Living Your Passion

Every rule in the book can be broken except one: Be who you are and become all you were meant to be.
-- Sidney Harris

People interested in peak performance know that the first and foremost consideration for clarity is this - are you pursuing your deepest passion? Are you heeding the still small voice that gives you the same clear message year after year about what you are to be doing and yearn to be doing?

All too often, many of us trade our passion for what seems to be the sensible thing to do. "Be sensible." We do what we think we should and lose our aliveness. We worry that what we want is beyond our reach, that we're not smart enough, we don't have the right schooling, that what we want sounds silly and our friends and family will certainly not agree. These false beliefs have seeped into the pores and cells of each and every client I've seen over the last 23 years. And these clients are usually the brightest and best. But the self-doubts, the fears, and the prescriptions of others to keep yourself in your place have taken their toll.

We must know and trust that if our still small voice is urging us to do something, the universe will support us when we take action. Let me repeat that - when you know and trust what your inner wisdom tells you is your calling, the universe will absolutely support you in this endeavor. Everything lines up, for it is the thing you are here to do. Listen to your inner voice - it rings clear and its telling you the truth!

Jean Houston's study of 55 of the most creative people in the U.S. revealed interesting commonalities. Each was familiar with their interior world and believed its ideas and images could spark their projects - and followed its urgings.

Know you are here for a purpose. It's important. This purpose serves the world and serves you - with passion, joy, enthusiasm, meaning and power. People often say that when they think about their life, their deepest desire is to have made a contribution; to have made a meaningful difference in others' lives . . . and to not die with their music still in them.

Choose to honor what's in your heart by following its lead. The only other choice is to set limits. Limits create dull, passionless lives. Ask yourself, "What do I love to do? What brings me joy? What do I have fun doing? Joseph Campbell said, "When you follow your bliss, you put yourself on a track that has been there all the time waiting for you." I like that.

Peak Performance - Shine in 2009 !

I watched the Golden Globes tonight. Yup, I'm a junkie for those shows. I'm not sure why. It's so not cool to say you like to watch "stars," but I do. I like to see the awards shows. I like to see beautiful people. They are dressed in their finery and everyone appears to be in good moods and friendly with their colleagues. But you know what impresses me the most each and every time I see an awards show? - How utterly grateful and thrilled they are to have won. Really, I'm not kidding.

There is an amazement and sincere uttering of thankfulness that is very touching to me. It tells me they are really not that much different from "the rest of us." (Okay, a whole lot more beautiful, but . . .) Kate Winslet won two Golden Globes tonight. She was so moved and thankful while accepting the first for her starring role in "The Reader." (I was fortunate to see it just last night- amazing movie, I'm still thinking about her role today and will for weeks). Her second Golden Globe came for "Revolutionary Road" with Leonardo DiCaprio. She was dumbstruck - she was shaking - she was "beside herself" - and in it all she was just so amazingly thankful to be singled out as such a "winner." And with the thankfulness for being recognized was the equally compelling need to express gratitude to all the people that helped contribute to the best expression of her talent. - the directors, her co-stars, the crews, the make-up artists . . .

Most of us see movie stars as somehow very different from us. But they aren't "too cool" to not need recognition for a job well done. We all need that recognition. And we all need deep gratitude in our lives. We need to know we are bringing forth the best in ourselves and in others. It's important to tell our co-workers, our families, and yes, even our competitors when they have done a good job. It's important to express our gratitude for their help in our journey to be the best we can be. It helps everyone rise to a new level.

I'm a Performance Specialist with athletes, performing artists and business professionals. I love the entire area of Peak Performance. And it's all about winning - winning your personal best. Getting your own award for giving your best performance ever. It's a thrill! And it's a thrill because we are, each one of us, working at the very thing that is our deep passion. Our art, whatever it may be, comes from a part of our soul that has to be expressed. We thrive when we are giving our best performance. We light up! And yes, we sometimes even gush, even if for most of us, it might be in the privacy of our own hearts. Whatever your passion, my wish for you in this New Year, is that you pursue it with your whole self. Go for it! It was given to you to express to the world. Please don't die with your music still in you! This is your year.

Recession - Abundance Supercharge - Part II

My last blog spoke to how we can "catch" negativity from all the doom and gloom talk about our country’s recession. Contagion of negativity is powerful. Just listen to any 4 year old (sometimes your own!) and you wonder where in the world they came up with that! (Of course with a positive environment, kids will say the greatest positive things!)

In the last blog, as you read the list of negative responses people have to our economic downturn, I asked you to notice what happened to your body and your mood. Most people will notice slumped shoulders, a heavy feeling in their body, and a sense of feeling "down," "overwhelmed," "unmotivated," "tired," ---all part of an overall lower vibration in your entire energy system. These are certainly not the sensations and energy moods that arm you for smart, strategic, motivated action! That low vibratory energy will never help you reach your highest athletic goals, create your most beautiful music, or motivate you to new levels of business sales.

