Synthesis Coaching

Detour Adventure: Part 2

In my last post I shared the beauty of seeing things from a brand new perspective. Now that you've tried my Detour Adventure, I'm curious to know what happened.

If you're like me, the Detour Adventure has gotten you re-energized and new ideas are percolating.

All this great energy is just TOO good to waste....so here's what I want you to do:

• Jot down all the new ideas that are surfacing. Don't edit them or judge them as "bad", "good", "totally unrealistic:, etc. Just do a data dump to get everything out on the table.

• Sort through all the ideas and take note of similar ideas. Pull together all ideas that are related and group them together.

• Pull together totally dis-similar ideas. Weaving unexpected pieces together often produces amazing breakthroughs.

• Write down the new sparks of ideas that result from this exercise.

Now get into action:

Pick a small task that you feel is doable. Why? This gives you that "feel good" feeling when you accomplish a task and helps to keep the ball rolling.

Be aware of how you have now shifted into another place that feels new and bright.

Notice how new perspectives naturally open up into new avenues. If you'd like help through this process contact me and together we'll embark on a Detour Adventure. I can't wait to see where we end up!

 

Searching for Your True Calling? Look for Your Aliveness

Today, I decide to mix it up and chat with you rather than write. Enjoy!

Break Your Ruts of Routine with a Detour Adventure. It's easy!

 

My Monthly Tarot landed in my inbox as usual, at the first of the month.

I opened the email to find a picture of the Hanged Man along with the following request: "This month look at The Hanged Man. At first the person in this image may appear uncomfortable, but upon further inspection we realize that he is just giving into gravity and going with the flow".

I was shaken up realizing that I had made a huge assumption, and like many assumptions totally wrong.

I saw The Hanged Man hanging upside down from a tree and assumed he was fighting his situation and anxious, worrying when and how he would be free. (If you take a close look at the image you'll see that he is not fighting...in fact he seems to be just hanging out).

But here is what shook me up into a revelation: The Hanged Man is a symbolic tool asking me to look from a different perspective—like upside down :).

Try it out.

The result is that you end up looking at the same situation but with fresh eyes. You may discover new elements that you never saw before, even if nothing changes.

Or better yet, try a solution that I opt for in for my own life, and one that I advise my clients—to embark on a Detour Adventure.

What's a Detour Adventure? It's a way to shake yourself out of the unconscious state we all fall into and see your world again with fresh eyes. You know what I mean....how many times have you driven to work and had no memory of the drive? It's totally normal because we all go on auto-pilot after a while and  develop ruts in our routines.

So, how do you dive into a Detour Adventure?

• Take another route to your yoga class.
• Shop at a different grocery store in a different town.
• Read a book about a subject you know nothing about.
• Vary your routine—treat yourself to a break in your day by walking the dog at lunch instead of as part of your morning routine.
• Learn a new skill new like sailing, pottery, knitting, scuba diving.
• If you've been wanting to call a friend who you have talked to in a while....be spontaneous and just pick up the phone and do it.

Here's your Detour Adventure challenge: Try out a detour a let me know what you discovered after you re-discovered your life with fresh eyes! And keep an eye out for my next post where I share what to do with all your new discoveries!

To your adventures to transformation!

 

 

 

 

 

Shhh! Mini-adventure special just for you ends 11/30

 
A quick reminder that tomorrow is the last day to save on your very own “Gratitude Mini-Adventure”!

That’s right, just for the fantastic women on my list I’m offering this mini-adventure at 50% off if you sign-up by November 30^th. That means you pay only $147.50 instead of my regular mini-adventure rate of $295. (You can schedule the mini-adventure for later, you just need to sign-up by 11/30.)

What’s a “Gratitude Mini-Adventure”?

It’s a one-hour coaching session with me where we explore big ideas and provocative thinking that moves you forward on your own adventure to transformation. If you find yourself focusing like a laser on all the bad stuff and what’s not working, you’ll turn this on its head by seeing and being grateful for all the multitude of blessings each & every day.

This is my way of saying thank you for being a part of my journey! To sign-up or ask questions email me at khodges@synthesiscoaching.com.

Adventures to Transformation™ Interview Series: Nina Kaufman of The Legal Edge

Today I'm chatting with Nina Kaufman of The Legal Edge, a law firm and information products company that as successfully navigated thousands of entrepreneurs and small business owners through the legal issues they face in starting and running their companies.

Are you thinking of creating a business partnership? In our 15-minute interview, Nina talks about the highs and lows:

• How partnerships that started out great at first may not always work for the long term, much like a marriage.
• How not sleeping and having nightmares finally forced her to address what was really happening in her business partnership and to take action.
• What key questions to ask yourself when getting into a business partnership.

 Don't miss our inspirational talk, sure to start your weekend off right!

 

Are You Always Moving and Going Too Fast? Try a Soul Adventure

I had an amazing session with Carrie, (not her real name), a few weeks ago. She's bright and a super-charged high achiever.

She was talking SO fast and jumping from topic to topic SO fast,that I could hardly keep up with her....and I was just listening.

Whew!

What we discovered together was that after all this excitement, accomplishment, and activity  she really needed to change gears and s-l-o-w down.

Sounds great when we tell ourselves that...but if you've ever tried it you know that actually doing it can be a whole lot harder. We kind of get "addicted" to the pace and the constant multi-tasking - we can even experience a high from it. Yet, unless we unplug and regroup we can actually drain ourselves and end up with nothing left to give.

My solution to Carrie was to go on a Soul Adventure. 

