» Archive for the 'Life Hacks' Category

Earth Hour

Thursday, March 25th, 2010 by Maryam Webster

Did you know about Earth Hour? A group of us were lounging on Navajo rug patterned chairs in a coffeehouse the other day, chatting about books, cats, kids & corn-based plastics. It was that languid, full-bodied chat that women have when comfortable with each other, the ambient temperature, satiety of their bellies and certain knowledge that a significant other is looking after the children, cooking or reservations.

Alois mentioned Earth Hour and the room started buzzing. Do you know about this? At 8:30pm on March 27th,

(that’s this Saturday, folks)

everyone who cares about the environment is switching their lights off for one hour to register mass concern and protest environmental policy changes not happening fast enough. I spoke of our pre-cycling/recycling efforts and of JBear’s biking to work. From bed I tread naked feet and comfy home-clothes to my office across the hall, so technically, I’m carbon friendly too.  ;-) Others put in compost heaps, biodiesel, community farming and child minding. We all sighed over reminiscences of the cute long haired hippie boys in the various communes of our youth.

My local co-op housing project in Columbia, Missouri put out the international Anarchy magazine. No, I’m not kidding.  And the oddity was, that I found it in Cambridge, England while living there, at an alternative bookstore called The Grapevine. I recognized the editor, typesetter, copy boy (this was the 80’s, mind) and had gone through crisis intervention training with the magazine’s accountant. They all recycled like crazed weasels, and even had an illegal still in the basement of one of the houses that brewed up some rather fine paint thinner they used to power a car they’d rigged up, decades before the real gasohol engines. I had a memorable date in that car…about which the least said the better.

My girlfriend J- was here today, visiting the Bay Area and taking a training. J. is an amazing lady I feel privileged to know. We  had a fine handful of hours together, chatting comfortably and reminiscing. As I get older, I so deeply value the tone and texture of these mature women relationships. It is so choice, and so eclipses what I had thought deep relationships to be in my youth.  Huzzah for us middlin’-aged broads. It’s a cool place to be.  ;-)   J- passed me this video which is related to the observations above. Thanks for the pointers sweetie – your tribe is up to wonderful things…

There’s more at: http://www.fouryearsgo.org/

Transparency, Gurus, Gory Details & Telling Secrets

Thursday, December 3rd, 2009 by Maryam Webster

What do you think of guru-ification of teachers, and living a transparent life? What’s your take on all the “lifestyle gurus” out there preaching their own version of the Truth™, then dealing unfairly or abusively with their followers or family?

(Read this post, then let join the conversation and let everyone know your views by clicking the Facebook Community and/or Twitter icon in the orange toolbar below…)

deeintranceI had the glorious good fortune to be landed with a beautiful, dear elder as a primary spiritual teacher: Corliss “d” deLarm. You’ve probably never heard of him, he was a local shaman in my Missouri hometown. His behavior was above reproach and his lessons deep and evolutionary.  What I’m seeing pass for spiritual teachings today, and from far less scrupulous teachers, is pablum. The fortunate circumstances of my own learning give me a sense of the standard I have to live up to, and what I need to teach.

d’s single most impactful teaching on us all was this:

“You are Love, You are Loved and You are Loving”

Simple words, but when you think about it – deep as the ocean. Everything pretty much does devolve back to love in the end, as anyone who has sat with the dying can attest. And d. would have had a conniption if he ever thought anyone saw him as a guru. Humble, loving and with enough patience and compassion to fill that ocean. That, by me, is a true spiritual teacher. And I didn’t for one minute turn him into a guru. He would never have allowed it.

In commenting on a blog post on living a transparent life elsewhere, I ended up writing an article I’m reproducing here, on living an open, transparent life, the blessing divorce can be and keeping people’s secrets. Here these comments are:

…I had a similar experience of divorce from my first husband in 2000. It was all about how I sucked being married to him and how very much that relationship pulled me down into the depths of our own private hell. I had to get out or face devolution.

How very empowering divorce is! We should all be allowed at least one starter spouse. <grin>

Transparency can be an uncomfortable place until we start paying more attention to inner direction rather than hooking into the persuasiveness of the painbody of those around us. Humans have a hard-wired urge to wallow in misery. Takes starch in your bonnet to get past that.   Brava for us!

