Remabulous

Keep shining in this economy: start saving for a Better World!

In my recent teleseminar(Click here to listen...), those who were on the call and I talked about the situation with the economy. My theme for the call was "Don't let the economy push you around."

I frequently hear the economy cited as the reason not to do something lately. As in, 'I would start that project, but the economy is such a mess..."

I have been delighted to see people who have been taking the road less traveled by on this issue. This weekend, I attended a benefit party and silent auction for the Mutineer Theatre Company. That's right, they are starting a theater company right now. And people showed up and bid on silent auction items -including a session from Remabulous-, watched live music, and had a great time.

We need these dreams to watch now. I have been hearing about this theater dream for over a year now and it was such a delight to watch it unfold and get the support it deserves. And there wasn't a word spoken about the economy during the party that I could hear. Other inspiring things I have heard about: people ready to jump into writing screenplays, novels, spending all day Saturday acting, and spending this past Sunday afternoon knitting with my awesome monthly group.

Now don't get me wrong, there are realistic measures that need to be taken now when times are tight, but in making those steps we can't lose sight of other things in life that really do matter. Here are my thoughts on how to strike that balance:

image: Caroline Donahue for Remabulous.

Want to write a non-fiction book? This class is for you!

Hello all... Many of us have books in us. I have worked with clients who have published in record time once they set their minds to it.

Jen Sincero, published author- who also wrote the awesomely titled "Straight Girl's Guide to Sleeping with Chicks" is teaching a class that takes you step by step through the non-fiction proposal, writing, and publication process.

I highly recommend this class as a way to achieve your book-writing goals for this year, if that is a goal you have.

Check out the course description below...

Your customer service MUST rock in this economy.

That pretty much sums up my entire sentiment in this post. But, I have a couple of anecdotes that will help convince you if you aren't already on board:

In the past week I have heard two stories of very bad customer service:

• A friend who was accused of stealing a gift card from the 99 cent store when a computer error did not register the amount she had put on it when she bought it for her mom. Instead of her mom getting to buy fun treats with the card, they were both treated to an unfair lecture on stealing. My friend is a lawyer for a non-profit. She wants to help the world. The 99 cent store got in the way.
• Another friend wanted to try the free week promotion at a gym. They dug through their computer and found that she had been a member of a different branch 5 YEARS PREVIOUSLY. They threatened her as well and tried to make her buy a day rather than enjoying a week of the gym on their promotion, which might have encouraged her to join again.

By contrast, I ordered a microphone adapter for my iPod touch from a little company called Touch Mic (http://touchmic.com/). When I had a question about the product, they responded quickly with great information. But their customer service turned out to be nothing short of a miracle...

It's thinking big that brings the joy.

This has been a big fat juicy week. We have a new president, officially, finally and for real.

We have a country that is turned upside down in many ways, but we are also looking at this change in a better way than we have been in years. No one is sticking her head in the sand to avoid looking at what is anymore. And this is what leads to greatness.

One of the things I did take away from the time I spent running the administration of an art gallery soon after I moved to LA is that band-aid solutions are no good. The owner encouraged me to look to the root of the situation, come up with a way to improve the entire foundation and then create new policy from that place.

Just as the country has to learn to do this, we too can move ahead to create new opportunity for growth and change in our own lives. In fact, the world right now needs us to do this.

Here's how I am moving ahead into the most joyful time I have ever seen in my life, even in the midst of chaos:

Image: DonnaGrayson. (She took it on Hollywood Blvd!)

How many of us have watched the "I have a dream" speech lately? It's time.

My gift to you this holiday: Do something great and beautiful today. It is a gift to all of us when we each live with bravery.

On disruption of routine and embracing failure.

I am facing a bit of a technology blip the next few days. My beautiful MacBook Pro, thankfully still under warranty for another two months, is in the shop. Apparently the horrible noises coming out of it when I tried to eject a CD-Rom were do to the optical drive being kaput.

So I am on my old iBook the next few days until the current computer is happy and running again normally. And I must say, aside from the slower speed of working, it is a nice little nostalgia trip.

