Oh, the places I’ve gone/have been/will go! And here they are!

A few weeks ago, I was emailed by Ana of Red Dress Studios to answer the question, “What advice would you give to women business owners that want to build their confidence muscles (& generally rock at what they do)?” I emailed my answer &, uh, promptly forgot all about it. Imagine my thrilledness when Ana tweeted me to announce that the e-book  was now available as a free download on her site! I clicked right over & found myself in the company of my inspirers & heroes: Danielle LaPorte, Christine Mason Miller, Jessica Swift (she dropped the Gonacha!), Jennifer Lee, Sarah Bray, Tara Joyce, Leah Piken Koladis…do I need to go on? I think not.  I’d link to ‘em all, but figured you’d rather get their websites and gems of wisdom by downloading the ebook. I’m so very proud to be a part of this!

I had a super awesome time being interviewed by Ilona Vanderwoude of CareerBranches. Ilona is a “career & life coach for the modern-day Renaissance personality”, so it’s probably pretty obvious why we hit it off right away. Read all about  how I had to organize & prioritize my goals & interests (while staying true to my Renaissance Soul!)  in order to quit my day job and get my 5 Tips for Living the Renaissance Life by clicking here!

I’m so very excited to be making a live BlogTalkRadio appearance on The Passions & Possibilities Project next week! That’s right – I’ve been tagged as a Passioneer & will be talking to Sue about:

• my definition of “passions” &  how I’m expressing them in the world
• the ups & downs along my journey
• what it’s taken to be successful
• my experience of prosperity, as I define it
• tips/guidance to others who want to leap into what they love

And the best thing about it is that YOU can join us live, too! Call in to 347-205-9038 with your questions or just your “listening ears” (as Judge Judy calls ‘em!), or click on over to the live stream at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/passionsandpossibilities. Mark it down for Wed, Mar 17th at noon EST & I’ll hear ya there!

It’s a new month, which means there’s a new theme on Spring! This month we’re talking money (gulp!), & our first installment answers the question, “How can you trust that you can do what you love & the money will follow?” – well, as much as it can be in 20 minutes! Come on by, watch our chat & join the discussion in the comments section. Each comment that gets written this month will be entered to win 3 Bright Side Necklaces – 1 to keep for themselves & 2 to give as gifts!  Please note: I have one already, but will happily accept any gifts you want to send me. I’m not very picky when it comes to presents!

Related posts:

1. When I Grow Up Round-Up!
2. When I Grow Up Round-Up!
3. When I Grow Up Round-Up!

Jump by Jessica Gonacha Swift. I’m planning to take a big jump next week, but can’t tell ya about it yet. I’m such a tease!

Yay hooray for Link Love! While I’ve always been lovin’ the links, I love this series just because it gives me an excuse to thoroughly go through my Reader at least once a month. I totally con myself into thinking reading my blogs is work, because I have to link it up for you guys here. I’m so tricky, & I love it!

In order not to suck up the entire rest of your month, here are my Top 20 February posts (in no particular order, because rating them would be ridiculously evil):

• The Fire & Perspective on Swirly Girl
• Empathy on Follow My Bliss
• Imperfect Balance & I Intend to Wake Every Day, & Try on Torpid Trifling
• Mixtape #3 on Kind Over Matter (all their mixtapes rock the friggin’ houseoff)
• Open-Heart Surgery: Six Life Leadership Lessons Discovered in the Midst of Heartbreak (get the tissues ready!) on More in You
• People Want to Help You on Unicorns for Socialism
• If There Were No Criticism or Praise, Who Would You Be? on Awake at the Wheel
• If You Were a Superhero…, Listen: You Already Know All the Answers & Let Your Sun Shine on Treasuring (stop being so brilliant, Jess!)
• Why Are You Apologizing? on Seth’s Blog
• The Perils of Justifying Yourself on White Hot Truth
• How to Change People’s Minds About You on S.Joy Studios (there are 5 steps to this post, & the link here goes to the last step which links to the other 4 steps. Yes, this is a tricky way for me to include 5 posts that count as one. Insert evil laugh here)
• How Not to Hurry & The Hidden Art of Achieving Creative Flow on Zen Habits
• Feeling Small Makes Me Feel So Good on Rise of the Innerpreneur
• A Tiny, Sweet Thing on The Fluent Self
• A Fable About Possibility, Hope & Following Your Dreams on Owning Pink