Transparency for me must be 100%. When first online in the early 90’s someone threatened to “out” me from behind my screen name. Since I had nothing to hide, I outted myself and have opted for my own name over a false persona ever since. An object lesson in how other areas of life, for me at least, need to be run.  It’s so relaxing not to put feverish energy into maintaining a front.  ;-)

You mention transparency in business. Much of what I see in business, especially small business is not transparent, but built upon tissues of lies and airbrushing the inconvenient details to look as perfect as possible. We never have a year in the red, everything’s just dandy even after the iceberg hits our ship of business, and the gaping hole is apparent to all. The worst I’ve seen are the gurus, who present a shiny facade but are having problems, aren’t as wealthy as their press says they are, and are really NOT perfect.

No one is!

How much more attractive it is when we are able to cheerfully admit our foibles and go forward, for it places us then not in the lofty clouds of those who are icons, but with our feet firmly planted alongside the people we are meant to serve. Transparency may not seem to be sexy when you’re in the trenches, but it can and does become so, and much easier and more supportive, the more you exercise the transparency muscle.

There’s also an issue we’ve danced around here on transparency or “translucency” per Arjuna Ardagh (his book: The Translucent Revolution is a good read for folks interested in this – http://www.translucents.org).

As a therapist and later a coach privy to extreme secrets in people’s lives, I’ve had to be a secret-keeper for others even when choosing to live openly myself. Whether you’re a professional with privileged information or not, we all have other people’s secrets to treat with care and discretion.

P—’s example of her partner’s carefully constructed marital facade and her desire to bore through this to live in the open is one very useful example. Sometimes the urgency to live free causes us to say things that may feel right at the time but be inappropriate, because they are others’ secrets to keep, not ours to reveal.

I’m not speaking of P—’s situation in particular as I don’t know her, but of the many that are similar. For example, we might know that our partner has a sexual kink that she or he doesn’t want revealed in public. Or that they were involved in illegal activities as a teen. Or have a mentally ill family member. Or “secret” children from a youthful liason. None of these are our secrets to tell, no matter how bad the urge is to do so.

Example: I was married to a man who was a serial drug abuser. His alcoholism was well known, so in examining the ethics of our situation, his drinking was something I felt I could speak of when asked, without elaborating further on other things he would not want known. When I wrote my last book, our relationship figured mildly in the prologue as one of the prime motivators for changes I made.

It was necessary to describe the situation, but to do so in ways that didn’t betray the confidences he had entrusted me with.

Each of us needs to figure out what is fair, compassionate and ethical in revealing others’ personal details. It’s not something to treat in a cavalier manner or to decide upon in the heat of anger and the acrimony of relationship breakdown.

So much for personal secrets, but what about the “gory details” of the relationship itself?

Sometimes we think since we were there and it happened to us, that we have the right to publish. The he-said/she-said of anyone’s relationship is really no one else’s business, and is rarely illuminating or beneficial in public dissection. Certainly not for people who are striving to live a conscious life.

Why do people like to reveal “gory details” in public? It gives us emotional satisfaction for a variety of reasons. But not consciousness. Nor an open or transparent life. Never that.

You can see this in the current foofooraw surrounding Tiger Woods’ reported infidelity. Are you tired of hearing about this? Are you even interested? As I’ve observed, the less interest you have in this kind of thing, the more aware and conscious you tend to be. Now think on this – are any of the people in this situation conscious, or close to conscious? Much less living transparently?

I applaud the way people handle divorce and teaching by sharing the universal themes around it without revealing intimate details.

To enhance your state of consciousness and life of transparency, choose compassionate discretion in the heat of the moment. You’ll thank yourself later on. If it ever becomes necessary, you can always share more down the line.

If a significant part of your life includes someone else’s secrets, to reveal them (especially without consent) is to be attached to both the secret/s and the outcome of your revelation. And to dive back down into unconscious living. If the person you’re in contention with wants to keep living unconsciously and under a facade, that’s their business and their right.

When we are beginning to live more consciously and out in the open, it’s important to remember that this is *our* choice – BUT – we do not have the right to make this choice for others. It hooks us into attachment which always takes us backwards.

Who’s for living life in truth, in the open and out loud? And what are your thoughts on “Fake Gurus”?

Two options for comments now: either below in the comment box OR – at the bottom of the page is an orange toolbar:  just click on the Facebook Community icon to post a reply to Facebook, and/or the Twitter icon to post to Twitter.

I’m happy to share this “3-in-One Easy” way to Get Your Point Of View Out There. I hope you enjoy it, and use it to share YOUR views!  ;-)

Join me on “Black Friday” & Meet Your Joy Body!

