Nurture Planet Earth

Laser Provision: This truth applies to one and all: we are duty bound to protect and nurture planet earth. Buckminster Fuller long ago challenged us to "do more with less" if we hope to keep this "spaceship earth" in good working order. Others have recognized the need to develop sustainable energy economies and environmental practices. From the micro level of our individual decisions to the macro level of our global policies, our planet is straining under the weight of over-consumption and over-production. Can we do better? This Provision suggests we can and argues we must. Read full article...

Coaching Inquiries: How would you evaluate your "green" consciousness? What is one thing you do to help conserve energy, preserve the environment, and/or advance "green" policies? How can you take a few more steps in the right direction? Who could become your partner in nurturing planet earth?

To reply to this Provision, use our Feedback Form. To talk with us about coaching or consulting services for yourself or your organization, use our Contact for Coaching Form to arrange for a complimentary conversation.

Go Green! Newsletter

It's not often that I feature a government website in LifeTrek Provisions, but given today's topic it's hard to ignore the Go Green! resources through the United States Environmental Protection Agency. Their Monthly Newsletters are archived since they started publishing in July 2007. Recent topics include:

• Turn off the tap while brushing your teeth
• Recycle your tree
• Build a Watersense home!
• Heat from the ground up!
• Pick 5 for the Environment
• eCycle your old computers
• Buy or switch to energy efficient lighting
• Prevent poisoning in your home
• Allow grass clippings to stay on the lawn

You can easily subscribe to the monthly newsletter by email, and I encourage you to do so as a simple way to increase your awareness of green strategies for nurturing planet earth.

Coaching Inquiries: What helps you to become more environmentally conscious? What little things can you do to make a big difference? Who do you know who sets the pace and serves as a positive role model for environmental awareness and action?

We invite you to contact us using our Feedback Form if you are interested in learning more about LifeTrek Coaching or participating in our Evocative Coach Training Program.

Nurture Well Being

Laser Provision: Today's Provision tells a story of hard work, exhaustion, and recovery with a surprising twist at the end. It's not a story I copied from the Internet. It's my story, and I hope you will find it both interesting and instructive. Only one set of those Ten New Commandments that I introduced last December talk about the importance of looking after the well-being of mind and body. The others are big on caring for children, orphans, parents, families, neighbors, friends, other living things, and the world in general. Apart from healthy rhythms of self-care, however, our caring for others will come up short. If you've been meaning to get around to taking some time for yourself, then perhaps my story will give you a little push to get started sooner rather than later. Read Entire Article...

Coaching Inquiries: What assists you to recover from the stresses and strains of life? How often do you put yourself first, and how often do you sacrifice yourself on the altar of busyness? How would you describe your rhythms, in small, medium, and long chunks? What and who could assist you to make your rhythms more regular and consistent? What's stopping you from taking a break, right now?

To talk with us about coaching or consulting services for yourself or your organization, use our Contact for Coaching Form to arrange for a complimentary conversation.

Running Barefoot?

I'm not there myself, but there is growing research and debate regarding the biomechanics of running shoes and barefoot running. No one can argue with the fact that running shoes are a pretty recent invention in the grand sweep of human evolution. People have been running barefoot for most of the past 2 million years. The question, then, is whether or not running shoes represent a step forward or a step back in human evolution. In other words, do running shoes do more harm than good?

Fortunately, that question can be researched. In Kenya, which produces many of the world's great marathoners, barefoot running is the norm. Research indicates their biomechanics are different and they suffer fewer injuries than their many equally-fit competitors who run in shoes. Shoes produce more of a heel strike and more of an overall impact shock to the body.

Heel striking is apparently a more efficient way to walk than to run. And many runners just can't imagine giving up their shoes. So there's no definitive, one-size-fits-all recommendation. Yet the proponents are filled with passion, watch video, and many shoe companies are now making shoes designed to simulate barefoot running.

The most extreme is Vibram Five Fingers, which is essentially a rubber glove for your foot. It protects against debris and dangers without changing the biomechanics of running barefoot. The Nike Free 5.0 is less extreme, with a little more padding and still calling for a sock, while its flexible sole seeks to emulate the freedom of barefoot running.

I've been running in the Nike Free for the past month and it is fast becoming my favorite running shoe. It's funny how less can be more. If you give it a try, let me know what you think.

Coaching Inquiries: What helps you to have fun and run injury free? When was the last time you went out to a park or meadow, took off your shoes and socks, and went for a barefoot walk or run? What helps you feel like a kid again? How can you cultivate more spring in your step for life?

We invite you to contact us using our Feedback Form if you are interested in learning more about LifeTrek Coaching or participating in our Evocative Coach Training Program.

