Drawing Solutions: How Visuals Will Change Your Life

Stay Inspired by Keeping Your Serotonin Up

2012-01-19T13:54:00.000-08:00

So it's mid January and you are wondering...geez I felt so good about my goals on January 1. Today? Not sure.

Well if you created a visual of your dream, a goal map, a collage, a list, a blogpost, fear not there is a simple way to keep yourself inspired.

You simply need to review what you created, dreamed, listed, arranged, set out as an intention.

But first, let's re-adjust your chemistry.

Get up - do 10 jumping jacks. Or 20 push-ups. Drink an 8 oz glass of water. Or sing a song at the top of your lungs.

Now, sit down, sit back, shut your eyes and do a little daydreaming. Positive daydreaming - so put the critic in the corner and dream the best possible scenario.

Imagine yourself in that new job, on that vacation, feeling slim, eating well, living loved, being more creative.

Imagine it as if it is occurring right now. Live it in your mind fully! Imagine that new boss, the myriad of possibilities. Surf on that seashore. Climb that trail in the mountains that you love. Kiss that imagined or actual partner that you have. Feel it in your body, your cells, dream, dream, dream.

Guess what? You just raised your serotonin level and you inspired yourself. So let go of whatever list you have going for a second and ask yourself, "What is one thing I can do right now, in this inspired moment to get things moving?" Write it down and go do it.

Call that person with that lead on a new job. Write that bio. Draw that picture. Place a personal ad. Run around the block. Try something new.

One small act everyday will lead to you living that secret dream you have be housing in your brain. Get it out of there and into here. Real life. You deserve it.

Up your creative genius today. #meanit

Cool 2012 Visions

2012-01-13T20:50:00.000-08:00

Here are just some of the images that have filled my email box or twitter sphere since the book and the TEDxRainier video, Drawing Your Dreams Into Reality came out 3 days ago.

These images are a testament that you don't have to know how to draw to turn your dreams into reality. These people are doing it and you can too, even if you are drawing it in your garden's soil.

Go to this page to download your template (at very bottom of page) and let's get you started as well.

What dreams do you have? Draw a picture of them and send it to me!

Getting & Staying Focused in 2012

2012-01-03T05:45:00.000-08:00

Goal setting and goal achievement are two separate things. One requires that you take time to think about what you want. The other only occurs when you remain focused on your goals and take action on them to help them manifest.

Your brain is bombarded with millions of bits of data in every second. So how can you keep focused on your goals? Draw a picture of them, place that picture somewhere you can see it everyday. Then take action on those goals. In my book, Drawing Solutions How Visual Goal Setting Will Change Your LIfe I outline a very simple process for goal setting that includes creating a visual map of where you are, where you want to go and identifying the 3 bold steps to get you there.

Here is Ted's 2012 map he created using my process:

You can see this picture has both words and images in it. That activates both sides of your brain and also highlights this Desired New Reality so Ted's brain will be alerted to get and stay focused on his goals.

You don't have to be an artist to draw your dreams into reality. Ted has been using this process since I first did a map for him 5 years ago. Every year he gets more of what he wants.

If Ted can have success using a simple drawing, so can you.

Send me your map so I can post your story too! Happy new year and may you turn all your dreams into reality.

Drawing Solutions Success Stories

2011-12-23T21:42:00.000-08:00

Recently I asked Lola Michelin whether she had any stories to share about her success with the "big picture" map we created in her office a couple of years ago. She's since moved her office to a beautiful new location on Vashon Island. Here's what she wrote back:

"What stunned me was that I was talking about you to a friend here and I said how we did the “Big Picture” illustration with you that hung in our office for a year. I pulled it out to show her and the barn that you drew in one corner to represent our virtual and resident campus is identical to the barn that is on the new property…gave me shivers! The power of visualization in terms of manifestation is too amazing!"

Don't you want to turn your dreams into reality? You can when you draw a simple picture of what you want and pack it with all of the feelings you imagine you'll have when that dream is real. Act as if it is occurring right now.

Find out more in my new book Drawing Solutions How Visual Goal Setting Will Change Your Life at Amazon now. You can live your life to the fullest right now, it's easier than you think.

I can't wait to hear the stories from your experiences. Share them!

Get Ready to Make Change in the New Year

2011-12-08T19:45:00.000-08:00

Are you ready to make changes in the New Year?
Do you want to build that dream you have been longing for?

Here is a perfect tool to help you get back on track:

Drawing Solutions How Visual Goal Setting Will Change Your Life will be out in just about 3 weeks. Filled with stories and drawings, techniques and true to life testimonials this book is the perfect gift for you, your partner, your friends, your boss.

Published by Creative Genius Press, it is 132 pages, $14.00.

If you'd like to know when it is available on Amazon, email me @Patti@upyourcreativegenius.com or sign up to receive this blog.
The first 25 of you will be put in a drawing to receive a free book.
2012 is right around the corner!
Join me in drawing your dreams into reality.

What's Up in Las Vegas

2011-11-19T15:22:00.000-08:00

Las Vegas - that big adult Disneyland filled with too much smoke ;-)
Since I'm one to always look at the bright side, versus what I wish were there, here are a few of my take-aways:

People who visit Las Vegas come from everywhere around the world. Diversity is KING.
80% of them smoke, drink and gamble at least once while they are there. Cash is QUEEN.
Everyone is super friendly. Politeness is PARAMOUNT.
If you are the 20% that doesn't gamble you can still participate in one of America's all time favorite sports: SHOPPING.

There is great entertainment, clean and dirty. '-)
Everyone seems to LOVE it here, especially that 80%!

So what are they doing well?
1. Offering extraordinary customer service!
2. Charging for everything. $12 to use that in room hotel coffee machine.
3. Lots of opportunities to empty your pockets... gambling, shopping, food, drinking...more shopping followed by...
4. Easy access to all of the above and more than you ever wanted to know about.
5. Eye candy everywhere.

Great experience, Las Vegas!
Now, back my that 20% I love. If I could sum up in one image...

Drawing Your Dreams into Reality

2011-11-11T15:53:00.000-08:00

If you aren't/weren't able to make my TEDxRainier talk I want to give you a taste of the idea worth spreading I'm sharing:

You can live the life you desire, but in order to achieve it, you must:
See it.
Believe it.
Act on it.

That means draw a picture of it...(download the template to help you)

Your Current State - where you are
Your Desired New Reality - where you want to be...one year from today.
Then, look at your picture, really soak it in, close your eyes, so your brain can restructure what it sees and mix it up with everything you have ever seen, heard, experienced or fantasized about.

Then ask, "What's the boldest three steps I can take to get from here to there?"

No matter how scary that first thing is that you get, write it down, because your brain will try to talk you out of it, but it is the right thing to do. (And you know it!)

Everyday...look at that picture, soak in that Desired New Reality, step into that life you already created, then do one small thing (of those bold steps) to make it happen.

Choose a symbol from the picture you drew, take a picture of it, and send it to me:
@pdobrowolski on twitter
patti@upyourcreativegenius.com

Become the 1 person out of 10 to make change happen.
If 100's of my clients can, you can too.

Holding the Visual Until Life Links You Up

2011-10-23T19:09:00.000-07:00

More and more I am seeing the value of the visual. Whether you dream it, you watch it, you imagine or you draw it, what you see in your mind and in your world becomes your reality.

I'm not making this up, your brain is. That's right, your brain sees in two dimensions because of the optic nerve, but we live in a three dimensional world. What does your brain do to compensate? It makes it up. It's fact that part of what you see is fiction.

Why not leverage that piece of brain science to your advantage? Next time you want to be someone or somewhere else in your life, make it up using that innate tool of creative genius - your imagination. Envision it thoroughly as if you are right there, right now looking out through your own eyes experiencing it. Make it vivid. Paint it with emotion. Lock it into memory.

Then do EVERYTHING you can to take action towards that vision to make it real. Dream it everyday and be grateful for every small or large movement in that direction. Celebrate that movement.

Surprise yourself at how quickly your inner and outer imaginings can become reality.
Not through hocus pocus but through leveraging your own brain. Curious? Don't take my word for it. Experiment on your own.

Hold that visual until life links you to it.

Female Creative Genius: Promote These Women

2011-10-16T08:04:00.000-07:00

There are millions of creative women geniuses out there. (Why can't I find them on Google?)

Never mind!

Here are five for you to start promoting today:

Lots of talk about creative genius now that Steve Jobs has transitioned out of this world.
Who are other creative geniuses you find on Google? Sadly what comes up are mostly :( men.

Which woman showed up?
Madame Curie - the science of radioactivity.

One book dedicated to female creative genius, notice how this author describes them:

Mary Kay Ash -- A Confident Charismatic
Maria Callas -- Perpetual Perfectionist
Liz Claiborne -- Persevering Pioneer
Jane Fonda -- Renegade Innovator
Estée Lauder -- Impatient Overachiever
Madonna -- Psychosexually Drive
Golda Meir -- Intransigent Confidence
Ayn Rand -- Macro-oriented Intuitor
Gloria Steinem -- Rebellious Social Conscience
Margaret Thatcher -- Indomitably Competitive
Lillian Vernon -- Internally Empowered Entrepreneur
Linda Wachner -- "Type A" Workaholic
Oprah Winfrey -- Persuasive Charismatic

Are you kidding me? Dude, get a life!

If you haven't set up your TIVO to record Miss Representation do it now.

Who run the world? Girls. Send me your female creative geniuses!

Letting Your Brain Fill in the Gap

2011-10-09T17:31:00.000-07:00

Those of you who like to revisit your goals might consider this idea:

When you have captured on a piece of page where you are now (on the left side of your page) and where you want to be 1 year from today (on the right side of the page) you can see the gap between the two.

That's where your bold steps or action steps go. Unfortunately sometimes this is exactly where you and I can get stuck. Why? Because it looks a little daunting. Also the critical part of our brain likes to get in the way and say things like, "If you knew how to do that, you would have done it already!" or "That seems too overwhelming, you better go get something to eat..."

BUT did you know, that when you are picking up a glass of water, there is a spot in that process where your brain actually fills in the gap. Yup, it can't exactly see the whole thing, so it just makes it up and sends that made up solution to the parts of you that move and grab the glass.

If your brain can make up something to fill that kind of gap, why not let your brain make up the steps for your action plan? It knows what you need to do because it processes a billion more things than you can ever consciously remember.

Try an experiment! Next time you want to create a plan to get you from where you are now to where you want to be, why not write, "What are the boldest things I can do to get myself from here to there?" on the top of a blank piece of paper. Then start writing whatever comes to you.

Or write the first 100 things that come to you (including some really ridiculous ones for fun. 1 out of that 100 things is bound to be a good action to take.

The truth is, you do know how to get across that chasm, you just need to let your brain do the work for you.

Build the Bridge to New Ideas for People to Walk Across

2011-09-21T19:41:00.000-07:00

Tired of people telling you what's best for you without ever asking what you think you need?
After reading Nancy Duarte's book Resonate, I readjusted my approach. I started wondering what other people wanted to hear and needed to know about visual goal setting. Then I began to ask them and here's what they said...

"What if I can't draw?"

"What does goal setting with a picture actually do?"

"Will the image help when I start feeling apathetic?"

When you want to make powerful change, you have to be willing to try something new. The new things you try make your brain work better, reprogram it, forge new "neural pathways."
Try it, try driving home a different way, try singing out loud when a song you know comes on the speakers in the grocery store. Shock yourself. Change yourself.

Do something new. Draw a picture of where you are and where you want to be and fill in the gap, that bridge to your beautiful dreamy picture. Affix it to your mind, your heart and the dash of your car.

Then drive yourself to it.

Finding That One Picture

2011-08-30T21:27:00.000-07:00

No matter what you are currently up to, you are holding a picture in your mind or an impression or feeling in your body of that experience. How can you enhance it or shift it towards the thing or things you desire more of?

One way is by creating a picture of it. That's right, you with pencil or pen, drawing. Why in the world would you want to draw, when you aren't really necessarily an artist? Well, drawing does a couple of cool things. The act of drawing, if you don't typically do it, gets your attention. Your brain is processing hordes of information and sorting through them to see what is and is not important. To make a change stick, you have to reroute your brain and call attention to what is most important to you. Reprogram it into prioritizing that which you want at the top of the list. Drawing helps your brain do that. Writing also works, but drawing a picture of what you desire, then coloring it in; that little added effort helps thrill you with all the possibilities of that dream and solidifies it into your brain as "something I want."

Visualizing what you want to occur also triggers the brain to send its own unique chemical cocktail into your system to make you feel supergood. A little serotonin, a little dopamine and "Wow! I am having a great day!"