And now for some shameless self-promotion!:

• I got interviewed on The Sweet Unfolding!
• I drew a self-portrait for The Mathematics of Glamour!
• I got interviewed for Let Your Office Creativity Fly Free for Metro, a daily paper!
• We made a crapload of videos around support (both positive & negative) on Spring! Choose your poison or watch ‘em all (click over today for a new installment):
  • The Role of Support Systems
  • Who’s In Your Tribe?
  • How Do You Deal with Non-Supporters?
  • Sprout Out Loud (a new series of guest vlogs): Jessica from ‘What I Wore’ on non-supporters

What did you love reading this month? Anything I missed? Do you agree or disagree with anything above? I wanna know!

Related posts:

1. Link Love: January 2010
2. Link Love: April 2010
3. Link Love: March 2010

It’s amazing how many places you can go without leaving your apartment. Of course, I’m talking about my multiple appearances on the Interwebs this week!

First off is the monthly Spring instillation, which is now a weekly one! That’s right – instead of one long-ass video, or 1 long-ass video cut into smaller pieces, we taped 4 stand-alone segments & are posting a new one each week. How great is that? Click here for the first part of our discussion on support, & don’t forget to comment for your chance to win our weekly giveaway (yup – weekly! How cool are we? Answer: very cool).

Note: this is not my self-portrait, but the button you click on to get to the self-portraits on The Mathematics of Glamour.

Second off is my self-portrait, thanks to Kira of  The Mathematics of Glamour. “But Michelle,” you perplexingly ask, “I thought you were an actress – not an artist!” And I answer, strong & confident, “Of course I’m no artist – but I can draw a mean stick figure!” Thankfully, Kira told me that she loves stick figures & never had one before, & was actually psyched to put it on her site! She made it a totally safe space for me, & I was actually really excited to create my self-portrait & show it off to the world. It’s even my new profile pic on my personal Facebook account (although I was dying to take down the old profile pic of Mayim Bialik, since it was doppelganger week)! Stop by & take a look, & help me in thanking Kira for being awesome / not telling me that stick figures aren’t art.

Third off, keep your eyes on The Sweet Unfolding this week, because a little bird (OK, it was Sarah of The Sweet Unfolding! Geez Louise Louise, the pressure!) told me that my interview will be up there on Friday the 5th.

Hope everyone is loving the view that they have from their computer! It’s kinda like I’m at 10,000 feet….

Related posts:

1. Tough (Question) Tuesday: What will you get out of your head & into your hands, literally?
2. My Spring Intro Video Is Up! Yay Hooray!
3. Big Fat Announcement: Spring is in Bloom!

Resolutions from this site made up my very first installment of Motivation Monday, and I had to add some new ones I love to the first Motivation Monday of 2009.

Ah. Smell that Fresh Start smell? That’s the smell of a New Year. Kinda smells like stargazer lillies to me…..but I’m biased, because those are my favorite.

You can check out the other installations of Motivation Monday here.

Related posts:

1. Motivation Monday: Believe In Your Happiness
2. Motivation Monday: Fresh Start
3. Motivation Monday: A Bird with a French Fry

I’ve mentioned Sophie Hainsworth on this blog before – most recently in this week’s installment of Freakin’ (Great Links) Friday – but she recently sent me an email that I HAD to bring your attention to.

It started:

“I invite you to take part in a creative project between you and your trusted friends, to bring further awareness to the fact that inspiration is everywhere…”

Related posts:

1. Kicking Fear In It’s Big, Fat Face!
2. For MY Inspiration
3. I’m a Magnificent, Marvelous Women!

All of my Motivation Monday posts have been image-based, but when my client Sophie emailed me this poem, I knew it had to be included within this series.

The Invitation by Oriah Mountain Dreamer

It doesn’t interest me what you do for a living.
I want to know what you ache for
and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart’s longing.

It doesn’t interest me how old you are.
I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool
for love
for your dream
for the adventure of being alive.

It doesn’t interest me what planets are squaring your moon…
I want to know if you have touched the center of your own sorrow
if you have been opened by life’s betrayals
or have become shriveled and closed
from fear of further pain.

