Pam Slim's Blog

My beloved art station. Pardon the crooked angle of the photo.

My kids are art fanatics. It doesn’t matter the medium – pen, crayon, paint, clay, even lipstick — there is nothing they would rather do than spend hours making things.

The center of our home is the family room/kitchen, where most activity takes place. As soon as the kids wake up (about 5:30 usually), they want to go downstairs and start making stuff.

I have always kept art supplies in the cabinet above our kitchen counter. I suppose in the early years it was to keep my toddlers from making a mess, but as they got older, I didn’t think to change the location.

So at a rate of at least 5 times a day, I would be asked:

“Mom, where is the paper?”

“Where did the crayons go?”

“Do we have any clay left?”

Or, I would find one of my kids perched precariously on tiptoes on a chair, reaching for supplies in the overstuffed cabinet, one inch away from tumbling off and breaking an arm.

When the kids got tired of working on a project, they would leave the paper and art supplies all over the counter or kitchen table.

“Hey guys, put this away!” I would say, with my frustrated Mom tone.

“We can’t reach the cabinet!” they would say with a glint in their eyes, as they watched me put it away for them.

It drove me nuts.

But despite this frustration, I let this go on for years.

Until one day, I saw a picture of a metal shelving unit with some clear plastic containers on it. The containers were filled with art supplies.

Suddenly, I had to have one of my own.

So I went to Costco, and was delighted to find exactly what I was looking for. In a couple of hours, the cabinets were emptied, and my kids and I sorted the vast quantities of art supplies into neat, clear plastic boxes.

What is your creative logjam in your business?

We all have our version of “inefficient crammed art cabinet” in our businesses.

When I thought about my own, I realized with embarrassment that my coaching clients are constantly emailing me when they misplace the link to schedule an appointment. They are not totally clear how to cancel an appointment, or which email to use to submit materials for my review before their call.

We always sort it out in the end, but there is no consistency. And if I get really busy (like I have been this month), I can miss important information, or delay my reply to them.

This logjam only serves to interrupt our free-flowing coaching relationship, and blocks the best work we can do together.

So guess what Sheila and I are building this week? A coaching “art station” – one page where my clients can easily make and change appointments, submit information and ask questions.

Why has it taken 7 years to organize this?

Because we usually only pay attention to things that are massively broken, or cause direct pain. Little annoyances can be overcome by good communication, or are ignored because they are “not worth spending time on.”

But they sap energy, time and power from your creative process. And they chip away at a great customer experience, and affect your brand.

So how do you start to fix these holes in your business?

Your homework ( I promise to do it too):

1. Identify a core part of your business (an offer, a program or a service)
2. Write down the recurrent questions you get about it from customers or clients (it is helpful to look in your “sent mail” folder if you can’t remember – most likely, you will have a series of emails where you answer the same questions over and over)
3. Step back and brainstorm ways you can simplify and organize the delivery of the service by doing things like:

-Creating a frequently asked questions (FAQ) page
-Creating a visual map of a system or process (My web consultant and author coach Tim Grahl uses a mind map for coaching clients to explain how he will work with them, and checks off progress at each stage of the coaching engagement)
-Creating a series of autoresponders in your email system as follow up to product purchase that answers frequent questions
-Create a form (my client, fellow coach Ali Davies uses a standard form with her coaching clients so they can summarize progress, identify open issues and define goals before each session)
-Create an email template to answer common questions you receive frequently by email.

As a full-blooded Virgo, the amount of satisfaction I get from an organized and efficient process may frighten the rest of you. Let’s just say that since I set up my art station on Sunday, I have gazed lovingly at it at least 20 times. My kids are excited to see long-lost art supplies that used to be stuffed inside the cabinet.

And when the pictures are painted, the clay molded, the beaded necklaces complete, Josh and Rosie quietly put the supplies back in the plastic bin, and place it on the metal shelf.

Without being told.

Me, Guy Kawasaki and Sohaib Athar, SXSW 2012

When I was writing my book in 2008, I was looking for some examples of real people who had interesting business models. One of my blog readers, Sohaib Athar, was a software developer from Pakistan, who had experimented with many different work configurations, before settling on doing independent software development in his home country. He was kind enough to agree to be interviewed, and I included him in Chapter 5 of my book.

He has a wife and a son is one year older than my son Josh. He moved from busy Islamabad to a more tranquil part of the country.

When I asked him why he did his work, he said:

“I have always thought of the software industry as a huge puzzle that needs to be solved – I work with computers and software mainly to help solve that puzzle, and because it is a lot of fun, and getting paid doesn’t hurt.

I freelance because it allows me to maintain my own schedule (when allowed, my work tends to gravitate toward the graveyard shift) and so that I may spend time with my family when I want, and not when I am allowed.

…

When a project I work on contributes to making life better for people directly, or helps further our scientific knowledge, that is always an intellectually gratifying experience.”

-Chapter 5, Escape from Cubicle Nation: From Corporate Prisoner to Thriving Entrepreneur

Post-book publication, Sohaib and I communicated occasionally on Twitter, and I always enjoyed sharing updates on our work and families.

On May 1, the nature of the communication changed, when Sohaib typed what would become one of the top Tweets of the year:

“Helicopter hovering above Abbottabad at 1AM (is a rare event)”

As you may have guessed by now, he was the first to inadvertently report on the capture and killing of Osama Bin Laden from his small town of Abbottabad, Pakistan.

As news spread about the attack, reporters found Sohaib, and he became the center of an international media frenzy.

