I just got back from a ride on the mountain. It wasn’t planned. But when suggested that we ride our bikes to the coffee shop I couldn’t stop it was so beautiful. There was crispness in the air that really woke you up. And once I reached the mountain and the lakes I could bask in the warmth….sometimes just standing silently listening to the sounds of nature. it was a great way to start the morning.

What’s your favorite time of year? Mine is the season of NOW! Right now I am feeling spring…it’s in full bloom…It’s warmer, although not too warm. There are blossoms on the fruit trees although less and less being replaced by buds that will soon be fruit and a few remaining wild flowers. Yeah it’s that time of year. Getting up much earlier…days are longer. Yeah….can do things outdoors in the evenings…IT’S NOW TIME.

Motivation…excitement…adventure. It’s sure good to feel this way. How can I build on it? As I said it’s never too late to do what you really want. It’s never too late to think about what your vision is for your life and for your community. What is it that you don’t tell people you really want because you think they will think you are crazy? It’s time to put yourself out there. Now is the time. What do you really want, but because you don’t want to be disappointed, you put it on the back burner?

JOURNEY ON

MARK

THERE’S NO BETTER TIME THAN NOW. There will always be something that holds you back; an excuse to put your life on hold. JOURNEY ON is a blog dedicated to personal and professional development. Mark Susnow,JD, is an Executive and Life Coach, who inspires others to believe in themselves. A former successful trial attorney for 30 years and musician, he integrates what it takes to be successful in the world with the inner wisdom unfolded to him through years of yoga and meditation. He also publishes, Letters on Life, an inspirational ezine. Signup! http://www.inspirepossibility.com

If you are like me, you wonder about who your real friends are. Deep friendships take years to develop and nourish and often go through transitions but not always. And then there are those folks in your life, although not necessarily close friends, that you end up spending a great deal of time with.

Take a second and think about these folks. Who are they and why are you that involved with them. Are you just thrown together? Perhaps it’s a common cause that you both are committed to. Or perhaps its part of your job. I am sure there are many other reasons that you can think of. The more important question is, “With whom would you like to spend your time with and why aren’t you doing it?”

As we know our selves more, we have a better sense of what our true values and priorities are. And in the process align ourselves with like minded people.

There’s no question that’s it great to have old friends who have known us through many different stages of our life. But for various reasons, we don’t know how long these relationships will last. A close friend might pass on or you might have a falling out. And sometimes you just need to move on.

As we get older we don’t have the time or inclination to get to know someone, but we know ourselves better. It’s in that knowing that we attract to us like minded souls. As this occurs more often we have the natural ability to connect with others. Connection transcends history. Connection transcends your story.

It’s great when you meet another person and not a whole lot needs to be said. You feel like you are with kindred soul. It’s more than great. Ideally I would love to spend my life with all kindred souls….maybe at some level we are all kindred souls trying to find each other. But we need to first find ourselves. And if that’s the case what can we do to access this knowing?

I think what you hear about today is to be authentic…I use to call it “being real”…Only when we’re true to ourselves can we recognize that in another person. But our self is constantly evolving and as it expands we’re able to access much more of our true nature and when that happens our signal…vibe… attracts and connects with more kindred spirits. When that starts to become a priority in our life, our garden grows. Look what happens when you are not being your authentic self. You are cheating two people. Yourself for not being true to yourself and the other person because they will never get to know the real you.

JOURNEY ON

MARK

THERE’S NO BETTER TIME THAN NOW. There will always be something that holds you back; an excuse to put your life on hold. JOURNEY ON is a blog dedicated to personal and professional development. Mark Susnow ,JD, is an Executive and Life Coach, who inspires others to believe in themselves. A former successful trial attorney for 30 years and musician, he integrates what it takes to be successful in the world with the inner wisdom unfolded to him through years of yoga and meditation. He also publishes, Letters on Life, an inspirational ezine. Signup! http://www.inspirepossibility.com

Since I have been a student and teacher of personal development, which has been my whole life, I keep coming back to one thought that influences everything. No matter what is going on in your life, how you view it is determined by the meaning that you give it. For example, one person might see the ending of a relationship as a devastating blow. For another, the ending of a relationship might be seen as a ticket to freedom and an opportunity for a better life.