Overload your brain with the things you want. Write them, draw pictures of them, then daydream about them as if they are happening right now. Your brain can't tell the difference between what you have actually done, and what you are daydreaming that you have done. It files it all into the file cabinet of "experiences." By repeating those experiences in your mind (and in your life), you train your body to respond appropriately to what it believes is your reality. Then in a great alchemical process, things line up, magnetizing that dreamy experience to you.

Picture it, draw it, dream it, live it.
The things you most desire.

What Summer Vacation is About

2011-08-21T20:21:00.000-07:00

In Seattle our summer officially arrived last weekend. That's a little late for us here in the Pacific Northwet but nonetheless we are grateful. This weekend hosted two of those perfect summer days, mid-80's and then low 60's at night. The sun was bright and hot, the wispy clouds were few and far between. Most of America has already gotten their fill of heat, here in the NW we are just drying out. This lovely weekend made me remember what summer was all about...relaxing.

Today, we slept in until 7:00, cooked up a high protein breakfast of fresh eggs from our chickens, power walked the dogs around the block, then high tailed it on down to the neighborhood farmers market. There we bumped into, and visited for 5 minutes with, good friends, rushed back home to slam down tuna sandwiches, hopped on our scooters to fly down and rent stand up paddle boards for 1 hour - one of us fell in the water, that counts as our first "swim" this summer. Back home we power weeded the garden, roasted coffee in our home roaster, barbequed the fish and beef we'd picked at the farmer's market, called our friends during dinner to tell them we missed them, watched the chickens eat the leftover salmon skin, walked the dogs up to the park to watch the sunset while eating ice cream cones.

That's what I call a real summer day! I'll be glad when the rain comes back and I can read a bad mystery novel curled in a chair without FOMO - fear of missing out.

Happy summer!

Extreme Goals

2011-08-08T07:29:00.000-07:00

Why do we set extreme goals for ourselves? Like wanting to climb Everest, swimming across the Atlantic Ocean, or deciding to Ride Across America on a bike? Ironman and marathon races are one of the fastest growing sports today. What drives us to want to reach this level of testing our physical capabilities? “The mentality is that people who are drawn to extreme sports are risk takers,” says Jenn Berman, PhD, a psychologist in private practice in Beverly Hills, Calif., who was a member of the 1984 exhibition Olympic team in gymnastics. “It’s that they love to push themselves to the limit -- physically, emotionally, and in every way possible.”

This past weekend I rode the Copper Triangle in Colorado. Talk about an extreme goal. Honestly I think this was the hardest physical experience of my life to date. The Copper Triangle is a 3-peak bike ride. 78 miles in total with 5,000+ elevation gain. Add to it that I live in Seattle, sea level and this ride starts at about 9,000ft elevation.

When I was preparing for the ride the Wednesday before, I rode up Vail Pass (which is the last peak of the 3 peaks) so I could know what I was getting into. That night, I lay in bed and asked myself, "What was I thinking?" I had decided to do this ride to celebrate my birthday with one of my first cycling mentor and friend, Brad. He had ridden it before and said it was hard but beautiful. Thank goodness he was there to ride beside and in front of me, because he was right on both counts. The long downhills through the valleys were amazing and yes, there was plenty of risk involved screaming along at 45 mph on a bike. The views were spectacular and the smell of the air was so fragrant with pine and sage, I will remember that for a long time.

But why did I need to set such an extreme goal for myself I wondered as I gasped for air and suffered up the final climb of Vail Pass. Was it for the adrenaline rush? Was it to challenge my body and have a reason to stay in shape? Maybe so I could say I had done it? Copper Triangle, check! Well, to be honest I would say probably for all of these at some level.

So how did visuals help me on that ride? In that final climb I used every single visualization I could think of to get myself to the top. I imagined myself throwing my arms up in the air after finishing. I saw my lungs breathing easier with every pedal stroke. I channeled every favorite rider I had seen climbing the hills in the Tour de France. There is one spot at the very end of Vail Pass where the grade pitches up to 11%. I have to admit that there I just prayed for it to be over. After 4 hours and 54 minutes it was. That's how long it took for Brad to shepherd me through the Copper Triangle. At the end I was filled with gratitude; for my physical body, for the people who helped me, for those who supported the ride, for the gift of life.

My big take away? You don't have to go to this extreme to test yourself. You can test yourself by taking a risk at work speaking up when you don't agree with your team. You can choose to change your diet, start something new, carpool to work or bring a friend a cup of coffee.
Whatever you do, celebrate your success. Remember those who brought you to this point and thank them. Stamp the feeling into your brain and body so next time when you are wondering, "Can I do it?" you will remember, "Yes, yes, I can."

Patti

Drawing Your Vision or Goals: Helping Your Brain Commit Them To Memory

2011-06-18T19:47:00.000-07:00

Setting goals is a magnificent, inspiring, iterative practice. Not just a quarterly or annual process, it can be an effective daily practice when you want to make change stick. I was recently researching the neuroscience of memory and what helps us to keep our focus on achieving what we want; those sometimes slippery goals.

There are three types of memory - sense memory, which is what you experience on a sensory level; short-term memory (sometimes called working memory) which is what's happening right now in this present moment - for example you want something to eat so you go to the fridge and get it. The third type of memory is long-term memory.

Sense memory almost always automatically shifts into your short-term memory. Short-term memory can only hold information for about a few minutes, and its storage capacity is limited. It can only take in about 5 items or elements before it short-circuits and starts dumping things off into the abyss. Long-term memory, however, can retain some information for life and it has an enormous capacity. Long-term memory is key to goal achievement.

Think about it. What's the use of goal setting if you can't remember what it is you are focusing on? So it's a good idea to help your brain shift those new pictures of who and where you want to be a year from today out of that short-term and into the long-term memory.

To make your thoughts into a roadmap for reality, you have to get a little loud and creative. Your brain's short-term memory is so used to quickly sorting and screening out information that it often just simply deletes ideas and moves on to managing the car in traffic unless you tell it to stop and PAY ATTENTION. This is where using both words and images to capture your ideas and vision right when you are thinking about them is so critical.

Drawing, for those of you who are not artists, is a fantastic way to call something out with a big highlighter for your brain. If you don't often draw, just the act of doing that "new thing" wakes your brain up and forges a new neural pathway. Drawing also helps you relax, subsequently you are more likely to surface new ideas, increase your creativity, clarity and focus. Doodling pictures or symbols helps imbed the concepts, ideas or vision with enough juice that your zippy short-term memory moves it into a more permanent place. Both words and images combine to specify for your brain what and why something is important - a recipe for great goal-setting.

Next time you are reviewing where you are and where you want to be, why not draw it out on a piece of paper to see if you get any different results. Remember combine words and images to thoroughly up your creative genius and lock in those goals you want to focus on to increase your success.

Remodeling Yourself & Your Life

2011-06-14T12:30:00.000-07:00

This spring we broke down and remodeled the kitchen. Wow. It's almost summer and still going on. They tore out the walls, redid the plumbing, electrical, hvac...you get the picture. Both of us vacillated between excitement and pure exasperation. The walls were replaced with two big beams. In desperation one day, I wrote on them in a fat felt tip sharpie: LOVE. TRUST. ABUNDANCE. GRATITUDE.

I wanted to make sure that whatever I put on those walls would stay imprinted in the house as a reflection of the values that matter to us.

One day they discovered that the floor didn't match between rooms. They said for $1400 they could match the floor. It would be cost more for the demolition. I volunteered to take it out to save some cash. The contractor gave me this big huge and very heavy crowbar and said, "I brought you a tool to help." "Uh, thanks," I muttered.

I could barely pick it up but once I got the hang of it, 45 minutes later it was done - floor gone - check! Who knew the remodel would take us down to our sub-floor?

While it's going on, you can imagine, I have my own "remodel" happening. Change is good and I love it and abhor it at times. But once again I am using this time to up my creative genius. I imagine myself getting a "self-lift" - focusing on building a more physically fit body through workouts and diet. Balancing my mental self so I'm slightly more resilient and solid in my contemplation/meditation practice to stay tuned in. Even my work life has a new roadmap as we finish up the edits of the book and projects wind down and new ones start up.

And interestingly enough, the garden is flourishing. Well why not? We can't really stay inside since our main floor is inaccessible, so weeding is a delightful distraction.

If you are looking to remodel any part of you, here's a few great books I found tips in that might help you getting your own self lift:

Enchantment by Guy Kawasaki
Younger Next Year by Chris Crowley & Henry S. Lodge, MD
Mojo: How to Get It, How to Keep It, How to Get It Back If You Lose It by Marshall Goldsmith

I am also happy to create a personal map for you so you have a clear vision and plan.

Happy Summer Here It Comes!
Best to you,
Patti

What We Can Learn From Dhani Jones

2011-06-07T16:33:00.000-07:00

Did you happen to catch that series with Dhani Jones, the NFL player who traveled the world and challenged himself to try new physical adventures? He would briefly train with an expert in that sport and then compete or join others doing it. I saw him ride a bike in an Italian Fondo, wrestle in Africa and climb in Nepal. Very challenging and fun to watch.

Dhani wrote a book about his world travel sporting experience and it just came out.
There was a brief write up by the News Team at Outdoor Magazine and I can't wait to pick it up. Here are a few fitness tips he shared that can be applied to anything you do:

1. There's no good fitness without good nutrition. You're not going to function if you don't eat well. If you eat bad, what's the point of working out? The eating's going to catch up to you. It's not difficult to have good food -- even the restaurants are taking care of you: you can't go to a sushi restaurant and get regular soy sauce, you gotta get low sodium.

2. There's no good fitness without good sleep. If you don't have a good sleep cycle, you're not going to have a sustainable workout; you're going to fight against your body trying to become better. There's so many great jobs and businesses out there that allow for meditation and outdoor activities during the day. There's always an option, it's all about how you divide your time.

3. There's no good fitness without good thoughts. You have to have a positive mindset to create positive energy. If your mind's not in the right place, you're not going to accomplish anything. If you walk into the gym and you're like I hate this place, then leave. Being mentally clear, that's on you. You gotta take a little onus for yourself.

I challenge you to put those 3 things to work in your life and see what boost in energy you get. If you already have this dialed in, I'm going to take a nap right now and see if I can catch up to the rest of you!

Kickstarting Your Fantasy Life

2011-05-11T15:09:00.000-07:00

I don't know about where you live in the world, but the weather here has been quite tumultuous. It is typical to rain this time of year, but the amount of rain and ferocity of it has many people's heads spinning. I can't imagine what it's like for you on the Mississippi or in the tornado areas.

What I love about the North"wet" is that it drives me inside to find ways to up my creative genius. I do the usual revisit my goals stuff to see what's working/not working, but recently I have started to play around with my life using my imagination.

This week I have been fantasizing about other lives I could be living right now. Most of the time I do strategic fillustration for visioning and strategic direction with Fortune 50 companies. Some of my clients periodically ask me to draw a cartoon of their team. Because here I can be completely ridiculous, it is a lot of fun. So much so that, I think I'm going to thank a great client from a long-term contract by doing a cartoon book for her.

In my latest fantasy, I imagine my voice mail and email box crammed with high paying requests for me to just draw "a few cartoons" for people. I imagine my day, waking up late, having coffee, walking the dogs, then going in to my drawing table and drawing for a couple of hours (still in my sweat pants). On Monday, Melinda calls asking me to do a cartoon for Bill to hang in his new office. On maybe Wednesday, Marc wants a cartoon for JLo's birthday. I imagine my whole week like this and just really play up the relaxing, drinking coffee, plenty of time to ride my bike part. Then fantasy over, I turn back to following up on client calls and my typical work stuff.

The interesting part is once I go back to real life (not fantasyland), suddenly I get more calls for cartooning. Coincidence? It happens way too often to be coincidental. But don't take my word for it. See what kind of fantasy life you can create for yourself by just letting your imagination wander and then filling that vision with fun, exciting, interesting, unusual well paying experiences.

Life is an adventure, go make it so!

Thanks for being here,

What Matters Most

2011-03-21T05:16:00.000-07:00

My heart goes out to Japan. The devastation caused by the earthquake has once again reminded me that this world is transient and subject to sudden and dramatic change. The images from across the world fuel a desire in me to go deeper into the heart of things - to the things that matter most.

For each of us, what matters most will be unique, but we are inextricably linked together through love. You and I are linked to the people in Japan, just as we are linked to those within our immediate surroundings. Even though we are far across the planet, and may feel disconnected from the experience and the images in the media, or may wonder how we can help, we can always send love.

The turmoil in parts of the world reminds me to look at life as a whole and ask myself again, why am I here? Why am I in this job, in this city, with this constellation of friends and family? How can I, in each moment, give to life and continue to stay present to that which matters most?