You can drown in negativity or use this recession as an opportunity. The environment is ripe to learn and practice many powerful tools to keep your personal and environmental vibration UP! I'm not just talking about some simple "talk yourself into a good mood." I'm talking about availing yourself of some of the best cutting edge technologies that will literally raise your body's vibratory power. Each cell in your body can be released of negativity and you can experience a positivity and motivation that you did not think possible.

I'm partial to Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT). By learning this very simple energy psychology tool, you can take matters into your own hands - literally. EFT rids the body of negative emotion caused by negative thoughts that block your ability to take forward moving action. By using your own fingertips to tap on certain acupuncture points while simultaneously verbalizing the negative statements that concern you, the body begins to come to a "neutral" place – the block dissolves and you are left with accelerated internal resources for action. To read specific information on how EFT works, go to my website, www.powerful-performance.com and click on "What is EFT" and "How EFT Works."

Here is another simple, effective exercise you can use when you find yourself worried or in a low energy place.

***** Breathe in deeply through your nose, open your mouth with the back of your throat relaxed and sound out "Ahh" as you exhale. Practice this right now several times. Notice the change! You've changed your vibration. Sighing like this allows us to get out of our head. It allows a movement from head to heart. It gives us a higher, more loving vibration. This kind of sighing moves us from negative, fear-based vicious-thought cycles to higher, more loving vibration.

I recommend doing this breathing technique as often as possible throughout the day. It, along with using Emotional Freedom Technique on a regular basis, will supercharge your heart, your whole vibrational field and equip you to move through our recession with abundance and power.

Recession - Time for an Abundance Supercharge

It's easy to get discouraged. Just listen to news of our economic downturn, the inflamed conflict between Israel and the Gaza Strip, war continuing in Iraq and Afghanistan . . . and read your personal financial papers to seal the deal. It's way too easy to get discouraged. But we really can't afford that. That is the thing we most cannot afford!

What's your best defense to our country's economic downturn? You might have noticed that some people like to talk about it a lot. And no doubt, it's "real." (I finally did glance at a monthly financial report of my investments - aargh, I worked really hard and gave up a lot so I could save that money!) But here is the crucial moment. What do I do now that I see those lower numbers?

1. Get scared or panic

2. Worry about how I'm going to have enough money for retirement, for medical emergency, for present living expenses

3. Commiserate with everybody else that likes to worry out loud about money

4. Get deflated; feel defeated and/or bitter (How does your body feel right now after hearing this negativity so far?)

5. Stick my head in the sand and pretend nothing has happened

6. Make a plan

OK, it's obvious - Make a plan. And it's pretty obvious what most plans include:

1. How can I cut my expenses for 2009?

2. How can I make more money in my present work?

3. How can I diversify my work -- use my strengths in expanded areas, for expanded populations?

4. How can I raise my vibration to attract more money and joy?

I particularly like the last! Read on in the very next blog. Because making a plan won't help much unless your energy and motivation are supercharged. I'll have some specific suggestions for raising your vibration and mental/physical energies with Emotional Freedom Technique and other methods. You can be attracting more money, joy and satisfaction for 2009. This recession may be just the motivation you needed to energetically take your abundance into your own hands!

Keep your Happy Friends Close By !

I like to listen to the Today Show and catch snippets of information. Today's Today snippet was on whether happiness is contagious. Turns out it is! And people's proximity matters as well!


* A happy friend that lives within 1/2 mile of you - you will be 42% happier

* A happy friend that lives within 1 mile of you - 25% happier

* Happy next door neighbors - 34% happier

* Happy sibling - 12% happier

* Happy co-workers - no bump in your happiness


We are herd animals. We need each other. We derive energy from each other. And we need this source of energy close by us to really impact our sense of well-being.

Of course, we are sympathetic and helpful when a friend is in a rough place. It feels important and good to be of service to others in need. But for the sake of this study, they're just talking about the contagion factor of "happiness."

We need to be around happy people. It is no small matter! The energy we emit affects those around us. It's all about energy. If you want some scientific data on the phenomenon of this energy transfer, I recommend Masaru Emoto's book, The Hidden Messages in Water and other fascinating research in my summary report. You can find this summary of the latest leading edge researchers in Energy Psychology and EFT under "scientific research" on my website. www.powerful-performance.com

It's worth considering how you can optimize your life by developing proximity to the people who make you laugh and feel light-hearted. It's easy to get too busy and forget about the need to be with these people. Gather your happy friends around you! Develop and nurture your relationships with your neighbors. You'll feel better - and so will they! This is a contagion to definitely catch!!