I want to know if you can sit with pain
mine or your own
without moving to hide it
or fade it
or fix it.

I want to know if you can be with joy
mine or your own
if you can dance with wildness
and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes
without cautioning us
to be careful
to be realistic
to remember the limitations of being human.

It doesn’t interest me if the story you are telling me
is true.
I want to know if you can
disappoint another
to be true to yourself.
If you can bear the accusation of betrayal
and not betray your own soul.
If you can be faithless
and therefore trustworthy.

I want to know if you can see Beauty
even when it is not pretty
every day.
And if you can source your own life
from its presence.

I want to know if you can live with failure
yours and mine
and still stand at the edge of the lake
and shout to the silver of the full moon,
“Yes.”

It doesn’t interest me
to know where you live or how much money you have.
I want to know if you can get up
after the night of grief and despair
weary and bruised to the bone
and do what needs to be done
to feed the children.

It doesn’t interest me who you know
or how you came to be here.
I want to know if you will stand
in the center of the fire
with me
and not shrink back.

It doesn’t interest me where or what or with whom
you have studied.
I want to know what sustains you
from the inside
when all else falls away.

I want to know if you can be alone
with yourself
and if you truly like the company you keep
in the empty moments.

You can read a preview of the book here.

The other Motivation Monday installments can be found here.

Related posts:

1. Motivation Monday: Dream Big
2. Motivation Monday: I Resolve
3. Motivation Monday is sleeping….

MICHELLE WORLD:

• I take the time blocks I’ve created for myself and rework them so there’s more free time/me time.
• I view my schedule as a guidepost and not a steel cage.
• I take responsibility for what needs to be accomplished & the structure I set for myself, but I give myself a freakin’ break and allow some flexibility for The Good/Important Stuff.
• I take time for myself & view that time as not a luxury but a necessity.
• I don’t put things (shoes, clothes, dishes, papers) down – I put them away.
• I have a lot of freakin’ fun!
• I let go of the tasks that aren’t really working for me now. I put them somewhere for a rainy day, or a different time. If I hesitate in doing so, I dig deep to see why and possibly how I can fit this into my life.
• I realize there’s no time for the bullshit and let it go, too.
• I only concern myself with pleasing the people who mean something to me.
• When I realize something is broke and I have the tools to fix it, I follow those steps for just a day. Then I can see what works for me and throw out what doesn’t. Rinse & repeat.
• I ask others for support.

As you can tell from my post yesterday, I was being a bit tough/down on myself about all the things I’ve been looking to change that I wasn’t following through on. I know I couldn’t live in Ideal World just like I couldn’t live in Realistic World. Neither one of them would work for me.

So, I decided to live in Michelle World – a place where I can grow and thrive, be comfortable and relax, face resposibility and achieve my dreams. I started to see what that place looked like for me and how I could get there. With a nudge from Merci Miglino, an ICA trainer who allowed me to be coached on structures during class last night, I saw how I can take all of these tools I’ve put in place and make them un-scary. I saw how I had fear around them being too rigid as well as thrusting me into Responsibility World a little sooner than I was ready. When I recognized that fear & shaped it in a more positive way (in coach speak it’s called “reframing”) I saw the possibilities.

The possibility of not feeling like a chicken with her head cut off.

The possibility of reaching my goals simply due to the fact that it’s scheduled into my calendar.

The possibility that I don’t need to spend 2 hours on a Saturday cleaning my time apartment.

The possibility that I won’t be stretching myself too thin and I can have more “me” time.

The possibility that something was broke & I have the tools to fix it.

The possibility that I can still be a carefree, silly grown-up and not a strict, librarian type of grown up.

So now I’m throwing this back to you (you’re not off the hook that easily). What does [Your Name] World look like? What do you do there? What do you not do there? Leave me a comment – I’d love to hear about where you want to live!