In the workplace a job ending could be considered a big loss for one person and or for another an opportunity to find something better. Whether something is a disappointment or an opportunity is your attitude toward it. And what distinguishes a problem from an opportunity the attitude you bring to the situation, rather than the event itself.

Lately there have been many articles and books written about the Law of Attraction, which essentially is that we attract to us what our dominant beliefs are. So if we believe that it’s going to be a good day, it most likely will. By the way that’s where the highlight of the day comes in that I wrote about in the last blog.

Let’s go one step further and agree that the Law of Attraction works. So if our dominant beliefs determine our experience of life, what happens when our beliefs are negative on?. What happens if we doubt whether we can make it or it will work out?

I’m not saying the goal is to remove all doubt. We’re always going to have a degree of doubt and that’s probably healthy. It gives us an edge, which in many situations motivates us to be at our best.

With all of the negativity out there, it is challenging to remain positive. Yet there is no question that we tend to be a little bit more negative that we need to. So if our beliefs are so crucial, how can we change them?

Our beliefs are directly linked to our attitudes. If we have a positive attitude we’ll believe we can do almost anything. So the question then becomes, if Attitude determines everything, how do you change it? For example, you might be in a bad mood and don’t feel like doing anything; or you might be worrying excessively? How do you get out of your funk? Here are some practices that have helped me from time to time. First the obvious ones.

1- I always look at my diet. Usually caffeine is the culprit. Then I’ll add some fresh squeezed juices and make sure I’m eating plenty of fruits and vegetables. And it goes without saying that you want to minimize red meat and chicken.

2-At least once a year and usually two or three times, I’ll cleanse my system. I follow the recommendations of the Stanley Burroughs Master Cleanse for approximatelyy five-eight days. I just finished my spring cleanse and feel great. Believe it or not the first time I heard about cleansing was when I was in Law School and I have been cleansing ever since.

3-Another inquiry I make is to look at my activity level. Usually when I get in one of those moods I’m not exercising. I have found from working with many different people that getting enough exercise is perhaps their biggest challenge. I guarantee if you exercise regularly you won’t stay in a funk. It’s impossible to stay down when your heart rate is in your target zone.

4-Of course I make sure that I make time for the morning program, which I wrote about in the March issue of Letters on Life. Wondering about the highlight of the day is a great inquiry. It creates a positive expectation. You can ask this question in almost any type of situation. Let’s say it’s an event that you don’t want to go to. You might ask yourself the following question: “I wonder who I’m going to meet and what the highlight of the evening will be.

5- Music is a great mood changer. Almost instantly it gets me going…it’s hard to be down when you’re dancing. i remember when I was a trial lawyer. I compiled a group of songs that inspired me before beginning a trial. The music from “Rocky” was one of those pieces.

These are just a few of the things that have worked for me in the past. Hopefully I keep learning.

JOURNEY ON

MARK

THERE’S NO BETTER TIME THAN NOW. There will always be something that holds you back; an excuse to put your life on hold. JOURNEY ON is a blog dedicated to personal and professional development. Mark Susnow ,JD, is an Executive and Life Coach, who inspires others to believe in themselves. A former successful trial attorney for 30 years and musician, he integrates what it takes to be successful in the world with the inner wisdom unfolded to him through years of yoga and meditation. He also publishes, Letters on Life, an inspirational ezine. Signup! http://www.inspirepossibility.com.

We were on our way to the city to meet Jim and Fern who we haven’t seen in many years. They were in town for a conference. Our plan was to meet them for lunch, at Green’s, the vegetarian restaurant run by the Zen Center, located in Ft.Mason, the historical landmark.

I needed to be back in Marin for a series of coaching calls beginning at 3PM. This would give us plenty of time to visit, have a leisurely lunch and catch up and maybe wander around the Fort.

It was an incredibly beautiful day. As we were driving over the Golden Gate Bridge, I noticed all of the people and bicyclists making their way over the bridge. I couldn’t believe I had never done that myself. So I said to Annie, “Someday lets walk or ride our bikes across the bridge.

It was great to see them. I had known Jim for over 30 years. As we were finishing our leisurely lunch it was time to get outside. As we were getting ready to leave, Jim said that he had a favor to ask me. “Could you drop us off at Vista Point, so that we could walk back over the bridge?”

I said,”Sounds great, we’ll do that with you.”