One tool I have found useful is to imagine that there is no separation between myself and the things and beings that I come in contact with. The people I work with, the drivers on the road, the things I touch or use in my house, all parts of life are made of the same substance that I am. They are all comprised of big or small molecules of energy - love.

When I remind myself that we are all part of the same energetic structure, I find my patience expanding. When someone at work doesn't see the vision that I do, or the dog decides my cycling sock is the one thing he wants to chew a hole in, I am able to give back to the moment, to be grateful for the work, to hold up that holey sock and smile. And to simply give love.

It's the first day of spring. There is lots of new growth surrounding us. Thanks for being here and for all that each of you do to help yourself and those around you to grow. Thank you for remembering what matters most.

Left Luggage

2011-02-03T08:44:00.000-08:00

Happy February! I had the great opportunity to go to the UK and work with a cool company and one of my European collaborators, Wim, this past month. Since I was so close to Paris, I thought I would visit for just a day.

At curbside the morning I was to fly out, there was a taxi, car service mix up. I got into the cab and then realized when a car pulled up behind us, that they had sent a car service for me. I got out of the cab and into the car behind, and in the change up, my luggage was accidentally left curbside.

The driver was fascinating and en route to the airport, shared stories about growing up in Dublin. He had researched the area where he was born and lived during his early years, (a very poor, poor section of the city) and told me of his online adventures in finding historical figures from his street and his past. I rode to the airport listening intently, completely unaware of the empty "boot" behind me.

At the airport, we both realized the luggage snafu. Instead of getting upset, we got back in the car to sort out a solution. Fortunately he was able to track down my bag; still in the city near my hotel one hour away - too far to reclaim and still make my flight. No big deal, I realized I was flying back through the next day, everything that was terribly important to me (the maps I had drawn, my passport, ID, money, etc.) was all in my hands. I wasn't really as dressed up as I would have liked to be, but no worries, it was one day in Paris. I could manage.

The driver said he would pick up and drop my luggage off at "left luggage." I only had to stop and pick it up upon return. The next day, sure enough, my luggage was waiting for me; easily claimed and checked for my flight home.

Simple. Upon reflection, I realized that I had been bemoaning hauling that heavy suitcase of art supplies over to Paris. Problem solved. How often does that inner conversation manifest in outer results? More often than we think.

Think back on your January, how many things were you thinking about that actually came to pass? The world is a delicate mystery of interconnections and activity that the mind has yet to grasp but is available for you to leverage in every moment.

Thanks to my driver and to the all who conspired to make mine a lightened load in Paris!

Aligning Yourself With the Power of You in 2011

2011-01-02T11:45:00.000-08:00

I have been working as a strategic illustrator for about twelve years now drawing live images for Fortune 100 or NFP companies as they create strategies or brainstorm new ideas. But in my personal/non-working time, I don't often create much artwork. Last year, however, I was invited to show some of my work in a local clothing store here in Ballard. For the first time I had to create a series of drawings. The experience was interesting, I didn't really know what to do, so I asked for a lot of guidance from my friend and collaborator Scott Ward. Scott is an amazing painter and artist I rely on when I am looking for great ideas or need help with studio work. You can definitely see his influence in the drawings I created for this show. I didn't really know what my own style was, so these drawings felt more tentative - probably because that's how I felt about my artwork.

Later in year, while on a long plane ride, I watched a movie about the career of Jean-Michel Basquiat - who created these stunning, multi-faceted images that reflected the culture and his experience of the world around him. The movie really inspired me; I loved his style of creating art - it was fast and a little rough, it felt similar to how I drew in the work world - where I am always listening and capturing as quickly as I can the metaphors, images and words people are expressing.

On the flight back home I got an idea for a drawing, did a rough preliminary sketch and went into the studio and went at it. I didn't force myself to be careful or worry about the colors or composition. With this more free approach, my own voice and style began to emerge. I felt myself come into alignment with the power of me.

The trains in Ballard go by our house 22 times a day and every night at 3:20 AM they seem to blare their horns even longer and louder. It has disrupted my sleep since we moved into this house 5 years ago and I wanted to express that in the drawing. When it was finished, I felt my own true expression had definitely emerged. While the drawing is chaotic and rough, it's funny and filled with color and it actually feels like it represents my essence as both a person and an artist. I created it without the usual chatter from my inner critic or concern about perfection in blending or composition. It is exactly what it is.

My goal for 2011 is to consciously align to my core, knowing that this is one of the best ways to bring the fullness of who I am into every experience I have. From this core I show up and serve life better.

In this year, how might you align more fully to yourself and your own power? Here's to taking the risk to express your core essence in all that you do. Write me a note or post about your experience so others might find the courage to step into the "new" part of the new year.

Until then, may 2011 be all you dream of!

My Father is Li Gang

2010-11-24T11:14:00.000-08:00

In China, a drunken teenager hit and killed a girl on roller skates. The police chased and tried to arrest him and he yelled to the crowd (in Chinese of course ;-) "You can't sue me! My father is Li Gang!!" That's the truth. If you are a son of a politician, police officer, or some royalty with money and power in China, you are likely to get off the hook for any kind of wrong doing.

An attempt to cover the incident immediately ensued, but the phrase "My father is Li Gang" went viral. People in China used the phrase whenever they did something that they didn't want to take responsibility for or to get out of things they didn't want to do: "You can't make me do those dishes, my father is Li Gang!" "I know I stayed out too late, but you can't get mad, my father is Li Gang!" The phrase struck a cord with me as well, especially when I thought about how prevalent evasive behavior for wrongdoing is in big business, the financial market and some of our politicians. Not many people step up and take responsibility for some of the big issues and the affect they have had on the US and global world markets or environment? Evidently many people's father is Li Gang.

Now I'm not a political artist really, my work to date has mostly been about poking fun at the mass sheep like mindsets that I see in myself and others. My job more often than not is to simply capture in pictures what we are discussing in vision and strategy meetings when I'm working as a strategic illustrator. So I was surprised when one morning I got up and created this drawing.

Perhaps I just wanted to remind myself that despite how we might wish things to go, we really don't ever get out of taking responsibility for our actions. Someone once said to me, "The law of cause and effect has long reaching arms." And so it is.

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I am thankful for this reminder, thankful for you, and thankful that I don't need a Li Gang in this lifetime. May that little girl's family find peace, though they may not ever see retribution. May she live on in us, memorialized through the internet and our love.
Happy Thanksgiving,
Patti

Blindsided And An Amygdala Unchecked

2010-11-10T07:13:00.000-08:00

This week I was walking down the sidewalk leaving the bank en route to my car, when a 13 or 14 year old boy racing his bike on the sidewalk T-boned me. He must have been trying to whip around the people to exit off the curb and onto the street when I happened to walk right directly into his path. BOOM! In a flash I went down on all fours. When I stood up, what I did surprised me. I grabbed the front of that boy's sweatshirt, pulled his face up to mine and screamed, "Don't you ever *&^%^ing ride on the sidewalk again!!! You ride your bike only on the street, do you understand?!!!! And where is your HELMET?"

HIs eyes widened in terror, he must have thought I was going to deck him and he managed to stammer "Lady..." I let go of his sweatshirt, walked past him to my car, got in and surveyed the damage. My hands were ripped up, my head ached but nothing broken. Only after I had driven round the corner did I realize I had not even asked that kid if he was okay. I came to my senses, drove back, but he was gone.

There were two things that bothered me. The first was my response. What in the world had me react that way? It was pure fear that manifested in anger, my amygdala (that part of the brain that is all about fight or flight) clearly was out of control. I wrote Dr. Ellen F Weber (@ellenfweber on twitter) to ask what I could do to get a better handle on it, she wrote back, "Glad you are OK Patti - Yikes! Glad you didn't pop him tho:-) Amygdala is tough to calm at times. To practice in the calm moments helps."

The second was the thought that I had been "blindsided." If every encounter without exception is there for our learning, where was I not paying attention to?

It is easy to find yourself focused on your own little world, without being aware of what is changing around you, or whose path you are about to walk into. Where is your tunnel vision keeping you from seeing the whole scene or picture in front of you?

A couple of tips for taking a closer look at your world:

Draw a quick stick figure cartoon of your life in this moment. Capture (without judging your skills in drawing) in both words and images what you are doing in relation to your work, money, relationships, family, health, balance - and anything else that pops into mind. Sketch as quickly as you can without thinking.

Now look to see what is there. Are there any areas where you are not seeing the full picture? Any areas that could potentially blindside you or your business?

You don't need to grab your own shirtfront, but by checking in with your own current state you can fill the gaps and keep yourself aware and prepared for the unexpected.

Calling "Uncle"

2010-10-10T12:43:00.000-07:00

Okay I confess, no big surprise to some of you, I'm an overachiever. I love trying new things. Taking big risks seems "normal" to me. I guess I must have been in a brain rut with my overachieving side, because today I got to experience a completely new part of myself, and I'm happy to say I've survived the mirror reflection and am here to tell the tale.

It started out like a regular bike racing morning. Got my kit ready, my bike loaded, my post race food pack together. I've downed a great breakfast and I'm good to go. Except for one thing...it is pouring rain outside and has been pouring like this for 12 hours straight. I mean the kind of Seattle rain that makes you want to turn off the alarm and order coffee in bed. But that's typical for October around here and I'm up and I'm into it, I've been training hard all week and I know this race is going to be fantastic. I've got a great mindset.

That is until I get there and take a look at the course. It's all grass or mud and slick, soaking, bleech. The hills? Steep, fast and super muddy - not a dry line to be had. No worries! I have powered through more treacherous experiences!

I register, hop on my bike and take it for a spin on the course just to get a sense of what I'm in for. Within 30 seconds I realize I am not having fun. I'm not feeling it. I'm sliding out everywhere, I go down one hill gripping my handlebars so petrified you'd think it was my last hurrah before the hearse arrived. Uncharacteristic of my regular daring self, I realize, wow, I think this particular course might be a little over my head. Really? pokes my ego.

What now? Should I feel the fear and do it anyway? My mindset is no longer in such a good place. How will I explain this to other people, will I say that I was too afraid to do the course? (Awkward!) Then I hear my head chatter and start to laugh out loud. Miraculously, I break out of the regular routine to do something different. I decide to override my persistent ego and forego the race.

Later, did I feel guilt and remorse? A little, but I also realized that not every course was meant to be raced by me! Given my limited skills as a cross rider, I knew this race could have been potentially treacherous not only for me, but for anyone around me.

Next week, I'll be back and I'll be just as eager to race as before. Meanwhile, I'll continue to work on my off road bike handling skills so when I face that downhill muddy slide, I'll know exactly what to do.

Aligning Yourself for Perfect Timing

2010-09-16T21:20:00.000-07:00

A couple of days ago I was trying to get in a training ride on my bike. I rode through a couple of different neighborhoods in Seattle en route to the waterfront. On the other side of a small overpass I saw a woman walking her bike. That usually spells trouble, so i shouted out, "Need a tube?" "Hey Patti", she yells back and sure enough it is my friend Deb with a flat (her second on the ride). I give her my spare tube, help her change the flat and all she can say is, "Wow, that was perfect timing!" And so it was!

People use the term perfect timing when they are aware of or experiencing a synchronistic moment in their world. Recently I co-led a workshop on Perfect Timing at Seabeck here in Washington state, in which we invited others to experience this kind of synchronicity right then and there.

Using photographs from a leadership deck created by The Center for Creative Leadership, each of the 175 participants was to asked, upon entering the room, to choose randomly from the images which were scattered face down on tables. They were then invited to think about a recent interaction they had with someone in which they had felt themselves being judgmental or not in alignment with their best self. I invited the group to close their eyes and ask inside, "What about this experience can I examine further for my own growth?" They found a partner and in pairs, looked at their images together. What did their own image tell them about this area of growth? They shared this with the partner. In the final activity these dyads were invited to find another pair to create a foursome. Foursomes were to lay out and examine all of their pictures together. The group then closed their eyes and asked the question, "What is the message these pictures as a whole are telling me?" Each participant wrote their message on a 3x5 card. All of the images and messages were hung in groups on the walls for the entire retreat participants to view and learn from.

Images are a powerful projective tool. Our brain automatically links visuals together to help us navigate through the world. Since our optic nerve receives only two dimensional imagery, the brain must fill in the rest to complete a three dimension picture. For example, when we are reaching to pick up a glass of water, the brain fills in the space between us and the glass so we can grab it with accuracy.