Related posts:

1. Ideal World vs Realistic World. It’s on.
2. Hello, my name is Michelle…..(”Hello, Michelle”)…..and I’m a multi-tasker.
3. Motivation Monday: Live From Your Heart

Photo care of 2 1/2-Months-To-New-Years-Resolutions Resolutions

I’m a reader of a few financial blogs, and I recently came across an old post from The Simple Dollar detailing the challenge of 101 Goals in 1001 Days. And then I came across the same post (except for the goals themselves, of course) in Starshyne Productions‘ blog. I could go into the specifics, but I won’t insult your intelligence – it’s exactly how it sounds. And I want to do it, too.*

So, here’s my list of specific, measurable, decisive, focused realistic & stretching goals to complete on or before September 4, 2011 (Doesn’t that seem far, far away?):

1. Be credit card debt-free
2. Be a homeowner
3. Establish my own work space
4. Work fully for myself (no day job!)
5. Do one show/year [0/2]
6. Plan a “big” trip (overseas) with Luke
7. Send a thank you note for every gift received
8. Conduct at least 3 workshops [0/3]
9. Conduct at least 3 teleclasses [0/3]
10. Write at least 3 articles and post them online [0/3]
11. Get a financial planner that is not my accountant
12. Write an eBook
13. Graduate from ICA
14. Join ICF
15. Continue to blog here with at least 429 more posts [0/429]
16. Go to an ICF Conference
17. Complete the 3-Day Walk for breast cancer
18. Meet at least one of my twiends face-to-face
19. Take one scholarship client/year [0/3]
20. Join a networking group
21. Paint every room in my house/apartment with a non-white color. White is so un-homey.
22. Speak at an event
23. Visit The Bronx Zoo
24. Visit The Cloisters
25. Have a 2-show date in one day with my Mom
26. Go to The Met with Luke, my Mom & Chuck
27. Spend a holiday with my Dad in Florida
28. Have another girls weekend (in Atlantic City?)
29. Get 6 massages/facials [0/6]
30. Get a real make-up lesson
31. Purge my closet of every single clothing item that doesn’t fit or I don’t like, no matter how much I might “need” it at some point
32. Take a flying trapeze class. Yes really.
33. Host 5 movie nights in the movie theater room (cool amenity, huh? Thanks fancy NYC building!) [0/5]
34. Offer my Mom and stepfather at least one night in our apartment
35. Spend 2 full days in my pajamas [0/2]
36. Learn how to make 3 “real” dishes (pizza, burritos & pasta doesn’t count) [0/3]
37. Throw a dinner party on the roof for 6 people
38. Hire a designer for a WIGU logo
39. Redesign my site to coordinate with the WIGU logo
40. Redesign my blog to coordinate with the WIGU logo and be more reader-friendly
41. Add necessary widgets to my blog (Twitter, Digg, delicious, etc)
42. Start a newsletter
43. Send out 6 copies of said newsletter [0/6]
44. Create a Facebook group for WIGU
45. See Guys & Dolls, no matter the cost
46. Change my name. Everywhere.
47. Update my performance site
48. Continue helping Opening Doors become the powerhouse they deserve to be by helping behind the scenes. Hm, this isn’t measurable. OK – produce 1 show for Opening Doors.
49. Start a client database
50. Order photos for wedding album &…uh….get it
51. Frame 6 wedding photos [0/6]
52. Return unwanted wedding gifts
53. Hang up/find a home for all framed photos
54. Make wedding photo book for Mom & Chuck
55. Make wedding photo book for Dad & Diana
56. Make wedding photo book for Nana & Papa
57. Make wedding photo book for Sheila
58. Mail all birthday cards 7-5 days prior to that person’s birthday
59. Take 1 martial arts or boxing class
60. Make recipe book with easy, healthy recipes
61. Stop picking my g.d. fingers!
62. Have a weekend road trip getaway with Luke
63. Take a road trip to see the fall foliage
64. Team up on a garage sale with a friend (that has a garage)
65. Find the paper I wrote on my Papa’s life
66. Establish weekly phone calls with my brother
67. Establish weekly phone calls with my Dad
68. Give blood
69. Give 5 homemade gifts or cards [0/5]
70. Take 6 voice lessons [0/6]
71. Read all books in the WIGU Bookstore [1/10]
72. Get my watch fixed already
73. Have 100 things on my Celebration List
74. Transfer the quotes I’ve been collecting to my brand new blog page
75. Scan all notebooks and recycle the paper versions
76. Beat Luke at Monopoly. Or any other game. Just once.
77. Clear out bin of Stuff That Needs A Home and use for something else. Because you’ll never just dump your crap there again.
78. Clear out bin of Papers That Need A Home and use for something else. Because you’ll never just dump your crap there again.
79. Attend a clothing swap
80. Start a new ING account for appearance purchases only. Set it up to deduct $50/month & stick to this budget!
81. Figure out where to put your money each month & make it automatic, especially with the joint checking account.
82. Create a WIGU budget, calculating the cost of web hosting, newsletters, a contact database, design fees, stationary, etc.
83. Get to 1,000 Twitter followers
84. Map out my time blocks for 2 consecutive weeks and stick to them. I’m serious [0/2]
85. Print out this goal list & keep it in my Moleskine
86. Put this list in a new blog page & keep it updated in real time, along with a countdown
87. Take my vitamins every weekday morning (calcium, one a day, vitamin c)
88. Read 10 novels of my choosing (0/10]
89. Take 10 bubble baths [0/10]
90. Eat dinner with Luke on the roof deck
91. Donate $100 to charity (0/$100]
92. Have a beach day
93. Buy fancy schmany hot chocolate
94. Learn how to update my website myself
95. Eat lobster
96. Attend a Mets game with my family at the new CitiField
97. Go to the Brooklyn Flea
98. Take a group marketing class with Veronika Noize
99. Work with my own business-building coach for at least 24 weeks [0/24]
100. Make an inspiration board, because “vision boards” are too hippy-dippy for me
101. Start a book club for/with my girlfriends & have 3 meetings – NOT all hosted/organized by me [0/3]