Reporters were clamoring for interviews. His Twitter following went from a few hundred to over 100,000. He spent the next few days in a blur, gathering information and trying to provide insight and balance to the sensationalist stories that were flying out of news bureaus.

He was offered money to Tweet. He had the chance to do dozens of television interviews on major news channels. Despite these opportunities, he stayed focused on what was important to him; his work and his family.

After a few days, he retreated from his citizen journalism and went back to being a software engineer, Dad and coffee shop owner.

He knew who he was, and did not let enormous media exposure change his values or his behavior.

I heard his story first-hand at a panel at SXSW, where Sohaib was interviewed by Steve Myers of the Poynter Institute. It was an excellent conversation, and I hope that SXSW offers it as a podcast in the future.

He had no idea that I would be at SXSW, nor did I know he would be there. He found out by catching one of my tweets from Austin. It was so wonderful to meet him in person after so many years as a virtual friend.

While at SXSW, I met a pair of equally lovely yet surprised entrepreneurs, Glen Stansberry and Brian McKinney. For fun, they spent 12 hours designing and coding an alternative to the predominantly female and wildly popular social media site Pinterest. They called their site Gentlemint. Little did they know that the perfect storm of exposure was upon them, and their little fun side project would explode on the scene.

So whether your moment in the sun is due to unwanted exposure or unexpected success, here are a few ways to stay grounded:

• Know who you are
  What do you believe? What do you stand for? What line will you never cross? If you have never thought of this before, you may have doubts about which direction to go when faced with catastrophe, unwanted exposure or unexpected success. Take the time to clarify your personal values.
• Know what you want
  What are your goals? Have you been courting Internet fame and fortune? Do you want to live a quiet life in the country with your family? Do you want your company to be the next Facebook? We sometimes think that we all want the same thing, but we actually don’t. Create a definition of success that works for you and fits your vision of your ideal life.
• Play out future scenarios
  Do you know what you would do if you got really sick? Experience a natural disaster? Hit a vein in the market and have massive sales or success? Happen to unwittingly Tweet about Osama Bin Laden? Start to visualize a few crazy scenarios in your life so that you can picture yourself in unpredictable circumstances. This will warm up your mind and nervous system for the real thing.
• Identify trusted advisers before you need them
  If said future scenario happened, whom would you call? Who in your life is calm in a crisis, knows you well and could offer you reasoned and useful advice? If you have no one like this in your life yet, time to start building up your High Council of Jedi Knights.
• Take your time
  When life is flying at you at a quick pace, you may think that you have to respond immediately. You don’t. Don’t be pressured into making a decision too quickly until you have had time to reflect on who you are and what you want. Take a deep breath. Talk to a trusted adviser.

Life is an adventure. It is full, messy, wild and unpredictable. Embrace that, and you will have a full-contact, full-color life that will be a delight to share with your grandchildren.

And for the record, I love the Internet.

Yesterday morning, I came home from giving a presentation at Laid Off Camp Chandler. I was feeling so good after spending an hour with a room full of positive and eager participants who wanted to know about starting a business. The event was hosted at Gangplank, and watching all the presenters who had come in on a Saturday morning to volunteer their expertise made me so proud to be a member of this community.

When I pulled up to the house, I noticed a number of signs that were taped to my front door and lamppost. They were written in bold red ink, and contained lots of exclamation points.

Without quoting the entire letter and feeling my blood pressure rise again, suffice it to say that a neighbor was dismayed about the alleged “incessant barking” of our dogs. It was noted that their peace and quiet was “destroyed.” And there were threats (with lots of exclamation points) if we did not address this issue.

This was the second such letter that had been taped to the front on my house. The first was a few months ago, when I experimented  with leaving the dogs outside when I went somewhere. Not realizing how much they would react to birds, cats and sounds, I learned that they did bark loudly. The tone of the first letter was identical to the first: lots of exclamation points and a brusque and confrontational tone.

After the first letter, I felt really bad, and immediately made sure that the dogs were never left outside without supervision. If we ever left the house, we would keep them inside. Arizona homes are built with tremendous insulation, so I assumed that even if they barked, the sound would not be unreasonably loud. We live in a mixed community with families and people of all ages. Our homes are pretty close together, so it is normal to not expect total and complete silence. Given the tone of the first letter, I did not feel it productive to engage in discussion, so I just changed the way we managed our dogs and assumed all would be cool.

Given the barrage of notices pasted across my house yesterday, my assumption was wrong.

The first instinct: Blood boiling defense

Unfortunately, there is no way to stop criticism from finding you, even if you are sitting at home.

These modern days, the most common form of critique is a scathing comment to your blog post, or if your critic really wants to drive the point home, an entire blog post devoted to saying negative things about you.

The gut reaction to stinging criticism for most people most likely mirrored mine yesterday:

• Rapidly beating heart
• Shallow breath
• A string of “#%$^&^&^%#@$#$” choice words in my head as I imagined picking up the phone and giving a piece of my mind
• If you are really riled up, a fist shaken to the ceiling with clenched teeth and a furrowed brow

The more prudent approach: 4 steps to maintain your cool

Thankfully, I did not pick up the phone and address the issue right away. I knew I was too upset, and needed to do some things that would assure:

1. I did not lead my conversation with anger, which never ends up well
2. I fully understood the issue, including where I could be at fault
3. I saw it in the bigger context of my goals of living in my community: I want to be an engaged, supportive, positive neighbor who contributes to the well-being of everyone around me

Instead, I am in the middle of this 5-Step process to make sure that I fully understand the issue before responding.

