Hamster on a Wheel

I'm home today, trying to catching up. It seems that every time I try to do this, I just feel like I don't really get that much done. I just manage to keep up but never get ahead. I do my filing, clean my desk up a bit, and enter my business receipts in Quicken. There are always many things left undone and that I never seem to get to. There are photos and memorabilia to organize, a closet full of things to sell on eBayhttp://www.ebay.com/ and 10 file drawers to clean out. I also need to get rid of hundreds of emails that I really don't need and I need to spend more time brainstorming how to get my coaching practice off the ground. But these things are left undone. And I'm not sure why. Maybe completion scares me because then I will have time, energy and no excuses to work on deeper issues in my life.

I do work many hours each week and I feel guilty just veggie out and not getting more done. I know I need to relax but it's hard for me knowing so much more needs to be done. I've tried Fly Lady http://www.flylady.net and it does work but I'm not consistent enough with it. I know consistency and routines work. It worked while I was losing weight and it works to keep it off but I haven't mastered it in other areas of my life yet. I really need to take a small amount of time each day to do some organizing but it seems like it's all or nothing with me. An all day marathon of organizing or nothing seems to be my pattern. I think that writing about it will make me more responsible to get things completed. I gues I'll get started right now by putting somethin on eBay.

Sunday at the Beach

Today I decided to walk on Ocean Beach in San Francisco. I used to walk 4 miles there regularly but since hurting my knee I've really not been walking that far very much. It took me about an hour and half because I walked pretty slowly due to a bit of knee pain but I pushed on.

Toward the end of my walk I saw some figures on the beach in the distance. As I approached then it turned out to be a huge display of plywood cutouts recreating a photograph taken in 1902 of Buffalo Bill and about 100 Indians on the Ocean Beach. It was simply amazing.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?o=0&f=/c/a/2008/09/05/MNFS12OSPK.DTL

I said I would talk about my coaching practice. So here goes. I have been wanting to do something different in my career for a few years now. Child care has been a wonderful career but I am ready for something new. I hired a life coach to help me determine what my next step should be. During the first fifteen minutes of our phone call my coach said," I know where you're headed but I can't tell you until you come up with it yourself." So after five sessions she asked, So what to you want to do?" I told her I wanted to be a life coach and she said"Bingo! You got it!" So I became trained as a life coach. I am specializing in weight loss and wellness with side interest in parenting coaching.

Life coaching is a relatively new profession. Coaches have been used in business for several years now but the profession has grown to include life coaches with a multitude of specialties. I've met coaches who specialize in everything from women in transition to those who coach people who want to travel and live in Europe for extended periods.

Coaches help people to set goals and accomplish them. I do this through a series of individual telephone conversations or group meetings during which I ask powerful questions, give feedback and insight and provide expertise and tools they can use. I then provide accountability for accomplishing goals and acknowledge success. Coaches are like the best friends you always wished you had.

I am trying to start my practice but it is very difficult to market this kind of service because it is so new, it is hard to explain unless you experience it and it isn't a necessity in these difficult financial times. But I am trying to get speaking engagements at senior centers and other community groups. I am determined to make a success of this.

Mindless Musings

Today I'm working for a few hours on my job monitoring bulletin board posts. Then I'll exercise. It's been really hot here for the last few days- 80's-90's. This is our summer in San Francisco. We had a small earthquake last night. It felt like a sharp jolt. I thought my cat, Holly Belle had bumped up against my office chair but she was in front of me, sitting on my desk, looking up and very perplexed. It was a 4.0 magnitude and did little damage from the reports.


I was very honored this month, to be one of Richard Simmons follow-up success stories along with my wonderful friend, Lorraine. I just hope our stories will help others see that losing weight and keeping it off are a real possibility, even at our age.
http://www.richardsimmons.com/j/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogsection&id=8&Itemid=51

I'm still trying to get my coaching business off the ground I've been contacting community centers and senior groups to see if they would like me to come speak. But more about that tomorrow because I've got to get back to work.