Nurture Children

I'm surprised that only two lists of The Ten New Commandments urge us to protect and nurture children as a guideline for living. If not us, who? If not now, when? Throughout history children have been abused and exploited for the gain, benefit, and sadistic pleasure of adults. Although the world community has clearly condemned such violations and inhumanity, problems continue to this very day. That's why it's important to support organizations like UNICEF. And that's also why it's important to pay attention to our own attitudes and approaches when it comes to children. I say we put the needs of children first. What about you? Read Entire Article...

Coaching Inquiries: Who are the children in your life who need to be protected and nurtured? How can you reach out in ways that help them to become more fully alive? What kind of support are you able to offer? Why not make some child's day today?

To talk with us about coaching or consulting services for yourself or your organization, use the Contact for Coaching Form to arrange for a complimentary conversation.

Support UNICEF

I don't know about you, but one of my long-time charities has been the United Nations Children's Fund otherwise known as UNICEF. Created by the United Nations General Assembly in 1946 to provide emergency food and healthcare to children in countries that had been devastated by World War II, UNICEF has grown into a permanent part of the United Nations system, providing long-term humanitarian and developmental assistance to children and mothers in developing countries.

The UNICEF website highlights the following focus areas:

• Child survival and development
• Basic education and gender equality
• HIV/AIDS and children
• Child protection
• Policy advocacy and partnerships

And the following reasons for doing what they do:

• Because children have rights
• Because the world has set goals for children
• Because children demand a voice
• Because poverty reduction starts with children
• Because the people of the world say 'Yes' for children
• Because children should not be dying from preventable causes

As one of the primary responders to the tragedy in Haiti and as one of the leading development organizations in the world today, I encourage you to find out more and to support them as best you can. Support UNICEF.

Coaching Inquiries: How might you be able to extend more care and support to children around the world? What kinds of initiatives intrigue or attract you most? Who do you identify as champion of children? How can you reach out today and let them know you care?

We invite you Contact Us using our Feedback Form if you are interested in learning more about LifeTrek Coaching or participating in our Evocative Coach Training Program.

Respect Quotes

• "The first duty of love is to listen." Paul Tillich
• "I'm not concerned with your liking or disliking me... All I ask is that you respect me as a human being." Jackie Robinson
• "Never take a person's dignity: it is worth everything to them, and nothing to you." Frank Barron
• "People are respectable only as they respect" Ralph Waldo Emerson
• "Self-respect is the fruit of discipline; the sense of dignity grows with the ability to say no to oneself." Abraham J. Heschel
• "I have found the best way to give advice to your children is to find out what they want and then advise them to do it." Harry S Truman
• "If we lose love and self respect for each other, this is how we finally die." Maya Angelou

Coaching Inquiries: What increases your self-respect? How well do you listen? When was the last time that you said no to yourself? How can you connect more fully and respectfully with your children? With your parents? What might you do to make love grow?

If you would like to learn more about our Coaching Programs and to arrange for a complementary coaching session, Click Here.

Be Respectful

What does it mean to be respectful? What does it mean to listen to someone? Does it mean to take their advice and do whatever they say? Or does it mean to consider their opinion, to strive to meet their needs, to engage in civil discourse, to be honest and humble, and to find as many areas of agreement as possible? Of those two options, I prefer the latter understanding. Respect is not just about showing deference, although at times it's smart to be deferential. Most of the time, however, we can and should speak our mind freely as long as we do so respectfully. Can that happen, especially in the face of strong disagreements? I strive to make that case in today's Provision. Read Entire Article...

Coaching Inquiries: What's your commitment when it comes to respect? Would you say you model respect in all your dealings? How can you cultivate that posture as a strong and present value? What needs would it meet for you to do so? How can you carry yourself forward in that direction? Who would be willing to go with you on the trek?

To talk with us about coaching or consulting services for yourself or your organization, Contact Us.

Global Weirding

It was Thomas Friedman, in his book Hot, Flat, and Crowded, who introduced me to the notion of Global Wierding. He credits Hunter Lovins of the Rocky Mountain Institute as inventing the term. We are not going to see gradual warming. We are going to see weird weather, and often dangerous weather, popping up all over the place.

"The rise in global average temperature (global warming)," writes Friedman, "is actually going to trigger all sorts of unusual weather events – from hotter heat spells and droughts in some places to heavier snows in others, to more violent storms, more intense flooding, downpours, forest fires, and species loss in still others. The weather," in other words, "is going to get weird. It already has."

Interesting story in today's Washington Post on how this is playing out this winter in the Northern Hemisphere. Opinion polls show waning support in the USA for the notion of global warming as being related to human population growth and activities. So, like deficit spending, we push the problem downstream, take our chances, and risk the consequences.