We got in our car, drove over the bridge and parked at Vista Point, and took in the awe-inspiring views.

Our plan was to walk back with them to the North Tower. We began our walk until it was time to say “good-bye” and turn around.

As we were saying our “good-bye’s”, they mentioned that they were thinking of going dancing that evening. They said that they had been hearing a lot about West-Coast Swing, but didn’t know much about it.

Both Annie and I simultaneously replied, “We have been working on this dance for over a year now.”

And then they asked, “What’s it like?”

We took that as an invitation. “Watch, we’ll show you,” we replied.

And before you knew it we were dancing at the foot of the North Tower on the bridge.

As we got back in our car and drove back to our house, I kept smiling as I was thinking, Was this the Law of Attraction working or just being in the flow?

I’m not really sure and I don’t even know if it matters, but either way we had a great day.

JOURNEY ON

MARK

THERE’S NO BETTER TIME THAN NOW. There will always be something that holds you back; an excuse to put your life on hold. JOURNEY ON is a blog dedicated to personal and professional development. Mark Susnow, an executive and life coach, inspires others to experience more fulfillment and success in their life. A former trial attorney for 30 years and musician, he integrates what it takes to be successful in the world with the inner wisdom unfolded to him through years of yoga and meditation. He also publishes, Letters on Life, an inspirational ezine. Signup! http://www.inspirepossibility.com.

I’ll just call her Betty. I’ve been Betty’s life coach for some time now. She’s an incredibly dynamic woman who is struggling to develop a business that doesn’t allow her to bring out who she really is. It’s working one-on-one as a health care consultant.

Betty needs a bigger game. What gets her excited is being in front of groups. She is a born leader and has made a difference in almost everything she does. Now that her kids have left the house she is ready for the next step.

However Betty is looking for validation through the success of her consulting business which is slow.

When I asked her why its so important to be successful in her consulting business, she replied that it would make her feel needed and wanted and validated.

I asked Betty if there were other ways that she could feel needed and wanted.

When she saw herself in front of the room at a big charity event introducing the guest speaker she got excited. When she saw herself influencing decision makers she got excited especially when it was connected to a cause she was championing.

Betty now knows what she has to do and is excited about going in that direction. In a few months Betty is introducing a major celebrity for at an event for a well-known clinic. When she thinks about it, she smiles and gets excited. She gets to express who she really is.

You can too find that passion for living when you play a bigger game. Step out and dance.

JOURNEY ON

MARK

THERE’S NO BETTER TIME THAN NOW. There will always be something that holds you back; an excuse to put your life on hold. JOURNEY ON is a blog dedicated to personal and professional development. Mark Susnow, an executive and life coach, inspires others to experience more fulfillment and success in their life. A former trial attorney for 30 years and musician, he integrates what it takes to be successful in the world with the inner wisdom unfolded to him through years of yoga and meditation. He also publishes, Letters on Life, an inspirational ezine. Signup! http://www.inspirepossibility.com.

I’ve been thinking lately about that feeling of “not having enough time.” I say feeling because you do have enough time. But it’s that feeling of being in a hurry that prevents you from being in the moment and enjoying life fully. Time management is not about systems and “to do lists.” It’s making a paradigm shift as to how you view life.

Most of us start the day like we’re trying to catch a train. We wake up, grab a cup of coffee, look at the paper and listen to the news. And many of us turn on the computer, check our email or a few websites. Now we’re ready. We rush out of the house to make an appointment or meet a deadline or to put the finishing touches on a project. From deadline to appointment it goes. When we leave work we have other responsibilities and obligations, and it doesn’t end until we go to sleep, and for some it still doesn’t end. We never do catch the train. We forgot one essential thing. We are the conductor and the train can’t go anywhere without us.

What if you knew deep inside that the train wasn’t going anywhere? What would it take to develop the wisdom that there was a better way? What changes could you implement that would make a difference? I was a busy trial lawyer for thirty years, always running to catch the train. I still remember racing to the court room full of coffee and stress until I realized I was the conductor of my life. That realization allowed me to make life altering changes that continue to make my life more enjoyable, more successful and more fulfilling.