Step 1: Gather data

Let’s assume that someone writes a blog post about you, detailing the 5 Ways You Don’t Know What You Are Talking About. Figure out:

-What specific facts are they referring to?
-What is the source of their information?
-Who are they? What is their background, history or expertise?
-Who else does this affect?

In my own investigation process about the barking issue, I will methodically go around to every house in our square block and ask each owner  if they a) can hear our dogs barking from inside b) consider it an annoyance c) desire us to do anything about it. I will also review the homeowner’s policies about pets, as well as local noise ordinances.

Step 2: Evaluate it

I have never, ever, received scathing criticism that did not also include at least one valid point in it. Most has about half a dozen, if you are open to seeing them. When reviewing the data, ask yourself:

-Are any of these points valid?
-Did I say or do anything “wrong”? (“wrong” is a subjective thing, covering “Is it inaccurate?” or “Does it go against my beliefs or ethics?” or “Did I leave out some important things,” etc.)
-What additional information do I need to evaluate my position?

Step 3: Engage expert (aka High Council of Jedi Knights) feedback

There is a reason why I continually encourage people to get a High Council of Jedi Knights. In times like these, you want someone with technical experience, expertise and a solid sense of ethics to give you perspective on what you should do.

The first time I got scathing blog comments, I sent a worried email to Guy Kawasaki. His response was brief but memorable. “Controversy is good,” he said.  This put criticism in a proper perspective for me as a new blogger.

In other, more complex cases, the expert can help you understand if you were at fault, validate if you were right, or simply provide support for a challenging situation.  This is why we all need elders in our life; they have lived through so many challenging situations and now have the vantage point of experience and perspective.

Step 4: Decide if engagement is prudent, and if so, the best way to engage

The most common advice I hear about internet conflict is “ignore the trolls.” But what, exactly, constitutes a troll? If someone is writing clearly offensive things, using curse words or insults, it can be easier to peg in the “troll” category.  If it starts to blow up and get lots of traffic, that can be damaging to your reputation, tracked by Google. But sometimes, someone who might feel equally as passionate and righteous about their point of view as you do about yours can have tremendous value in helping you to grow and get more solid understanding of your field of expertise. In this case, engaging with them could be a wonderful idea, as long as the communication is civil and respectful.

In most cases, I would recommend:

-Do it out of the public eye with an email or a phone call (although the irony is not lost on me that I am writing a public blog post about my issue )
-Prepare yourself with your data, and if you are afraid of getting angry right away, script the first 30 seconds of your call “Stanley, this is Cherie, I wondered if you might have 10 minutes to discuss an issue with you. I know by your blog post that there is already some heat to our topic, so may I suggest a way to have the conversation so that both of us get the opportunity to express our viewpoints?”
-Always assume that everything is being recorded, and you would be comfortable with it being shown on CNN’s evening newscast.

If you feel it necessary to respond publicly:

-Focus on the facts. All eyes will be on your argument, and you can bet your detractors will investigate every fact, person or source you cite.
-Do not stoop to insults, or curse words. This will only weaken your argument, and inflame a knee-jerk response.
-Apologize for anything that you deem your fault, and clearly state your position.

Step 5: Gather the lessons, drop the resentment

Some of the best personal and professional growth comes from challenging situations. After working through the steps above, ask yourself:

• What can you learn from this experience?
• How can it make you a better (person) (professional) (member of your community?)
• What advice would you give to someone else in a similar situation?
• What will you do differently in the future to avoid a similar situation?
• What are you really proud of in how you handled this?

Once the lessons are drawn, check in and notice if you still have some lingering anger, fear or sadness.

Dispose of these emotions in whatever your customary fashion:

-Watch copious amounts of comedies or, in my case, Law & Order
-Read your favorite inspirational quotes
-Call your parents and let them remind you how wonderful you are
-Write the angry/fearful/sad thoughts down on a piece of paper, then set them on fire in a safe location.

Once this is done, LET GO! Carrying resentment forward will cloud your own happiness, and hold you back from taking risks and showing up in full color in your life.

We must learn to do this in our personal and public lives. The level of truly destructive dialogue happening in my country right now troubles me deeply.

We have it in us to disagree openly, and respectfully. Best of luck!

—

I have no idea what the direct correlation is, but ever since the flyer issue came upon my front door yesterday, the dogs have been unusually quiet. I think they want to be conscientious and positive members of my community as much as I do.

I am fully confident that we will come to a mutually beneficial solution, since I know my neighbors and I are all reasonable people who desire harmony in our community. I will update you on the outcome!

Shoki, one of our accused barking offenders, who had this response while I was writing this post

Photo by Allison Titcomb

This month, Charlie Gilkey and I hosted our fifth Lift Off Retreat with a small group of extraordinary entrepreneurs.

We spent four days at the secluded Saguaro Lake Ranch where we had deep conversation, and took deep action, about  business model design.

At the end of the retreat, as we were wrapping up with final thoughts, I had tears streaming down my face from hearing the tender and heartfelt words participants shared with each other. It was as if time and space shifted slightly for a moment, and we were in a special and very sacred zone with each other. Trust was deep. Connection was tight.

I flashed back on the many times that I have gotten advice to “go bigger” and “scale” something like Lift Off. I have gotten recommendations to live stream the event, or videotape the whole thing so I could share it as a digital product.

But I would always get uncomfortable with the ideas, not because there was anything wrong with them, but because some things are meant to stay small.