Tuesday, November 24th, 2009 by Maryam Webster

Thanksgiving tomorrow! Are you done yet? I had to sit down myself. I make the cranberry sauce (according to the
package. Mom always did and it turned out great), prepped the stuffing (rice this year, with seasonal mixed veg) and
baked the cornbread (Grandma Mimi’s gluten & sugar-free variety – historic and OMG, good!).

This is to UPDATE you on some things as well as to

*** INVITE YOU TO MY THANKSGIVING PARTY   ***

on “Black Friday”. (to skip to the no-registration necessary Party Invitation details, scroll halfway down)

My hubby and his brother who’s visiting, have gone to Drake’s Beach in Inverness, California to run with the seagulls and have microbrew & oysters in the Point Reyes Station Cafe.

I opted to stay home and get an end run around the load of cooking we traditionally do on the last Thursday in November. Thank goodness this year it’s *not* “turducken”.

Happy, Glorious, Grateful Thanksgiving!

Do you know what I’m grateful for this year in addition to all the usual?

The fact that I’m doing in life all the things that give me the greatest joy. One of those things is to create the simplest, easiest transformation experiences and opportunities for personal and planetary evolution possible.

After this last year’s creative hiatus…

it became crystal clear…

that my core mission in life is to uncreate, dissolve and release problems, issues and pain worldwide.

And more important on a personal level…

to Create, empower and amplify a daily experience of JOY in your life.

In addition to the Pain Body…did you know we all have a JOY BODY? Which most of us don’t even know about.

(yep)

I am celebrating the remainder of this year – 37 days  from Thanksgiving to New Year’s with YOU in the creation, empowerment and amplification of YOUR Joy Body .

YOUR   GOLDEN  INVITATION:

Come join me to turn “Black Friday” into “Green Friday” – for a Sustainable eco-friendly, zero-emissions Lifestyle of Ease, Grace and Joy. I wanted to  invite you and yours to party with me and enjoy:

* Opting-Out Of the ‘Crazy’ of the Holidays
(have exasperating family members? you’ll get help)

* An END to getting emotionally “hooked”
(at the mercy of family who embarass or anger you)

* A Booster Shot for BOTH physical and spiritual Immunity
(no drugs, no gizmos, no batteries required)

This Is A No-C’ost Open House Series for the Holidays:

“37 Days To Personal Grace”

“Here’s The Gig”
Collaborate with our community by phone or Skype, from wherever you are for personal & planetary transformation.

“Ok, When?”
First telegathering: Friday, November 27th

“And the Objective is?”
To deepen our personal and collective focus on Personal Grace – both achieving it, and spreading a wave of Personal Grace outward to all whose lives we touch.

“Why?”
Because being together with a group super-powers any efforts you make towards your own enlightenment, because group energy can also be directed to greater good.

Most importantly, because being flung together with people who remind you of the “unconscious you” you used to be is an excellent time to surface and deal with lingering barriers to personal grace.

To say nothing of having a support community that’s got your back.  ;-)

No really, why?”
What, that’s not enough? Carve out an hour on Black Friday & a few more in the month beyond & let’s end wars together. Together, let’s pour a balm of blessing on troubled relationships, champion the Unlimited Self in everyone, and gladden sad hearts.

Both yours, mine and everyone else’s.

This is an experiment in raising consciousness, as well as a unique chance to evolve yourself further than you ever thought possible. Noticing a refrain here? The word is “together”.

One energy field. One consciousness. One objective: lives of ease, grace and joy.

A Happy Bonus:
For the kickoff in this series I’m going to be reprising, updating and extending one of my most popular classes:

“Stay Sane at the Holidays”
(Even When Family ‘normally’ Drive You Crazy)

As a holiday g’ift, I am picking up the tab for you and anyone you’d like to invite F*R*E*E to the LIVE recording of
this class (no replay). You’ll also get info on how to register for the rest of this no-c’ost event, and all the goodies available to you through New Year’s Eve.

It’s going to be awesome.

But if you want to get in on it, you gotta be here LIVE for “Green Friday” – a sustainable, eco-friendly, zero-emissions transformation journey into a Conscious Life of Ease, Grace and Joy:

THIS Friday, November 27th, 2009
Time: 3pm Pacific  / 6pm Eastern
On Bridgeline: 1-712-421-6331  PIN: 640719#

“See” you there & Happy Thanksgiving!!