Property Rights

Laser Provision: Most people know of the most famous sentence in the United States Declaration of Independence, namely that people "are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness." Most people do not know, however, that earlier documents and drafts asserted the Rights to "Life, Liberty, and Property." It was taken as self-evident that people had the right to own things and to protect as well as to add value to what they owned. "Do not steal," the eighth commandment of Moses, reflects that understanding. But property rights are a complicated guideline for living, and I invite you to read further to explore them more fully. Read Full Provision Here...

Coaching Inquiries: How do you understand your right to the property you own? How can you best use your property and resources to preserve and protect the rights of others? What fears do you have when you think of sharing your property with others? How can you reach beyond your fears to see the needs? Who embodies for you a happy and healthy relationship to money? How can you become more like them?

To talk with us about coaching or consulting services for yourself or your organization, use our Contact for Coaching Form to arrange for a complimentary conversation.

Development Dollars

In the Harvard Business Review Conversation Blog, Thomas Ogden writes a compelling essay urging companies and individuals to hold back some of their giving for Haiti until after the dust settles on disaster relief. The problem, he argues, is an unfortunate and discernable pattern when things like this happen:

1. Donations spike in the immediate aftermath.
2. A huge portion of the funds donated are spent on setting up disaster-relief operations that are no longer the primary need.
3. A flood of cash and materials cause a logistics nightmare leading to waste and ineffectiveness, if not corruption.
4. Six months later, reconstruction stalls because the world's attention has moved elsewhere.
5. And, finally, a series of reports bemoan the fact that too many funds are devoted to disaster relief and not enough to disaster preparedness and reconstruction.

The solution, Ogden argues, is not to suspend relief efforts. That would be heartbreaking and cruel. The solution is to give regularly to thoroughly vetted organizations, such as Partners In Health, so they can respond to emergencies when and where they happen and so they can better facilitate economic and human development during ordinary times. One-time, flash-in-the-pan giving, in response to the disaster of the moment, does not bring long-term relief and invites as many problems as it solves. Ongoing and generous support is the only way to make a real difference in good times and bad.

When companies and individuals adopt such practices, Haitians and other, future disaster victims will benefit most in rebuilding their lives and livelihoods. "One way to do this," Ogden concludes, "that engages employees and customers, is to match the dollars they contribute for immediate relief with a corporate gift for reconstruction, to be given in six or eight months. By that time it will be clear which areas of the rebuilding effort are underfunded. You'll also have time to thoroughly vet agencies, projects, and so forth, to ensure that your donations will do the most good."

The bottom line is that property rights impose social responsibilities. The haves must be smart in assisting the have-nots or we will be constantly struggling to pull drowning people out of the river. It's important that we do that, but it's even more important that we attend to the structures to keep people from falling into the river in the first place.

Coaching Inquiries: What is your pattern of giving? How often do you take the long-term view when it comes to economic and human development? How can you be smarter and more generous about sharing your resources with others? Who could you challenge to be more financially responsible and engaged?

If you would like to learn more about our Coaching Programs and to arrange for a complementary coaching session, Click Here or Email Us.

Be Honest

Laser Provision:  It's not always easy to be honest. Sometimes it seems impolite. Why not tell a little lie, or avoid telling the whole truth, to protect someone's feelings? Other times it seems much more costly in terms of our reputation, finances, or influence. Why not tell a big lie, or make up a whole new story, to protect our own interests and / or the interests of others? Then we have those who are paid to lie in the name of "intelligence" or "national security." Honesty is a coveted yet complicated value and today's Provision hopes to sort out some of the nuances. Let me know your thoughts after you read through to the end. Read the Full Provision Here...

Coaching Inquiries: What standards do you hold yourself to when it comes to honesty? How strict are you when it comes to never telling a lie? How would you like to enhance your relationship with the truth? Who could become your "honesty buddy" in life and work?

If you would like to learn more about our Coaching Programs and to arrange for a complementary coaching session, Click Here or Email Us.

Outsmart Your Brain

This past week I spent a day with Marcia Reynolds, a Master Certified Coach, past president of the International Coach Federation, and a Certified Speaking Professional from the National Speaking Association. The focus of her workshop was on the Anatomy of a Keynote speech, but she is best known for her book, Outsmart Your Brain, which applies cognitive neuroscience to leadership. Here is a recent issue of her Brain Tips Newsletter based upon a film that I, too, appreciated and enjoyed thoroughly:

"There are many wonderful lessons on leadership in Clint Eastwood's new film Invictus, a movie based on how Nelson Mandela changed the conversation in South Africa from divisiveness to solidarity. Whether you are an executive, a manager, a coach, a speaker or a writer, you are seeking a following. Here are some tips to help you build your community.

