Imagine Your Reality

Julien Smith posted a rather interesting blog entry about e-mail, social networks and the increasing tendency to get nothing done because of the need to check information via these information systems. It seems to me that information, along with becoming the new currency, via social networks, is also an addiction of sorts. People become addicted to the internet and to the information it can provide to the point that it impacts their lives negatively.

In general, there are ways to filter information that cut down significantly on the time you might otherwise put toward trying to sort all of that information. One technique I use involves created a dedicated email account for spam, one for family, and different ones for each business I’m focused on. By having these dedicated accounts, I know how often I need to check them, as well as what to do with the information that each account provides.

One of the challenges in social media is being able to filter the incoming information coming from many different people, while still being successfully social with those various people. I would argue that information filtering is a sophisticated form of successful social media behavior, but to pull it off you need to know what you are filtering out, and/or develop filters that still allow you to check information if needed.

Twitter provides an excellent form of social filtering with the Lists feature. You can choose not follow people, but still keep track of them by adding them to a list. The list can be checked whenever you want, but at the same time you don’t have to necessarily deal with the information streams of specific people unless you want to check the list. You can also create lists to filter your overall stream of information to select people that you follow. I’ve done this by creating a client list. Even though I follow all of my clients, it’s much easier to sort their signal from the noise by having a dedicated list I can check.

The list option isn’t available on Facebook or Linkedin, but there are other options people can use. Facebook allows you to hide updates from people. I use the hide feature to hide all of the games people play. In the case of Linkedin, I no longer check the status updates, which usually are Twitter spam from people, but instead have chosen to focus my efforts on the Groups and Q and A forums. By choosing to filter out a specific functionality, I am able to focus on the more relevant information that the side can provide.

What about you? How do you filter your information? What tools or techniques do you?

I downloaded the latest version of Tweetdeck last week, and I’m really impressed with it, partially because of the improved functionality and partially because they’ve added Myspace to their dashboard.

I know, MySpace is considered yesterday’s news, but the fact that an app such as tweetdeck is willing to invest some effort into enabling people to interact on that social network says something to me about MySpace…that maybe its a little early to discount it…and since using the new tweetdeck, I’ve already found reason to interact some on myspace.

The improved functionality with Facebook is where Tweetdeck really shines, because it shows they’ve overtaken Seesmic and other apps which had previously offered the same functionality. Personally I prefer tweetdeck to Seesmic and others, partially because of the dark background, which is easier on the eyes, and partially because it’s not as busy or as clunky to maneuver as Seesmic is.

It is important to stay up to date with your applications of choice, because new features will be added all the time. It can sometimes be tempting to ignore plugins or social media apps that need updates, but what you miss out on are great features and better security with those applications. If you need to, schedule part of a day for an hour or so once a month and review all of your applications and get them updated, if they don’t update automatically. Doing so will keep you updated and using the most supported version of your applications, while asl ogetting access to the latest features…and nicely enough its all free.

This week I got interviewed on the radio by Marie Daniels of Meoutloud! Next week I’ll be interviewing Jo Smith about how she works with Service Firms.

Why Technology is so important to business

Technology can be a very important element of business. Not only it does provide a business multiple ways of communicating with potential clients, but it can also automate a lot of the processes involved in running a business. But technology can also be intimidating, because of the time factor involved in learning it and also the amount of perceived work involved. On top of that a lot of the interfaces for technology aren’t user friendly, which means it can take a while to learn how to use the technology.

Nonetheless, it’s much harder to run a business without some technology. So what do you do when you feel like you don’t have time to learn new technology AND run your business? You can hire someone, but if it’s technology you need to learn that option becomes much less viable. Under those circumstances taking a class can help, or buying a book which explains how to use the technology, but you still need to make time to learn it. However, it can be worth your time, if the payoff down the line is that you can use the technology to automate some of your systems and processes for doing business.

When I teach classes on technology my goal is to show people how to automate technology so they don’t need to spend a lot of time on it. I think the best technology is the kind of technology that allows you to actually live your life, while it takes care of some of what you would otherwise need to do. If you approach technology in that way it doesn’t have to be as intimidating and can ultimately be very rewarding.

Upcoming Events

How to Get Set up on Online Social Networking Sites

Where: USquared
1562 Se Tacoma St Portland or

When: 6pm-8:30pm March11th

Cost: $50

RSVP: imagineyourreality@gmail.com

Social networking is becoming a hot topic in businesses, but a lot of people aren’t sure how it helps grow your business or get you clients. In this two hour class, business and writing coach Taylor Ellwood will show you how to set up a profile on Linked in as well as connect it to your blog, how to use your status bar to communicate with people, and even how to use recommendations to help you and other businesses grow while getting valuable testimonials.