*And yes, I would jump off a bridge if other cool bloggers were doing it.

Jump on the bandwagon! Write your 101 Goals in 1001 Days in the comments section, or write your post on your blog & link it back here. If you think that this is too large of a project for you, set 2-5 S.M.A.R.T.Y. Goals for 2009 & let me know if you need help.

UPDATE AS OF FEB 9, 2009: I have created a page where this list lives, and is updated (and sometimes changed). Go here to see where I’m at today!

Related posts:

1. One of “those” days…
2. Goals should wear SMARTY pants, just like you do!
3. Goals should be SMART, just like you!

As my avid readers (hi, Mom!) know, I’ve been getting organizationally coached by Julie Bestry of Best Results Organizing (and yes, there is a larger post on that to come as soon as I can collect all my thoughts). Because she is awesome, she provided me with a copy of her eBook, Tickle Yourself Organized.

I’ve heard about Tickler Files before, but all that I took away from my reading was that “The Tickler” was a great name for a supervillain. Doesn’t that sound like Batman’s nemesis? A friend of The Joker?

OK, so I did pick up a bit more about The Tickler in my cursory reading of Getting Things Done as well as the productivity blogs I devour, but I didn’t honestly think it would be conducive to my life. What do I need to be reminded about, besides paying bills? I set that up to get an email notification when one was due, so that was that. No Tickler necessary.

Well, it wasn’t until I read Tickle Yourself Organized that the lightbulb appeared over my head (& it was on a crowded subway, so everyone could see it):

“I can use The Tickler for every piece of paper I have that doesn’t need to be filed!”

I thought of the boarding passes I printed at work and had in my purse, & how they’d land on my coffee table until the night before the trip where I would (hopefully) remember where they were & I would (hopefully) remember to put them in my carry-on. I thought of the car rental confirmation for a trip four weeks in the future, and how that would land on my coffee table (or desk, or living room table) until we had The Big Hunt for it. I thought of my vendor thank you cards that needed to be completed from my wedding 10 weeks prior. Those have also been living on my coffee table, picking up crumbs and staring at me, making me feel guilty.

The lightbulb got brighter & brighter as the exclamations kept growing:

“I could keep my travel printouts in the file folder for the day I’m traveling!”

“I could keep my thank you cards in the file folder of the day I’m going to write them!”

“I could put my paperwork for the DMV in the file folder of the day I’m going to go for my name change!”

“I could put my doctor referral in the file folder of the day I’m going to that doctor!”

“I could take the food shopping list from the fridge into the file folder of the day we’re going food shopping so I don’t leave it behind!”

“I can walk again!”

“Oh wait…..I could always walk.”

A few hours after I got home from our Thanksgiving trip, I started on My Tickler: an open file folder box complete with 43 file folders: 31 labeled 1-31 (for the days of the week) & 1 for each month of the year. The one I used looks like this but is unfortunately no longer available for purchase from See Jane Work. If you’re looking for something that’s both portable and already made, Julie recommends a sorter like this one.