Mandela demonstrated the power of engaging people who see the world differently than you do. It’s easy to get like-minded people to follow you. Yet, as Peter Block says, “Like-mindedness is the enemy of the future.” Your strength as a leader is to engage everyone and to unify diverse, creative thought toward a common mission. Here are a few tips gleaned from Mandela’s wisdom:

Leadership Tip #1: Help people know they can accomplish more than they thought they could. Stand for what is possible not just in your organization, but for each individual including low performers. Your belief in them will often change their minds.

Leadership Tip #2: Truly see people. Know what their joys in life are. Know what they hope for. Know what they think stands in their way. One of the bodyguards in the movie said that he felt he was invisible to the president before Mandela. Yet Mandela knew he loved toffee and often brought it to him after a trip. Feeling visible inspired his dedication and achievement.

Leadership Tip #3: When people come to you for advice, don’t give it to them right away. Discern what they know and fear first, and then discover the answers together. Being “the one who knows” stunts their growth. In Gary Cohen's new book, Just Ask Leadership: Why Great Managers Always Ask the Right Questions, he shows how CEOs, managers, and supervisors can ask the right questions in the right contexts. This empowers coworkers, opening the door to greater productivity and creativity. Gary draws on his own experience as a successful CEO and from his interviews with 100 leaders across the country.

Leadership Tip #4: Forgive. What truly inspired the captain of the rugby team to align with Mandela and lead his team to the World Cup was Mandela’s ability to forgive those who imprisoned him for 27 years. Mandela changed the conversation from Us vs. Them by refusing to fall victim to negative emotions. He didn’t want to live in the story of the past. He sought to create a new story for South Africa based on creating the future. This required hope, not revenge.

The poem, Invictus, written by William Ernest Henley in 1875, kept Mandela’s resolve during his dark years in prison. The last two lines read, "I am the master of my destiny. I am the captain of my soul."

As a leader, you are an example whether you are consciously choosing your behavior or not. Don’t let past transgressions and current fears dictate your behavior. Be clear about your mission, and then see the gifts each person brings to the table. People will follow you based on how you acknowledge and treat them. No matter how brilliant you are, you must show that you care about them to engage their commitment to you and your cause. You can do this if you remain the master of your brain, commandeering your emotions and your actions in the service of your vision."

Want to read more? I encourage to visit Marcia's website, OutsmartYourBrain.com, and sign up for her newsletter.

Coaching Inquiries: How do you respond to challenges in life and work? When life throws you a problem, do you see a possibility? How do you explore those possibilities to generate creative, new alternatives. Who is your mentor when it comes to leadership? How can you be more of a leader from whatever positions you hold?

If you would like to learn more about our Coaching Programs and to arrange for a complementary coaching session, Click Here or Email Us.

Seeing You

This poem was written after seeing the movie Avatar. It speaks to the value of connection and deep appreciation for all of life. I hope you enjoy reading it as much I enjoyed writing it.

Seeing You

by Bob Tschannen-Moran © 2010

When I see you

And you see me

We all see better

Together

When I understand your feelings

And you understand mine

We all understand each other

Better

Together

When I recognize your needs

And you recognize mine

We all recognize the source of life

Vitally

Better

Together

When I hear what you want

And you hear what I want

We all hear how to make life

More Wonderful

Vitally

Better

Together

Coaching Inquiries: Who sees you? Who do you see? How can your connection and mutuality be enhanced? What would make your life more wonderful? How could you make life more wonderful? Vitally. Better. Together.

If you find this poem intriguing, use the Contact Form or Email Bob with your response. We'd love to hear from you and to offer you a complimentary telephone coaching session. Enjoy!

The Future of Coaching

At the beginning of December I attended the annual international conference of the International Coach Federation (ICF). It was a marvelous event with inspirational keynotes and workshops. Peter Block was right on target with what he had to say about leadership while Getrude Matshe, a native of Zimbabwe who now lives in New Zealand, lived up to her billing as "a vibrant bundle of African energy whose zest and passion for life inspires everyone she meets." You can learn more about her work and life story by going to http://www.bornonthecontinent.com/.

While at the ICF Conference I had the opportunity to meet many people and speak about the future of coaching from the vantage point of the coaching association that I will serve as President of starting in January: the International Association of Coaching (IAC). In some respects, the IAC is similar to the ICF in that we are both concerned about the integrity and viability of the coaching profession. We want people who call themselves "coaches" to abide by high ethical standards and to practice coaching at the highest levels of coaching mastery. That is why both organizations seek to recognize, celebrate, and certify coaching excellence.

