The New Leaf™
The Official Newsletter of Authentic Promotion™
Volume 5, No. 34, August 26, 2003
U.S. Library of Congress ISSN: 1530-311X
Molly Gordon, Master Certified Coach
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and colleagues who can use practical guidance and inspiration for
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In This Issue
Fast Focus: Emptying the Cup
Simple Gifts: Publicity Made Simple
Perspective on Coaching: Professional Associations
Open for Business: Managing Information Overload
The Bedside Table
Quick Links: Resources
Small Print: Copyright | Getting On and Off the List
Privacy Statement | Contact Info
Fast Focus
Emptying the Cup
We live in a world where information bombards us daily and where it
can feel like we're supposed to DO something with all that incoming
data. Sometimes what we're supposed to do is let it go.
You can't add tea to a full cup without making a mess and wasting
tea. Assuming you want tea in the first place, the sensible thing to
do is to empty the cup before adding more. So it is with
information. Before adding more to your cup, ask if you want or need
it now. Examine your assumptions about what you need to read, listen
to, or watch. Notice if your choices are grounded in your priorities
and vision or if they're coming from fear of missing out or of
failing some unspecified future test. A week-long media fast can
help you recover the power of choice over information so you can
stop living as though life were an exam.
===>Now and Zen Chiming Clocks
I love my chime from Now and Zen so much that I leapt at the
opportunity to become an affiliate. Imagine -- alarm clocks that are
not alarming! These beautifully crafted desk and travel clocks ask
for your attention with a single, clear chime rather than assaulting
it with beeps, buzzes, or bells I use mine for meditation, naps, and
time keeping in workshops. Learn more at
http://www.now-zen.com/cgi-bin/aff?nzap316
Simple Gifts
Publicity Made Simple
This week's simple gift is The Jump Start Guide to Press Releases,
an online summary of how to write and use press releases to get
publicity for your business or project. Notice that the menu at the
top of the page will guide you to several different pages of this
handy guide.
http://www.mollygordon.com/resources/marketingresources/pr/index.html
For Readers Only
Web Site Features for You
In recent weeks we've added two sections to www.mollygordon.com
especially for New Leaf readers. They are the Readers Write and
Readers Links pages. I hope you'll take a minute to visit and book
mark both pages. The letters page can provide a moment of connection
and inspiration and the links can put you in touch with like-minded
folks who offer a broad array of products and services.
Enjoy!
Readers Write: http://www.mollygordon.com/newleaf/letters.html
Readers' Links: http://www.mollygordon.com/resources/readerlinks.html
===>Make Sales Without Selling: Kendall SummerHawk's
three-tape series, "What to Say if You Hate to Sell," shows exactly
how to have a respectful, authentic, thoughtful conversation with
prospects, a conversation that results in people asking if they can
hire you (how would you like that!?).
http://www.cartville.com/app/aftrack.asp?afid=38272
Perspective on Coaching
Professional Associations
A reader wrote: "You subscribe to the ICF, but I note there is also
an IAC and I guess Coachville is attached to that group? It's hard
to tell and I suspect there are many others." What's the scoop?
Yes, there are several professional organizations for coaches. I did
a quick Google search on "professional organizations professional
coaches" and found a page at Peer Resources' Web site that lists
five professional organizations (including IAC and ICF) and nine
criteria for evaluating an association before joining. Read more at
http://www.mentors.ca/coachorgs.html
It is natural in a growing profession for different groups to spring
up to serve different needs and interest groups. Each organization
is bound to have strengths, and it's up to the individual coach to
look for these strengths and decide how they gibe with his/her goals
and vision. For example, I value my membership in ICF because it is
a community that is dedicated to continuous growth of the individual
coach, of coach training programs, and of the profession as a whole.
ICF's credentialing program is one product of that dedication, and
in my opinion it is unique in the industry.
It is not, then, so much a matter of choosing which of several
competing organizations is the "right" one as deciding what you want
from a professional association and then looking for the group that
will provide that. Many coaches of my acquaintance belong to more
than one association, and some are members of allied professional
groups such as the American Society for Training and Development.
