSIONAL COACH
*Boston Center for Adult Education
 Tuesday, April 3, 2001, 6:30-9:30 pm
 and Tuesday, June 5, 2001
also
*North Shore Community College,
 Wednesday, February 28th, 9-3 p.m.

MBTI (Myers-Briggs Type Indicator) Staff Training
Watertown Free Library; Thursday, March 16, 2001
and
Beverly Hospital: Thursday, March 22, 2001

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Please  forward your copy of this newsletter to anyone you think might enjoy reading it.
I appreciate your support. I just request that you keep the broadcast intact...nothing changed, added or deleted,
including subscription information and my contact and copyright information. Thankyou
For back-issues of my weekly broadcast go to my website @ www.ingearcoaching.com

To subscribe or unsubscribe go to www.ingearcoaching.com/newsletter