In other respects, however, the two organizations are different. The IAC has a more open understanding and architecture when it comes to coach training and life experience. We recognize that people come to coaching mastery through many paths, so we do not require a particular path of development for those seeking IAC certification. Instead, we simply require an agreement as to ethical standards, an online evaluation of knowledge and awareness as to coaching proficiencies and standards, and a demonstration of coaching mastery through the submission of recorded coaching sessions. We find the process works well, encouraging diversity, innovation, and professionalism in coaching.

For the first time, in my experience, the ICF Conference was being covered by a dedicated reporter, Mark Joyella, who published "breaking news" style reports on http://www.coachingcommons.org/ (a clearing house for all things having to do with coaching and coaching research). Although the tone of Mark's report regarding the IAC and our presence at the Conference was a bit surprising -- who knew that cooperation could be so scandalous -- I appreciated the opportunity to get the word out as to what the IAC stands for and is working on in the year ahead.

To read the story and to watch a short, 3-minute video featuring yours truly, visit the http://coachingcommons.org/featured/the-iac-at-the-icf-conference-more-collaboration-is-key-for-coaching. To learn more about the IAC, to subscribe to our monthly newsletter, the IAC VOICE, and / or to join the Association, visit the IAC online at http://www.certifiedcoach.org./

Coaching Inquiries: What does coaching mean to you? How do you see coaching contributing to your own personal growth and development? What contribution does coaching make in our world today? What's keeping you from finding a coach right now?

If you would like to learn more about our Coaching Programs and to arrange for a complementary coaching session, Click Here or Email Us.

Charter of Compassion TED Talk

This past summer I had the opportunity to hear and visit with Karen Armstrong at the Chautauqua Institution. Karen, for those who don't know, was once a Roman Catholic nun. It was a hard and difficult road, but she eventually left that calling to join the secular world and follow a different path in 1969. Since that time, however, she has distinguished herself as one of the world's foremost authorities on world religions. Her many books include:

• The Case for God
• The Great Transformation: The Beginning of our Religious Traditions
• A History of God: The 4000-Year Quest of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam
• Buddha

One of Karen's recent passions has been the Charter for Compassion, and that was what she was talking about at Chautauqua. The Charter asserts that: "The principle of compassion lies at the heart of all religious, ethical and spiritual traditions, calling us always to treat all others as we wish to be treated ourselves. Compassion impels us to work tirelessly to alleviate the suffering of our fellow creatures, to dethrone ourselves from the centre of our world and put another there, and to honour the inviolable sanctity of every single human being, treating everybody, without exception, with absolute justice, equity and respect."

So it "calls upon all men and women ~ to restore compassion to the centre of morality and religion ~ to return to the ancient principle that any interpretation of scripture that breeds violence, hatred or disdain is illegitimate ~ to ensure that youth are given accurate and respectful information about other traditions, religions and cultures ~ to encourage a positive appreciation of cultural and religious diversity ~ to cultivate an informed empathy with the suffering of all human beings -- even those regarded as enemies."

In other words, the Charter calls upon to live by the Golden Rule. Her talk at Chautauqua was similar to a TED Talk she gave in Oxford, England in July 2009 titled "Let's Revive the Golden Rule." It's only 19 minutes long and I encourage you to give it a listen.

Coaching Inquiries: What does your religion, tradition, or culture have to say about the Golden Rule? How do you incorporate that into your own life? Who do you associate with that could support you on the journey? How could the Golden Rule -- the Empathy Rule -- become more a part of our world today?

If you would like to learn more about our Coaching Programs and to arrange for a complementary coaching session, Click Here or Email Us.

The Dangers of Positive Thinking

In a recent discussion about the dangers of positive thinking in an Appreciative Inquiry listserve, I enjoyed the following comment from Jerry Kaiser of http://www.caringmatters.com/. It's a nice complement to last week's Provision on The Help of Hope. Enjoy and let me know what you think.

Sure positive thinking is dangerous...if you think you can fly off a building. But that's delusional.

Hope is positive thinking, and there would be no success without hope: no invention, no motivational energy to meet a challenge. Hope is what helped Viktor Frankl live through the concentration camps; why dying grandparents miraculously hang on to see their grandchild married; and, according to Suzanne Kobasa's research, why some managers thrive in difficult circumstances, while those who don't have it wither.

The absence of hope is despair, which is why, post WW II, the Soviet bloc countries had the highest suicide rates...and Hope is what made my grandparents leave their homeland with nothing to journey thousands of miles in a cramped ship to a place they'd never seen that spoke a different language...and where they knew that "their kind" were still discriminated against.

If that's the "danger" of positive thinking, let me have more!