When you add a self-reflective activity that invites you to connect with the deeper part of yourself, you gain an even deeper and broader feeling of connection with the world. The visuals and the questioning help you to tap into the right side of your brain which brings a deeper understanding of you - that essence of you - in communion with all of life. This is the home where "perfect timing" resides.

Take time to align yourself to all of life and see if you recognize more of the perfect timing that exists in every moment for you. Then post a note about it for the rest of us to read.

Best regards,
Patti

Reclaiming Your Subconscious for Better Results

2010-07-26T06:53:00.000-07:00

Ever wonder why you set goals and they don't seem to happen? I have, and recently I read Bruce Lipton's book The Biology of Belief to find out what he thought about it. My assumption was that I was holding some inner beliefs that were interfering with my ability to get the results I wanted.

In Bruce's book, he educates the reader about biology and particularly new biology - that who we are and how we behave is influenced and programmed on a cellular level by our environment, which informs and forms our subconscious beliefs. While the conscious mind might be great at helping you do things in the present, regret the past and worry about the future, it is limited as we know from previous blogs on the pre-frontal cortex. It is really the subconscious which pretty much drives the train and dictates through what it has been programmed to believe is possible for you in your life. Sometimes it drives the train from an old, outdated program and subsequently you can't seem to manifest exactly what you want.

I work with teams and individuals almost everyday using visuals to help them clarify, goal set and take action to achieve the things they want. Some people create their goals and readily achieve them. Other people get stuck and I wanted a tip or tool to help them get unstuck.

This book was a great scientific read. I am a fairly right brained person, so at times it felt heavy on the biology and light on the belief. In hindsight, I am certain I wanted validation for my aforementioned assumption about beliefs in general. I also wanted ideas about how to help people shift their subconscious so it would begin to drive the train in the direction they wanted it to go - to get results in the areas of their life they wanted to change. When I got to the end of the book I was disheartened to discover that Bruce wasn't going to go into detail about how to rewrite the subconscious programming. BUT, he did mention a process that he discovered married perfectly with his theory that could help you shift your subconscious - Psyche K created by Robert Williams. The two of them have been working together now for a number of years. Whew!

Not one to dawdle, I found a Psyche K workshop taking place this past weekend and signed up to learn this simple and effective technique. The instructor, Romalee Davis, had an interesting past, was helpful, informative, thorough, enjoyable to learn from and is located right in Ballard. Psyche K utilizes some aspects of Braingym which Rob has integrated into a clear and easy process. I can see immediate results in my behavior- I was able to shift some of the things that had been interfering with my writing, my appreciation for other people's way of driving, and a few other subtle and not so subtle behaviors of mine that were interfering with our happy little home!

For those of you who have been beating your head against a wall to change some of those old patterns and behaviors that have dogged you since childhood, there's hope. I highly recommend Bruce Lipton's book for the science behind beliefs and attending a Psyche K workshop to help you shift old responses to new circumstances. I look forward to trying some of these techniques with you to see what kinds of results a team or individual can have when they truly align their beliefs towards the achievement of their goals. I'll keep you updated about what else I discover as I explore this new process.

Happy summer, get out and enjoy it!

Uncovering Techniques from the Past

2010-05-31T09:26:00.000-07:00

Journaling is a great way to track your life, and I have kept a daily journal for many years. Although I had begun journaling long before Julia Cameron wrote "The Artist's Way", I made writing three pages a day my daily practice after reading her book. I found that writing three pages of drivel every morning released the chatter in my head so that I could go on to write and do other creative things in my day without dragging the debris of everyday worry into it.

I also wrote my dreams and anything I experienced during contemplation - a form of active meditation that I practice. (Thirty years worth of journals is quite a stack!)

Then I watched this video by Phillip Zimbardo on The Secret Powers of Time and out of the blue I realized I better dig into those journals, pull out the great stuff and ditch the rest. I separated the things I found into five categories: Ideas and concepts, stories, dreams, spiritual experiences and creative partnerships.

In each of those categories I found some interesting jewels. For example before I created the Snapshot of the Big Picture process to help me activate my goals, I used mindmapping to dig more deeply into an idea or new direction. Whenever I was about to make a change, I noted I often had a prophetic dream which gave me a hint of what was coming my way. In many of my early "visions of the future" I drew pictures of the house I would live in one day with my partner, which of course looks exactly like the house I live in today.

There was one particular technique I used repeatedly to help manifest what I wanted: Scott Adams called it the fifteen times exercise. He suggested that when you really wanted something you need to help your mind stay focused on that goal. By writing it down on paper fifteen times you bring it more into your awareness everyday.

“I Scott Adams will become a syndicated cartoonist.”

Here are a few things I have written over the years:
I am healthy, wealthy and wise.
I am a nationally acclaimed comic performer.
I live in balance with my surroundings.
All great things are coming my way.

Take some time to go through your past, pull out techniques you've used before and try them again. Whether you simply saved your calendar, old letters or emails, you can find a treasure trove of things to both let go of and/or reapply in your current life.

What are some of your favorite techniques from the past?

Focusing on What's New to Let Go of What's Old

2010-04-11T11:27:00.000-07:00

Two things I had to let go of this year, bike racing and my dog, McKenzie.
My poor dog had lived 17 years under my care and I am certain she was happy to move on. I was sad to see her go. Ever my teacher, she was incredibly patient and loving with everyone she met.

The bike racing was actually way more complicated to let go of. If you have ever gotten into this or any competitive sport, then you know it can be all consuming. It comes with great rewards; you look great, you feel great, you lose two pants sizes and if you are lucky and having a good day, you can actually feed that competitive monster with a podium placing or two. Having spent most of the last 3 years training or racing or worrying about training, racing or what I was eating or not eating, that was a lot of focus and mind share.

Once I decided not to race anymore, I found that even through I had stopped racing, I hadn't really let go in my head. I still checked results online, texted my team mates before and after races, and forced myself to maintain my fitness. Fitness - that's not a bad thing to keep up, but the "not letting go part" really became just one more distraction.

One of my clients and their teams are preparing for an upcoming move to a new (and spectacular) building. Though they were initially resistant to talking about the change impacts, once they saw what the changes or enhancements actually were, they got that most of them required a mind set shift of one kind or another. They had to "let go" of something to make way for the new.

How do we help ourselves surf change with grace and ease? First, know what is changing and make a full commitment to making it happen. Second, and equally important, release the patterning you have been operating within. While your change might be as simple as altering the route you've been driving to work, by consciously taking the time to recognize and focus on the benefits from what will be different for you, you can actually shift more easily.

For example, weekends used to be about driving 2-3 hours each way for a 30-90 minute bike race. That didn't include preparing for, or recovering from, the race itself. Today, Saturday would normally be a race day. I actually slept in and woke up a much nicer person. :-)

But what to do with those newly empty hours?

The danger in not replacing your old focus with something new, even if that new is relaxation, is your brain will try to track you back to the past, or what you used to have.

This week, take a look at your current patterns and see if there is anything you are currently or wanting to let go of. Why not take action on it now? Remember to find something new to focus on, to help pull you forward into the new experience so you can move more effortlessly into that fun and exciting place of adventure, gratitude and connection.

Be Your Own American Idol

2010-03-19T11:20:00.000-07:00

This year is the first time I have watched American Idol. I know I am way behind on this - here we are in Season 9, most of you watched season 1 and moved on long ago. What I find interesting are the great lessons this show actually offers me (and you) each week:

1. Be perseverant.
To get on this show you have to have some belief in your ability and then you have to sit waiting for your chance to audition - sometimes you are #10 chosen out of 10,000.

2. Be original.

To be able to come back next week whether its on the big or little stage you have to find and know yourself or else contend with the wrath of someone saying, "The problem with you is you don't know who you are and you really better figure that out or you won't be here next week."

3. Give 110% every performance.
Everyday you get a chance to give everything. The people we continue to want to work with or watch on this show are the ones who surprise us, who are really "in" it, who make us "feel" something inside.

4. Be present.
Whatever you are in the midst of right now, why not be as fully in it as you can be, so that you get everything you can out of the lessons, emotions, and experience? When it's not going good, make sure you learn what you need to so you don't end up here again, and if it's great, relish it, knowing that all of it is a cycle. As I tell myself when I'm training, biking or running fast down or up a hill..."what goes up, must come down."

5. Believe in yourself. Be your own American Idol.

No matter whether America (or your boss, colleagues, or clients) vote for you, you have to believe in yourself and what you are doing. In the end, you must be your own biggest fan - constantly reminding yourself that what other people say and believe about you is filtered through their lens. You can listen to advice, and take what aligns with you and your core, but always feel free to leave the rest behind.

I am grateful for everyday I am still able to get up and get on my little stage and do it again. I am certainly thankful to each one of you that show me something new everytime we meet. Thank you, oh and P.S. - I voted for you!

xopatti

Cut Out Empty Calories in Your Brain

2010-02-09T09:16:00.000-08:00

Almost everyday we get some kind of spam mail giving us tips on how by doing x,y, or z, we can cut out empty calories. Thanks! But wouldn't you rather cut out the empty brain calories you ingest everyday? You know what I'm talking about. How about the wasted brainpower you spend worrying about whether your boss likes what you did on that recent project? Perhaps it's that conversation you have in your head figuring out the angle that will finally convince your spouse to throw out those old boxes of high school memorabilia that take up half of your basement.

I am also talking about the empty calories you and I ingest when we allow our brains to stay unfocused. Take email for example. You open your laptop first thing in the morning and what happens? You probably check your email. Why? Maybe it's to feel more connected. For some of us, a full email box makes us feel needed or important. In some cases, our job depends on us checking, it's as simple as that. Or maybe email has just become one of those early morning habits. But empty emails suck up our precious brain power. The brain power it takes to manifest what you want.

What would it be like if you opened your laptop and just started writing, started expressing yourself?

What if your daily ritual was to open a word doc and ask the universe a question? Think about it. What is the one question you would LOVE to have an answer to?

Most of us spend a great portion of our day spinning through empty calories. We open up emails trying to sell us stuff, we read random articles to keep connected to the world, or click a link "to know more" about something. One of the best kept secrets to knowing more about anything is by entering into dialogue with yourself, your more knowledgeable self, your quieter self - through any creative portal.

Imagine for a second that everything you ever wanted or wanted to know was just waiting for you to shift your attention from the analytical, rational, data driven left side of your brain to that expansive, connective, creative, all knowing right side. And all it took was a little creative exercise.

Try it. Draw a picture of your biggest desire, then let yourself bask fully in the imagination of it (like it's a huge sun lamp and you've been living in Seattle).

Write a question on a chalkboard in your mind. Then watch to see who comes into your world today to answer it.

Take time to ingest the kind of creative calories that will feed you long after that bowl of distractions has passed through you. You'll be pleasantly surprised by what happens!

Prioritize to Get It Right

2010-01-17T19:06:00.000-08:00

Goal setting smoal setting. You can set all the goals you want, but if you don't get your mind wrangled around the right priorities, you may as well forget about it.

In David Rock's book Your Brain at Work, Dave talks about the pre-frontal cortex and how easily that tiny little stage gets overwhelmed. The secret to keeping yourself on track is to calm down, slow down and set priorities so that you can actually make progress on the things you really want.

Imagine this scene: you are all hyped about your new goal to stay focused on finishing that _________.
But when you have the time to do something with it, you decide you better check your email just in case...and suddenly that little window of time to get the ________done gets dissipated by drivel.

It's part of what all of us have to deal with in the age of information. So what to do about it?

1. Take a moment to remember what your goals are.
2. Look at the things you need to do.
3. Prioritize them into the ones that are going to require the most brain power first.
4. When you have finished doing that priority one first, go check your email : -)

In my world, I'm all about rewards. You want to mess around on the guitar? Draw a picture? Get that client's drawing down first, then you can go do whatever you want. Before prioritizing, if I got behind on projects, I'd have to claw my way back from distractions to do one small thing. After prioritzing, I had more time for all the fun things and I didn't feel so weighed down by worry.

Next time you feel overwhelmed, try this. Make a list of all the things you need to do. Then figure out which takes the most brain power, put that in the number one spot. Then go through the rest of the list to see where else in your schedule you can do a few other high priority brain items. Between sets take time to go running, call someone, or do something different. Taking a short break allows your brain to recharge.

Goal set, go ahead! But be sure to remember to prioritize so you can get what you really want!

Ringing in the New

2009-12-28T21:55:00.000-08:00

Change is good. Deep change is a process. (I was about to write "deep change is hard" but who wants to manifest that experience?!)

We often forget that the first step to creating the change we want begins with a simple shift in our thinking - from that which we don't want, to more of what we want. You dream it in your mind while stuck in traffic - aaaah a nice vacation on the beach, or oooooo a new and inspiring job.