Charlie Gilkey describes this in terms he learned from his grandfather: build a small fire and sit close to it.

In today’s business climate, there is such huge focus on scaling, churning, exploding and rocketing sales that we often forget that “going big” is not a “one size fits all” answer. Jonathan fields just wrote a great post about this where he quotes Amy Hoy’s term of “entreporn” for the media’s obsession with startups scaling at all costs.

We glorify “going big” without stopping to think about if it makes sense a) for us as individuals b) for our business c) for our customers.

 To scale or not to scale; questions for your business

For each part of your business, ask yourself:

1. Should this business line scale? Why?
   Is it truly a unique business opportunity that fits your strengths, meets a deep need in the market, and contains true economic opportunity, or are you just doing it because you think you should?
2. How will it feel to deliver it at a bigger scale?
   What will the actual work feel like? Will you feel the same level of passion and enthusiasm for the work if it gets much bigger? Will scaling amplify your superpowers or diminish them?
3. What time, resources, energy and attention will it require to scale?
   Are you prepared to invest what it takes to scale in a sustainable way? If not, how can you make a plan to do so?
4. Will scaling get me closer to my personal and business goals?
   What are your personal and business goals? Have you thought through your business model and made clear decisions about the mission, vision and values of your business?
5. Does it fit with my definition of success?
   I am always skeptical when I hear someone say “I will be happy when I … (sell my first 1,000 books) (make a million dollars) (meet the man of my dreams).” What about your happiness right here, right now? My friend Brooke Castillo wrote a powerful post about choices she has made to forgo some amazing opportunities (appear on Oprah, get a television show, get a book deal) to pursue her own unique version of success.

There is nothing wrong with big

There are certain parts of my business that I want to scale way up:

• Big idea books that spread like an ideavirus. I would be happy to sell millions of copies of my books.
• Larger speaking engagements to feel the pulse of a large crowd when sharing big ideas that get them thinking, and inspired to act.
• Expanding the market for my core digital courses that have the capability of helping hundreds of thousands of entrepreneurs.
• Sponsorships for free content so I can spend time creating killer, useful content for entrepreneurs without having to spend half my time launching products.

 There are no right answers

Choose the business growth path that makes sense for you. Take your time with your decisions. Think through the implications of your decisions. Then whatever the outcome, stand proudly behind your results.

I wanted to share a secret that has really helped my students in Power Teaching create strong, effective classes and presentations.

It has nothing to do with fancy slides or elaborate technology, it has to do with nailing the specific content that will be the most useful for your audience.  Learn more in the video below!

(Direct link on YouTube here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SoxTk9e0bIg )

Enjoy your weekend!

We have all squeamed through this scenario:

• You sign up for a conference and get really excited about learning critical things to grow your career or business. You invest time, money and energy to clear your agenda so you can be there.
• The lights dim and the first speaker is introduced. They look friendly and pleasant, and start the talk off on a good foot. They mention that they grew up in Omaha and got an academic scholarship to Yale. Then they were President of their fraternity and maintained a 4.0 grade average while starting a highly successful business in their dorm room.
• 5 minutes in, you are starting to want to stab yourself in the eye with a pencil if it would mean helping them get to the point of the presentation.
• 10 minutes in, they are still sharing the fine points of their illustrious career, awards they have won, and famous people who beg and plead for their advice. “And then the Pope said to me, “Jim, I am really in a quandry here. …”
• 15 minutes in, you are wanting to poke their eye out with a pencil, even if it meant serving a short jail sentence. Anything to stop their incessant bragging.

“If I were them,” you scream to yourself, “I would stop blowing smoke and get to the point of the presentation, which is about me and my needs.”

Right?

Well, almost right.

There is a fine line between being establishing necessary credibility with a new audience and being a complete egomaniac.

What your audience needs to know in order to trust what you say

Never assume that people in a new audience know anything about you. I just spoke at a wonderful local event here in Mesa, Arizona, and besides my friend Clate Mask from Infusionsoft and my former client and ace photographer Ivan Martinez, no one (in my home town!) knew who I was. I got to know my bright and talented fellow presenter in the session itself, so we didn’t have any context or background about each other to plan the session.

A new audience needs to know:

1. Your formal education or training that prepares you to do your work. If you have a degree from Harvard, or a Phd in Engineering from MIT, tell them! Rather than bragging, this puts their mind at ease. If you are talking to a group that values community education, tell them! When Clate did the keynote today at Mesa Community College about how he grew his company from a Ramen noodle eating group of three broke guys with big dreams into a $30M company with 200 employees, what did he mention about his education? That he started it at Mesa Community College. This was extremely meaningful to newer entrepreneurs and students in the audience.
2. Key parts of your own life story to prove you did what you teach. Are you teaching lawyers how to set up a virtual law practice? Tell them how you did it yourself, and what you learned from the experience. Are you proud of the fact that you grew a great company while raising your kids as a single parent? If that would establish credibility with your audience, tell that part of the story.
3. Specific examples of how you have helped others just like them get great results. Track:
   -Numbers of clients (“I have worked with over 350 small and medium-sized businesses …” “Every one of the 250 high school seniors we had in our program went on to a college or university.”) Concrete numbers mean something.
   -Business results of the clients you worked with – even if you haven’t worked with many! (“Three of my clients went from zero to $30,000 in revenue in their side hustle in the year after working with me”) I like to tell my friend Ramit Sethi that he is a possessed madman when it comes to tracking concrete results from his clients, but that is only to keep his ego in check. He is MASTERFUL at it, and constantly reminds us of the concrete results readers of his blog and participants in his programs have gotten from following his advice.
4. Street credibility. As much as us social media pundits like to exclaim “old media is dead,” there is still huge street credibility in mainstream press mentions. Mention:
   -Mainstream press (“Featured in the New York Times,” “Names one of the Top 25 Entrepreneurs to follow by the Wall Street Journal)
   -Awards and honors (“Best Business Book of 2011″ “Top 100 Women on Twitter” “Voted Most Likely to Succeed in high school.”)
   -Influential people’s view of you (called “one of the best presentation designers I have ever seen” by Nancy Duarte.)

