Project Creative Vision

Building Sisterhood Conference & Retreat

Next month I will be speaking at an event that I'm really excited about:  Building Sisterhood Conference & Retreat.  The event is hosted by Danette Boone, Founder and CEO of D. Boone & Associates.  I will be speaking on a subject that's become near and dear to my heart: how we can manage our energy - physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual - to take our lives to a whole new level. 

I'm thrilled to be collaborating with Danette, because she and I share a vision of educating, inspiring, and empowering people to live their best, most purposeful lives.  And I'm thrilled about speaking on this particular topic, because it combines my two passions:  holistic health and purposeful living.  

I had a chance to interview Danette recently and encourage you to listen to our conversation.  Danette herself has chosen to follow her passion into the life of entrepreneurship and women's empowerment, rather than following a more stable and predictable career path.  Her story fits perfectly with the theme of this blog.  You can listen to the interview here:

In the interview, Danette talks about how she came to start her company, why she believes it's so important to live on purpose, and how the most lasting change comes from within. 

So take a listen, and do spread the word about the event.  It promises to be truly exciting.  Here are the details:

Building Sisterhood Conference & Retreat

Feburary 20-21, 2009

Sheraton Columbia Town Center Hotel, Columbia MD

Theme:  "Beautiful Sister": Focusing on the Total Woman

My topic:  "Managing Your Energy to Turbo Charge Your Life"

From Television to Archaeological Cruises: A "Bold Moves" Interview

This interview is part of a "Bold Moves" interview series. If you are a client or have subscribed to our free bi-monthly Bold Moves e-zine, you have already received the link to the full audio and transcript of the interview. If you haven't, please click here to get access to the full interview. (Why do we ask you to subscribe?)

Career transitions are tough at any age.  For many of us, our first re-evaluation of the career we’ve chosen comes in our early 30s.  By then, the search and the uncertainties of our 20s are over, and we find ourselves, for the first time in our lives, in a position to step back, take stock of our accomplishments, and look ahead to where the path we are on might be leading us.

The decisions we make as a result of this first re-evaluation hinge on many factors.  For Peter Sommer, an award-winning filmmaker, whose documentaries have been broadcast on PBS, BBC, and CNN, the factors in favor of continuing with his career in television were many:  the achievements and promise of an exciting profession; the prestige and status associated with it; the financial security and ability to provide for his young family. 

The Change Is Here!... and an Interview Preview

Well, here it is, my new format, logo, and color palette.  It feels less formal, warmer and livelier.  Is it too bright?  Let me know what you think.  If I hear too many protests, the old look is just a button click away.

In other news, I've just done a fantastic interview for my Bold Moves e-zine with Peter Sommer, owner of Peter Sommer Travels.  A former TV documentary producer and director, whose work was broadcast on PBS, CNN, BBC, and Channel 4 (UK), Peter undertook a radical career change and now runs a fantastic travel company that offers exclusive, informative, fun, and completely and unbelievably beautiful archaeological cruises of Turkey aboard a gorgeous sailing boat.  Peter is a friend and former colleague, and I had the pleasure of being a part of his very first trip back in 2002.  It remains one of the most memorable experiences of my life.  In the interview, Peter and I talk about the challenges of leaving a well-established and well-paying career behind, the difficulties of transition, and combining head and heart when following your dream.

If you'd like to be the first to receive access to the audio and transcript of the interview, please leave me your name and email address using the form below.  Don't worry, this won't cause a flood of spam arriving in your inbox.  I hate spam myself, and I won't do it to you or anybody else.  (And what would I spam you about, anyway?)  I anticipate Bold Moves to be a bi-monthly publication, so that's about the frequency, with which you can anticipate hearing from me. And you'll always be given an easy option to unsubscribe.

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Tal Ben-Shahar Answers Questions on Happiness at Work, Right vs. Wrong Expectations, and Idealism as the Purest Form of Realism

My recent posts on happiness have turned out among the most popular on this blog. (See here and here.)  So I thought I'd drop Tal Ben-Shahar, author of Happier, a note and probe a little deeper into what makes for a happier work experience.  Tal was kind enough to answer my questions.

Question: You describe how Western society is deeply conditioned to think of work as a burden or punishment.  How can we overcome this conditioning and learn to view work, instead, as a potential source of happiness?

Tal Ben-Shahar: Often, all it takes to make that shift, is an awareness.  There is much research in psychology on the importance of focus and interpretation.  Two people can look at the same phenomenon, and interpret it in radically different ways—for instance, work as a chore or work as a privilege.  One of the exercises that I introduce in HAPPIER is rewriting your “job description” as a “job calling”.   This exercise can help us focus on the meaningful and pleasurable aspects of what we’re doing.