You can always create positive change for yourself. While I do not understand how fate plays its hand in things, I do know that when I believe I can change things, I can and do. The trick is in getting more of what I want, and less of the other!

I use tricks to help me - images in particular. While I have successfully set goals using collage compiled into a visual of what I want to see in the future, I am an artist and visualizer by trade. One of the things I get paid to do is to draw pictures of people. I draw what they say, what they think, their words, metaphors, dreams, strategies and new desired realities.

What I have found is that when you or any team take the time to draw out what is inside, you lay claim to that which you desire. When a team paints a powerful picture of what they want to see happen, they begin to own it and to see it, both inside their heads and outside on the page. The whole process sends out an internal and external call to life - in some wild and unseen process - and life does what it does best, it responds. Subsequently things change and often quite dramatically.

We are stepping into a new year - 2010.

What would you like to call out for? Whatever it is, consider doing it with intention (that's the drawing the picture of it part) and love (that's the loving every aspect of what you imagine); two things that when combined, create combustion and results.

Many of you have done my Snapshot of the Big Picture process.

Now is a great time to do it again. If you don't remember how it goes, go back to my blog from January of last year and get started ringing in a year full of all the things you want to have.

Add to the visual you create, a bit of night and day dreaming and a little elbow grease.
Then be sure to let me know what happens (I believe that great things will).

Here is wishing you and yours the very best and happiest of new years!

P.S. Please feel free to visit my art on display at Ella Mon in Ballard starting the second weekend in January and into February.

Home for the Holidays

2009-12-16T20:28:00.000-08:00

What's your travel schedule been looking like? Are you insanely scurrying from city to city, country to country in a wild map dance across the globe? This year, why not stay home for the holidays?

I've been living my new core value of when you go shopping - why not go shopping loco! That means this year I'm not going to do my shopping at the mall. I'm going to Ballard, right in my own hood where I know I can find all the right kinds of unique, local made gifts.

Like at Damsalfly. Here I found the best prices for groovy boutique items. I took my friend Scott in there and said "Pick out anything you want." Of course this is a women's boutique shop and there's only one men's rack, but I knew that anything he found for his birthday present would cost around $50. So it was.

Or how about Ella Mon? Now here is a women's boutique shop that carries Farinaz, one of my favorite local designers. AND they happened to have a sale rack on the day I went inside. I found a tux jacket for Julie that is to die for. It was a bargain. The women that work there are incredibly helpful, kind, patient. Go there.

If you want to get your hair cut for a great price, there's Rudy's. If you are hungry there's Bastille or any number of great restaurants. On Ballard Avenue, you can find/have tea, weird toys, stoves, green materials, new and used clothing...up and down the street.

It's all in that one little, NYC style hood. But it's not just Ballard, find out what your neighborhood has to offer. Then offer something back. For Thanksgiving we volunteered with ElderFriends. That was amazing to spend a few hours with a lonely elder person on that holiday. Sure it made me miss my parents, but hey, they're gone. I better find some new ones.

Don't get me wrong, I'm big on travel and I love holiday vacations. But this year, we're staying home, because just like the song says, there's no place like home for the holidays. To all of you who helped to make this year great at Up your Creative Genius, thank you and I hope to see you around town!

(At Swanson's with the REAL REINDEER!)

Aligning Yourself With All That You Are

2009-11-03T06:44:00.000-08:00

In a recent workshop I attended, participants were asked to identify one thing in their world in which they needed to make a change. I admit I really had to search for something, since I love my work and my life. It is filled with freedom and adventure.

When I shone the flashlight into the back of the theatre of my mind as David Rock talks about in his new book Your Brain at Work, I discovered one niggling thought way back in the very last row. While I have been studying the laws of the universe and the spiritual nature of life for over 25 years, I bring a small percent of this into my working sessions. My process has often been to leverage my WOO (winning other's over) strength using humor and commentation at the beginning of the session, and then, when it was safe, introduce one or two of these deeper ideas. I realized here was a great opportunity to bring myself more in alignment with all that I am.

Last week I began opening my sessions by starting from this place of connection, rather than waiting until it was safe. Mindful of other people's freedom, I simply began by stating something like, "There is a world cafe concept which says there are no accidents. That you are the right people, right now, who have come together to discuss and answer these questions." I opened another session with a story about Krazy George and the start of the Wave, a story that is both humorous and poignant and illustrates a deeper message.

And??! By offering the opportunity to connect at a deeper level first, the sessions started from a more honest place. It was as if this different kind of opening stilled the anxiety that often occurs at the start of the session when participants are wondering if this day is going to go well. My aha? Be all that you are! (doh!)

I invite you to reflect on the current state of your life and work. Ask yourself, "Where can I take a risk and bring more of myself into what I am doing?" Then jump off that diving board into the pool of something new and up your creative genius. I look forward to hearing what you find!

Want to Save Your Brain? Visually Prioritize Your Priorities!

2009-10-11T16:59:00.000-07:00

There is a new book out by David Rock called Your Brain At Work. I have been awaiting this book's release for a couple of months because it was touted to be a great book on neuroscience that actually can help you figure out how to work better. They were right. This book is great.

One of the coolest descriptions in the book is Rock's description of the Prefrontal Cortex; which is the part of the brain that helps us decide what to do, among other things. He describes the prefrontal cortex as like a stage that actors use. The actors that enter from the sides are the external stimulus that we see, experience, etc. The actors who enter the stage from the audience are the conversations we have going on with different parts of ourselves. All of these "actors" can interact with each other. When we try to remember something from the past, depending upon how far back or how hard it is to remember, it is like a person sitting in a dark seat way off in the corner of the theater that we have to search for to shine a light on and talk with.

Why is this analogy important? Well each of these interactions or actions, whether it is the actors interacting on the stage or the act of remembering something, takes up our brain's energy. Come to find out that stage is TINY. It can only hold about 4 things on it at the same time. When you and I open our computers and the emails flood in, and we add to that all of the things we need to do while taking care of our home lives, schedule, hobbies, exercise, etc...we can become instantly overwhelmed. Too many actors on stage! That's why sometimes we'd rather just shut the lid and go eat breakfast, or go back to bed.

Rock suggests that the greatest thing we can do for our brains is to take time first thing in the morning to "prioritize our priorities." This act relieves our brain of trying to figure out which of the actors or interactions on stage to shine the light on. Rock also suggests that the best way to prioritize...is to VISUALIZE what you need to do by either drawing it out, seeing it in your mind, and putting it down on paper. The visuals create order and understanding.

Take a moment right now to test this tip for yourself. Write, draw, see the things you need to do, and then decide which one takes the most amount of energy and attention and do that thing first! Save your brain for what's most important. See if you can't up your creative genius by optimizing your brain's power for better results!

What the Brainiacs Know About Creative Genius

2009-09-25T08:15:00.000-07:00

Brain scientists know that you are going to remember only 1 thing in about 10 that I write here.
AND I am going to need to make it memorable with a story, a picture, and something stimulating!

John Medina says I am going to have to repeat it again in 90 minutes for it to truly lodge in your memory.
That's right and then AGAIN in 90 minutes and again 90 minutes after that. That could make for a really long blog post. (Well no wonder they run that Geiko ad so many times.)

In a TED talks 18 minute presentation on creativity, Elizabeth Gilbert shared her view on creative genius. She reminded us that the Greeks and Romans believed creative genius to be separate from you, and flowed through you into the universe. This separate thing removed you from being responsible if your art or idea was "good" or "not so good" when it manifested itself. If you didn't think it was great, you simply blamed it on your creative muse. You were simply the vehicle through which creativity or inspiration expressed itself.

In her talk, Gilbert told a story about a long time poet who told her how poems would come to her. She said, "I would be working in the fields and I'd hear the poem come thundering my way and I would run as fast as I could to get into the house and grab a pen and paper to catch that poem as it came through me. Sometimes I would miss it and it would go on down the road looking for another poet to write it down. Other times I would catch just the tail end of the poem and I would pull it back through my body onto the page. At those times, the poem would come out perfectly, but backwards."

What about this do I want you to remember? That you are off the hook and free to explore and express what is at this very moment coming through you. Take time to run into your house, grab your own creative idea by the tail and pull it back into your world. The world will be a better place for it.

Up your Creative Genius

Getting New Things to Happen

2009-09-05T09:24:00.001-07:00

Since the business launch, I have gotten a lot of questions...how is this different from what you did before? etc. My favorite response is, "That's top secret!" heh heh heh!

In fact, while I get the new website up, I have been doing some testing with my teams. Here's what we've been up to:

Rocket Launching - Having FUN

Did you know that you can shoot a rocket 1000 feet into the air with a bike pump? You have to check this out!

Email Launching - Making CONNECTIONS

Not to bore you, but I felt compelled to hand write each and every client and person on my email list. That was a tip from @chrisbrogan. Wow. Okay honestly I'm still on the "r"s, but guess what? Almost everyone wrote me back. (and only 2 wanted off my list ;-)

Idea Launching - Validating WHAT'S NEW

For months I have been devouring books on neuroscience in hopes that I could recommend that "one book" to you that would validate and encapsulate all I have been testing with creativity. To be honest, I haven't seen a lot of "new" ideas.

Frankly, the best concepts remain the same:

1. If you want to create change, tell a compelling story filled with images and metaphors with a clear way for your audience to grab hold and make the change happen.

2. What people believe determines the outcome. Remember the teachers who were told that their underachievers were "gifted" students? A year later, those same students she worked with, tested as truly "gifted".

3. What if we apply Bateson's testing to teams? Bateson ran tests with dolphins to "drive them crazy." First he gave them rewards when they performed a series of tricks, then he withheld the reward to see what they'd do in hopes they would "go crazy". Guess what? They did, but after a short period of going crazy, they created completely new tricks.

Hmmmm, this indicates to me that to possibly get new ideas, you have to challenge people by creating a little dissonance.

Here's a few tips I tried with one of my high tech teams:

Warn them what they are about to do is something they never have before - this scares them a little.
Put them into a creative environment that is outside their comfort zone. (I call this creative waterboarding)
Challenge them to solve a problem that (in their current roles) they have no control over.
Watch them implode, then explode. Result? Amazing new solutions and ideas.
Reward them with food.

Idea generation...not brain science? Or is it? Until next time...

Up Your Creative Genius!

Up your Creative Genius

2009-08-10T15:01:00.001-07:00

After 10 years of working with my fantastic partners, Chris Chopyak and Lois Todd in our company Alchemy: The Art of Transforming Business, I have decided to do something different. (Not that I don't always do something different, but this time I wanted to do something REALLY different.)

I have turned over the reins for Alchemy to them and launched a new venture, Up your Creative Genius.

What most of you have been asking me is "How can I be more creative in my life, with my teams and in my company? How can I do that?"

Up your Creative Genius is my answer. Since I'm all about sending links or tips on how you can get what you want, here's a few to start you thinking about how you can Up your Creative Genius today:

1. Pay attention to what parts of your world are in a state of status quo and when (and why) you choose to let them remain there.
2. Step out of your comfort zone every single day.
3. Push yourself beyond what feels easy to do. (If you are a runner, sprint 3x in your workouts. If you are in IT, learn to paint. If you are a creative, balance your checkbook.)
4. Play as much as you can - if you need to use your kids as an excuse, play games, sports, and silly childish games that make you laugh with them often.
5. Draw your ideas on a whiteboard or napkin or on the back of your hand.

And when you find yourself getting stuck, give a call. Up your Creative Genius has tons of ideas for how you can accelerate what you are doing right now to take it up a notch into the stratosphere of your choosing.

Freedom - the Heart of Change

2009-05-24T07:35:00.000-07:00

Recently when I was facilitating a world cafe conversation on spirituality I felt something in my world start to shift. I couldn't quite call out what or why this major change needed to occur, I just knew intuitively it had to.

"Now what?" I asked myself. Here is where it got quite tricky. While I didn't know what I was transitioning into, I knew that at the heart of this change was a need for more freedom.

Freedom is a hot topic with my clients. Oftentimes it is the lack of freedom that creates a kind of unrest in employees. While leaders want the job done well, a lack of trust can also cause managers to over manage employees. That takes away their freedom.

Inhibiting freedom isn't just about micromanaging. It's also about

allowing people to set their own schedules, identify their own way to get work done, letting them go when they need a change, or helping them shift their role in the company. In a recent work/life balance interactive I ran, I was amazed by all of the images of freedom that showed up in their desired states. Even a February 2009 Time magazine article described the younger generation of Millenials as demanding freedom. Why shouldn't they have it?

While you may not always know how change will shape your world, or what next adventure you or your team members will be stepping into, give yourself and those around you freedom of choice. From this place everyone feels the expansiveness to explore, examine and choose wisely their next move.