Do you need to say ALL this stuff in your introduction?

Of course not. That would make you a blowhard. But you do need to review all of the concrete things you could share about yourself and choose the specific information that:

1. Is most relevant to that audience. (If you are speaking at Harvard, mention your degree. If you are speaking at a start up conference, mention your personal bootstrapping story)
2. Will shut down the nagging doubt in the audience’s mind (“Is she too young to talk about this topic?” “Does this blowhard consultant have any real-world experience building a software product?” “Is this one of these people who just teaches people to make money on the Internet so that they can make money off of those people on the Internet?” (This reminds me of a true story of a local friend who I had known for a few years, and who finally said to me “You know what my problem is with you? You are like one of those people who create an infomercial to teach people how to create infomercials.” To which I responded, a bit stunned, “Do you have any idea what I do, and have you ever read my book?” Which it turns out that he didn’t, and he hadn’t. I thanked him immensely for the feedback, because if he was brave enough to say it to my face, it meant that there were a whole bunch more people who thought it and just said it behind my back.)
3. Will it set the stage for people to comfortably trust that the advice you will give them in your presentation is sound and tested? (Your audience would think “OK, phew, she has successfully started a company, raised venture capital, sold the company, and started and sold four others. I can trust what she tells me.”)

As my best friend Desiree reminded me today, in the good Anglo Methodist upbringing of my grandparents, we were taught to be humble, to be in service of others and to always put others’ needs above our own. This is a fantastic heritage, and I am so thankful for the teaching, since I think it helps me be a good, respectful and decent human being.

However, in business situations, sometimes in order to gain the trust of the audience so you can be of service, you must first establish credibility.

Even my kind, generous and humble Grandpa Frank would support that.

Rosie in the kitchen, solving all the world’s problems with a paintbrush

The night before the Grammys, host LL Cool J was interviewed by Piers Morgan on CNN.

The interview covered a lot of ground, including how LL Cool J (born James Todd Smith) came out of a very tough childhood and created a solid family base and lots of commercial and financial success. He credits his grandmother for orienting him toward the future, by repeatedly quoting “If the task is once begun, never leave it till its done. Be thy labor great or small, do it well or not at all.”

Piers asked him what we needed to do as a country to “Keep America great.”

His answer gave me goosebumps.

“I think to keep America great, we have to keep America creative.”

We love to argue. To point fingers. To debate.

That will not solve our economic problems, nor make us feel powerful.

We are made to create. We get our smile back when we create. We reclaim our swagger, our muse, our hope when we create.

It is not a condition unique to the United States, it is a fundamental part of being human.

It is why Pinterest is taking off like a storm – we salivate at images of beauty that inspire us to redecorate our home office or make a stunning meal or move us to tears.

It is why your particular work configuration does not matter. If you are creating something of value and personal meaning, does it really matter if you are self-employed, freelancing, or employed by a corporation or non-profit?

It is why my 6-year old is asking me when he will be old enough to start his Plants vs. Zombies YouTube channel.

The act of creating is what sets us free, what gives our life meaning. And it is what will put us back on our personal and collective path to greatness.

Whatever the question, create is the answer.

Are you sad? Create.

Do you feel broken? Create.

Are you inspired? Create.

Are you bored? Create.

Are you angry? Create.

Want to grow a business? Create.

What to stand out in your career? Create.

You will go from this:

To this:

–

P.S. The wonderful Crys Williams reminded us today why only 10% of what we create is worth looking at. More reason to get busy creating!

(This post is part of the “Blog Crawl of Self-Love” hosted by Molly Mahar of Stratejoy.  Find out more about The ABC’s of Self Love Blog Crawl + Treasure Hunt here.)

I waited a long time to have my first child, which according to many of the doctors I saw meant my age was counted in dog years.

“Mrs. Slim,” they said, “because you are of advanced maternal age we need to do some special tests.”

“Good lord,” I thought, “I am 38, not 76.”

Despite my ancient status, I had a relatively healthy pregnancy. I endured the 9-month morning sickness that was legendary for the women in my family. I even flew back and forth between the Bay Area and Phoenix every single week of my pregnancy when I was finishing up a big consulting project. I waddled through the airport like a trooper, determined to not let a little thing like a gigantic stomach deter me from my work.

I wanted to have a natural birth. I was convinced that Mother Nature knew what she was doing when she wired us up to have babies. I also felt kind of cocky about my ability to handle pain and challenge.

I had been a hard-core martial artist for over ten years. I had my faced smashed into the floor during a sparring session by  large Brazilian men and had come up swinging. I had been knocked out by a kick to the face.  I had traveled alone in dangerous places.

Childbirth, I decided, would leverage my warrior tendencies.

When the time came, labor started relatively gently, with contractions that felt like small pressure. We headed to the hospital.

