With the advent of Halloween we are bombarded with spooky images and haunted houses to remind us it’s that time of year to face our deepest fears. But the majority of things that frighten us aren’t outside ourselves. Like the creepiness that comes from being in a House of Mirrors, what usually freaks people out most is seeing themselves multiplied a hundred times!

When in your own personal house of horrors, no matter how many cobwebs and shadows you find, know that we all have darker aspects of our personality, and we’re never confronted with anything we can’t handle – so we should never be afraid. Whether your fears and ugly parts are real or imagined, the key is not to run away from them. The only thing to do is to shed light on the source of our anxieties and perceived inadequacies, get to their roots and make adjustments that will bring us closer to the most fulfilled and peaceful versions of ourselves we can be.

And like the end of a scary movie, it comes down to you and only you to fight for your life.  There is no magic formula or genie in a bottle to come along, no Calgon or knight in shining armor to take you away. Taking responsibility for your life centers you in who you are and what you want – fantasy and illusion, or simply ignoring things, move you farther away. It’s up to each of us to create our own happiness and what we want in our lives, and ask for help when we need it

So if you need to do a little exorcising of your inner ghouls and goblins, who ya gonna call?  Like Ghostbusters or those meddling kids in Scooby-Doo, I will expose and expel the real cause of your heebie-jeebies and things that go bump in the night so you can move forward and make the changes you need to be all of you are in the bright light of day!

For related thoughts on this topic, check out my posts: American Horror Story and Fear Factor

(Today’s PGG was originally posted on October 26, 2010)

I recently attended a workshop with Erica Jong, who implored us to write the story we absolutely had to tell or we would die. She also taught us to write something that unlocks who we are, encouraged us to be ourselves, to discover and write in our own voice.  But how do you know what your voice is if you never use it?

You don’t need to be an aspiring blogger, poet, or novelist to heed these wise words.  I always recommend that folks write as much as they can in order to get in touch with their inner selves – a journal is a place where you can be the most free in expressing you are and what you need to say.  When connected to that internal, emotional voice honestly and often enough you will begin to reveal who you are and what is important to you, whether in career, relationships or life in general. We write what we need to read.

It’s a place to clarify your feelings, share your ideas and experiences, release the past and make plans for the future, all without judgment. Your journal is your best friend. At the very least it is a to-do list, for items big and small. The act of writing something down makes it real and tangible and helps crystallize the hurricane of thoughts and emotions we often have swirling around inside of us.

After the process of putting it all on the page, it can make us more effective in communicating what it is we need or want from others or from ourselves, and actually make sense doing so! I also suggest using a pen and paper whenever possible- it’s more organic and raw when you take out the technological middle man. 

If you access your authentic voice in writing then, as Erica said, “being an author makes you an authority.”

You don’t have to be the next Maya Angelou, JD Salinger or Danielle Steele to be the author of your own life and truth. Have a little writer’s block or need a ghostwriter to help give you context or an outline of how to even begin? Give me a buzz and I’ll have you on your own personal best-seller list before you can say Pulitzer Prize!

(Today’s PGG was originally posted on August 31, 2010)

 PGG is now on Facebook!  Easily access, like, comment on and share your weekly dose of motivational and thought-provoking posts along with additional inspirational and fun tidbits.

Please take a moment today to:

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Whether it makes you think of Catholic school nuns, dog training or your struggle with diet and exercise – we are certainly witnessing some of the most disciplined minds and bodies as we watch the Winter Olympics*. Any form of excellence requires it, and these amazing athletes show what can happen when you are singularly focused on and dedicated to a particular goal.

For most of my life, I admit I had always associated the word with limitation: something negative, bad or oppressive.  Over the past several years I began to learn that instead, it is a positive attitude and approach that can actually be quite liberating. When used in the right way, discipline is an extreme act of self-love.

For example, realizing that I needed to stop working 24/7, and make time for activities that are fun, pleasurable and social is something I am now very conscious about.  I even include going to the gym in that category! It has become a discipline of mine that has made my life a lot less stressed and more enjoyable. As they say, ‘one man’s pleasure is another man’s pain’ – and I say what you may consider a pain for yourself, can often turn into a pleasure once you discipline yourself in that area and reap the benefits!