You may be surprised at the ease in which the right change will occur.

Try Something New With Your Mind

2009-03-21T05:55:00.000-07:00

Okay I confess, I'm a junkie for new ideas. I love trying new things especially when they make me feel slightly uncomfortable. I get pure joy out of stretching myself beyond what I think is possible and what I believe I know to be the "truth". I often read GoodVibeBlog because the author, Jeanette Maw, GoodVibeCoach, has some fantastic ideas that usually stretch my thinking. They also marry perfectly with visual goal setting or what Byron at Bikehugger calls my "visualizer."

This edition of Jeanette's blog was about how to use the money mantra to bring more of what you want your way. "Hmmm, money mantra, everyone needs a little abundance", I thought and so I tried it. Her blog suggested that you chant this mantra 108 times for 108 days. I knew that wouldn't probably happen, but chanting just once couldn't hurt. So I plopped down on my couch and chanted this mantra for approximately 108 times (I confess I didn't really count), and then I got up, answered some emails and forgot all about it.

What followed was a rather hellacious week of work which took me from Seattle to DC to LA to Denver then LA again and then home in a span of 7 days of solid facilitation or graphic capture. I didn't have time to think about anything except sleep, food, and exercise because this time of year I am obsessed with my cycling training. But when Friday rolled around, I had somehow landed a total of seven new consulting projects. Two were with brand new clients and the others were referrals from the work I had done or collaborators who needed my help. "Wow", I thought at the end of this, "Where did that come from?" Then I remembered the money mantra. Now those of you who live in the world of rational thinking might pooh pooh this money chant thing, but here's what I say to that part of myself...get your mind out of the way! In this economy, everyone needs more abundance!

The second unique thing I tried was a free session with Penelope Bell called "mind clearing". She has been using our Snapshot of the Big Picture template in her workshops and I wanted to have a better understanding of what she did with her clients. There I am in her office get

ting a little mind clearing done, which felt a lot like giving the sink a good scrubbing, except it was with your mind. By using a series of repeated phrases, mind clearing actually unearths the truth about something that has been buried under the beliefs your mind has been forming over the years. What was particularly noticeable was how free I felt after my session with her. It was like Mr. Clean

had been in the house.

Whether you are a new thing junkie or not, I don't need to remind you, (but I will), that your mind is a powerful thing. It can draw things to you or keep them at bay all based on what you think. Whether you know it or not, your mind is reformatting itself every nanosecond you exist. Trying new things helps you dislodge old beliefs and create break-through experiences that reformat your brain. So go on, try something new, what have you got to lose? It's only your mind!

Trusting Your True North in Uncertain Times

2009-02-25T08:21:00.000-08:00

When things slow down or we feel uncertain, as is typical with uncertain times like those we are currently experiencing, the first thing people often do is start to question themselves or what they are doing. "I'm doing all the right things, why isn't my business growing? Maybe I just better go get a job," I hear small business owners say. "Perhaps this isn't the direction I am supposed to go in," is another common comment that often finds its way into coaching sessions.

Truth has its own timing. When you are in alignment with your own True North, you may find that the circumstances you desire take time to show up. So what do you do while things are getting in the "right" position for you to step into or new doors to open?

Be patient, but don't just wait around. In my 30+ years of being self employed, the greatest thing I found to help bind my anxiety was "Action ceases panic." I would make a list of the things I wanted and was working towards, and then I would brainstorm all the small and large actions I could take to help bring them into the world. That list often included: networking in new areas or with new groups of people, learning a new skill that would help me be a better consultant and leader, or offering my services to people or companies who could not afford them. These activities often got me additional visibility and new connections.

But there was one additional thing that I did to keep myself focused and aligned. I would sit down, close my eyes and ask the universe to show me what was the next thing I was supposed to do. This simple, but potent act, helped me to reconnect to my own True North and also restored my faith and reminded me that the universe was always acting on my behalf. I simply needed to trust that fact and keep focused on my goal(s).

What do you do when you are feeling uncertain? See if you don't have a set of tips you can share with others too - email them to your colleagues and friends, you can bet they will be happy to get them!

ReWiring Your Brain

2009-02-09T11:58:00.000-08:00

This year more than ever, my clients have been complaining about feeling distracted by a multitude of issues. The news, the political shifts, organizational cut backs, restructuring, lay-offs have taken up a lot of their time and energy in our "new economy". Did you know that you can change your response to these shifts in your environment?

According to Dr. Ellen Weber, you can tweak your amygdala (that tiny sac of neurons responsible for reactions) and make it work for you. "Simply act deliberately in the opposite direction of any negative or moody feelings," she suggests. She also encourages you to disagree with the brain in mind which rewires your brain.

You can also change your brain by using a visual image of that which you want versus don't want. What do you want to experience? Calm? Clarity? Control? (yeah, right!) How about creativity? Shift your brain by imagining what it would be like to be completely feeling that feeling, no matter what your outer experience is like. Get into it, that's right, crawl inside.

Now let's add a visual to accelerate bringing what you do want to you. Imagine yourself using this quality effortlessly in your world. Hold that image as long as you can until you actually relax into it and begin to "daydream" about other ways of using it. Let's turn up the heat in that daydream by adding a symbol that will help keep you on track in your daily life, when you are not daydreaming.

Imagine that someone you know and trust enters the scene in your mind carrying a gift box in their hands. Hear them say, "Inside this box is a symbol that represents what you most want right now in your life for you to use as a tool in your outside world." Take the box from them, open it up and see what is inside.

When you keep your critic, judge, paternal adult out of the room of your imagination, you will actually see something in that box. If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. Do this exercise until you do see something. If you are not successful after a day or two, ask for something to stand out in your everyday life to let you know that IT is your symbol. Each time you see that symbol, it will remind you to refocus on that quality, thing or goal that you want.

Your mind is a powerful tool. It needs you to refocus it on what is most important. With all of the flurry of change that is now a constant state, it is up to you to take the helm of your mind and rewire it, and in every moment, you can.

Deja Vu? Have You Considered Hooking Up With Your Past?

2009-01-27T21:21:00.000-08:00

Okay I was skeptical. One day I got an email from someone I "sort of" knew in high school wanting to connect for coffee. "We live in the same town, why not connect?" she suggested. I was the same age as her brother, but I still had a picture of her perched on the backseat of my top down VW convertible in the parade for our rivalry football game in the Rose Bowl. Debi Frausto.

With some hesitation I agreed to meet her for coffee, despite being slightly worried that this was going to be like my ten year reunion; awkward and weird - coffee with someone I had glommed onto in high school for pure survival. When we greeted each other, I noticed she seemed a little nervous too. After about thirty minutes, I started to remember why we had been friends. Now in 2008, she was way cooler than my memories. An added benefit was that she had lived in Seattle a long time and seemed to know everyone. I was still trying to grow Alchemy's business here in Seattle.

One by one, Debi introduced me to some of her network, each person more creative, smart and unique than the last. These "contacts" gave me new ideas, leads, hired me for work, and made my head spin with delight. When I landed my first job through a contact of hers, I asked Debi if she wanted a referral fee? "No, I just like connecting people," she replied. How lucky was I? New work contacts and a really cool new/old friend who was always scheming new ideas and projects. Finally I gave her a copy of Now Discover Your Strengths so I could know what made her so good at networking. She, in turn, gave me more contacts and a terrible picture of me from high school for Christmas. Bleeech!

When your high school "friends" send you a note to connect, how do you respond?

What was your experience? I'd love to hear about it. If you haven't connected yet, it might be well worth your time, you may end up as pleasantly surprised as I was.

Dreaming Your New Reality From the Inside Out

2009-01-13T15:06:00.000-08:00

Last week I introduced you to how to use the Snapshot of the Big Picture map to set goals. In the snapshot process, you embed drawings and words of what you want in your new desired reality into the right side of the snapshot template. Then you determine some bold steps you need to take to get yourself there. This is just the first part of the equation for successful goal achievement. To fully realize your dream, you must live it from the inside out with the full belief that this is your new reality; you have become that which you dream.

I know, I know, things don't always happen in the time frame you expected. Since we live in an age of instantaneous results, it is hard to wait for things to happen. In the absence of tangible proof, many of us begin to question the process; problem-solve and subsequently "think it to death." Instead of spinning your wheels worrying "Am I am doing this right?", I have another suggestion for you: step more deeply into that new reality you created in your map and dream it from the inside out. David Bohm in his work on quantum physics Thought As a System wrote "Thought is constantly creating problems (that way) and then trying to solve them. But as it tries to solve them it makes it worse because it doesn't notice that it's creating them, and the more it thinks, the more problems it creates." (p. 18-19) Don't think it to death, dream it to life.

You've had that experience where you were reading a good book and then suddenly you began to feel like you were living that story, you may have even wished the book would never end, that you never had to come back out. Recently I read a blog post by writer, Kim Falconer, someone I have been following on Twitter. In her post Immersion, Bringing Readers Into Your World, Kim writes "If you experience the participation mystique in the act of creation, your readers will in turn be affected in the same way. This is where the magic happens, where we immerse in a world co-created by author and reader."

In the same way, when you become immersed in and begin to experience your own desired new reality and fully live it like a fantastic story, it begins to take on a life of its own. Suddenly one day you wake up and it is no longer a dream you had to be a _______, it is what you are now. You and I accelerate making our dreams real when we access the "as if" principle; living the dream as if it is our reality, until it becomes so. Life is both a push and a pull, a push from your part that creates a pull in the universe, bringing all that you want to you. Sound complicated? Remember these lyrics? "Row, row, row your boat gently down the stream, merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily, life is but a dream." Why not live inside your dream? Gently. Merrily. Sounds a lot easier to me than worrying all the time, doesn't it?

Take your Snapshot to a new level. Look at the images and words you have put on the right side of your template and then begin to imagine living within it with every ounce of your being. Now watch the Alchemy as it takes shape - your life now; part science, part magic.

The Alchemy of Planning

2009-01-05T04:30:00.001-08:00

You've heard the myth that extensive planning breeds the best results? At Alchemy we are involved in all types of planning, but extensive, tedious - that strategic plan that becomes a book and remains on the shelf - isn't one of them. We believe that by marrying visuals with a simple planning process you can build the excitement and commitment to get you better and faster results. Each of our alchemists work with individuals, teams and organizations around the world to help them kick-start their engines of change and burn rubber taking off in that new direction.

How can you accelerate change in yourself, your team, or your company? We have developed and refined a process called the Snapshot of the Big Picture. In short, getting a snapshot of where you are right now, your Current State, where you want to be one year from today in the best possible Desired New Reality, and identifying the 3 Bold Steps that will get you from here to there. Rocket science? Not likely. Download the template above and try it for yourself.

All of us make plans in our head. At Alchemy, we marry this naturally intuitive process with an external visual to accelerate making that "picture in your mind" happen. In our work, we actually draw on huge pieces of paper 4' by 8', and that picture packs a powerful punch. But even if you are simply using a small visual like the template above, when you put that visual in a place where you can see it everyday and take action on your 3 bold steps, stuff happens. That's the alchemical process - part science and part magic. Check out what people have been saying about using our Snapshot of the Big Picture process and let us know how it worked for you.

When It Comes to Getting Advice, To Thine Own Self Be True

2008-11-23T14:04:00.000-08:00

People love to give advice. No matter what I am doing or interested in doing in the future, if I share my idea or “what’s up with me” with someone else, they always have something to say about it. Some of the things they share are cautionary and come from a fear based perspective, others are supportive, expansive, and often take my idea to a higher level. No matter which perspective their advice comes from, I try to remember whatever I am hearing is only information and I can do with it what I will.

Now if I followed everyone’s advice, I would currently be sporting straight brown hair, an extensive tattoo all the way down my left arm, have had lasik surgery 18 times, made and lost my fortune that came from my extensive career as an engineer specializing in concrete innovations like coffee laden barista mugs sporting pictures of the goddess superimposed onto the face of a famous basketball star. Need I say how critical it is to do only the things you think will be successful?

Case in point, recently I’ve been shopping around for an agent to represent my book. I’ve gotten lots of interest from agents across the country and I have been selectively responding, sending my proposal only to those, who after some research, seem to me to be a “good fit”.

I got a call from Mike Ebeling www.ebelingagency.com who gave me some great feedback on how to improve my proposal. Since I am well aware how easily I am influenced by OPO (other people’s opinions), I knew that the most important thing I could do was to take in his advice, be gracious and see if what he had said “rang true” for me. He had kindly said something like, “You really need to bump up everything you are doing to the next level. Look at your client list, Starbucks, Microsoft, Gates Foundation, you need to get them to endorse that book!” He gave me specifics on what else he thought I should do, and kindly sent me a sample of something he thought might paint a clear picture of what he meant.