Coaching Inquiries: What has been your experience with positive thinking? How intentional are you about practicing it? How has it helped or hurt your quality of life? How can you enhance your experience of positive thinking so that it serves you even more fully?

If you would like to learn more about our Coaching Programs and to arrange for a complementary coaching session, Click Here or Email Us.

The Fun Theory

I love the theory: make it fun to be good. That's what TheFunTheory.com is all about. here's their blurb:

"This site is dedicated to the thought that something as simple as fun is the easiest way to change people’s behavior for the better. Be it for yourself, for the environment, or for something entirely different, the only thing that matters is that it’s change for the better."

Want to see how it works? Watch this video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lXh2n0aPyw

Now, think for yourself as to how you can make it fun to do better. That is another aspect of the help of hope.

Coaching Inquiries: How do you experience life and work? How can you make them more fun? How can that fun contribute to making the planet a better place to be? How can you become part of the movement? Who would you like to have fun with in this way?

If you would like to learn more about our Coaching Programs and to arrange for a complementary coaching session, Click Here or Email Us.

Evocative Coaching Unveiled

Now that we have gotten the final draft of our book off to our publisher, we've started to focus on supporting materials and training opportunities. The book, Evocative Coaching: Transforming Schools Once Conversation At A Time, will be in bookstores next June. The focus of the book is how teachers, coaches, and school leaders can have enjoyable conversations that evoke motivation and performance-enhancing movement.


What school couldn't use that! This seems like a book whose time has come, especially given the way it brings together my background in coaching with my wife's background in educational leadership. It's a perfect marriage, in more ways than one.

Although the book will be a while in coming, we have unveiled our companion website, http://www.evocativecoaching.com/, in advance of our trip to and presentation at the upcoming School Administrators' Conference in the Philippines. We encourage you to visit the site, since it will give you a sense of our orientation and approach. You will also read, in the training section, about a unique opportunity to participate in a pilot training program, starting next April, based upon the book.

If you are a teacher, coach, school leader, or otherwise tasked with the responsibility to improve the performance of schools, then this training program may be just what you've been looking for. The opportunity to take the training program at a cost of US $100 reflects that we are field testing the program and will not come again. Since it is all conducted by telephone and over the Internet, just about anyone will be able to participate. I encourage you to take a look and to sign up if you are both interested and involved with school improvement.

Coaching Inquiries: What has been your relationship to school improvement? How could you strengthen your capacities? What interest might you have in learning the Evocative Coaching process? Who could you tell about the program and how could you share the training together?

If you would like to learn more about our Coaching Programs and to arrange for a complementary coaching session, Click Here or Email Us.

Vitamin D3

Dr. Andrew Weil recently updated his recommendation as to how much supplementary Vitamin D₃ an adult should be taking on a daily basis to 2,000 International Units. Dr. Mercola (not a medical doctor) thinks that should be even higher. Probably 5,000 IUs. He notes that a day of summer sun can generate about 20,000 units of Vitamin D, and that that is probably what our bodies are evolutionarily suited for.

The current U.S. RDA of 400 IUs is grossly inadequate for anything other than preventing rickets. Yet Vitamin D has a documented role in preventing many chronic diseases, such as cancer and heart disease, as well as infections. To be protected from those maladies, we need more Vitamin D coursing through our veins.

The only way to know for sure how much supplementary Vitamin D₃ one should take is to have a blood test. That combines what you are taking as a supplement with what your body is able to produce naturally from the sun. The farther away from the equator you live, the more Vitamin D₃ you will need.

My wife and I have been taking 2,000 IUs of Vitamin D3 for many years. She recently had her blood levels checked and the doctor was pleasantly surprised to find her in the acceptable range (32-56 ng/ml). "No one ever tests out in the acceptable range!" he exclaimed. Guess it helps to read health literature and to act upon science-based recommendations. I encourage you to do the same.

Coaching Inquiries: How much supplementary Vitamin D₃ do you take on a daily basis? Where could you go to get your blood checked? What would stop you from taking at least 2,000 IUs of Vitamin D₃ right now, with or without the blood test? I encourage you to make the change.

If you would like to learn more about our Coaching Programs and to arrange for a complementary coaching session, Click Here or Email Us.

Autonomy and Life

A friend and reader of Provisions alerted me this past week to the website and blog of Arnold Siegel: http://autonomyandlife.com/. It sure goes along with today's Provision on deepening your focus. Listen to how Siegel describes the Autonomy and Life process:

Autonomy and Life is a new discipline that imaginatively captures history’s evolving design of the self to enable each student to create and work toward goals tailored to individual temperament, talent, sensibilities and circumstances. Autonomy and Life offers a new technology for change -- rooted in pragmatic reasoning, insight and practical wisdom.