Do you have questions about professional coaching/ Send them to
coaching@mollygordon.com . I will answer as many as possible in
future issues of The New Leaf. Please note: The above perspectives
on coaching are my own and should not be mistaken for the official
position of any coach training program or organization. MLG
Open for Business
Managing Information Overload
A colleague recently asked me about how I manage information so that
I don't get overloaded. In fact, sometimes I feel like I'm drowning
in data, and I periodically reach for a life preserver so that I can
get above the waves. Once I've caught my breath, I can implement any
number of strategies for staying on top of the surf and avoiding the
undertow.
My anchor in this process is trust. I trust that most information is
available and that I do not necessarily need to own it, keep it,
file it, or do anything with it at all. Given a few minutes and a
web browser, I can locate most information that I am likely to need
in a reasonable amount of time. The Internet has almost entirely
replaced subject files.
Notice that this is not a naive trust that the right thing will show
up at the right time, though often it does. I'm talking about
trusting in skills I have built and systems that I have learned to
use. Whenever possible, I choose to learn and stay current with
things that help me not only rise above the information tide but
also harness that tide to take me where I want to go. So, for
example, I'd rather spend an hour figuring out how to use the
special features at Yahoo Groups (did you know you can up- and
download files, photos, and read archives of old messages?) than
keeping up with miscellaneous postings to the group itself. When I
know how to use the system, I can choose when and how to access the
content on a need-to-know, just-in-time basis.
Here are some of the practices I use to to manage information.
1. Retain what I have an immediate or ongoing use for. I have a full
file of clippings and ideas for "future New Leaf articles." Even
though I may not use them often, it is worth having them there. And
this is an example of an info management technique that not only
captures bits and pieces for a specific use but also quiets my mind
so that I do not have to try to remember all these ideas. It does
not matter when or if I use the file -- if I do not use it, it is
because I have enough ideas, so no loss.
2. Routinely purge my space of books and papers, keeping only what
is current, of enduring value, or somehow legally required. I let go
of the rest to make room for the new. Recently I donated 30% of my
business books to the library. Sure, I may want one of them again,
but I know I can always find the info at the library, a book store,
or online. Now the stacks of current-interest and unread books have
found homes on my shelves instead of in stacks and I feel much more
peaceful and enthusiastic about reading them.
3. From time to time revisit my "hierarchy of projects" and set up
info systems that manage information for current projects and
priorities and let go of all other info no matter how seductive it
is. Hoarding information is like hoarding time or money; it stops
the flow.
4. Forgive myself for learning things and studying things and
collecting things that seem not to be relevant. This makes it easier
to let go because I do not have to hold on to prove that there was a
purpose, and, paradoxically, a purpose generally emerges once I have
let go.
5. Let there be cycles and ebbs and flows in my information stream.
It doesn't always for me need to look the same way. "Consistency is
the hobgoblin of little minds." Here are some questions you can use
to discover for yourself what sorts of information systems and
approaches are likely to work best for you.
- What do I want this for?
- How will it feel to keep it?
- What kind of access/availability do I need and want?
- How can I get that?
- When I imagine myself managing all the information I want to, how
does that look and feel?
- What are the higher purposes or positive intentions of keeping and
managing this information?
- What am I serving by learning, knowing, keeping, filing this?
- What's my "come from" here? Am I coming from fear, scarcity,
grasping, or from something resourceful, generative, constructive?
===>CONTEST! What are the keepers on your shelves?
What are the books that you turn to time after time? What titles
have shed the most light on the way you live, work, and play? As I
implied in my column this week, I don't even want to know it all –
but that's no reason not to make your knowledge and wisdom available
to other readers. Share your "keepers" by sending the title,
author's name, and a brief statement about how each book is of
enduring value. Your name will be entered in a drawing for a
hardbound copy of Simple Abundance by Sarah Ban Breathnach.