Taylor will also show you how to set up a biznik, facebook, and twitter account and how to use these social networking tools to not only keep people updated on what you are doing, but also draw more interest to your business through what you are telling people.

Finally Taylor will cover the do’s and don’ts of social networking and how to present a professional image online, while raising the visibility of your business and making connections with other businesses and clients. Taylor will also explain how to automate your social networks so that you can continue to focus on growing your business, while having a viable online presence.

I just finished updating me website. If you haven’t visited it before or been back in a while, go check it out: Imagine Your Reality

This week’s radio show is with Feroshia Knight of the Baraka Institute. Next week’s interview is with the editors of Single Parent Magazine.

Why Multi-Media is Important for your Business and Writing

Multi-media is an increasingly important element of a successful business. And having a website is no longer enough, because while a website is an important element, people want more contact than a website can provide. Blogs, podcasts, videocasts, online social networking, and much more are multi-media components that successful businesses, and writers, need in order to reach out and connect with their clientele.

A blog, such as this one, not only connects with your database of readers, but also people who happen to come across it thanks to search terms and tags.

A podcast, such as my radio interviews, allows people to hear your voice and find out more about what you do.

Videocasting provides a further interaction because people can actually see you and hear you, providing nearly full access to both verabl and body language.

Multi-media gives writers and businesses an opportunity to let your clients interact with you on a variety of levels, which goes beyond just purchasing a product getting a service from you. Clients can rate your authority, share bookmarked and tagged sites about your business and/or writing and otherwise communicate a lot about you.

Your responsibility as a writer or business person is to be proactive and get involved with the different forms of multimedia so that you can make your own mark and provide your clients with more ways to get in touch with you, even as you connect with them about what you or they are already doing. Using multi-media doesn’t have to be hard. There are even ways to automate a lot of the multimedia, so that your workload is significantly cut down. I’ll discuss some of the ways to automate your technology in the coming weeks.

This weekend, I finished my final training with the Baraka Institute. Ironically I eneded my training with what originally would have been my first weekend. Ideally students start out with Personal Mastery, but I missed that weekend and made it up this last weekend.

Because it’s the starter weekend, I was already familiar with a lot of the material. I did learn some new processes and it was good to have a refresher course in some of the concepts.

I felt a bit sad as the weekend wrapped up. I’m happy to be certified…I’m starting on a new journey, but I’m also ending a journey. I’ve learned so much about myself in the last six months because of life coaching. And now I’m ready to take that learning out into the world and share with other people so that they can be empowered as well.

I’m a certified Whole Person Design Life Coach. My website is Imagine Your Reality

I’m ready to coach.

Last night I learned a new process for lifecoaching from James Wanless, the creator of the Voyager Tarot. Basically you use the tarot to create a Hero’s journey. The symbolism of the tarot is used to provide information on the resources you have within and around you. With the Hero’s journey you need to have a clear objective in mind. In my particular case, my objective was to manifest a successful life coaching career.

James had us split the deck into five different piles. The first pile consisted of the first eleven cards of the major arcana…the Fool to Fortune. This pile was the gift pile…the archetypal force within the person that also was the natural gift of the person. James explained that these cards represented a person’s life journey as well as archetypes.

The second pile consisted of all the negative cards. It represented the noble adversary or the obstacle.

The third pile had all of the royalty cards, the knights, kings, queens, etc and represented the ally, basically people around you that could help you on your hero’s journey.

The fourth pile consisted of the cards from the pentacle or world suite of cards. It represented an action a person needs to take.

The final pile was all of the cards left over. We used that pile to pull a card that represented the present. I shuffled that deck first and pulled out the Synthesis or eight of Crystals card. As the card which represented the present, it showed me that I have everything I need, all the tools, skills, etc, at the present.

I shuffled the Gift pile of cards, which was the first 11 cards of the trumps. I selected the chariot card, which represented the git of momentum and flow. I have a lot of momentum, and also an ability to flow with my situations.

I shuffled the negative card deck next, and select the five of cups, disappointment, which represented my noble adversary. In this case, disappointment with not getting expected results…a good reminder to not expect anything, but to go with the flow and trust in the momentum of the universe.

I shuffled the ally deck next and pulled the man (king) of worlds (pentacles). This is the achiever card, and suggested that I needed to commit to the journey for the long haul, but also work with the right people…a good reminder to keep networking.

I next shuffled the action deck, the one with the world or pentacle suite. I pulled out the Ten of worlds (reward).  This told me to trust in the skilsl I have and promote myself…Ask for the order.

I finally combined all of the piles together and shuffled the cards one more time for the outcome card. I received the Logic card, 4 of crystals (swords). This told me that I have everything I need and I need to take what I learned from the reading and put it all together to create my successful career.