Give yourself permission to indulge and do those activities that feed your soul. For you that might mean taking a hot bath, reading a novel instead of a business book, chatting with an old friend on the phone. It matters less what you do and more about how you feel.

Carrie decided that she would use her Soul Adventure by pretending that she was on vacation and could be spontaneous for one week. She found herself listening to her own body and taking a nap in the middle of the day and browsing around in her favorite gallery BEFORE she went grocery shopping and paid bills online.

I know....I can hear you saying, "but I'm not on vacation and have a job to go to and a family to take care of." Yes, I know that's true but I'm asking you to carve out time for yourself to fill yourself up again and recharge.

Want some hands on help to embark on your own Soul Adventure? Reach out to me....you'll not only leave your session inspired but with a fistful of resources and tools to spark your journey.

To your adventures to transformation!™

 

 

 

Frustrated and Overwhelmed Not Reaching Goals? Just Say "NO"

All of us women business owners (myself included) are chock-full of ideas and projects that we want to implement.

Yet, I often find many of the women business owners that I coach frustrated and overwhelmed.

What gives?

What I often find hiding in plain sight right under our nose is that as women we often have too many commitments and have spread ourselves too thin.

Lindsey Pollak wrote a terrific post about this issue that I'd love to share with you.

Lindsey took the "just say no" challenge and trimmed down her appointment and commitments. Do you know what she was surprised to discover?

No One Actually Noticed!

So, this month I'm following LIndsey's lead and making it a NO-vember...so if you have a request for me this NO-vember, the answer will probably be a firm but polite "no".

 

The Bounce Back Ingredient — Resiliency

 
After a session with a client this past week, I've started to think more about how some people seem able to "bounce back" and survive a tough time while others seem to snap or break.

Let's face it, we all have trying times in our lives—none of us gets to escape that. Whether it be a bad patch in your marriage, a challenging time with a teenage child, health problems with a loved one...and no matter what the specific of the challenge is, it's  combined with the everyday tasks and obligations in our busy lives.

Yet some women seem to handle it with grace and ease. What's the magic that they have?

I really believe that resiliency is the magic bounce back ingredient necessary for moving through changes and transitions.

Women are generally more resilient than men — but I'm guessing that part of it may have something to do with the numerous life-stage changes that women go through in their lives. I've also noticed that women more naturally seem to "roll with the punches" than men do.

Like most women, I've had many opportunities in my life to use and strengthen my resiliency. My biggest challenge was when my first husband Allan got sick just weeks after Jessie was born, was diagnosed with leukemia 6 months later, and died before her first birthday. During that one year alone I had numerous opportunities to practice being resilient.

How did I get through?  Here are some of my secrets that you can use too!

• Asked for help
• Kept my optimism up
• Believed "this too shall pass"
• Tried to enjoy myself where I could, like enjoying seeing and being with my baby
• Looked for the silver lining
• I held on to my steadfast belief that life is good.

How has resiliency gotten you through a major crisis or been significant in your life?

 

No Excuses Power To and Responsibility

My reading of choice lately has been No Excuses: 9 Ways Women Can Change How We Think About Power by Gloria Feldt.

Gloria rightly states that it is our responsibility to take our power vs. waiting like a "good girl" to be given power.

Yet what I see with working with my women clients (and by the way in my own life too) is that "responsibility" is a loaded word.

Let's get real, we're the caregivers for our family, friends and communities, so it makes perfect sense that our gaze is oftentimes at serving others' needs before our own.

Sound at all familiar? Here's a blog post where I explored the idea of responsibility and women "from the archives":

The "R" Words and Women

Can you relate? Would love to hear your thoughts.

YES, Realizing Your Dream Can Be Easy

Sometimes I have to pinch myself.

I used to do marketing in NYC for financial firms and spent my days commuting back and forth to a corporate cubicle. Those were the days when balance transfer offers were all the rage. Yet, my life purpose hardly seemed to be helping people get into debt.

Today my life is vastly different. I'm working with amazing women to help them transform their own lives—and every day is an adventure! Changing lives is SO much better than helping people amass more and more debt, don't you think?

I'm loving the impact I'm having on my client's lives—not to mention that my work keeps me on a path to continually growing, evolving, and transforming my own life. I went from dreading change to thriving on it!

What about you? Does change sound too hard... so instead you just keep putting up with the status-quo?

Making a change actually can be easy, especially with the right support and tools along the way. None of us can do it alone right?

If you need a little more motivation, listen to what my client's say about their own transformation in their own words:

"...Thank you so much for all your help and guidance to get me to this point of my journey to transformation. I am taking it in baby steps, but it feel right and it feels like it is really going to happen!"
CJ Tudino, 401.742.2689

"When I started working with you I wanted to take my career in a new direction. You helped find my passion and helped turn my dreams into reality! I'm now doing exactly what I have always wanted to do, but was too afraid to claim it for myself."
Cheryl Verchot, www.SimplyUniqueDecor.com

"When I started coaching with Karen I was getting ready to leave my 'conventional' job... and move to launching my own business. Karen is phenomenal - from the start she was supportive and enthusiastic, yet challenged me to be my best ...I now see all the myriad possibilities in me and have 'a-ha' moments each time we coach together."
Karen Johnson, Solstice Soapworks, 401.248.1331

Still not convinced it can be easy? Attend my FREE teleclass:

If Nothing Changes, Nothing Changes...So What Are You Going to Do? on October 26th from 7 - 8 pm EST.

Make it easy, hard is just over-rated.

To your own adventures to transformation™!