So it's a New Year, but how are you going to make this different then the old one? Here are three ideas to help you make this year your best ever!

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Link to this video on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBAMjY2vHto

My YouTube channel (includes my videos and other "favorites"):
http://www.youtube.com/coachdavender

I received an interesting blog post by Michael Port about the incident during a retreat led by James Ray last October in Sedona that resulted in three deaths and several injuries. Today (January 8) is the 90-day anniversary of this tragedy.

Michael decries the silence of the personal development profession about this tragic incident. He starts his article:

"The tragic death of three people attending a "spiritual retreat" with James Arthur Ray has made me so angry that I'm having trouble finding words to express myself. But I'm going to try because, to me, silence is acceptance---and there has been a deafening level of silence from other "teachers" in the spiritual-help "community." Though, I am not in the "spiritual-help" business, I do write business-help books, and am close enough to, and sometimes, much to my annoyance, associated with James Ray's corner of the self-help market, that I'm embarrassed and ashamed that I haven't spoken up earlier about these teachers and their tactics. What happened in Sedona on Oct 8, 2009 was unacceptable. This is not the first time a narcissistic sociopath with a god-complex has lead people to their deaths and unfortunately it won't be the last time."

The post continues with a condemnation of James Ray's tactics:

"From all accounts, James Arthur Ray's tactics at this retreat and elsewhere, are coercive and manipulative, designed to strip followers of their power, and might I add, money. (...) Not only was Ray presenting himself as a spiritual guru promising spiritual enlightenment, but also as a business advisor offering profound economic improvement in business. According to an article on cbsnews.com, "The self-stylized success guru says people are ready for his wisdom if "You simply (and deeply) want to make more money and become more successful" and "want to double, triple, and even multiply by ten the size of your business." "

I notice, especially among coaches, that we try to promise bold transformations in material wealth, by using "spiritual" words.  Obviously, if this kind of marketing talk works for the big guns in the industry, it should work for us, right? [Read more →]

Lately I've been accused of being a pessimist. In project meetings and with clients, I'm becoming the "what if" guy, pointing out obstacles and difficulties, bringing up the need for all kinds of expenses, pouring cold water on dreams of how big the profits will be and expectations of how potential customers will respond to the offer. Which doesn't always make me the most popular guy in the discussion.

Entrepreneurs are necessarily optimistic. We need to be, it allows us to see the possibilities around us and act on them.

But the trap appears when we "fall in love" with the idea. Optimism then gives way to an emotional attachment to the idea, a state of "irrational exuberance" which can blind you to dangers that are otherwise obvious to someone who is not as emotionally invested in the project.

This is why I like Edward DeBono's Six Thinking Hats approach to thinking. The six hats are a creativity tool to help look at a situation from different perspectives. When you wear a specific colour hat, it gives you permission to think in a certain style: [Read more →]

Someone sent me an app on Facebook that creates a poster listing my statuses of the past year. Well I discovered that I have too many good ones to fit on just one page (plus I'm not a fan of subscribing to apps because of security concerns), so I used the app to retrieve all my status updates of the past year so I could archive the best here on my blog. Here are the highlights (IMHO) from my Facebook page for January 2009: [Read more →]

My New Year's Eve was quiet, as usual (I don't like big celebrations). I ended up flipping through YouTube and randomly found the movie "Groundhog Day" starring Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell. I've seen this flick several times before, but there was something that made me watch it with another perspective.

If you're not familiar with the movie, it's about the obnoxious Pittsburgh TV weatherman Phil Connors (Bill Murray) who is assigned to cover the Groundhog Day festivities in small-town Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. He grudgingly does his on-air spot and sets off on the return trip to Pittsburgh but has to turn back because of a snowstorm. Forced to stay in the small town for another night, he wakes up the next morning realizing to his horror that he has to relive Groundhog Day again, and again the next day and the day after that. Stuck in this time loop, he realizes that he is powerless to change the situation and sinks into a depression until something clicks and he decides to start living positively. Even that doesn't break the time loop, until...well, you'll have to see the movie to find out how it ends.

There was one point in the movie where I was sure that once Phil Connors "got the girl" then he would snap out of the time loop, but I realized it was only half-way through the movie. Then it came to me: this movie was calling me to snap out of my own "Groundhog Year". [Read more →]

I'm fortunate to be part of an amazing circle of people led by Elizabeth Marshall, with a mission to plug you into the hottest ideas in marketing, business and leadership. AuthorTeleseminars.com is a series of teleconference interviews by high-profile authors and thought leaders to bring to your attention important books that are shaping today and tomorrow. Membership in AT is free and you get access to the calls and also the recordings.

The 2010 season starts off particularly strong with two great sessions: [Read more →]

What matters most to me in 2010 is one word: Execution.

I love Peter Senge's definition of Leadership from his famous book "The Fifth Discipline": leadership is the ability to get things done.  Getting things done means turning ideas into results.

For the past ten years I have been working on this vision of mine. When things work well, it is because I focus on making things happen. When things don't work so well, it's because I get too wrapped up in dreams, hopes and wishes...

Yes, positive thinking is important. The Law of Attraction (Ask-Believe-Receive) sounds nice, neat and tidy. But all the Big Dreams in the world amount to nothing until someone is willing to roll up their sleeves and get sweaty all over.

Here is what Execution means to me, right now.

[Read more →]

What is one word that sums up the experience that matters the most for you in 2010?

My favorite thinker Seth Godin asked this question to over seventy big thinkers and produced an inspiring (free!) e-book "What Matters Now". Each person chose a one-word theme for what's important to them in 2010 and wrote a little riff on the topic.

My faves are Hugh Macleod's riff on "Meaning" (read the fine print!), Jackie Huba on "1%" (see one of the banner images on my blog!), and "Gumption" by J.C. Hutchins (made me smile!).

As complete as this little book seems to be, there are so many more themes that you can claim and express in 2010. I have a couple of ideas I want to explore... Stay tuned for my own choice - I will post it here this week as my "New Year's Resolution Project".

Pass the word about this inspiring e-book. Post it on your blog, on your Facebook page, Tweet about it.

What is your One-Word Theme for 2010?  Please share it! [Read more →]