See, I told you communication was more important than you thought! This tool involved intrapersonal communication. That means communication with yourself, where, you probably have your most fascinating conversations! Here's how it works. Good questions lead to new perspectives. New perspectives result in higher levels of thinking. Higher-level thinking is what solves your problem!

The underlying assumption, is....every problem has a solution. The kicker to that is that the solution is totally different from what you thought it should be, or even what you wanted it to be. (Hint: the solution is usually simpler than what you thought!)

There's an example after the questions to show you how this process works. These 7 questions you can use to coach yourself to solve a sticky situation, move forward on a project, to drop some burden without guilt, to take better care of yourself or just to enjoy your life more. They are in sequential order and I suggest you answer one at a time.

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There's so much more to communication than speaking well, as important as that is!

When you first learn a foreign language, you usually learn one word in the other language to correspond with an English word. Gracias means thank you. But as you become more immersed in the language, you learn that there are multiple ways to translate certain ideas, and not any real translations for other concepts. It's tricky to translate to procrastinate into Spanish, because that concept is not as commonly used in Spanish-speaking cultures. Or you learn that the Spanish ahorita, can mean right now, or as soon as I can get to it, or at some point.

And then to really get the message, you see that messages have at least 2 meanings: a content meaning and a relational meaning. It's in the second layer of meaning -- the relationship builder (or not) -- where your interpretation has real potential to move you forward.

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Do you ever feel dread when you see you have 11 new messages on your phone? Do you wonder if people feel that before they hear your message? Do you still see your voice mail message as a chance for you to reach out and shine for those 30 seconds that someone is listening to your voice. Make it count!

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The ability to instantly connect with another person anywhere, at any time, transforms our expectations.

The price is we get really annoyed when someone doesn't pick up his phone. Or she doesn't answer our text on the same day.

It's remarkable that we can order almost anything on Amazon and have it in 2 days.

The price is we get (and give) gifts that fall short of expectations. Read more »

Happy January 2! It's a great day to (finally) be the person you aspire to be. Accomplished. Successful. Confident.

Don't wait until the end of the year to decide If you made it or not.

Who decides whether a person is accomplished, successful, confident? Read more »

Later today I have a needs-assessment phone appointment with a muckety-muck from Governor Nikki Haley's office. I'm hoping he doesn't ask me, "So, tell me about yourself." It's not my favorite question because there's so much to tell...and I know that what is being solicited is the way I answer, not actually what I say. Read more »

Edison said that genius was 99% perspiration and 1% inspiration. Definitely you won't get inspired if you're just sitting around waiting for inspiration. On the other hand, work work work doesn't lead to inspiration either. And without inspiration, there is no innovation. Just look at RIM (producer of the once champion mobile phone, Blackberry). Even Speedo is losing ground in the swim market to Nike and personally I find Nike swim suits last much longer than Speedos. So inspiration isn't a one-time gig; it must be an ongoing discipline for sustained success.

Last week-end Christina and I got to hear Ruben conduct the youth orchestra for the "Absolutely Andrew" tribute to Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical legacy. Not only was the music fabulous, I learned a bit more about Mr. Webber. For example, he got inspired to write "Evita" while on a family vacation in Buenos Aires. Learning the history of Maria Duarte (who was quite inspired herself,) he got so excited he cut his trip short, returned home and wrote the whole musical in a few days. Amazing things happen when committed people get inspired. But Webber wrote many more works than just Evita, and most of them took months of writing and rewriting.

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This is for my fun and fabulous friend, Carola Silva, who's celebrating a birthday today!

1. Go to bed early tonight.

2. As you lie in bed, think of all the great things going on in your life as it is currently constructed.

3. Set the intention to enjoy each day and see your life as a gift.

4. Before each meeting, think what would be the best possible outcome, and pretend that it's going to happen for sure. Read more »

Did you know that human beings mostly hate making decisions? That's why we so easily live in crisis mode, where our decisions are forced upon us, and generally live far below our potential. Often, "keep your options open, don't burn the boats and go along, get along" thought patterns are keeping you in the safe harbor, in case, God forbid, you make a mistake. Even though it's far easier to course correct  if you're in motion. Believe me, takes one to know one and for way too long I allowed other people to make decisions for me (i.e. I was a ditherer,) and then resented the way things turned out. I may be a slow learner, but I have learned to make decisions faster.

What's annoying is that it never stops. You're never there. Even when you massively succeed on a goal you've set, you've always got another decision to make! ;-)

What's great is this. A decision is not a tattoo. It is not engraved in marble. You can make always adjustments once you decide. You can make it work.

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"Many people think they want things, but they don't really have the strength, the discipline. They are weak. I believe that you get what you want if you want it badly enough." Sophia Loren

At my house we're all into getting Miranda off to college next week.  (Not sure how we got to this point because she was just born!!!)

Of course I hate that she's leaving us. It's a four-hour drive!

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