I was slightly worried when the doula I had hired to help decided to take the night off. My husband and I bravely looked each other in the eyes and decided that the Lamaze classes we had dutifully taken would do the trick. I would grasp his hand as he wiped my brow lovingly with a wet washcloth. We would do that cute breathing thing that they show in the movies. How hard could it be, really?

And then, transition labor hit.

All quaint ideas about being a warrior were pushed aside as a freight train began to rush through my body. The force was incomprehensible. It was so far beyond my ability to manage or control that I was stunned.

In the fight for my life between breaths, all I could think of was “Are you telling me that billions of women have gone through this and survived?” I could not believe that no one had told me that within the quiet throngs of mothers the world over, since the beginning of time, they had demonstrated Herculean strength. I was in awe.

Thankfully, transition labor did its job and my son Josh made his way into the world quickly.

The movies were right on this part — as soon as he was in the doctor’s arms, I felt elated, a gigantic rush of love and joy.

I had just run a triathalon, fought a war and created a masterpiece, all in a matter of hours.

All of that strength was inside, but it was totally different than I thought it would be.  Instead of carefully controlling the situation and believing I could power through it, I gave up in glorious surrender to the much larger heartbeat of Mother Nature. Surrender and trust were my pathway to doing the hardest thing I have ever done in my life.

We are all capable of so many things. We can endure challenge, tragedy and heartbreak and come out clearer, stronger and more loving on the other end.

Trust yourself.

—

Thanks again Molly for inviting me to be a part of your Blog Crawl of Self Love! I had fun reliving this story. The crazy thing is I did it again with my daughter Angela. Check out all the wonderful posts written by fellow blog sisters and find out about Molly’s Fierce Love Course here: http://www.stratejoy.com/fierce-love-course/

 

The Salt River which runs through Saguaro Lake Ranch

In a few hours, Charlie Gilkey, Angela Wheeler and I will kick off another Lift Off Retreat at Saguaro Lake Ranch.

It is hard to describe the feeling of anticipation that comes before Lift Off. There is a special magic that occurs that is unlike any other class, event or retreat that I have ever led. This time, we have a whole crew of alumni that are cheering us on behind the scenes, giving us so much inspiration to bring our very best game to the new “Liftoffians.”

There are so many things to share about the entrepreneurial journey. We will talk about business models, product funnels, client avatars, money systems and personal environments.

But my best advice on how to get through the ups/downs and sideways of entrepreneurship comes from the mantra that my family has adopted for 2012: Positive Attitude, Perseverance, Courage. <with the added cheer “Go Slims!“>. As you might remember, my son Josh chose these three values at Boy Scout Winter Camp. I loved them so much that I brought them into my year as a personal mantra.

In order to bring the values to life, I asked Willie Hewes if she could draw them as my personal mascots. Her illustrations were so beyond my expectations — they perfectly captured both the feeling of the words, and the spirits of me and my children.

 

Positive Attitude

(Guess who that hippie is?)

Perseverance

Like only my boy understands.

Courage

It does not get more Rosie than this.

—

I highly recommend your own flavor of a fun, inspiring and uplifting mantra for the year.

See you on the other side of Lift Off with a brand new set of stories and insight.

Thank you Willie Hewes for your inspiring art!

In January, I ran another session of my  Power Teaching class. Another extremely smart and enthusiastic group joined in intensive study of effective training design and development, and worked on real, live classes that they are launching this Spring. I love teaching this class for three reasons:

• It is exceptionally energizing to share my passion for teaching with completely open and eager participants
• They really worked their hearts out to apply great design to their classes, ensuring a superior learning experience for their students
• They were extremely generous with each other, sharing ideas and feedback the entire two months we worked together

An important part of the course design was working on REAL classes launched to REAL people.

Out of the 87 participants, around 32 were ready to go live today. Others may showcase their classes in my end of year round up post on December 31.

Here is the amazing variety of classes they created. I would appreciate it so much if you take the time to see what they have developed, and if you feel drawn to learn from these amazing teachers, sign up for their classes!

Go Power Teachers!

 

Business

Anne-Marie Rábago is offering The Feisty Gal’s Guide to a Financially FIT Business Are you a smart and savvy female entrepreneur just getting started or running a great business, but still trying to figure it all out? Do the ideas of finance, insurance, tax, and legal stuff make you want to scream and throw your hands in the air (not in a fun party way)? In this fabulous 5-week intensive e-course, Anne-Marie will give you the tools (and a little ‘tude) to whip your business into shape and find your inner feisty gal in 2012!

 

See also, “Networking Naturally for the Busy Professional” in the Career category

 

See also, “Grasping Software” in the Computer Training category

 

We all have a great idea for building a business on our own terms. Dallon Christensen has designed Discover, Design, and Deliver – A Guide to Entrepreneurial Success to help you turn your idea into action! This class is designed for entrepreneurs who want to build a business to fulfill their life’s passion and purpose.

 

Hannah Hollett, of MyMindset, helps you create new, empowering mindsets that support you in improving your business/ career (in addition to many other areas of your life). MyMindset is your ‘Life Coach on-the-go’, providing daily text or email questions, live support from trained Life Coaches, and the tools to Change Your Mindset & Change Your Life!

 

Calling all Entrepreneurs! Learn how to inspire trust by finding the natural leader within you. Join Joy Silha and Carolyn Turner for a one-day workshop called Learning Inspired Leadership From Horses. Held in beautiful Santa Fe, NM, you’ll safely interact with horses in order to learn how to tap into your own unique vision and project true leadership!