Warm Blessings,
Maryam

PS:
Just for Thanksgiving, and especially if you’re not from the USA, here’s some happy cool vids for the kids (and you) on the origin of Thanksgiving in North America, and the definitive recipe for the Turducken I mentioned above (don’t ask! Must be seen to be believed):

http://www.history.com/video.do?name=Thanksgiving

Get ‘er done with Task.fm

Thursday, November 19th, 2009 by Maryam Webster

to-dohttp://task.fm is the hottest new outsourcing “Get ‘er done” tool among the coaching set. It’s free, you can record your tasks in slang, just the way you speak and the app will translate perfectly.

For instance, “Pick up dry cleaning a week from today after lunch” gets translated into “Pick up dry cleaning” with the date being exactly a week from the time you ordered the task, at 1pm.You can choose email, SMS or call-to for task reminder.

Cool? You bet. And for a cheapo $4 a month upgrade, you can log tasks by calling them into the service’s own 800 number and other refinements.

Best of all, you can synch up with Twitter, DM Task.fm and never have to log in. For the socmedia maven, a blessing. Here’s the lowdown from the FAQ:

what is task.fm

Task.fm is a reminder tool. Use it to create sms, email or twitter reminders. Task.fm can understand your natural language like “meeting with bob next tuesday at 9am”, so you don’t need to enter dates and times manually.

  • natural language input

    don’t enter dates and times manually. Save time by speaking in plain english

  • twitter integration

    works with Twitter. Create reminders by sending us a Direct Message.

  • sms, email and voice

    recieve reminders via sms, email, twitter or voice call. Change reminder types with a click

  • add reminders via email

    create reminders directly from any email client. Never leave your inbox

  • groups and contacts

    sending reminders to others is as simple as CC’ing a contact

  • to-do lists

    task.fm includes a built in to-do manager. create unlimited lists

  • tag and search

    add tags to any reminders to search and group. Supports hashtags via twitter and email

  • voice transcription

    create reminders using your voice. Use a toll-free number

Make Love, Not War. How You Can Help

Friday, September 11th, 2009 by Maryam Webster

“You are Love, You are Loved and You are Loving”
- d. deLarm, the Missouri sweet medicine man

At this point in time, many people aren’t having that great an experience of life.

The economy sucks, jobs are lost, relationships are suffering and affordable healthcare seems like a dream. And everyone dislikes some aspect of their life. Thighs and hips are still top the list, followed by jobs, spouses, the economy, personal problems and concerns about our kids.

People are really focusing on the negative, even meditators and therapists I’ve known for years to be the voice of good cheer.

And we wonder why there’s fighting in the world!

LOVE YOUR LIFE TIP #1:

I’ve been teaching this for years but never has it been more important for us to really GET:

“What you give A.I.R. – Your Attention, Your Intention and Repetition – LIVES. And what you give your attention, and intention to repetitively, will manifest more and more in your life.”

Like the flab on your thighs, the dwindling balance in your bank account, how horrible your relationship is, etc. It’s really just that simple. But people don’t get it, and keep paying attention to the bad, not the good in their lives.

(it was a “duh!” moment when I realized this)

One way you can realize when you’re doing this is an old trick from behavioral psychology. Loop a rubber bandaround your wrist and snap it every time you catch yourself thinking negatively. It will soon insert a “pause” in your process where you can choose. A choice you could make given the previous example might be: “Do I want to dwell on how horrible it is to be fat, or will I take a walk and think about how wonderful my thighs will feel when they NO LONGER rub together?”

This simple process inserts Choice, and gives the monkey-mind that tends to fix on negative things, a pleasant and positive alternative. Just keep feeling the air between your thighs, or seeing that gold gleaming in your bank account, or whatever it is that really turns you on when you think about it.

People need those kind of alternatives.

That’s why I want your help to Spread Love to End War as a grass-roots people’s movement.

Let me explain:

Doesn’t it stand to reason, that if we stop fighting ourselves internally, and learn to love ourselves really well, and spend more of our time in a state of supreme bliss, that we’ll be less warlike as a planet?

That’s my goal, because I know that if you love yourself well, you become a beacon to spread that love out to others who don’t have as many happy resources inside themselves.

And what happens when one center of love spreads the love outward? Other people start loving themselves! And outward it spreads, as a movement.

Like a virus, exuding love is infectious. People get happy just being around you!

Isn’t that COOL?

That’s why I’m bringing it back home with these tips, and in sharing more deeply on in our Love Your Life Again Class.

When you learn to love all of you, 100%, even your thighs, and your boss and your bank balance, those things CHANGE. Did you know that? Extra coolness.

