It was at that time that I realized I was not having fun anymore in my business and needed to change some things.

I decided to take a short Sabbatical to think about a new direction.

And one year later……………………….. I am ready to begin again.

I will be posting more frequently now, sharing my thinking and my progress. I hope that sharing my journey will be of some help to others.

I will be incorporating my work in Voice Dialogue facilitation with my work in the business and professional arenas.

I am currently putting together a program to help career professionals and business owners move forward by coming to terms with those aspects of their personalities that hold them back from their goals and desires.

I must start by gathering a team to help me. One of the things I now understand is that I cannot and should not work alone. Duh! One of my mentors has said over and over “If you have a dream that you can accomplish by yourself, it’s not big enough.”

So here I go again……………….stay tuned

May 2007 Newsletter 

Do you ever just feel stuck? Or confused about what you should be doing….how you should be doing it….and when?

Wouldn’t it be great if you had a Global Positioning System like some cars have…..a GPS for your life and your business?

I can help. I offer a free monthly newsletter - a kind of Life and Business GPS, entitled Creating Results. Creating Results is a resource that is packed with tips, tools, techniques, articles and personal learning and reflection, to help you discover, then stay on track with your dreams and goals.

I’m excited about this newsletter and sharing this information so I’ll even add an incentive for subscribing: A 5-part e-course entitled “Create the Results You Want vs Settling For What You Have. A step by step process for creating what you want. If you haven’t already, sign up here:

The parts and pieces to help you create your own automatic system for staying on track will include Time Management, Self-care, Setting Boundaries, Creating Reserves for Yourself (time, money, space), How to Stop Tolerating those things that hold you back and many, many more.

Sound good? It’s simple to get started – If you would like to sign up for my newsletter and e-course just fill out the form and click “submit”. I’ll take it from there. Oh, and if you sign up and decide you are not ready for the journey…we’re all so busy…..there will be a link in each and every newsletter where you can just click to unsubscribe.

Have you ever ridden in a vehicle with someone else driving, realized you were lost and were unable to convince the driver to stop and ask for directions?  (I’ts possible if you are married to a man, that you have had this experience).  I digress.

So, in the absence of a real Global Positioning System, there are some very valid reasons to stop if you think you are lost:

Get directions, Check the map, Find out where you are currently, Discover how to get from where you are to where you want to end up, Tell someone you are lost and ask for directions, Write directions down so you don’t have to memorize them, Plan how you will follow the map or directions – where to start from where you are now…..when to turn and when to go straight……step by step…..eliminating and avoiding roadblocks.

I’m a coach, so why am I talking about Global Positioning Systems, driving, directions, getting lost, etc?

Well, isn’t that how you feel sometimes about your business and your life? Kind of lost – always moving, but not sure where you’re going. As though you somehow got lost or turned around from your destination and are not sure how it happened and how to get back on track….yet still always moving? That is, if you know where you want to end up………Do you?

Allow me to be your GPS on your journey to Getting What You Want. Use the newsletter and e-course as tools to help you build your own Goal Progress System to Create The Results You Want in your life, business or career.

So, what have you got to lose? What could you gain? Go ahead….sign up…..

Often the actual cost of getting what we want is skipped, stepped over or denied completely.

Understanding, acknowledging and being willing to pay the cost is such an important step in achieving our goals, though. It’s the key piece, once we actually know what we want.

It’s also the reason many goals are not met.

This step is the question that we need to ask ourselves right after discovering what we want:

I want a great relationship with my spouse. Am I willing to “spend” the time?

I want to retire early. Am I willing to give up some current spending to save for the future?

I want to be healthy. Am I willing to give up cigarettes, junk food and caffeine?

I want to be thinner. Am I willing to eat less and exercise more?

Most often it’s:
I want a great relationship with my spouse.

I want to retire early.

I want to be healthy.

I want to be thinner.

I wish

I want

I wish

This may sound silly but it’s like standing in front of a vending machine, being really hungry, wanting some crackers and not knowing what the item cost and if we have the money to pay for it.

So we stand there……………hoping……..waiting……….wanting………..wishing.

What do you want for yourself?

What will it cost - in time, money, energy, etc?

Are you willing to pay the cost to get what you want?

Mastermind: n., A small group of focused, positive thinking people who meet regularly for the purpose of helping each other accomplish their goals.

It’s easy to feel isolated as a business owner, solo professional or leader. It’s sometimes difficult to find peers who understand your challenges and issues.

Have you ever wanted honest, thoughtful feedback from other professionals on:

• Solving a Problem
• Presenting an Idea
• Handling a Complex Negotiation
• Getting More Customers

…………but didn’t know where to turn?

What challenges are you facing?

What do you struggle with daily?

Time Management?

What are you tolerating?

Are you as productive as you need to be?

Imagine meeting with other committed, like-minded intelligent, ambitious individuals who take a personal interest in you, and who have the intention of helping you achieve even your most lofty dreams.