 

Joyce M. Washington, CPA – of Common Cents Consulting, is launching QuickBooks Basics, a no-nonsense series of self-paced workshops designed to eliminate anxiety of the unknown and get any QuickBooks newbie up and running in a matter of a few hours!

 

Have you wanted to start a blog but didn’t think you had time? Join Lesa Townsends for the Blogging Essentials in Just Minutes a Day class and learn how to manage, write, and promote your blog in just minutes a day. Don’t let your lack of time keep you from reaping the benefits of blogging for your business!

 

Mary Corrigan has now adapted Stanford’s acclaimed Creativity in Business program for self-employed entrepreneurs. It will forever change the way you approach challenges and obstacles in your business and life!

 

Michelle Gower is offering WordPress Training for Virtual Assistants. Start or increase your business by offering WordPress services to your clients! Quit missing out on billable time for clients who ARE outsourcing tasks for their WordPress websites. Michelle shows you how to learn WordPress AND how to run a WordPress services business in a fun and easy fashion!

 

Sue Kasson is offering The Top 3 Strategies for a Full, Thriving Practice Just imagine how much you would earn this year if you just added 2 new clients. 2 clients x $300 = $600/month = $7,200/year. In this 4-part teleclass you will learn how to: get great results-based testimonials, create sales pages that talk about client benefits, and retain your best clients!

 

Career

Carol Ross is offering Networking Naturally for the Busy Professional, a webinar that explains the principles that all successful networkers use and shows how to apply them in a way that is in sync with your personal style. You’ll become a more effective networker, including feeling relaxed and confident when meeting someone for the first time. Based on her experience of presenting networking workshops and webinars to more than 2000 professionals in 20 countries, Carol provides the essence of what you need to know, without creating information overload!

 

Heather Mills designed Kickstart Your Career Change, a 4-week virtual course, for you if you’re a professional woman wanting to make a change in your work but you don’t know where to start. You’ll gain a deeper understanding of your strengths, values, priorities, passions, and goals. Whether you’re considering staying in your current work, changing careers, or starting a new business, you’ll get un-stuck and start taking action – with clarity, purpose, and a plan for doing the work you’re meant to do!

 

College

Guides for: high school graduates, college majors, college parents, and coaching college students

Are you the parent of a high school senior or college freshman/sophomore? Are you frustrated because you don’t know how to help them choose a major? On March 24th, Amy Ramsey is offering high school seniors, college freshmen, and sophomores a 1-day Go 2 the Peak workshop in Charlotte, NC. It will help them answer the question “Who am I?”, and teach them how to make decisions based on their strengths and interests; how to evaluate their choices; and how to make more effective decisions in all areas of their life!

 

Communication

Dirk Haun will be offering a presentation course:
Wege zur besseren Präsentation (“Techniques for a better presentation”), a series of three in-person classes that will help you prepare, create, and give better presentations.

 

Computer Training

Do you frequently find yourself on technical support duty? Get off the hook by gifting your “digitally-challenged” loved ones with Get to Know Your Computer Better: An Orientation to Computing and Communicating in the Information Age. Combining easy-to-consume video tutorials with a weekly Q&A session, this eCourse will empower participants to join the technology party! With over 15 years experience translating techie into English, Audrey Reynolds teaches people how to happily interact with their computer and stay connected to their clients, friends and family.

 

See also, “Blogging Essentials is Just Minutes a Day” in the Business category

 

You don’t have to feel anxious, frustrated, or overwhelmed while learning business software for your job. You can use simple methods to quickly get up-to-speed and feel confident, encouraged, and in control. With the tools delivered in Grasping Software – How to Use Any Software, you can mold your work to take advantage of the new software. For fifteen years, Charlie Ahern has assisted people like you to confidently use complex software applications.

 

See also, “QuickBooks Basics “ in the Business category

 

See also, “WordPress Training for Virtual Assistants” in the Business category

 

Consulting

Daryl Gerke just presented Consulting for Geeks. Based on its initial success, this class will soon be followed by a five-part webinar series on how to become an independent consultant. The focus is on professionals (engineers, accountants, lawyers, medical personnel, etcetera), but anyone interested in consulting should benefit.

 

Creativity

Accomplished artist and creativity expert Christine DeCamp has spent 20+ years exploring the phenomenon of creativity and how to develop a consistent download of passion and inspiration. If you are interested in generating ideas and implementing them, her online class, Creative Flow, will rock your world as you grow a practice that is easy to sustain, fits you perfectly, and works in your life. Class begins on Tuesday March 6, 2012.

 

See also, “Creativity in Business” in the Business category

 

Green Lifestyle

Jami Scholl is offering Permaculture + Potager. Playfulness can marry the historic French Potager food garden to regenerative Permaculture design. In this 4-part class, you will have serious fun creating your own design for elegant living. This is a beautiful solution that both you and your neighbors will adore.

 

Marketing

Is your blog traffic…lacking? Beth Hayden is offering Beth’s Blog Traffic School to give you tons of killer ideas for attracting traffic to your blog. We’ll cover how to figure out what kind of traffic you REALLY want, how to get awesome guest posting gigs, and how to effectively use Twitter and Facebook to drive traffic to your blog. We’ll finish by giving you some super powerful traffic-building ideas you’ve never heard before!

 

Tea Silvestre, aka The Word Chef, is offering Find Your Secret Sauce (and Create an Addicting Brand). This 5-week online course is guaranteed to help you figure out how to leverage the bits and pieces that make you unique (and all that entails): your Unique Selling Proposition, how to talk about your business so your ideal customers say, “Yes please!”, and how to create a fascinating and memorable brand.