Here’s what I discovered. How you begin your day sets the tone for the day! It all starts with creating your perfect morning. This is your morning, no one else’s. It’s an opportunity that comes around the same time every day. Consider waking up to music you love, rather than to the music or news on your alarm clock. Here’s what I do. I begin my day with meditation. If this is new to you just sit silently for 10-15 minutes before doing anything else. I suggest using a timer, while you are meditating., so that you don’t think about what you have to do when you leave the house.

Once your timer goes off allow yourself gently to focus on what you are grateful for. You might have a tendency to think about what isn’t working in your life or to worry about the future. If you do, you’re not alone. Most of us have this tendency to varying degrees. By focusing on what you are grateful for, you shift your focus to what you have and what is working rather than on what you don’t have. Gratitude helps you shift your focus! And we know that what we focus on expands.

Then start to wonder what the highlight of your day might be. I scan my day quickly and wonder if this is going to be the moment. I also wonder if the highlight might be something that I’m not thinking about at the moment. That’s the fun part. I’m open to being pleasantly surprised. The gratitude and highlight part of the morning program usually takes just a minute or two.

As you leave your house and begin the flow of your day you look at each experience and wonder if this is going to be the highpoint of your day knowing there is more to come. The concept of looking at the highlight of the day can be used in any situation even one that seems unpleasant. Imagine a meeting that you are going to have with someone, who let’s say to be nice, is “difficult.” Looking for the highlight in this experience or in this person can totally change your attitude about the meeting. I had my share of those meetings especially when I was a lawyer. Most all of the people that I work with also have those meetings. By the use of gratitude and wondering about the highlight, you are creating a positive expectation as to how you want your day to go.

As the day unfolds, if you sense that things inside are heating up, consider taking a little break. You might even stretch for five minutes or walk around the block. And there are no rules that you can’t listen to some good music. As your day progresses the biggest difference is the knowledge that you can be busy and be relaxed.

I have found that starting the day this way increases my energy and efficiency throughout the day. When I leave my house centered and focused there is a much greater likelihood that I can maintain this balance throughout the day. There has been plenty of research by psychologists demonstrating the value of taking the time for morning meditation or creative silence. This has been my practice for over thirty years and very rarely do I feel overwhelmed. And this was so even when I was in the middle of a trial. I find that I laugh more and generally enjoy my day. Of course I have my challenges and lose my focus periodically, but not for long. And before I go to sleep I again think about what was most special about this day.

The one thing I do know for certain is that there‘s a direct correlation between how I start my day and the quality of my life. Try a little experiment. For the next thirty days start your day on your own terms and discover the dramatic changes that are possible. Recently a friend asked me what I felt was the biggest benefit of being a long-term meditator. I thought about it for a few seconds and responded , “I very rarely feel that I don’t have enough time.”

JOURNEY ON

MARK

THERE’S NO BETTER TIME THAN NOW. There will always be something that holds you back; an excuse to put your life on hold. JOURNEY ON is a blog dedicated to personal and professional development. Mark Susnow, an executive and life coach, inspires others to experience more fulfillment and success in their life. A former trial attorney for 30 years and musician, he integrates what it takes to be successful in the world with the inner wisdom unfolded to him through years of yoga and meditation. He also publishes, Letters on Life, an inspirational ezine. Signup! http://www.inspirepossibility.com.

Following up on my theme that what comes up in a life coaching session pertains to all of us I am relating what came up this morning.

Do you know one person who doesn’t worry? I don’t. I think that we can all agree that we would like to minimize our worrying. But what is worry?

That’s what we talked about in our call. When you worry, you believe that something in the future will occur that will a negative effect on your life down the road.

The truth is you don’t know for sure. So you are making a negative assumption about the future. That’s what we are doing. And rather than living in the present, we are living in a “what if world.”

Let’s flip it. But before we do that, let’s call worry…concern. Let’s take what we are concerned about and give it the best case scenario. For example we might be concerned about business. And we might think that if the business is getting slower, then in three months it will be even slower.

What if you said because this month is a little bit slow, I am poised to have my best month ever? Don’t you think you would have more fun while you go through what you go through? You know you would. Change the questions you are asking yourself.

JOURNEY ON

MARK

THERE’S NO BETTER TIME THAN NOW. There will always be something that holds you back; an excuse to put your life on hold. JOURNEY ON is a blog dedicated to personal and professional development. Mark Susnow, an executive and life coach, inspires others to experience more fulfillment and success in their life. A former trial attorney for 30 years and musician, he integrates what it takes to be successful in the world with the inner wisdom unfolded to him through years of yoga and meditation. He also publishes, Letters on Life, an inspirational ezine. Signup! http://www.inspirepossibility.com.