Autonomy and Life offers a new 21st century perspective on the best understandings of nature, history, language and culture that serve as a means for sovereign authority over our lives, and for a fuller and more fulfilling experience of our humanity.

Autonomy and Life provides an artful new vocabulary that distinguishes that which was undifferentiated and rediscovers that which has lost meaning — to re-enchant the world, to re-establish our affinity with others, and to re-awaken our hopes for tomorrow.

Autonomy and Life provides the new freedom to distance ourselves from the confines of our own unquestioned assumptions and to interrogate the typically unexamined and unevaluated cultural constraints to which we are born.

Sound interesting? You might want to check out the site for yourself. Here's the link to his blog: http://autonomyandlife.com/#/blog.

Coaching Inquiries: What are your unquestioned assumptions? How could you enhance your experience of autonomy and life? What would your life look like if your were crafting it according to your own vision: your destiny, cause, and calling? Who could share the journey with you to a "fuller and more fulfilling experience of our humanity"?

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Lucid Dreaming

I read an interesting story in the New York Times concerning the upcoming publication of a heretofore unpublished work of Carl Jung, founder of analytical psychology. The Red Book, as it is called, represents his dream journal and dream experiments, kept on and off for about 16 years. He never published it because he thought it would subject him to ridicule. Yet, "All my works, all my creative activity," he would recall later, "has come from those initial fantasies and dreams."

Dream are like that. They can embarrass us even as they lead us to greatness. To encourage your own dream work, I thought I would pass along these "7 Steps to Start Lucid Dreaming". Lucid dreaming is consciously being aware within your dream. When you are dreaming and you become conscious that you are dreaming you can start to influence your dreams and the direction they go in. Enjoy these tips and use them well!

1. Remember your ordinary dreams.
A lot of people say ‘I don’t dream’, everybody dreams, whilst you may not remember them you still dream. To start remembering your dreams try this simple technique. Each night before drifting off to sleep repeat the phrase ‘I will remember my dreams as soon as I wake up’. Say this phrase over and over until you fall asleep, after a few days you will start to remember your ordinary dreams.

2. Keep a dream journal
This can be tedious but it’s well worth the effort. Even writing a few short sentences about your dream is enough. This will get you into the habit of remembering your ordinary dreams and to start looking for dream signs within your dreams. It can also be a tool to analyze your thought processes.

3. Pick out dream signs
A lot of your ordinary dreams will have objects or people in them that could act as a cue to you waking up in your dreams. For example if you regularly talk to ‘Elvis’ in your ordinary dreams this is an obvious dream sign and can be used to ask yourself if you are dreaming because you know Elvis is dead.

4. Notice your waking world
To be conscious in your dream world means you have to be conscious in your waking world. That might sound crazy, as you are conscious when you are awake. But we must be "consciously focused" when we are awake. For example, we are consciously focused when learning a new task, we are thinking about every action we are taking to get the right steps. When we have learned the new task we no longer have to focus as intently as we did when learning it. Being consciously focused means looking around and saying what we see, feel, hear, smell and touch and voicing it. This has the added benefit of being in the moment and can guide us to inner calmness, it’s almost Zen like. If we start to consciously focus on the world around us, we will carry this over into the dream world.

5. Ask yourself; "Am I dreaming?"
Ask yourself just now "Am I dreaming?". Your obvious answer is to say no, of course you are not dreaming. How do you know? Don’t just say; "Because I know". Try and think about why you know that you are not dreaming. For example you could say, "If I was dreaming I would be able to fly". When you are dreaming you cannot read text for longer than a few seconds, so try reading text to prove to yourself you are not dreaming. This again will carry over into your dreaming world and you will start asking the same questions in your dreams which can turn into a lucid dream.

6. Your first lucid dream
Many people have their first lucid dream simply by reading about it. You might find that you become over-excited and lose the lucid dream. Often, however, your first lucid dream will be remembered for years to come.

7. Staying lucid
To stay within a dream, calm yourself down with self talk and dream spinning. If you find that you are losing your lucidity you can talk to yourself to calm yourself down and just start noticing the things around you in your dream. Dream spinning is when you feel you are losing control of your dream and you mentally spin like a tornado to stay within your dream. This is focusing the mind on staying lucid.

Coaching Inquiries: How would you describe your dream life? Do you write them down? Do you seek to enhance their influence through lucid dreaming? How could your dreams become more interesting and available as a resource for happiness? Who could you talk with about your dreams? Why not start tonight?