Deadline for all entries, October 1, 2003
The Bedside Table
The Power of Full Engagement, Jim Loehr, Tony Schwartz
I recently added this to my short list of best business books. Loehr
and Schwartz do an excellent job explaining and demonstrating not
only why but how to manage energy rather than time. Filled with
brief case histories and examples, this book shows you how to
connect full performance with your fundamental values, how to
identify barriers to full performance, and how to isolate the mental,
emotional, spiritual, and physical "muscles" that you need to exercise
in order to effect change.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0743226747/mollygordonperso
Six Thinking Hats, Edward de Bono
A client recommended this one, and I am so glad he did. De Bono
succinctly describes six styles of thinking and a context for using them
that can cut meeting times in half (at least) and improve the quality of
decisions. It's brief, simple, and very thought provoking. Whether you're
looking for more creativity or better reality testing, for more incisive or
more heartfelt input, this book is likely to improve the way you think
alone and in teams.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0316178314/mollygordonperso
Authentic Promotion: Grow Your
Business, Feed Your Soul, Molly Gordon, MCC
"With Authentic Promotion, Molly Gordon has
created the most effective, elegant, and integral
approach to marketing that I have ever encountered.
She has created windows of possibility where before
there were only walls of resistance and fear."
Jennifer Louden, author, www.comfortqueen.com .
Use this ebook to reveal or renew your commitment to your work and to craft a plan for marketing your work that fits your style, your budget, and your values.
Three bonuses with every order:
1. Membership in a readers-only listserv to share challenges
and successes.
2. $35 off future 12-week Authentic Promotion courses.
3. 10% lifetime discount on future Authentic Promotion products
and services including classes, tapes, and books.
Learn more at http://www.learntolovemarketing.com or order
immediately at:
http://www.kickstartcart.com/app/netcart.asp?merchantid=29060&productid=1283526
Searching for a book or CD or other product on Amazon?
When you use these links to Amazon search engines you
support The New Leaf. Please visit and bookmark them today.
US: http://www.mollygordon.com/searchbook.html
UK: http://www.mollygordon.com/eurobook.html
Quick Links
Resources
Thank you for supporting The New Leaf by purchasing the products
and services recommended below. I personally test every product I
recommend, and every merchant will refund your investment if you are
not satisfied. If they don’t make it right, I will.
===>Take Control of Your Day
Learn how to become more efficient, effective, and productive so you
can complete more work in less time, and with less effort.
http://www.1shoppingcart.com/app/aftrack.asp?afid=27096
===>Client Compass Software
Create and maintain client files that integrate intakes, session
notes, billing—all the administrative functions that support you to
create prosperity by showing up and serving your clients. "In
addition, there are a Practice Building component for identifying
"Ideal Clients," strategies for growing a coaching or therapy
business, and prospect tracking. You have 60 days to try it and
request a refund, so your risk is nil. http://www.cartville.com/app/aftrack.asp?afid=32114
===>Electronic Marketing Butt Camp (audio tapes)
Tom Antion is a professional speaker with a background is stand
up comedy, so when he set out to create a "boot camp" for
successful Internet marketing, he named it "butt camp." He says
it's a guide to making money while you sit on your butt. Actually,
success online, as in any medium, requires work. The good news is
that Tom can save you months of time and energy and thousands of
dollars of development costs. He delivers up-to-date content in a
direct, irreverent style with just enough detail to get started but not
so much that you get overwhelmed.
http://www.antion.com/t.cgi/192738/buttcamp.htm
Small Print
Copyright | Getting On and Off the List
Unless otherwise attributed, all material is written and
edited by Molly Gordon, MCC.Copyright (c) Shaboom Inc. (r) 2003.
All rights reserved. www.mollygordon.com
"Shaboom, Inc." and "Authentic Promotion" are registered trade or
service marks of Shaboom, Inc. All other trademarks are property
of their respective owners.
You may reprint material from "The New Leaf(tm)" in other
electronic or print publications provided the above
copyright notice and a link to http://www.mollygordon.com
is included in the credits. Please send me a copy of the
publication.
You can get off this list by going to http://www.mollygordon.com
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When you forward this material, please send the entire
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Privacy Statement | Contact Info
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Life could be a dream…
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