It’s a useful process that I could see using for a client who has a really good idea of what s/he wants, but is unsure of the actual journey. It also provided me some really valuable insights for my own journey to become a life coach.

I just finished my fifth weekend of life coach training. One more weekend to go, which will happen in March. This weekend was intense. It was actually the final weekend for most of my cohort, who graduated. I’ll graduate next month, because I started the program a month later. This happens occasionally and I had a really good reason for not being there. The graduation ceremony was moving in its own way. I was asked what I had had gotten from life coaching, what I had given up as a result of life coaching, and what I planned to offer to life coaching.

What I’ve gotten: A lot more honesty and openness with myself and other people. I feel like I know a lot more of what I want for my life because of life coaching.

What I’ve given up: The dishonesty with myself and others.

What I plan to offer: Continued participation in my community and continuing to build my community.

I learned a process this weekend, where the client tells a story about a particualr pattern, as well as the thoughts that motivate the actiosn in the story…and then the client figures out how to break the pattern. I thought this was really an insightful process. I had it used with a pattern in my life, which has bothered me for a while and when the process was finished I felt like I had definite steps and a plan of action to use that could help me create a new and healthier pattern.

We also wrote testimonials for each other. Both writing those testimonials and receiving them was very affirming. I learned a lot from the people I worked with and evidently they learned a lot from me as well. I’ll be getting some of those testimonials posted on my website: http://www.imagineyourreality.com

At the after graduation dinner party, Feroshia asked all of us what we were before we became a life. Before I was a life coach I was a lot less honest with myself.

I’ve got one more weekend, in March, and then I’m a certified Life coach, but my learning won’t be finished. The relationships may change, the situation may be different, but I will continue growing and networking. But this weekend made me feel hopeful for my future as a person and that’s a good step to make.

I just got through the fourth weekend of my life coaching Training. I have two weekends to go. This weekend was just as intense as the prior weekends. I learned some new processes which have some intriguing applicatiosn to identity work. I particularly enjoyed trying out the six hats exercise, with each hat representing a different aspect that could be accessed to provide a different perspective on the situation.

Each time we learned a process, I made sure I didn’t look at the scripts, but instead tried to adapt the processes to my own language and understanding of them. This helped me become very comfortable with the processes. I adapted them into my flow.

I also got to life coach a new person and I felt really comfortable developing rapport with that person. I relaxed into the conversation and once rapport was established I started to move toward coaching. I feel more and more each time I coach.

I also am seeing the benefit of networking with the people I’m learning with. Coaching is about networking, about working together to help each grow and I find that business model vastly more appealing than others I’ve had access to.

 It was a good weekend, with so much learned and experienced. As always I come away feeling profoundly changed, even if I don’t consciously realize the full extent of those changes.

Tonight the third weekend of life coaching training started.

I felt really comfortable and open tonight. I was ready and willing to be there an engaged.

And tonight I felt really comfortable with the tools we learned. I already have some experience with putting people into altered states of consciousness and what we learned tonight were some techniques for doing that. It gave me a couple news ways to get people into a deep state, so I was really pleased with that.

More importantly, I felt really happy to be there, really glad to have this opportunity. I’m learning so much about communication and about how to make what I learn into opportunities that help people grow. I think I’m really fortunate in this regard.

More to follow in the next couple of days…

The other night I got coached by a member of my cohort. It was quite an insightful experience because it gave me an opportunity to see how someone else approaches life coaching. She used a combination of visual and kinisthetic approaches to get me engaged and focused. She drew a lot on pieces of paper and then gave me the colored markers so I could do the same.  This really got me focused on the actual experience and I learned a lot, both about a situation in my life that I’m trying to work through, but also about how I can improve my life coaching techniques.

I think that the challenge any person in any profession faces is a challenge of how to improve his/her skills at what is being done. For me, one way I’m improving my skills is by doing life coaching sessions with people so I can practice those skills. I’m also learning more about Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) and of course I’m incorporating breathign and energy work techniques into my life coaching, but I’ve also been reading books by life coaches and trying out the exercises in those books for myself, with an eye toward how I can apply those exercises to my coaching practice once it really takes off.

Earlier today I did an exercise where I identified the monkey mind habits I have…these are habits or beliefs or thoughts I tell myself that can cause me to waffle and vacillate on making a decision. By actually spending some time writing them down, I was able to identify some monkey mind habits…and you know I think that could be an excellent exercise I use for my life coaching practice.

The more I learn about life coaching and what I can do with it, both for personal development and for the development of others, the more excited I am by the possibilities.  There is a lot a person can do to really change his/her understanding of the opportunities in life. I’ve always known that, but life coaching is giving me even more tools to manifest those opportunities into reality.