One of my core Buckingham strengths www.strengthsfinder.com is INPUT, so when it comes to tips and tools and blogs and posts and samples and examples of the things I should know about, I typically shout, “BRING IT ON!”

Once I have gathered and read what feels like “enough” information, I ask myself, “Is this the right choice for me?” Seems like a simple enough question, and it is unless you have some kind of relationship with the person giving you that advice and are worried that by not following their tips, you may jeopardize that relationship. It can pretty much derail you when you try to heed anyone else’s opinion over your own. Letting yourself be ruled by the thinking of another often leads to no where fast.

Once I have settled on the right decision for me, then I take action to get whatever it is done right away. In this case, I upgraded my personal website www.pattidobrowolski.com found someone to help produce a broadcast quality video www.threechicksmedia.com and I cashed in a few favors with my layout pal Brad, to help make that proposal look ultra-snazzy! All of that will take about two weeks to complete but at the end, thanks to Mike’s advice, I will be upgraded.

What process do you use to filter or integrate advice? It’s your boat out there in the water and you sink or swim accordingly. My advice to you, (if you want anymore of it), is to make sure you take all the time in the world to make decisions that are right for you and above all To Thine Own Self Be True.

I Just Called To Say…

2008-10-24T13:55:00.000-07:00

What is valuable to you? Is it your stuff? Your job?

To me it is other people. I like to connect with other people. I also like to acknowledge great work, even if I don’t know the person who did it.

One way I have recently been using to connect to other people is through Twitter www.twitter.com, which is like an instant messaging technology that you can join and use to follow and be followed. I’ve been following my favorites to see what they are up to during their day, like Dan Pink and Lance Armstrong. People can also follow you back when you “tweet” about what you are up to (send an instant message) and know what you are up to as well.

I was very flattered when Guy Kawasaki started following me. I was still flattered after I discovered that he was following me and 25,000 other people. Silly I know, but hey, we all like to be seen (and followed). At first, I couldn’t figure out the value of Twitter…and then I started to click on the links people were sending and learned about some cool new stuff they were into. You can also see where people live and what interests them when you follow them around.

Last week I found a whole other layer of value to Twitter when I used it to send a message to someone whose work I really liked AND who also lived in my neighborhood. And guess what? I got a message back. From who? Lee LeFever at Commoncraft.

CommonCraft http://www.commoncraft.com is the brainchild of Lee and Saachi LeFever. They make educational videos on stuff we need to know about…like social networking and their latest video on Phishing. I like their videos so much I called Lee up just to say hello. I did tell him about who we were and that we drew and if he ever needed an artist to let me know. But that was just a typical “businessy” thing that I felt compelled to do. I honestly wanted to know if it was just him and Saachi over there making these videos. I was pleasantly surprised to hear it was.

It was just a short call, to say hello and I appreciated that he took the time to talk with me. Later I wondered, was that why he took my call? Because he is committed to making money AND really lives the value of work/life balance – subsequently he could take the time to just have a conversation?

Right now we are at a crucial time in our world. The press is having a field day between the election and the economy. Me? I’m still watching the world series and trying to stay calm and keep my head clear while things get sorted out. AND I am still making connections with new people that I think are cool and telling them so.

So while the world turns, why not pick out someone you think is doing something really great, stop what you are doing just to send them an email or give them a call to say, “You are great. You are inspiring me, thank you.” It might make their day. Or it might make your day to have a brief, friendly conversation with someone else who is trying to make a difference in the world.

Thanks for all that YOU are doing!

You Say Dubai & I Say Hello

2008-09-10T20:21:00.000-07:00

What does the Middle East need the most? You were thinking maybe a little peace and quiet? Heck no! How about Dubai! Who doesn’t need a huge shopping mall where you can ski indoors? Why not a city in the middle of desert with the most outrageous architecture and hotels to be found? Better yet, why not funnel mounds of cash to create a Middle East Las Vegas (sans gambling) where globetrotting tourists can shop and tan? While businesses from around the world make a mad dash to grab a foothold, the native people of Dubai watch in shock and awe.

My waitress was from the Philippines. My doorman was from Thailand. My taxi drivers were Pakistani. The business group I was consulting with focuses on expediting business expansion into all parts of the world from port entry to real estate to construction to maintenance. “How do you like Dubai? Is this your first time here?” people would ask. How could I tell them I felt both amazed and crazed all at the same time.

When I decided to walk the 1/4-mile to a neighboring hotel, the doorman told me, “It’s not safe.” Why? I wondered. Was it because I was a foreigner? No. Because I was a woman? No. I couldn’t pin them down, so off I trod into the dusty night air. By the time I had gotten to my destination, my nicely pressed shirt was sopping wet from the heat, my shoes were filled with dirt from the construction and I had almost gotten killed crossing the street when a bus full of workers unexpectedly careened around the corner at breakneck speed. Suffice it to say I took a taxi back.

But like so many others, I was Svengalied by Dubai – so many cultures, so much rapid change, so many opportunities. Four years ago the spot where my hotel stood (and 13 other hotels, shopping malls and corporate housing sites) had been a vast desert wasteland. For someone whose Strengthfinder's profile includes the top strength of Activation, I was duly impressed. Construction is 24/7 and despite the noise, dust and din, everyone is friendly. Well, why not? No matter where you are from, you are employed. Better yet, if your current job doesn’t work out, hey no worries, there are a thousand more to be had.

Still I couldn’t help but wonder, is this kind of capitalist indulgence all that great? The discrepancy between the haves and have nots has pushed the natives and workers to neighboring towns to live where they squeeze six to eight bachelors into a studio apartment. There is a constant parade of busses in and out of Dubai packed with workers for all the construction and service jobs. Want a little work life balance? Don't go to Dubai. When I asked my driver what he liked to do for fun he said, “I don’t think I have time for fun ma’am.” Taxi drivers work a minimum of 12-hour shifts 7 days a week shuttling business people, tourists, and workers- who have missed their busses - to and fro while the city expands and rises overnight. Want a monorail? No problem. Dubai's will be completed in less than two years from its inception.

Despite having already worked 12 hours, my particular taxi driver returned to my hotel to pick me up so I could “tour” Dubai at 8:30 at night when my own long working session was finished. He suggested I see the big mall. There I found the shopping was insane and non-stop. It was packed with people eating, drinking and gawking at others skiing the indoor slopes of Ski Dubai. I thought I might have a second to swim in the Gulf after work the next day, so I stopped to see if I could find a cheap swimsuit in the Nike store. Cheap? Not quite. In addition, it was a complete feeding frenzy, the lines were too long to purchase anything.

Back in the cab, my taxi driver drove me to all the famous hotels, newly planted harbors and finally the beach at the Gulf, stopping there so I could snap a photo and put my feet in the water. Two hours later, when he dropped me at the Buddha Bar to eat dinner, I asked him what was an appropriate tip for our evening's jaunt. He put on his best, “I am just a humble guy” demeanor, bowed his head and asked for an outrageous tip. I had just spent two hours talking with him about his wife and family in Pakistan, heard his stories of his goal to stay just one more year to be able to finally (8 years later) return home with enough money to buy his own house, in his own country. I’ll bet you can guess what I did.

Alchemy Becomes A Make Mine A Million$ Business Awardee

2008-07-02T09:06:00.000-07:00

In June, Nell Merlino's program, Make Mine a Million$ Business - dedicated to growing 1 million women owned businesses to the $1 million dollar mark came to Seattle. I was busy promoting the program through WBO because I thought it was a great program and had heard about it from one of our marketing consultants a couple of years ago. On one of the informational calls I participated in, I realized that Alchemy actually qualified to apply to the program. We had one week to get our packet together and our whole team scurried around and got our materials submitted in the nick of time.

Amazingly enough, we became a finalist! Alright! That meant that I had to prepare a 3 minute pitch that gave info on our company and talk about why we should become an awardee. 16 finalists arrived at the Seattle Center to rehearse together the day before our event. It was a little like American Idol. The "mock judges" panel included Merlino herself, Hilary Blair (acting coach from the Denver Center of the Performing Arts), and a number of other "experts" who were working on the event watched our presentations and critiqued us. All of the 16 of us were mortified by the end of the day, and knew we had to go home and work our butts off to deliver something great at the next day's event. We also got the line-up of what order we would deliver our pitches. As luck would have it, I would be first. Gulp. Needless to say it was a late night.

The event the next day was spectacular - the key note speakers (including the Governor) very inspiring and there were lots of give-aways for participants including stuff from JetBlue and Dell and American Express, FedEx, the Seattle Storm, Starbucks. Then came the competition. I went first and thankfully NAILED IT as did almost all of the other finalists. The audience had a sheet with all of our pictures on it and they voted on the top three who they thought were the best. There were also a panel of judges there from women owned businesses in the PNW. In the end, after much suspense and more key noting, eight awardees were chosen and Alchemy was one of them! Wow!

This adventure has only begun to unfold for us with all of the contacts, networking and amazing packages to help us grow our business from a team of great sponsors including OPEN American Express, Dell, Cisco, FedEx to name only a few. One of the coolest parts were the other awardees that I met there. All of these women are so amazing that I feel like Alchemy has just stepped into a bigger room. Thanks to all of you that encouraged us to participate! What a blast!

Please check out the M3 website and if you know other women business owners that you think should apply, please pass the info on to them. Let's help Nell Merlino hit that 1 million goal! www.makemineamillion.org

Graphic Recording for the Dalai Lama? Priceless.

2008-04-22T06:43:00.000-07:00

Every so often an opportunity arises that is so unbelievably compelling that you can't possibly consider turning it down. Graphic recording for the Dalai Lama was one of those opportunities. It started with an email from someone I had met once, who never had seen my work as a strategic illustrator who invited me to be part of a team to record for all of the events while his holiness the Dalai Lama was in Seattle speaking about compassion. "A team?", I thought, "I thought I was the only graphic recorder in the PNW." Come to find out there were four others, three men who all had beautiful styles of drawing, and a fourth, who considered herself a new graphic recorder who created these amazing photographs of both her work and all of the work that was created by other artists and participants at the event.

After a few preliminary meetings to determine what and how we would work together, the five of us divided the work amongst our team to capture in words and images each of the sessions. Here's a few of our key learnings:

Be flexible like Gumby.

Even though we had passes to every event, sometimes they wouldn't allow us to set up a drawing area or they didn't understand what we were doing so would relegate us to a weird corner or behind a wall. No problem, graphic recorders are flexible!

Listen deeply.

The great thing that we decided early on was that two people would record each session. I think we had originally envisioned that one person would draw and the other assist with coloring or adding pastel to the drawing as it progressed. What we found worked better was if one of the two of us was more prone to capturing words and images (like Steven and myself) we would focus on capturing the content, while the other team member (Tim or Keith) would listen for the additional metaphors. What emerged was a beautiful combination that appealed to different learning styles.

Allow yourself to be moved.

As a graphic recorder, your job is to be the vehicle for the event and everything that occurs in the dialogue passes through you and onto these 4'x8' sheets of paper in pen and pastel or any variety of tools you might prefer to use. Your role is to synthesize and capture what comes to you without censoring of content while remaining as true to the discussion as possible. Sometimes the power of what was said by the Dalai Lama or any of the other panelists was so moving, I'd find that I would burst into tears and just had to keep drawing and writing through it. Afterwards, many people came up to each of our drawings in the sessions and literally steeped themselves in the words and images. "This is what I saw too, when he said that!," people would say. Tim and I talked about it when we were walking back to the car after one of the sessions and he said, "There is no better place for us to be than in this moment right here, right now, we are the vehicle for the images that exist in the group's subconscious."

Show up, be present and ask for what you need.

After five days of sessions, the five of us were exhausted. Despite our long hours, working together with the Seeds of Compassion volunteers, we were able to relieve and support each other. Because most sessions were done in a team, there was plenty of time to reflect and laugh about the things we experienced each day and get a break in the middle if we needed one. The theme for the Dalai Lama's visit was "Compassion" so we worked to live that value with ourselves and others and filled our moments of service with as much compassion as we could muster.

On the final day's session, I was fortunate to capture for the Spirituality Panel - Hec Ed at the University of Washington. The panel was composed of the Dalai Lama, Archbishop Tutu and other spiritual leaders from many different religions around the world. From the moment this session began, we were filled with the power and love for all of life that these spiritual beings held. Together we learned and sang the song "Seeds of Compassion" which iced the cake of this delicious experience for all of our team.

"We are the seeds of compassion, we're ready to sow the seeds of compassion, right now!"