Besides leading me to this “Eureka!” moment (which has lead to the de-cluttering of big chunks of my brain & my house for 2 whole days), Julie also makes some excellent points in Tickle Yourself Organized that go beyond The Tickler. The other big point I loved was “The Toothbrush Rule”, which explains that items should live where they’re used. For example, nobody ever keeps their toothbrush in their kitchen (bad hygiene aside)- it’s always on/above the bathroom sink. Although we have limited storage space (& space in general), it really has me rethinking how I can keep our toiletries out of the hallway closet and put them in the bathroom where they belong.

I love, also, how The Tickler can be utilitzed for not only paper organization, but for project management. If I wanted to, I can break down a goal of mine into little steps and write each one on a piece of paper. Then, I can file the pieces of paper away separately into the file folder of the day I want to complete that step. It’s also an easy way to remind yourself to follow up on a project. Yesterday, I sent a letter to ING to request my name change. I made a copy of it, noted when it was mailed, and put it in the Tickler folder for the 21st of this month. That way, if the 20th comes & I haven’t heard back, I’ll be reminded to call ING the next day to inquire about what’s going down in Chinatown (which is another way of saying “What’s the dealio?”).

The flexibility of The Tickler is also key, because if I decide to go to the DMV for a new license on Friday instead of Tuesday, I can move the paperwork pretty quickly. Before The Tickler, I might have just kept it in my purse for a week where it can get easily lost/ripped/eaten.

I could write another few thousands words about what’s contained in this eBook and how it’s awesome, but I haven’t written a book report in many, many years – so I’m going to quit while I’m ahead. If you’re looking for a way to wade out of your paperwork, or get a better handle on the work flow of a project, or become more focused & organized in general, I highly recommend Julie herself as well as Tickle Yourself Organized.

Related posts:

1. A Quick Request / Inquiring Minds (Mine!) Wanna Know / Help!
2. My Middle Name Is “Overwhelmed…”
3. Tough (Question) Tuesday: What is “enough”?

What I’m Grateful for This Year

by Michelle Ward

I’m grateful for the love I receive every minute of every day from my sweet, funny, kind, intelligent, handsome husband. I’m grateful that he asked me to be a part of Team Awesome for the rest of my days, and that I took his name so the world would know it. I’m grateful to be his wife and will forever remain proud of the man that will always stand beside me.

I’m grateful for the wedding of our dreams that happened just 10 short weeks ago – the amazing vendors, the lack of rain, the family and friends that went above and beyond. I’ll think of that day every day and will be filled with love, happiness and gratitude.

I’m grateful to my family, who just keeps growing – whether through marriage, babies, or friendship.

I’m grateful to my Mom, who remains my best friend even when I sometimes (mistakenly) think I don’t want her to be.

I’m grateful to my clients, who give me the honor & responsibility of being their coach, as well as the opportunity to become a more kick-ass one each and every day.

I’m grateful to my coaches and teachers for infusing within me both personal and professional knowledge.

I’m grateful to Julie Bestry, who has unselfishly made me her pet project and allowed me to really clear my mind – figuratively and literally – so that I’m able to, yes, Grow Up.

I’m grateful for this blog and for all of those who read it. You’ll never know the thrill I get with each and every (non-spam) comment I receive.

I’m grateful for all of those who believe in this business and my worth as a coach and a friend. It’s given me both confidence and motivation to make this dream come true.

I’m grateful to Opening Doors Theater Company, who has opened the door for me to work with an amazing group of people who are committed to producing fun, wonderful, quality shows. Thank you for keeping that door open so I can allow musical theater to be a part of my life.

I’m grateful for my day job that gives me the financial support I need.

I’m grateful for being able to live in the greatest city in the world – one that’s full of possibilities, energy, and good times.

I’m grateful for my friends, who personify the meaning of “friendship” every day.

So……what are you grateful for?

*If “Sorry-Grateful” from Company started going through your head when you read the title of this post, you get 10 Sondheim nerd points.

Related posts:

1. Tough (Question) Tuesday: Is there anything in this situation I can find to be grateful for?
2. Happy 4th!
3. Happy Belated Jew Year!