CPR for Your Business ... and Your Life

Clear Mental Clutter in 5 Minutes or Less

My good friend Alan Darcy (see his latest music video here) is taking a trip from Orlando to Tampa today, where he'll be doing a few gigs.

When we talked about his day, he sounded somewhat distracted. He told me he was mentally listing all the things he needs to bring with him on his trip.

I could relate.

In March, one very short day after moving to Lookout Mountain in Alabama, I had scheduled a two week road trip... one week in Miami for my cousin's wedding (and other festivities), and the second week in Tampa to teach a Reiki class, a Mastermind class, a teleseminar, and spend time with friends. With my Great Pyrenees Hiro and lovebird Sunshine.

That's a lot of shoes, bags, accessories and dog toys to remember to pack!

As mental chaos threatened and loomed, I took a deep breath (see the CPR for Your Business book).

Then I sat down and spent 5 life-saving minutes drawing a MIND-MAP.

I won! With a clear mind, organization and confidence, I packed my bags and enjoyed a very successful journey, my time spent on the people I love rather than on a missing phone plug.

I kept the mindmap in my luggage for future reference, and shared the idea with Alan.

I have scanned in my roadtrip mindmap for you (click on it to view a larger image).

Since I prefer to use my mind for creative projects (versus mental chaos), I use this technique often for all kinds of things, such as what to write in the next newsletter, organizing the chapters in my book, who to invite to an event, how to help a scatterbrained client get focused quickly, etc.

Happy trails to you on your life's journey.

Live Bold Love Big!

Debbie Happy Cohen

ps. If you found this post helpful, or if you'd like to share your ideas, you can leave a comment here.

ps. If you missed the last tele-seminar or would like to re-listen to it, just click here

Empower Yourself with a To-Don't List

THE GREAT GIFT-AWAY

Can you help me? I have extra product inventory that is still packed in boxes since I've moved, including Reach Your Stars books, CD's and packages, and Follow Through Made Easy Audio Meditation CD's.

Since I want to create more space in my home, I'm gifting it all away.

To find out how you can receive it, scroll down.

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EMPOWER YOURSELF WITH A TO-DON'T LIST!

Story # 1: I just got off the phone with a new client who was really frustrated at having "too many holes in his bucket".

He said he was too scattered. Opening a new facility, he has a hundred zillion details to contend with, plus to maintain his practice, and eat!

Since he has not yet become a delegator, he's handling most of it himself because he doesn't have the time to train someone else to help him. AGH!

He's got three major tasks that need to get done in the next 3 hours, and he doesn't know which to choose first. It felt like EVERYTHING is important.

Story #2: A few years ago, a couple of weeks before college final exams, I found myself zoning out during a lecture with a teacher that I liked (it wasn't the boring ness of the lecture that got to me, but my own scatteredness). I needed FOCUS. What did I do to solve this?

SOLUTION #1

Together, my client and I stepped back, looked at the big picture, and recognized his TOP 2 PRIORITIES:

1. Handle the facility opening (electricians and such can't wait)

2. Handle new, incoming clients (Regular clients, who are normally treated well, will understand if they know what's going on and there's temporarily a delay in customer service - even Disney World closes rides for maintenance. Good customers will actually be supportive because people are generally kind and they want to see you win! However, potential new clients can get the wrong first impression, and therefore should be handled asap.)

Within minutes, I heard calmness and confidence in his voice as he focused on 2 priorities instead of 100.

SOLUTION #2

Rather than continuing to attempt to listen to the lecture, I took out a blank sheet of ruled paper and wrote a list of all the things that "needed" to get done.

As long as the list was in my head, it was draining my mental energy.

Vacuum the house. Do laundry. Clean the bird cage. Pack for a trip. Meet with a client (yes even in college I had clients). Those are the ones I remember most clearly.

What struck me was that there were TWO AND A HALF rows of "stuff to do". That's about 70 items too many running around in my brain and scattering me!

Once I could SEE the list on paper, I made an agreement with myself that I would NOT vacuum for the next two weeks until finals were over, and that no one would die if most of the other stuff didn't get done.

After I passed finals with flying colors, then I vacuumed. Thank goodness, the dirt didn't keep me from surviving to tell the story. Whew!

Here are my top two priorities today:

1. Help more people breathe life into their day.
2. Get rid of extra inventory by gifting it away.

By helping me reach my goals, you can win!

All you have do to win is share your comment on any page of this blog (click the link on the bottom of this page that says COMMENT).

THE GREAT GIFT AWAY

BEGINNING JULY 22, 2008, at 7:23pm, every 10th person who writes a COMMENT on this blog (on any page) and every 20th person who subscribes to this blog will receive a free Reach Your Stars product (book or cd)

The gift is totally FREE. I will pay to ship it to your home or office, for as long as the inventory lasts.

*In your comment, include your opinion, a related fact, a question, an issue you're facing, a funny joke that relates to the subject matter, an inspiring quote... your presence is wanted. I also encourage you to promote your product or website if you have one.