End Emotional Eating with EFT

I'll never forget one of my obese client's stories. She's 6 years old, taken to the local bar with her alcoholic father. She's the princess of the pub. "A big juicy hamburger and huge plate of fries was always set in front of me. My eyes would light up. I took one bite and the world melted away. I felt my body melt right under the table with that juicy meat and bun. The fries kept me melted and gone."

Why do people eat when they are not hungry? According to the foundational theory of Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), people overeat to tranquilize unresolved negative emotions and traumas. Recent research has established that obese people overeat because their food cravings are controlled by the same part of the brain that control drug cravings in addicts. This brain circuitry located in the hippocampus is also the part of the brain that is involved with emotion.

People are already conquering food cravings by addressing their unresolved emotional issues with EFT - and they have been doing so for more than a decade. EFT involves fingertip tapping on select acupressure points while focusing on the craving in question. EFT claims an 80% success rate in calming the emotions that trigger food cravings.

I've worked with compulsive eaters and chronic dieters for over 18 years. I find EFT to be the most effective tool for helping people rid themselves of uncontrollable urges and cravings for food. People who overeat don't have a food problem or a willpower problem. They have a problem dealing with difficult emotions without the aid of food.

In private practice and in the 15 years of teaching a course for overeaters, my clients consistently express this "yearning" feeling, this "nagging/driven" feeling to go hunt for food. It comes from unresolved emotion - there is no doubt in my mind. When we clear up the hidden emotions, along with breaking out of the diet mentality, they find a normal relationship to food and find their body going back to a normal size. EFT makes this process easier than ever before.

Gary Craig, founder of EFT, reports, "I see repeatedly that emotional issues like fear, anger, boredom, shame, and resentment are the very centerpiece of someone's weight gain. But their emotional issues have remained unresolved despite willpower and conventional therapies. This is because the emotional issues have disrupted their energy meridian system(or Chi in Chinese Medicine). Until the energy system is balanced, the emotional eating will continue."

I am thrilled we have EFT. It balances the energy system in a way that allows people to finally take control and manage whatever emotion that needs attention without stuffing or distracting themselves with food. It's an amazing new freedom to be free around food and with your body! It's a life-changer.

If you are concerned about your relationship with your emotions and your food cravings, give me a call at 303-300-6733 and we can discuss if you would be eligible for joining a class to gain freedom around food.

Calling all Coaches - Your Brightest and Best Athletes Need You

Are you frustrated with the results of your brightest and best athletes?

Do you wonder why they can show flashes of brilliance and then choke, in the most crucial of times? Or the most unlikely of times?

It's your job to find out. It's not your job to "fix" these mental lapses. But it's essential you know that mental skills training is available and powerful in its results. You owe it to your athletes to give them all they need to be successful. It's what you want.

Being an athletic coach is an amazing job. You're involved in the sport you have always loved and most likely played yourself. You get to work with other athletes who hold the same passion you do. You also are responsible for shaping and leading younger minds than yours. You are responsible for not just honing their skills as an athlete but also motivating them to play above and beyond their optimal ability in every situation imaginable. It's a tall order. If you take your job seriously, it's not easy. And it is amazingly rewarding.

There's always an expectation for the brightest and best athletes. After all, they've been performing above and beyond all the rest since grade school. They have had advantageous training that other athletes could only hope to get . . . the camps, special clinics, private lessons from top coaches. And then the expectations begin to really rise. Now there is just not the pressure of "having a good game" but to get that college scholarship. Not just any college scholarship, but the scholarship. And after the scholarship is the pressure to prove yourself worthy of it - to hold your own while playing in the big pond.

One can argue that the high expectations, the expectation of success, could, in fact, help create the success. We've known for a very long time that when you expect good , you get good. The self fulfilling prophecy. And we particularly know with our new research in how thoughts create reality, that when the athlete's own thoughts are aligned with success, success naturally follows.

For many athletes, however, the expectation is one they unconsciously resist. They "blow it" for a few holes in golf, or the 3rd quarter of the basketball game, or begin to lose their serve and have no idea what's going on for themselves. This is where more coaching can't help, but some astute attention to the mental gymnastics of the athlete can turn things around.

In today's world of competitive sports it is essential to be a coach who understands that his athletes need coaching with the mental side of the game as much as they need more practice on the physical skills of the sport. The saying, "You don't know what you don't know" really applies here. I often find this true in the area of coaches with their athletes. Many coaches think the answer to a game played poorly or to a match that never should have been lost, is to just practice harder and longer. It just is not so. In fact, it can do more harm.

The tennis star didn't start to lose his serve because he didn't know how to serve anymore. . . or that she was tired. But there could have been several sneaky thoughts running through this athlete's unconscious that were not only distracting, but downright took the wind out of this player's sails. The list of blocking thoughts are endless. We'll go over several specific examples of them in an upcoming blog - stay tuned! Your brightest and best need you to know!