Feb. 27, 2008 - Get Off The Hamster Wheel

Are you calm and peaceful, serene and satisfied? My byline is "Relaxed Real Estate for Magnificent Agents" and my vision is that each person I touch gain some value from me that leaves them creating extraordinary satisfaction in living a life they love. Of course, I can't make you or any of my clients calm, peaceful, serene or extraordinarily productive, it is ultimately up to you. The good news is that we always have the power to change what we are getting, if we don't like it!

Last week, I mentioned last week the book I was reading, The Astonishing Power Of Emotions by Esther and Jerry Hicks. In reading this and studying some of the other works by the Hicks, I am learning more about how to relax and go with the flow. The most profound shift for me has been to use accepting rather than resisting to take me to where I want to go. It is hard when situations in my life do not look the way I desire to accept. Resistance is the first reaction I usually have. It shouldn't be this way is what my first thought is. The shift to realizing it "is" this way is sometimes quite subtle, sometimes not, but always the path, for me, to making a difference both in the pain it is causing me and in my ability to do something about it. And, sometimes, the something is nothing! Letting go!

I have always been a motivated self-starter who resonated with Churchill's quote that said "Never, never, never give up." I would redouble my efforts if I fell short in what my goals were. While I had some great achievements, the hard work never seemed enough. I thought if I just tried harder and worked a little longer, THEN I would achieve what I really wanted. If you've ever felt that way, you probably can relate to my feeling of getting tired and burned out as well.

My journey to get off the hamster wheel and bring some bliss, balance and serenity to my life began about 15 years ago when I started my coach training. The odd place they started our training was to tell us we needed to be models for what we shared with others. We needed to do the work first! Extreme self-care was advised. This seemed very weird to me, because I did not have time for extreme self-care if I was to accomplish all I wanted! But, I learned that the taking care of myself actually had to be the priority or I never could achieve all I wanted.

My first experience with The Law of Attraction began back then at CoachU with Thomas Leonard, who wrote The Portable Coach which offers 28 strategies based on The Law of Attraction. The more I shifted my thinking about all this hard work, the easier I seemed to achieve what I wanted. When I accepted something that looked like a failure, instead of working harder, I began to accept there was a reason for everything and usually something better showed up as soon as I was able to let go of needing the original goal.

I am sharing about this with you because, it seems, so many people I talk with are approaching this year with the notion it is going to be (or is) a hard one. I've addressed this in a few of my recent posts, but want to give you a tool this week to that will, hopefully, bring you an easy way to shift out of the struggle (if that's where you are) or to just more fully enjoy. The gift I have for you with permission to share it from Ulrike Haupt is How To Change Your Life Around in 30 Days Implement Law of Attraction To Deliberately Create Health, Wealth and Love. The workbook was compiled by Ulrike from workshops given by the Hicks, sharing the wisdom of Abraham.

COACH'S TIP> You will need to commit 20 minutes a day to this. It may be like my struggle when 1st started coaching about not having time for self-care, but setting aside this time will make your days more productive, focused and serene. It's up to you!

If you want a little more of the background, here are a couple of interviews Oprah did with Esther Hicks. I can't find the first session. Here is the 2nd Session and the 3rd Session.

SUPPORT> I love offering you free opportunities to connect and grow each month!

March's Fossland's Forum topic is The Law of Attraction.
March 7 Noon EST

Join me for a lively discussion about using The Law of Attraction in your life. We will talk generally about 5 ways to strengthen your use of the Law of Attraction. Questions about the using the 30 Day Workbook will also be answered. Reserve your spot here.

Feb. 20, 2008 - Julia Elizabeth Yellott Turns 1!

