Archived Newsletters

Welcome! Warm hellos to those of you I've met through my recent Goal Setting workshops at Seller Direct, SOWINS and Curves, and also to those of you whom I haven't met yet! I am honoured you have chosen to receive this newsletter.

Spring is here- my favourite time of year- I love seeing, hearing, smelling, feeling nature come alive! I love spring cleanup- getting rid of all the old debris and making room for new growth. What a great time to review or recreate our long term vision, see if it's still in alignment with what we want, renew ourselves to spring into action and create what it is we truly want in our business and personal lives.

Have you created a long term vision for your business and yourself- so you can live your life by design rather than by default? Are you following it- or is it framed and collecting dust? Have you visualized all aspects of your business/personal life- what you want for yourself physically, spiritually, emotionally and mentally? If not, I hope this article inspires you to action, to take the time to create the life you want! Enjoy!

Most successful businesses have created, review regularly and work with their long term vision. Ken Blanchard and Jesse Stoner wrote an article, "The Vision Thing: Without It You'll Never Be a World-Class Organization". They say "All world-class organizations are driven by three critical factors:

1. Clear vision and direction championed by top management
2. Trained and equipped people focused on implementation of the agreed-upon vision and direction
3. Established recognition and positive consequence systems that sustain the behaviours and performance that the vision and direction require...Vision and direction are essential for greatness. In world-class organizations, everyone has a clear sense of where the enterprise is going. Only when the leaders of an organization know that their people understand the agreed-upon vision and direction can they attend to strengthening the organization's ability to deliver on this vision."

The purpose of creating a long term vision is so you know what you want for your business and life, and have something to base your plans and goals on. It's one of Stephen Covey's Habit of Highly Effective people, "Begin with the end in mind". Your long term vision is your dream of what you want for your business or life, what your purpose is for being here, and incorporates the values important for you to live by. It is the definition of what a rich, full, successful life is to you. Once you define it, it is easy to mark how you are doing, if you are in alignment with what you want or if you need to make adjustments. You can make your decisions based on your long term vision. It keeps you moving forward.

Read Blanchard & Stoner's article in "Leader to Leader" »

In 1970, Dr. Edward Banfield of Harvard University conducted a study of what made people financially successful. He thought family background, education, intellect, contacts would be the determining factors, but found it was none of these- it was those who had "long term perspective"- who looked to the future in determining the present. We know the power of Kennedy's vision of seeing a man on the moon- he got a nation behind it and the impossible happened.

I challenge you to review your business vision, dust it off if need be, make any revision required, review with your staff and then go for it! If you are using your business vision, congratulations! Do you have a personal vision, and are you using it? Be a leader in your personal life as well!

What are you passionate about? What are your talents, your gifts? What are your values? Are they included in your vision? Do you see yourself using your talents, sharing your gifts, living a life of value? I find many of my clients have never created a vision of what they want their life to look like, or if they have created a long term vision they don't revisit it to see where they are and to set their goals from. Can you visualize what you want your life to be like ten or twenty or thirty years from now? Or is five years as far as you can see? Go with whatever works for you. Maybe right now it is only 3 years into the future- that's okay. The point is to look forward in your life, what it is you want your life to look like in all areas- what your relationships are like, how you spend your time, what your environment is like, your finances, your physical environment, health, etc. If projecting into the future doesn't work for you, how about starting with where you're at right now- what your life looks like in all areas- career, professional development, health, spiritual/personal development, relationships/family, recreation, finances, environment- or whatever categories work best for you. Take a non- judgemental look; just write down what actually is. If there are areas that concern you, relax- you can change them! Write down what you want those areas to be like five years from now, then ten years, fifteen, and so on. Once you have your long term vision, then you can set your yearly goals based on moving you in that direction.

Ah, you say, that is too much work! It takes too much time! If your life is going perfectly in all areas, then you may not need a vision, but if there are areas you want to improve, or you want to live your life by design rather than default, go for it! Create that vision, then be honest where you are right now, and set some goals for yourself to get to where you want to be. As Napoleon Hill said, "Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe it can achieve." All it takes is creating your vision, believing in it emotionally and mentally, and taking action.

This section is reserved for tips or successes you would like to share. What worked well for you? How did you do it? Or what's an awesome website you've been to, or book you've read? A quote that's inspired you to action, or changed your thinking and your life? Or brought a smile to your face?
Dixie sent a beautiful link, thanks Dixie! Just click on the link below, and enjoy the Wonder of it All.

Thanks also to Elizabeth Vieira Richard, who sends out "Leadership Insight", a synopsis of different leadership articles. It was from her article I read the Blanchard/ Stoner article. If you would like to subscribe to her Leadership Insights, go to her website at: www.pdicoach.com

Wonder of it All... »

I will be hosting a teleclass series as a follow-up to the "Goals- How to Set them and Get them" workshops. If you haven't attended the workshop, no problem! We will be reviewing the material from the workshop on the calls, and going into more depth so you can move forward with your goals. We will review the SMART formula, compelling reasons and vision, being clear on whose goals they are, using positive power statements, how to set yourself up for success, dealing with negative self-talk and celebrating successes. The teleclass will be learner-driven, so where you want to venture is where we will go!

The workshop will run 4 Tuesday evenings, April 6, 13, 20 and 27, from 6:30 pm to 7:30 pm PST. The cost is only $39 CAD per person for the 4 sessions, plus the cost of a long distance call each week to the bridge line in the US. The workshop is free for my past and present coaching clients.

I would love to have you on the call! If you have a friend who may be interested, let them know too! For more information or to register, please contact me by phone or email. Space is limited, so sign up now!

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If you haven't visited my website for a while, check it out! I've added some links I've been enjoying lately (several on the Law of Attraction), as well as a daily Dream quote (different from the inspirational quotes that I send out daily). The archived newsletters are there as well.
And that's it for this month! Enjoy the incredible wonder and beauty this time of year blesses us with!

Until next time!

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I am Norma Reid, a Certified Executive Coach, and the owner of From Dreams to Reality Success Coaching. My dream is to help you fulfill your professional and personal dreams and live the rich, full life you are meant to! Call for a sample coaching session to see if coaching is for you.
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