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Broaden Your Focus

Sometimes it's hard, in the thick of the fray, to maintain a positive focus. On those occasions, it may be time to step back and look the situation over from a distance. Viewed from the right vantage point, opportunities become visible in ways that might otherwise be unimaginable. So do yourself a favor and unplug from the daily grind. Step back to the 10,000 foot level. Appreciate your strategic advantages. Then, once your mood has improved, reengage with the zest that comes from a positive outlook. Today's Provision shows you how.

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Fueling Positivity & Creativity

I was very moved this past week by a story in the Washington Post titled "Running For My Life" by Daniele Seiss. It details her lifelong struggles with depression as well as her experience with running as the most effective and health-promoting anti-depressant of all. Although I have never struggled with depression, her story spoke to my own experience regarding the many benefits of running. I especially appreciated these paragraphs:

"I had once been warned that the type and severity of my depression made it very likely I'd relapse after going off medication, that it was just a matter of time. So I had somewhat expected the crash. But going back on medication didn't help. And finally I recognized what I should have seen all along, that running had saved me, and so I hit the streets again. At first it was three to five miles at a time, three days a week. My mood improved quickly. But it wasn't until I started running long distances -- 30, then up to 50 miles a week, regularly -- that I began to really experience its full benefits for health and happiness.

Now, if I am feeling down, I go for a run. I usually start feeling better almost as I head out the door -- in part, I believe, because I am taking charge and doing something. But by mile four, I can actually feel my thinking beginning to change, from negative to positive, as if four miles, or about 30 minutes, is some kind of threshold. On longer runs, by about mile 13 or 14, I start to feel a mild euphoria. If I run faster, I'll notice it earlier. If I'm doing an easier, slower run, it takes a bit longer.

On really long runs, of 18 to 20 miles or more, the nature of my thoughts go beyond just positive to creative. I start having brainstorms, one after the other, and I begin to feel "one with things," for lack of a better way to describe it. It's like deep meditation in which your personal boundaries open up and you no longer notice where you end and everything else begins.

I have figured out that if I run at least four miles, I feel relaxed, positive and clearheaded, feelings that can last from hours to days. And if I do so consistently, I won't fall into a really dark state."

Now you know the answer to that frequently asked question, "Where do all those Provisions come from?" Running! I often go from positive to creative, with incredible bursts of brainstorming on a wide variety of topics, on my longer runs. And it's not just running. Any extended endurance activity will do much the same. So if you want to benefit your brain, it's time to go for a run.

Coaching Inquiries: What stimulates positivity and creativity in your life? How could you get more of those things? What place does endurance activities play in your life? How might you incorporate some? Who might be interested in doing them with you?

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Careful With NSAIDs

Today I was on a relay team, running the half-marathon leg of the Patriots Half Triathlon. One person swam 1.2 miles in the brackish water of the James River. Then, a second person rode his bike for 56 miles through woods, farmlands, and lakes on mostly flat terrain. Finally, I ran a half marathon -- 13.1 miles -- on a course that was delightfully shaded. Given that I was running at noon, on a hot and sunny day, I was very appreciative of the shade.

My time was an acceptable one hour, fifty minutes. I went in thinking it might be possible to average 8:45 a mile or better. I ended up averaging 8:27 a mile. That's better! It's time for me to think seriously about qualifying for the Boston marathon again (I've done that twice in the past 10 years, each time as I entered a new age bracket). 2010 would be the next time for me to do that. We'll see.

One thing is clear, however: I will not be using ibuprofen or other Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory painkillers (or NSAIDs) prophylactically. In other words, I will not be taking ibuprofen before, during, or after races to ward off pain or to prevent pain from developing. I never have taken many NSAIDs period, and now I have new reason to avoid them: a report in the New York Times makes clear the health hazards of such practices. To quote the article:

"Those runners who'd popped over-the-counter ibuprofen pills before and during the race displayed significantly more inflammation and other markers of high immune system response afterward than the runners who hadn’t taken anti-inflammatories. The ibuprofen users also showed signs of mild kidney impairment and, both before and after the race, of low-level endotoxemia, a condition in which bacteria leak from the colon into the bloodstream."

Yikes! The article concludes that NSAIDs are appropriate only when a person suffers inflammation and pain from acute injury. Some would even dispute that, at least as a first resort, preferring instead the age old recommendation of RICE: Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation. Whereas NSAIDs reduce pain, natural practices such as RICE give a body the relief it needs to heal.

Right now I am running injury free -- always a cause for celebration, appreciation, and gratitude. But if and when discomforts begin, I will not be trying to mask or run through the pain with ibuprofen in my system. The risks are just too great. I hope you will do the same.

Coaching Inquiries: What's your pattern when it comes to NSAIDs? What natural approaches do you try first? How can you be more attentive to and respectful of your body? How you can you push your body to the limit without going over the top? How can you find a rhythm of work and rest that will keep you going for life?

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