On The Personal Side

Julia Yellott, my 2nd granddaughter turned 1 yesterday. She and her parents just returned from 3 weeks in New Zealand. She is crawling fast, but hasn't taken those prized first steps yet. Her mom speaks Swedish to her; we're going to have a bilingual child! This is such an exciting adventure. Coco Fossland is expecting in May. That will officially make granddaughter #3, presently named Peanut! And then we have two step-granddaughters, Julia's sister Emelie and Peanut's sister Amelia. So in a little more than a year, I've gone from grandma of 1 to having almost 5 granddaughters. I believe this will be my favorite job for the next 30 years!!!! Oh, and if you haven't visited Lily's Blog, stop by and leave her a note: www.LilysLand.com.

Feb. 20, 2008 - Are You Struggling?

So many people I am talking to are saying how hard this year is going to be. I refuse to be sucked into that scenario.

I've been reading a very interesting book my sweet daughter, Coco Fossland, sent me for Christmas. The Astonishing Power of Emotions is by Jerry & Esther Hicks, the original Law of Attraction authors. Their analogy of our life being like a river is one that was interesting to me. We worked on this concept during my REINVENTION Retreat and most participants found it one of the most powerful distinctions we visited.

When you are on the river and going with the flow, you are effortlessly floating downstream. When you turn the boat and try to go upstream, there is struggle and hard work. The interesting thing they pointed out was, that most of the time, we humans are paddling hard upstream instead of relaxing and trusting the flow to take us where we want to go. Their coaching is that by changing your self-talk, you can start to turn that boat where you are struggling, slowly towards the downstream. By the end of the retreat, we were asking ourselves and each other whether a statement was an upstream or downstream thought. The awareness of being able to reframe the situation brought relief.

This is another example of how important it is to listen to what you are speaking and take a look to see if you are feeding yourself thoughts that empower you or thoughts that keep you stuck struggling upstream. Do you think it is going to be a hard year? (upstream) Or a year with lots of opportunity? (downstream) The look of the opportunity today isn't familiar to us and many people are oblivious to their power to turn their boats downstream and go with the flow.

COACH'S TIP> Listen to yourself as you go through the day. If there is somewhere you are stuck or struggling, examine if your thoughts are upstream or downstream. Consciously reframe the upstream thoughts to give you more relief.

Invite someone else to play this game with you and give each other cues when you hear upstream conversation! Have fun with it.

Feb. 5, 2008 - Love is A Great List

I love finding resources for you and this week my valentine for you is a list of 101 things you should know about. If you didn't see 101 Tools to List and Sell More Real Estate and Have Fun Doing It on www.RealTown.com last week, you missed the best resource list to come along in ages.

Frances Flynn Thorsen, Managing Editor of Real Town, lovingly put this together and even mentioned me a few times! While you are there, if you haven't already, sign up for a free blog! Don't get left in Web 1.0 after the clients have moved on to Web 2.0. Start Blogging today.

The Week For Love

Do your clients love you? I bet they do. Do you capture that love in great video testimonials? Video is becoming more and more important. Differentiate yourself by having live people on your website with clips about what a great REALTOR you are. It is easier and easier to do. You probably have a digital camera that will take a 15-20 sec video clip. That is just perfect for this. Capture the love!

I Love You!!

I feel so fortunate to have over 8600 readers each week. Thank you for spending a little time with me, for giving me your feedback, for sharing your resources and ideas! It is so fun to have a wonderful community of people who are committed to being the best at what they do. Life is Good! Thank you for the part you play in making it so.

Shameless Promotion Brought To You With Love!

Fossland's February Free Forum

"Everything You Ever Wanted To Know
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Friday, February 22 at 2 PM EST, 1 PM Central, Noon AZ & MST, 11 PST 9 AM Hawaii

Jeff Troyer from Automatic Response Technologies (ART) will give you tips and ideas about The ART of Connection Marketing. Create a never-ending circle of new, repeat and referral business. What you need to know about Automated Lead Generation and Automated Client Nurturing! In 2008, you may need to employ some new techniques and strategies to reach your goals. Discover how this can help you achieve that!

No charge....come & learn

In the meanwhile, if you need a great way to generate new leads, and maximize your time with high customer care, visit www.automaticresponse.com and use my code: 5250.