Here’s another important tip on how to feel good. I think you’ll find it easy and even enjoyable to implement, to help you, and everyone around you to spread the Love virus:

LOVE YOUR LIFE TIP #2:

If we know the right questions to ask, we open up even more possibilities for happiness, in.come, relationship goodness, and other things you may be seeking. Here’s an absolute barn-burner of a question to ask – and not be attached to any answer or outcome of:

“What generative energy, space and consciousness can I be to manifest ______________?”

Fill in the blank with the SOLUTION you’re wanting – NOT the problem.

Then say: “Anything that wouldn’t allow that to happen, I uncreate, dissolve and release it completely”. Take in a big breath, blow it out, and let it all go.

Then, super-power this affirmation, with the ETHOS Method cues and step aside into your Unlimited Self where these problems don’t exist. You also might wish to use the One-Point acuhold if you respond best to meridian energy work.

If you have difficulty letting things go, want to join a Master Class in The ETHOS Method, or just want more support, love & joy in your life, please join us for the “Love Your Life Again” class. I promise, you’ll come out of this month-long class changed in ways that will delight you!

Is Now the right time to turn YOUR life around? If so, join us:

http://www.maryamwebster.com/love-your-life-again/

This material is literally changing people’s lives. I taught a large chunk of it last year in my three month 12 Keys To Bliss program, and am committed to EVERYONE having the same result as Sandy did in that class. She says:

“I want to give this class and Maryam a resounding testimonial!
I thought I was happy. I had a great life, good marriage, great
kids. But was I really blissful? When I thought about it I had to
admit no I wasn’t. I signed up more out of curiosity to improve
my life and got SO much more than I expected! It changed my life
for the better in many, many ways. I learned great techniques and
tools to set us on our path that I can use for the rest of my
life, that I can help my kids, teach my clients. They were easy &
simple to learn yet lifechanging and profound. I’m very very
grateful and happy that I’ve taken this class. Every day I enjoy
my life more and don’t feel life is passing me by.  I’m living my
life to the fullest!”

- Sandy Lenz
Hypnotherapist & EFT Practitioner
Bourne, Massachussets

Until next time, I wish you that same happiness and bliss – each and every day. Spread it around!

Ever since my hiatus…

Wednesday, May 20th, 2009 by Maryam Webster

I’m back from my email hiatus…just barely.

I’m quasi-back from my six week hiatus from email though not back in the office. What I deduced is that I need far more time offline, off email and incubating the juicy things bubbling on the back and middle burners in my life. On the front burner? Family, friends, real experiences (ie; offline, in the real world, like sand squishing between my toes and taking a whole hour to follow the flightpath of just one gull at the beach) and very long bouts of meditation. Lots more swimming. Softness of mittie ears rubbing affectionately against my ankles in the bower. Sunshine and moonlight. Yes.

Others are experiencing this need to unplug, in increasing amounts. The more I enjoyed my own vacation from electronical the more people began to gripe about it. Two items on the news the day I came back to watching a little limited tv – one on having teens unplug their cells and computers for 10 days (the teens actually recommended it to their peers) and another on “Staycation my ass, I’m saving up to go to freakin’ HAWAII. I DESERVE IT.” by an employee (one of many) on the edge. Scary, kids, but not all that unusual. We’re fed up, had it and not about to take anymore.

Here’s some help. Alex Fayle is guest writing on Men With Pens. He’s doing good work teaching soloprenurs to unplug and take real vacations. Read his sage words, they make sense. Then drop down and see what Byron Kati has to say below this:

First Alex’s blog post: http://bit.ly/17WE3W

And another, from which I quote: “frickin’ learn to delegate!” http://bit.ly/2Y0vvu

Then proceed on to a fix Alex offers in the form of inspiring emails designed to get you relaxing and recreating no matter where you are: http://bit.ly/8va00

“But Maryam, I *can’t* just uproot my life and go, what would people think??!”

sanity, what's that?I’m now getting this on a regular basis from coaching clients who just can’t see their way clear to making time for themselves. “What are you, meshugginah? Crazy? I got stuff to do and people to see. It would hurt my business if they thought I was being a slacker or a flake by taking time off for myself. That’s nuts!”  Sometimes it takes a doctor telling them to chill out or face a double bypass.

Or we could all just truly listen to our bodies.

Are you listening to your body? To your heart? Are heart and head in congruence?