I had an interesting conversation in a coaching call this morning. For months, Frank (fictitious name) had been telling me that he did not have enough time to meditate and exercise.

Finally he began to meditate and he found that his stress level decreased big time. He was like a differrent person.

But he was a CPA and found that every tax season, which ended on April 15th, he would drive himself crazy. I made many suggestions that he exercise on a a regular basis. But he believed that he didn’t have enough time.

Finally this year, Frank hired a personal trainer and is working out three days a week even during the tax season that has already begun. He feels different and more energetic.

What is interesting is that he does have enough time, but it was his false belief in the past that kept him from doing it. That belief of course being that he didn’t have enough time.

I then asked Frank to look at other false beliefs that he had that were holding him back in other areas of his life.

Signup for my monthly ezine, Letters on Life.

JOURNEY ON

MARK

JOURNEY ON is a blog dedicated to personal and professional development. Mark Susnow, an executive and life coach, inspires others to experience more fulfillment and success in their life. A former trial attorney for 30 years and musician, he integrates what it takes to be successful in the world with the inner wisdom unfolded to him through years of yoga and meditation. He also publishes, Letters on Life, an inspirational ezine. Signup! http://www.inspirepossibility.com.

As you know I am a firm believer in beginning your day with intention. How you start your day sets the tone for the day. Even so there are those days when you are still bothered. I arrived Monday night and found that my bags were lost. For the last two days I have been dealing with the airlines attempting to get the bags back. It’s amazing how incompetent they are. Still don’t have them.

With my morning meditation I was able to calm my mind.  And now I am thinking about the highlight of the day. The bags will arrive…just not on my time schedule. It’s letting go….

So that’s my challenge. There’s always going to be a few loose ends. And that’s everyone’s challenge. How do we deal with loose ends because that’s the way life is. There is going to be something out there that is unresolved.

And life is a mystery…That’s what makes it exciting.  And yes there are those loose ends.  It’s always going to be that way. Our work is to become comfortable with them…to not get sidetracked from what we really want to do and accomplish. And yes to be curious as to how its going to be resolved.

I’ll let you know what happens with the airlines. If you like this blog, most likely you will like my monthly ezine, Letters on Life.

JOURNEY ON

MARK

JOURNEY ON is a blog dedicated to personal and professional development. Mark Susnow, an executive and life coach, inspires others to experience more fulfillment and success in their life. A former trial attorney for 30 years and musician, he integrates what it takes to be successful in the world with the inner wisdom unfolded to him through years of yoga and meditation. He also publishes, Letters on Life, an inspirational ezine. His articles reflect this journey in an inspirational and motivational way. http://www.inspirepossibility.com.

There is a stream on ITunes, Whisperings, that transports me to a different realm. Much of my writing is done listening to this music. It’s solo piano.

I love that ability to travel from the concerns of the material world to the deeper places of my being. Meditation has always been a part of my path. And yoga certainly has.

Developing the ability to shift the mind from those dark obsessive places of negativity is what we are all striving for; tuning into that place inside where there is stillness and the mind is silent.

No matter what’s going on elsewhere this is our sanctuary. It takes commitment to get there. It’s not unusual to get off the track so we have to develop ways to be reminded that we are drifting. Committing to one positive habit a day is a great beginning. And that means that no matter what else is going on, you follow through.

One of my habits that serves me well is to ask the question, ” I wonder what the highlight of the day will be?” Thats what I’m wondering right now as I start the day.” I’m open to finding out. I’m curious. Maybe it will be two or three highlights.

Try it. Ask yourself the same question.

If you like this blog, most likely you will like my free monthly ezine, Letters on Life.

JOURNEY ON

MARK

JOURNEY ON is a blog dedicated to personal and professional development. Mark Susnow, an executive and life coach, inspires others to experience more fulfillment and success in their life. A former trial attorney for 30 years and musician, he integrates what it takes to be successful in the world with the inner wisdom unfolded to him through years of yoga and meditation. He also publishes, Letters on Life, an inspirational ezine. His articles reflect this journey in an inspirational and motivational way. http://www.inspirepossibility.com.