Discipline means that you care so deeply about yourself that you want to improve or create balance wherever you need it.  No matter what goals you are working towards, you are doing something about it every day to make yourself the best you can be.

But sometimes we can’t do it alone.  Like those Olympic athletes, who are able to stay on that razor-edge track with the help of their coaches, think of me as one of them, guiding and supporting you to a personal Gold Medal in whatever area of life you choose!

*(Today’s PGG was originally posted in February 2010)

While walking down the street after a bizarre week of odd ‘coincidences’ and uncanny timings, I happened to look up and notice the announcement board of a synagogue with this quote by feminist/activist/author Robin Morgan, “Only she who attempts the absurd can achieve the impossible.”

One definition of the word absurd is “inconsistent with reason or logic or common sense,” which means that any decisions or actions deemed as such perhaps come from a place that we can’t always understand, but know is from somewhere deep within us.

The presidents whose holiday we celebrated yesterday* had a bit of that going on…George Washington’s advisors seriously questioned his determination to cross the frozen Delaware, and he intuitively knew how to present himself as a leader for this new country; Abraham Lincoln’s life is filled with examples of how he went against conventional wisdom and popular opinion.  Both men defied the odds by listening to their own conscience, inner voice and moral compass, and because of that became the great men we honor today.

Part of maturing is learning how to trust your own gut despite any outside influences.  While it can be  helpful to get advice, when we are honest with ourselves, we are usually our own best counsel. Others might not know who we really are or may not have our best interests at heart. And I’m sure we can all remember times when we’ve dealt with the consequences of not heeding the wisdom of our gut.

My guess is that Adam Sandler trusts his intuition as to what is funny or not regardless of what the Hollywood suits might say, and from his start back in the SNL days, he expressed a unique kind of silly humor that had yet to be considered commercially viable.  Well, we all know how that turned out!

When I meet with clients, often I am simply validating and confirming what they already know themselves but were too embarrassed, in denial, doubtful or repressed about to pursue or even admit.  If when a complete stranger in less than two hours, without you specifically divulging it, tells you that the ‘crazy’ idea you have, that thing you always wanted to do, the life that you always dreamed of, is exactly the direction you should be going in based on the dots I’ve connected, just go with it – it’s the green light you’ve been waiting for to produce that smash box office hit starring none other than YOU!

*Today’s PGG was originally posted on February 22, 2011

PGG is now on Facebook!  Easily access, like, comment on and share your weekly dose of motivational and thought-provoking posts along with additional inspirational and fun tidbits.  CLICK HERE TO LIKE

PGG is now on Facebook!  Easily access, like, comment on and share your weekly dose of motivational and thought-provoking posts along with additional inspirational and fun tidbits.  CLICK HERE TO LIKE

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

There is a Yiddish saying a good friend used to quote to me often: Mentsch tracht, Gott lacht. Man plans, God laughs.

The renowned Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh more eloquently elaborates on this as: “People sacrifice the present for the future. But life is possible only in the present.”

Especially in this era of instant everything and a world of answers literally at our fingertips, one of the hardest things for us to do is live in that space where we don’t know what will happen next. With the unemployment rate at record highs, more and more people are learning the hard way how to experience life in this manner.

People in career transition, artists and freelancers have to operate without knowing where their next paycheck will be coming from.  People in new relationships are at often at sea in uncharted emotional waters.  Whenever we put ourselves in unfamiliar social territory or a take a trip to a place we’ve never been before we journey into the unknown – which is why it’s so important to travel, as it is one of the most natural ways to be in the present.

An easy way to add anxiety and stress in your life is to allow yourself to be overwhelmed with all the things you think you need to accomplish in the near or not so near future. The reality is that we can’t possibly know what tomorrow will bring so we might as well trust that the right decision or action today will lead you to where you need to go, even if you don’t know where you are ultimately going.

So when life is a big question mark, a blank slate, or if you find yourself in terra incognita, I can help you fill in the blanks and navigate your way through, or simply show you how to be where you are.  Give me a buzz and I will be the lighthouse in the fog, the compass in your pocket, to help guide you to your most authentic destination, in time and on time!

For related thoughts on this topic check out my post The Present of Presence. Learn more about working with me by clicking here – special offer extended until midnight tonite!

 (Today’s PGG was originally posted on September 14, 2010)