Byron Katie has some interesting words that parallel my experience on this. She says that another person’s opinion of you is never personal, because it’s not really about you, it’s totally about them.

What YOU think and feel about things is about you and is my business. And what someone else thinks and feels is THEIR business. If I get upset about how you feel about me, I’m minding your business. And if I’m minding in your business, how can I be conscious, alive and present to my own life and business? The answer is that I can’t.

So ask yourself again, can you let go of others opinions of you? And if so, when?

Can you listen to the subtle voices of your body, and heart before they become the scream of the ambulance siren? When?

And anything that wouldn’t allow that to happen, you can uncreate, dissolve and release. Pulse your three cues:

yes-yes-yes-yes-yes-yes-yes…seeing the rose opening its petals to all possibility…feeling the delicious deep relaxation sweeping over you and clearing the way to manifesting magic in your life.

What other wild, wonderful, wacky and delicious things are possible?

Remember, there are no limits…

* image credit goes to http://www.worth1000.com/ which not only boasts a spiffy online image editor but hundreds of images submitted as contest entries, just like this one. Enjoy!

April Unplugged

Monday, March 30th, 2009 by Maryam Webster

One of the things that I’ve truly “gotten” on my hiatus is that I have not allowed myself enough down-time and really need some quality unplugging. No computer, no tv, getting back to a spare, but rich, non-tech lifestyle. Accordingly, for the entire month of April, but for the master class in ETHOS I’m doing for Adela Rubio:

http://selfcaremastery.com/maryam

and a radio interview I’m doing for Connecting Women, I will be completely offline AND off email – our offices, help desk and all connection outlets will be closed.

I’d like to share a lesson from this that I have learned as it will be beneficial for anyone to think about. That is, we have many yardsticks in our lives – many ways of measuring the shoulds and musts. And though we may have come to the point of removing the words “should” and “must” from our vocabulary, those very ideas exist in our molecular structure as strong encodings.

In my case, the coding was around “I *should* be able to rest from a week of work in the two days of the weekend and be okay” and “I *should* be able to  work during the day from 9-5 as others do”.

But my system is not set up that way – it never has  been. I’m an owl, not a lark. A small percentage of the extremely creative (some call them “renaissance people”) have biorhythms that predispose them to work at their best, and to high proficiency on a variety of topics, later in the day. Voltaire, DaVinci, Michelangelo, Tesla and Bill Clinton are among those whose bodies also favored a night-owl lifestyle. I work best in the late afternoon and evening, sleep around 6 – 7 hours at most (7 is almost too much and 8 is definitely oversleeping) and usually work on several projects at once by preference. And I need more than two days to be “off” on the weekend.

My long-suffering workhorse parents despaired of me ever being respectable in the sleep department. I happily created in the wee hours, even as a child. Well-meaning though it was, they used every moral imperative to suggest that I was not a righteous person for being a night-owl and if I kept up “these shenanigans” I would not mature into a good upstanding citizen. Mother consulted Reverend Pegues when I was seven over this perceived fault, with the result that I was awakened every morning at 6am without fail to pray and read the Bible before school in the hopes of rehabilitating my wayward biorhythms.

It didn’t work. I slept through third period in school, refusing to be rousted, and stayed up at night until my body told me it was time to sleep. It exasperated Mother no end, but she finally gave up and when she saw that I was doing cool things – nature photography and essays in philosophy at that point.  She even briefly catered to my 10pm dinner habit  and harbored hopes that I might turn into Imogen Cunningham. No such luck though.

In the intervening years, I’ve found it’s always best to do what my body tells me it needs. When I do that, I am never sick or tired, and am always at my best and sharpest.

Late last year however,  though it was a relatively minor thing, I fell prey again to the moralizing of others around my natural biorhythms and tried to be early-to-bed-early-to-rise to join with a group of yoga friends who were all early risers and determined to make me one as well. And I mean, sunrise type early, greeting the day with Surya Namaskar as the sun crested the local Diablo hills.

The result was that I became out of sorts and was tired quite a lot which is very unusual for me. And even though I love writing more than life itself sometimes, computers, Twitter and email began to irritate me severely. These were cardinal signs to me that I was not honoring my body’s needs and was one of the ingredients in my decision to take a hiatus from business in January.

I naievely thought that my break would begin in January, but no, tying up ends so I actually could take a break took well into February. Then a conference came in March with heavy email, Twitter involvement and text messaging before and after, pushing things even further out.