Thank you to our team of recorders:

Timothy Corey, Keith McCandless, Steven Wright, Nancy White

For more information and our images go to:

wiki.seedsofcompassion.org

Or Nancy's site:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/choconancy/page4

Or Keith's site:

http://picasaweb.google.com/keithmccandless/SeedsofCompassion12345?authkey-293gqkuvZ9A

Missing the Cone?

2008-03-14T05:30:00.000-07:00

The bike racing season has begun! I have spent all winter training for the race season which just started, which leads me to "missing the cone." One of the great and grueling races is something called a time trial (TT) which many deem "the race of truth" because it is just you on this 12km to 40km route trying to beat the time clock by pedaling your little heart out. I enjoy the TT's because I don't have to worry about crashing into anyone else; there is no one on the road but you and the people who have started the TT either 30 seconds in front or 30 seconds behind you. BUT there are a few things that are critical in this race - one being the turnaround point or, "the cone in the road" that indicates you need to turn around and go back the other direction where a person stands with a stopwatch and marks your time as you whiz (hopefully) past the finish line.

So the first TT was exciting! I had signed up so early that I was actually going to start this race 2nd. Uh oh, not a great place, because that means you only have one person in front of you that you could potentially pass on the road - which is one indicator that you are riding really well. In my case, I passed that person who started 1st after about 100 yards, he was so dang slow. Then before long, the other, faster riders began to pass me, which I knew in advance would happen, because hey, they are CAT 1 riders and I am CAT 4, so I just pretended they were little bunnies and I was a greyhound. WHAT I DIDN'T EXPECT was to not know where the cone was in the road. I saw this little cone off to the right but USUALLY the cone is in the middle of the road and someone is standing there with a sign yelling at you "This is the turnaround point!" But remember, I started 2nd, so they are kind of just getting set up. Bummer, clearly I MISSED the cone. I check my odometer to see I have ridden almost 1 km too far. I quickly turn around and haul ass back to that finish line knowing my time won't be accurate now, and there is no chance to place in the top 10 because I missed the cone. : - (

Wow. Once I have caught my breath, I immediately ride to the starting line and let the officiators know about the problem at the turnaround and to GET ON IT so other riders don't make my same mistake. Then, I ride back to the warm up area to warn my team. After I have cooled down, I ride back to that same starting point to see if any changes have been made and then give a status update to my teammates who have not started yet.

"Missing the cone" - what a great metaphor for what we do in business when we aren't totally sure where we are going with our teams, with our plans, etc. In the facilitation and planning work Alchemy does with teams everyday, we believe preparation is critical to everyone's success. We work side by side with clients to imagine, rehearse, envision where we are going and then run scenarios to ensure we know exactly what might happen. Once we run a session, we circle back to ensure necessary course corrections are made and keep our client teams updated with any changes to the plan. All of these things add up to ensuring great success.

Here are a few questions to consider with your planning team so you don't "miss the cone":

Do we know where this session, plan, process is going?

Have we done the kind of preparation necessary to feel confident about how it will go?

Are the right people involved in the planning and follow-up process?

Have the outcomes been clarified and is the road for our work clearly marked?

How will we know we have been successful?

It was just one TT in a long season of opportunites, so I know I have plenty of other races to test my fitness and improve my time. And you can bet I will take to heart the great lessons I got from missing that dang cone.

Is Your Client Base All It Could Be?

2008-02-17T05:35:00.000-08:00

Every so often I open a book that is so helpful and engaging that I actually read it all the way through. "Book Yourself Solid" by Michael Port is one of those jewels. Port's book follows a simple, effective process to help you truly understand the service you are providing to your clients, learn to clearly articulate it, and fully develop your client relationship. This week I attended a PR and media workshop (not related to this book) to ready me for interviewing with multiple types of media for the book release. "Book Yourself Solid" had completely prepared me for the brutal "mock" interviews I was subjected to. I knew what my customers needed, I knew what I had to offer and how to say it without bumbling around and losing their attention.

If you are wanting better client relationships or to expand your client base, I highly recommend this book. Here are just a few of the insights I picked up:

1. Create a "velvet rope" strategy for which of your clients you want to work with. Determine the criteria for your ideal clients and review your client list to see which are "duds" that drain you dry. Then create a strategy to dump them. Only allow clients who match the criteria of the kind of people you want to work with across your velvet rope.

2. Get clear on why people buy what you are selling, what it is you DO sell, and how to articulate it.

3. Build trust and credibility! Once you have established a solid working relationship, create a sales cycle that offers new and existing clients a variety of useful products; some of which are free, others that they can easily purchase to enhance their business.

4. Follow one of his simple super sales strategies - this book outlines how to leverage web sales, networking, direct outreach, referrals, speaking, writing and keep-in-touch strategies

While this book is filled with gems, my biggest "aha" was about creating simplicity and clear articulation of the customer service you provide. Port comes back again and again to remind you of your role as a service provider. Service at all levels. This book totally inspired me and so when you are thinking about your business and how to promote the services that you offer, I highly recommend you investigate his website to see if there is anything there for you. www.bookyourselfsolid.com.

Additionally, if you are looking for ways to get you or your team re-engaged with a refreshed business vision and strategy, check out the speaking engagements I will be doing in your area. At each talk, I will be outlining our "Snapshot of the Big Picture" strategy - a simple and effective goal setting strategy to help you achieve that envision and achieve that future you have been dreaming about.

Preparation: The Key to Successful Events

2008-01-29T13:48:00.000-08:00

Recently, Alchemy facilitated a World Cafe Summit for The Women's College of the University of Denver to engage the community in creating a vision of the future for the college and to discuss what 21st century education for women might look like. All three of Alchemy’s senior partners worked on the project with fantastic support from our strategic illustrators. I must say, we spent an enormous amount of preparation time - which paid off in the successful outcomes that we achieved.

Here is some of the preparation we took:
ß Lois Todd and I worked with a subset of the staff and faculty, (our design team), to help get clarity on the summit outcomes. The design team did a comprehensive stakeholder analysis to identify summit attendees, and then created and mailed a magnificent invitation and used a phone call follow–up process to get "butts in seats."

ß Meanwhile, Chris Chopyak, Alchemy's World Cafe expert, worked on crafting the questions, the most critical part of any world cafe; each question should take the participants into deeper and deeper dialogue.

ß Our support team worked with two outstanding faculty to create an enormous history map which depicted the history of both The Women's College, as well as that of DU, and the eventual merger of the two institutions.

ß The Dean of the college, Lynn Gangone, met with the Chancellor, Provost and original funder of the Chamber's Center that houses the school, to educate them about summit outcomes and invite them to speak at the event.

ß Behind the scenes, I worked to create a video with music and images that helped to encapsulate the history and brought the audience to the present moment.

Honestly everyone, Alchemy, staff and faculty worked late into the night finessing each little detail in preparation for the summit.

The summit went flawlessly, each part a beautiful orchestration of engagement and inspiration. Amazing suggestions and dialogue came out of that 5 hour session - one of the questions being "When The Women's College of the University of Denver wins the Nobel Prize, what will people be saying about it?" That question rocked the mindset of people in the room - challenging previously held assumptions and stimulating new thinking. The summit happened seamlessly because of the care and preparation that was taken at each junction of our work together. Alchemy made suggestions at each step of the process, and the staff and faculty not only took our advice and guidance but expanded upon our ideas in a true collaboration.

Preparation is the essential element that differentiates an extraordinary participant experience from one where half of the room is checking their blackberries. While it often seems like taking the next step - to actualize the better idea - creates more work for everyone involved. And truth be told, it does mean you are going to have to work harder. The earlier that everyone accepts the fact that we are all going to work our butts off together to make this event a success, the sooner an extraordinary level of excellence is achieved.

On our end, as consultants, we could have let our clients do all the heavy lifting, but they hire us for our expertise and sometimes that means we are going to get our hands really, really dirty working side by side to help them get just the right people in the room, or the perfect talking points, or interesting, fun images and music. Will we get compensated for every little moment we spend working together? Not always, but when it comes down to it, if we provide the kind of value and service that our customers need, that translates into the kind of long-term client relationships we desire.

Here are some tips for your next event:
1. Form a design team to guide and support the process
2. Create a vision of what success will look like
3. Do a stakeholder analysis to insure the right people are in the room
4. Engage the stakeholders with a compelling reason why THEY need to be there
5. Plan and rehearse every aspect of the event
6. Show up early and stay late when necessary
7. Encourage your clients and their teams
8. Celebrate your success

These are just a few steps to help you prepare for the success you desire. If you find you need any additional help, be sure to ask for it! www.link2alchemy.com

How to kick off 2008 on the right foot

2007-12-30T07:31:00.000-08:00

How to kick off 2008 on the right foot

It’s another New Year (whoo-hoo!) and you are ready and poised to make some New Year’s resolutions. Wait! STOP! Full brakes on! Did you know that about 50 percent of Americans make New Year's Eve resolutions, but only 15 percent manage to keep them, according to www.realscienceofsuccess.com/?

One of the solutions is to set smaller goals and to create new month resolutions instead of New Year's resolutions. This prevents you from forgetting your objectives and getting diverted from everyday hassles, according to experts.

At Alchemy, we believe without a picture of what success looks like and a firm grasp on your end state, your goals will remain unrealized. Once that picture is put in a public location where you can’t miss it, you will be reminded of the things that you want and accelerate your ability to achieve them.

Try something simple. On the left side of a piece of paper write “Current state”, on the right side write “New Desired Reality”. Between the two draw 3 arrows with room to write on them. Then, assess and capture on the left side of your page, all of the aspects and qualities of your current state: “great relationship”, “spending too much money”, “bored at work”, “love my job”, etc. Then on the right side of the paper, write all of the things you would like to have in place ONE YEAR from today. These must be things you can actually imagine yourself doing, having or being. The more qualities you place there, the easier it is for you to achieve them. “New, creative job”, “financial stability”, “adventure”, “fun”, “quality time with family”, etc.

Now that you have your current and new desired state, look at the gap between and ask yourself, “What are the 3 boldest things I can do to get from where I am now to where I want to be?” Brainstorm a few to get a list of things to choose from. Then run each idea through these criteria, “Will this help me achieve my goals?” “Is this bold enough?” “Can I imagine a list of 5-10 things that are action steps underneath this bold step that I will need to take to achieve it?” If you find that your step is too tactical, it will seem like you can complete it in a day. A bold step will require constant attention and focus to maintain progress on this bridge from one side to the other. Once you have decided on your 3 boldest steps, write one on each of your arrows in the middle of your page. Now you have a roadmap for success, or what we call at Alchemy a "Snapshot of the Big Picture".

The key here is to now place this picture or map in a place where you will see it everyday. Tape it on the bathroom mirror, your car dashboard or the office wall next to your desk. Place it somewhere where you cannot miss it. Then build out the action items for each of your bold steps. Every week make a list of 5 per bold step for a total of 15 actions. Choose your top 3 of the fifteen that will give you the most bang for your buck and do them. Each week review what you have done and what you have to do now. If something remains on your list for two weeks, discard it, it isn’t important enough or you do not have the energy to complete it, so let it go.

In 3 months, take 2 hours to review your map and note your progress. You’ll be surprised at how many things on the right side of that map will have started happening. Celebrate even the smallest success you have. Validation builds success, so become your own cheerleader and watch how that New Desired Reality becomes the only reality you live in!

biking tips

2007-03-08T14:58:00.000-08:00

Okay, okay, so the racing season started, but you feel like you are light years behind everyone? Get real! Half the battle of bike racing is mental, so get mental with it. Last week I was 14th out 16 people in the time trial results. This week 8th out of 33. What made the difference? Mental focus. I set a goal for myself to get into the top 10 in my category and then checked last year's results to see who came in 1st and how fast they rode to get there. Then I set that time as my mantra and rode intervals all week to get my lactate threshold up a little. And then during the race, I kept repeating the mantra of that time I wanted to meet. I didn't freak out when I couldn't hold the pace, I just kept talking to myself, "C'mon, you can go faster than that. Feeling rested, come on let's push it some more, you can do it!"

I have to admit, I wanted to barf across the finish line, but the next day when I saw my results...that was the best feeling. Not only did I come in 8th, but one of my team members who is 20 years younger than me only beat my time by two seconds.
Now that feels great.

Now back to you. Set a goal for yourself to achieve a better result. Then research what it takes to get there. Then everyday, see yourself hitting that goal, play it over and over in your mind and body. Use that "as if" princiiple until you can sweat no more. Then on the day you need to be number one, keep that positive focus until you reach your goal. A picture is worth a thousand words. So use that mental imaging to achieve success.