Imagine playing a key role in supporting others in the same way.

The collective creative imagination, consciousness and inspired genius in such a group is the single most powerful connection ever devised.

Mastermind groups provide a place to connect with other like-minded individuals who contribute ideas and feedback to help you grow your business/career and manage your life.

Are you a good candidate for a Mastermind group? Best candidates have:

• Strong Motivation
• Success in a particular field or role
• Openness to different perspectives and feedback
• Positive outlook/optimistic
• Commitment to the group
• Like to have fun and be challenged
• A goal they are passionate about

It’s convenient and easy. Composed of 10 or less non-competing business owners or independent professionals, this informal, confidential “Board of Directors” meets twice each month for 60-90 minutes via teleconferencing from the comfort of your home or office.

In addition, organization, administration, phone bridge – all the details are handled for you – you just need to show up and start getting the results you want.

Members report many benefits including:

• Better decision-making and problem-solving
• Reaching long-stagnant goals
• Access to a network of new resources
• Open communication and honest feedback
• Improved Strategic thinking and planning
• Accountability
• Confidentiality and support as you explore your solutions
• Improved life/work balance

You owe it to yourself to be part of a Mastermind. It is as important as owning a computer. Give the Emerging Results Mastermind Groups a try. You will be so glad you did.

“If you have a dream that you can accomplish all on your own, it’s not a big enough dream or goal!” Author Unknownxxx

Or contact me for more information at gail@emergingresults.com or at 570-815-6193 or 570-689-4011.

The term Opportunity Cost refers to the lost opportunities in one area when you choose to spend resources (time, etc) in another area. For example: If you choose to go sailing on Saturday, rather than work on your taxes, the opportunity cost of going sailing may be late taxes. It means you are choosing one activity at the cost of time spent/opportunities in another area.

I have been using this term, teaching this term and exploring this term for over 15 years….ever since I heard and learned about it in a Managerial Accounting class in college. When I heard it, I felt as though time was standing still. It just resonated in me.

I knew it was something that was important to me…..you know how

that goes….you know it when you hear it and you just want to stop

time so you can hear it, learn it, understand it.

The learning stays with you for years, as you uncover layers and layers of new ways to

understand it, apply it. It takes on deeper and more profound meaning

in your life.

I have understood it and applied it mostly in the area of time

management, knowing that every choice you make about how and when you

spend time also means a choice about where you won’t spend your time.

Learning to invest time as opposed to spending it.

Today I reached another layer in my understanding of opportunity costs. The

opportunity costs of every choice you make with regard to Clients,

Colleagues AND EVERYONE ELSE in your life!

For instance, the people you are trying to help…..even if they don’t know they need the help….let alone want the help. Sometimes they even ask for help, but don’t really want it……..you know who they are. They just want to tell you what awful things keep happening and why they need help and how impossible the situation is and why it can’t ever change.

This is also known as “the bait”.

For “helpers” like me, once “need” (the bait) is put on the “hook”

(situation) and thrown out there, we “bite” just like any fish would.

Then, as a fish disguised as a Super Hero, we suit up, saddle up that

white horse and ride to the rescue, right?

Ever ask yourself why?

There are real reasons why we do what we do……………but that’s another article. (see my article, The Opportunity Costs of Chasing Unmet Needs)

Meanwhile, “back at the ranch” things most important to us are left

unattended and undone. Could be self-care, family, the property, the business, the return phone call to a potential client.

Years ago, there was a television show called “The Millionaire”, where

a man was dispatched to give a million dollars to a chosen person.

Fortunately, the people chosen to receive the gifts were always home to

answer the door.

I’m talking about a television script. But in real life, how many

people pay the opportunity cost of not receiving huge gifts because

they were “spending” their time responding to someone else’s agenda,

and not available? An article not written, a client lead not followed through on, your daily exercise, a newsletter not sent out…..what else?

I’m not suggesting that you never respond to a request. You know the

difference between the authentic occasional request for feedback, advice or help

and the perpetual, never-resolved, endless, draining situations that make demands on your time and resources.

When it comes to your customers or clients, what opportunity costs are

you paying if you allow yourself to be drained by one who has

negotiated a much lower fee from you because they “can’t afford you”,

doesn’t have the time to follow through on their commitments, misses

appointments, always has a crisis and asks for “just a minute” of your

time, doesn’t follow through and is late paying?

Not to mention the hard costs of headache remedies, stress-reduction

tapes, diet programs purchased as a result of emotional eating, etc.!

But that’s another article………

A huge opportunity cost might be not having the time, energy or space

to find and work with your “Ideal Client”?

You know who I mean …..the client who willingly pays your fees because

they value your service, is always on time, follows through, makes the

changes necessary to achieve what they want, succeeds at their goals

and as a result speaks glowingly to others just like them about you and

your services? Can you afford the missed opportunities of finding them or doing what it takes to help them find you?

Or………Are you living beyond your means?