So drop-dead earnest here, April is my month off. Completely away from the computer. Even cellphone. Don’t send me an EM, IM, DM, TxT or Skypee because I’m nailing the keyboard to the desk upside down and locking the mouse in a drawer. Not kidding.

I’m taking this unplugged break both for my own self-care and health, as well as research for an interesting article, or it might even be a book that I am writing. It keeps extending itself so it could well be the next book. <grin> More much later about that though.

The Moral of the Story Is… that there is no moral imperative around what the body needs. Each of us is wonderfully diverse in our unique makeup.  We all have slightly to profoundly different needs for food, water, sunshine or darkness, sleep or waking, downtime,  romance-time, exercise and alone-time.

That old biblical verse about the plank in your own eye comes to bear here. If someone in your life isn’t configured the same way you are don’t bring your judgements against them. Take care of your own needs and support each other to extreme and joyous acts of self-care, no matter what the hands on the clock say, no matter how different you might be to each others.

Diversity is what makes the world go ’round, be interesting and create genius.

Meanwhile, have a *beautiful* and *joyous* spring!

With Love,
Maryam

Bad Economy? Word of Mouth!

Monday, January 5th, 2009 by Maryam Webster

BadEconomy > fix > gosub=WordOfMouth.  (geeks in the audience can laugh at will) There’s nothing like a personal recommendation. After all, you’d take your BFF’s recommendation over an impersonal ad, wouldn’t you?

If your business is running a tight marketing ship this year and your team is scrambling for marketshare, you’ll want to pay attention to “The Buzz Canuck” – a canny word of mouth supporter, I met on SWOM – Society for Word Of Mouth. Especially if you, like many of my clients, are a solo entrepreneur, or your larger company is downsizing its marketing budget (as many are) – you can still leverage the Law of Attraction by Word Of Mouth to build your outreach, visibility an market share. What do you want others to be saying about you? As Buzz explains below, know WHY moreover, WOM is important as a marketing, relationship and just plain good business strategy:

You Need The Hu (video included!)

Monday, December 29th, 2008 by Maryam Webster

Oh, you know you need you some Hu. Social networking buddy Sherman Hu (on Twitter @shermanhu) is the most joyful – dare I say “puckish” – and amazingly generous webpreneur I’ve met in a long time. Plus which, he’s charmingly in love with his wife, the beautiful Sarah, and his kids. An all-around wholesome, decent fellow it’s my pleasure to introduce you to.

Stick with Sherman, and he’ll help you like he’s helped me to make sense of the sometimes confusing welter of Web 2.0 opportunities we’ve all been told we must take advantage of to maintain relationships, promote ourselves and create our web platforms with.

Leverage these platforms and win – clients, credibility and ka-ching. But dear Dorothy, that Web 2.0 yellow brick road is long, twisty and tricky. If you don’t know what you’re doing you can fritter hours, days, weeks away.

But it can be so much simpler with the right guide. Sherman Hu is such a guide and nope, he’s not paying me a cent to say this, I’ve just observed his offerings for long enough to know – he’s my go-to on this stuff. If you’re bamboozled by how to keep track of your WordPress, Twitter, FaceBook and other new “must do” social media platforms, I highly suggest you start watching Sherman’s every-Monday “Half Hour Huddle” on ShermanHu.tv.  This broadcast simplifies and demystifies emerging new media (blogging, podcasting, video, social media) so business owners can profit. Which is way okay by me.  ;-)

Slightly out of Sherman’s main oeuvre, but an excellent classic and back for the new year, is one of his episodes on creating a more profitable year in all ways by a little simple reflection and forward planning. It’s from 2007, but is still relevant today. Below the video is my interpretation of Sherman’s template you can use to plan your own year. Enjoy!

Here’s an easy recap of Sherman’s 2009 Vision & Goals form mentioned on this video. He suggests doing this with your spouse or significant other, which is a great idea. Print yourself out two and share with your partner when you’ve both filled them out. This will prevent potential mismatching down the road when you’re rollin’ and your partner says “what the heck? I didn’t know you were planning to….!”

2009 Vision & Goals

At the end of 2009, what would I realistically like to say has happened in my life?

2008 Recap:

Business

What did I Accomplish in 2008?

What were my main Frustrations in 2008?

At the end of 2009, this happened for me to be happy with the progress in this year:

Family & Home

What did I Accomplish in 2008?

What were my main Frustrations in 2008?

At the end of 2009, this happened for me to be happy with the progress in this year:

Spouse & Romance

What did I Accomplish in 2008?

