GEAR UP FOR SUCCESS! "Tips, Techniques...and Tasks" - a weekly newsletter designed to support you in getting IN GEAR to create the life you want today.

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.

In this issue:

1. WELCOME!
2. Weekly ARTICLE: LIVING YOUR DREAM
3. Recommended TASKS
4. Recommended BOOKS
5. Career Transition COACHING
6. SUBSCRIPTION information

1. WELCOME!

Welcome to GEAR UP FOR SUCCESS! and a warm welcome to all my new subscribers! I really appreciate your forwarding my newsletter to all your friends and colleagues. Your recommendations help me grow and develop as a coach. Anyone can subscribe by going to my newsletter page. Thank you so much for your support!

2. ARTICLE: LIVING YOUR DREAM

What is your dream? When will you begin to live it? Do you have a timeline? Do you have a specific, detailed plan? Without a plan or action steps your dream may remain only a dream. I decided it was time to begin living my dream! I coach my clients to create the life they want...it was time to coach myself to realize my dream!

My dream is to travel...adventure travel...and I want to travel while I am still able to meet the challenge of the physical experience. So, when my niece asked me if I would go with her to Peru (her college graduation gift), I jumped at the chance. Peru...especially Machu Picchu, the lost Incan city...was one of the places at the top of my list. So, we hiked for four days on the Inca trail to Machu Picchu. It was all I had dreamed about..and more! It was an incredible, unforgettable experience, and sharing this experience with someone I love made it so much more meaningful. I'm excited that I have finally taken action towards realizing my dreams...and I'm confident that now that I have gotten going I will continue to travel my dream list - eg.more of South America, Nepal, New Zealand, Kaui, Alaska, and ???

How did I get motivated? Age helps...I'm 58..and I still physically fit and healthy. I also have some free time. It seems like it's now or never! And, as I watch many of my friends and colleagues become debilitated by health problems or remain tied down with work/family/community obligations, I feel a sense of urgency to seize the moment! It was interesting to me, too, that while traveling in Peru we met so many people who were doing the same thing...living their dreams by traveling the world (or South America). It seems that once you start living your dream you wonder why you didn't start sooner. It's like Goethe said: once you make the commitment things have a way of falling in place. Here is a reprint of his well-known poem..

Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative and creation there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, the Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would not otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed could have come his way. Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, Begin it! Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Begin it Now!

As someone who coaches people to create the life they want, live their passion, find their dreams, I felt that it's time that I "live what I preach" or coach myself to live my own dream. I need to be a good role model for my clients too. The recent boom in the coaching profession, I think, is due to people recognizing that partnering with a life coach can really encourage and support them in identifying and clarifying their dreams, creating a plan of action, and then being held accountable for their commitments to action. What's your dream? is it travel? starting a new business? spending more time with family/friends? volunteering? writing a book? Whatever it is....Believe you can do it..you can live your dream! It just takes awareness and desire and action and accountability! It also takes courage and the willingness to risk....

What's stopping you? Here are some tips that might help you get going....

TOP TEN TIPS to start LIVING Your DREAM

1. Create an I WANT List....Write down at least 100 things you want in your life. Then prioritize your list... Create action steps...prioritize them...make a plan for when you want to get started..and follow your plan!

2. IDENTIFY your DREAM: Describe it in detail...Where are you? What are you doing? Who is with you? Make a list of all the things you want to do before you die...prioritize the list...start with the first thing on your list...make a plan and identify your action steps..Now, get started!!

3. WRITE at length: If money were no object, I would......

4. IMAGINE yourself at 80. Write If I had my life to live over, I would.....

5. Write your EPITAPH. What would you like people to read about you and how you lived your life?

6. Write or Draw or Create a COLLAGE of your DREAM

7. Identify your ROLE MODELS of people of people who are living their dream. What are their qualities? characteristics? How can you model yourself after them? Interview them....ask them for tips and ideas and resources and support.

8. Read BOOKS written by people who have lived their dream...so that you can learn from them how to live your dream.

9. Take RISKS! Go to your GROWING EDGES...and then Leap! into the unknown in order to manifest your dream. (for lots more information on how to take Responsible Risks...see back issues of my newsletter or order a copy of my books on risk (see below).

10. Work with a COACH = the best way to get motivated and take action to live your dream!

3. Recommended TASKS:

1.View back issues of my newsletter on related topics, such as Taking Risks, Finding your Passion, Creating a Perfect Life...and much more...

2. Retiring? This is the perfect time to start living your Dream!! Contact me to take the RSP...the Retirement Success Profile..which helps you best prepare for your new life in retirement...

3. Call or email me for a complimentary half-hour COACHING session to support you in finding your dream! Voice:(617) 947-7430; email: laurie@ingearcoaching.com.

4. Do any or all of the Top Ten Steps mentioned above.

5. Read one of the Books mentioned below.

4. Recommended READING:

1001 Places to Go before You Die

I Could Do Anything If I Only Knew What It Was: How to Discover What You Really Want and How to Get It by Barbara Sher

Getting Past O.K. - A Straightforward Guide to Having a Fantastic Life by Richard Brodie

Capture the Rapture - How to Step Out of Your Head and Leap into Life by Marcia Reynolds

Bright Ideas for a Better Life by Joanne Schlosser

Or...Order my workbook:

RISK TO GROW! CREATE the LIFE YOU WANT through RESPONSIBLE RISK-TAKING a collection of articles, top tens, models, poems & quotes, and exercises on Risk-Taking....

or

My chapter: RISK-TAKING and BUILDING SELF ESTEEM in the book A GUIDE TO GETTING IT: SELF ESTEEM. Ideas and Tools from 12 Life and Business Coaches to Help You Live Your Life's Dreams, edited by Marilyn Schwader

or

Order my other 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...and just plain FUN! .

All booklets now available...hard copy ($20) or pdf. file ($15)

Send check to Laurie Geary, 12 Wiley Street, Gloucester, MA 01930; email request to: laurie@ingearcoaching.com or order online.

I am a consultant for the well-known outplacement agency: Lee Hecht Harrison. As a consultant/trainer, I lead two-day seminars on Career Transition Search (CTS) which includes self assessments, setting a professional objective, creating a personal marketing plan, developing a resume, networking and other job search methods, interviewing and negotiating skills, and much, much more. I have become an experienced, knowledgeable career coach! Anyone who finds themself needing to transition into a new job or who wants to build a new business should contact me for a complimentary career assessment coaching session!

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