 

Motherhood

As a mom herself, Miki DeVivo knows that the demands of motherhood pull you in a million directions. But what if taking some time each day just for yourself was actually the remedy? Shape Your Being ~ Build a Practice that Serves You teaches you tools to fill your cup so that you can free your life from the tyranny of the to-do list, remain grounded in the eye of the storm, and be the type of mother you want to be. You deserve it!

 

Personal Development

Alicia Terry, owner and founder of OnPoint Communications & Training, is offering Make Your Mark in the World, a blended training and coaching program to help you clarify your life’s vision and align your actions to give voice to it. Don’t know what brings significance to your life? Then start by answering this: If I were able to do so, what need in the world, my family, or community would I make a positive difference in?

 

C. A. Kobu, the Project Midwife, is offering A Year With Myself , a year-long digital self-study program for creative, entrepreneurial women who want to empower themselves and slowly give birth to their big juicy dream over the course of 52 weeks. The program includes detailed lessons, exercises and in-depth interviews with over 75 Instigators who are renowned coaches, writers, businesswomen, and other experts. Members have lifetime free access to all future upgrades and to a closed discussion group. Start any time.

 

See also, “Change Your Mindset & Change Your Life” in the Business category

 

See also, “Learning Inspired Leadership From Horses” in the Business category

 

Laura Hibbert is offering the Style Your Way to Success teleclasses. With only a few seconds to make a positive first impression, this course teaches you entrepreneurs and professionals to identify your personal style, improve your wardrobe, enhance your greatest attributes and construct a positive inner belief system to build self-confidence. Experience the joy as you look good and feel good about yourself by bringing out the best in yourself and developing your powerful personal brand!

 

Lonnie Gribnau is offering Unleash Your Life. Use play and your passion to overcome mobility and weight issues. Your level of confidence is in direct proportion to how you feel about yourself. We’ll find keys that work for you, to unleash your life!

 

Productivity

See also, “Get to Know Your Computer Better: An Orientation to Computing and Communicating in the Information Age” in the Computer Training category

 

See also, “Grasping Software” in the Computer Training category

 

Spirituality

All Beings Are Our Mothers: Meditation Practices for Love and Belonging is a contemplative and in-the-moment practice for remembering your connection and opening your heart. This authentic Buddhist meditation has been Mahala Mazerov‘s principal practice for over 10 years, but you don’t have to be a Buddhist to share the love. By the end of this program you can expect to have a profound resonance with people who pass through your life, a way to keep a steadfast heart even with those who cause you harm, and experiences that will enrich you for the rest of your life!

 

Wellness

Christy Lambert is offering Motivation Magic, a free tele-class designed to help you fizzle-proof your fitness plan. If you’re ready to learn how to make exercise fun, find the joy in moving your body and create consistency with your practice, this class may be just what you need!

 

Emily Downward is offering you your own personalized Big Apple Adventure! Sometimes it takes getting out of your usual routine to evaluate your life and see things in a different perspective. This incredible adventure will provide you with valuable tools to find balance and peace in your everyday life while giving you multiple opportunities to explore the varied sights, sounds and experiences of New York City. Learn what really lights you up and makes your heart sing in this “choose your own adventure” urban retreat!

 

For the sixth time, Koren Motekaitis is offering her successful Lose Weight without Dieting Coaching Circle. Previous circle members say, “You’ll learn and practice losing weight without dieting in a safe, non-judgmental group.”

 

Jumpstart Your Sustainable Life will guide you through 4 weeks of gradual change in the way you live and think about the choices you make every day. You will learn new sustainable practices and resources, as well as consciously make those changes in your everyday life while Kristi Ashley is there to help you along the way. While you are practicing these changes in your own life, you will also learn about many more practices and resources you can use in the future.

 

Lorraine Faehndrich is offering Mind Body Healing, a 4-week teleclass where you will learn the basic principles, as well as effective tools for relieving pain, stress, and anxiety; achieving permanent weight loss; creating optimal health; and accessing a deeper connection with your inner wisdom. Chronic physical and emotional pain are your body’s ways of communicating that what you are doing is not working. Get to the root of these painful issues, hear what your body and emotions are telling you, and learn how to create radiant health and deep, authentic happiness!

 

Martha Atkins is offering Seeing Past the Tears: Creating A New Vision After Loss, a 4-week photo journal course for anyone who has suffered the death of a loved one. You’ll use your camera, creativity, and personal experiences to see/process your grief in a new way. Limited to 12 participants.

 

Body-transformation coach Mary Weaver, CSCS, is offering Diet Without Starving — a program that gives you the tools to stick to a healthy diet without starvation or suffering. She explains why popular diets fail, which foods help dieters feel full, which just stimulate appetite, and how to prevent the metabolic slow-down that fad diets cause. If you’re sick of yo-yo dieting and want a no-BS strategy based on science, Diet Without Starving is the answer!

 

Do you wish you knew how to cook healthier foods? Have you run out of ideas of what to fix for dinner? Do you wish you could just whip something up fast? Pam Hirsch will teach you how to make 3 basic dishes that can be easily turned into something new, several times! Discover your “creative chef” through a series of short videos, recipes and shopping lists in Cook Once, Eat Thrice!

 

I will be running another session in April, 2012. If  you are interested in getting priority notification when it opens, add your name to the waitlist at the bottom of the Power Teaching page at this link. http://www.escapefromcubiclenation.com/power-teaching/

Hearty congratulations Power Teachers! It was a delight to work with you.