What were my main Frustrations in 2008?

At the end of 2009, this happened for me to be happy with my progress in this year:

Friends & Fun

What did I Accomplish in 2008?

What were my main Frustrations in 2008?

At the end of 2009, this happened for me to be happy with my progress in this year:

Fitness & Health

What did I Accomplish in 2008?

What were my main Frustrations in 2008?

At the end of 2009, this happened for me to be happy with my progress in this year:

Personal Growth

What did I Accomplish in 2008?

What were my main Frustrations in 2008?

At the end of 2009, this happened for me to be happy with my progress in this year:

Financial & Material

What did I Accomplish in 2008?

What were my main Frustrations in 2008?

At the end of 2009, this happened for me to be happy with my progress in this year:

My Key Word/Phrase for 2009 is:
example: “All of life comes to me with ease, joy and grace”, “Wahoo!”, “Yes I can” etc.

Sherman suggests you put this into a 2009 Planning Grid as shown on the video. Sage advice, and a standard in the life coaching community. Just do it! I used Adobe InDesign to do mine, but you could equally use OpenOffice tools, Microsoft Excel or Word. Here’s the rough plan for you to harvest and fill in for yourself:

Across the Top: 2009 Vision | 90 day goals Jan – March | 30 day goals (2 per each 90 day goal) | Outcome

Down the Side:
Business
Family & Home
Spouse & Romance
Friends & Fun
Fitness & Health
Personal Growth
Financial & Material

Fill this grid in as the year goes on and enjoy…

And thanks Sherman Hu, for ALL that you do. Respect!

The Top Ten Energy Drains of 2008

Saturday, October 4th, 2008 by Maryam Webster
courtesy, Abingdon City, PA - www.abington.org/stormwater/stormwater%20page.htmThanks to the Abington, PA City Stormwater Project for the picture at right, and to Judy H. from the Everyday Bliss R&D Team for sending it in. What a perfect reminder about everyday energy management!

I’ve been taking my own private survey of the Top Energy Drains of clients, friends, professionals and networking contacts for about a year. These comprise mainly women in the 30 – 55 age range from a variety of occupations, many at the management level, creative artisans, medical professionals and CEO Moms. The results of my informal survey are:

1. Our top energy drain is lack of time to fit in everything we’d like to do. The stress this causes is immense, particularly when the needs of children and elder family members is involved.

Solution: Free yourself from the tyranny of time by installing a Time Generator.  For help on that see: Everyday Bliss For Busy Women, pgs. 21 – 32

2. Our second largest drain is tolerating toxic people, for which we’ve all learned the new portmanteau word: "frenemy". I can’t believe there is such a word, but it describes "TOXIC PERSON: AVOID AT ALL COSTS!" pretty succinctly. Why would you want to hang out with people you know are going to disrespect you the minute your back is turned? But people do, for political reasons, because the frenemy is spouse of someone important at work, their house of worship, in community leadership or for more personal reasons.

Solution:
Please. This is your Life calling: "Dump Drain-o Dan and Dora. Today. No, I’m not kidding. I don’t care how beneficial knowing him/her could be to your career. The drain to your time, energy and sanity is not worth it."  For more on how to do the dumping smoothly and healthily, visit Everyday Bliss For Busy Women, pgs. 61 – 66 paying special attention to page 65.

Just for kicks and to look more globally, here’s some interesting results from the LifeHacker Survey asking:

What’s your biggest energy zapper?

Lack of sleep


 34.1% (800 votes)
Lack of exercise


 13.5% (316 votes)
Sugar


 2.1% (49 votes)
Caffeine


 1.8% (43 votes)
Toxic people


 9.1% (213 votes)
Dehydration


 2.3% (54 votes)
Stress


 11.6% (273 votes)
Taxing environment (noisy, distracting, crowded)


 5.6% (131 votes)
Feeling overwhelmed by your to-do list, project list or email


 13.7% (322 votes)
Chronic pain/sickness


 4.2% (98 votes)
Other


 2.0% (48 votes)

This survey counted in 2347 total votes. Results were as of 10/04/2008 2:34 pm EDT. 

Of these Lack of Sleep is huge as you can see. Doing the PM Energy Hygiene Routine from Everyday Bliss  pgs. 82 -91will help make the sleep you do get as deep and nourishing it can be. This routine excises any residual stress from the system, ensuring that your nights are as peaceful as they can possibly be.

Have other thoughts? Please comment!

Warmly,
Maryam