I got this computer originally because I had started writing more seriously and wanted to have a laptop to work on wherever I happened to be. I was tired of being tied to the bog honking desktop PC. This was my first mac, and I am feeling a bit warm and fuzzy about it's still working so well.

Still, that wasn't the whole point of what I wanted to say today. Going back to older technology and having to reorganize bookmarks so I can work on this computer is a good way to shake up routine and look at what really matters. Sometimes the failure of the reliable is a good opportunity to re-evaluate and come out stronger at the other end.

I certainly hope that my being sick again will result in my figuring out a long-lasting solution that will prevent future bouts of sickness etirely.

Sometimes you have to hit the wall harder in order to get through the block. Which brings me to a great discussion of failure we had on the teleseminar call this past Tuesday evening...

image: "The Failure of Technology, Part B" by George L Smyth.

Call me! Free Remabulous teleseminar tonight!

As we start out the new year, I am very excited to have new offerings from Remabulous. One of them is a new teleseries that will be happening twice a month as a special coaching option to my clients. Each session, I will have a special guest to share his or her area of expertise and the power that their skills can give you in shaping your brand new life story.

I am offering this introductory call for free to the public. Don't miss your chance to hear about my new method for jump-starting you through blocks and challenges that may have kept you from making the moves forward you hoped for last year.

Do you look back over your life up to this point and feel like it's someone else's? How we each end up where we are is a series of choices and decisions, but sometimes it can feel like, even if we're successful at what we do, it wasn't us that chose to be where we are now.

This call will talk about the phenomenon of living someone else's life as well as ways to get yourself back on track with all the dreams you once planned to live.

It's never too late!

The call takes place at 6pm pacific time today/9pm eastern.

Call in number: (712) 432-0800
pin # to enter the call: 964248#

I hope to meet many of you all this evening. Make it your aventure of the week to call in and join us!

Back in the Saddle, again.

After a week of lying in bed unable to do much more than slurp vitamin water and popsicles, I am ready to be back at work.

It is a strange thing to have your body give out on you. Fevers up around 104 are debilitating and give everything a strange surreal quality. Sometimes, despite your focus and enthusiasm for working, the body just isn't having it.

This time last week I had a long list of to-dos and a huge amount of excitement for the next phase of business I was about to take on. My new virtual assistant had just started and was working away on our goals and I wanted to be doing the same, but every time I picked up a book, I couldn't read more than a sentence. Bummer.

We've all had these times when something yanks our focus away from the task at hand and trying to get back on track feels like riding a bucking bronco. So the thing to learn at those times is to surrender. I had no choice- health issues are good about that.

Sometimes the most efficient thing to do is to get off the bronco and let it rest a few days. Then, maybe, you'll stay on with ease when riding.

Give yourself a break. Life happens. it happened to me, and hard. But I'm back today and ready to go. You'll come back, too. Just trust your intentions and all will be well.

Happy Monday!

image: "Ladies race!" by photobydave.

OK. I spoke too soon- Milk and Button are required, too.

I'm writing a lot about film lately. Partly because I am so delighted that there are films worth watching again, and partly because it's been a heavy weekend. But also because I am so moved by stories of people who have fought so hard to live lives of dignity and meaning despite obstacles.

We call all learn from these stories.

I saw Milk tonight at the Arclight. I was probably the only splotchy and tear-stained woman in the restroom afterward. Everyone else, who may have seen other movies in their defense, was touching up their perfect makeup and hair. I was a little proud to be a mess. This movie tells a story that's worth being a mess about.

image: Harvey Milk speaks at Gay Freedom Day, 1978.

Suddenly, a thought provoking weekend.

As many of you now know from posts flying around on twitter and on facebook and on the LA times, the owner of Book Soup died yesterday of Pancreatic Cancer. Glenn Goldman was 58 years old.

Even though I have worked at the store for close to two years, I can't say I knew Glenn well. I wasn't a manager, so I was not one of those who participated in conversations about the store with him on a weekly basis. But I did see him regularly, and I have worked at the store as long as I have because I love the community that exists in it and around it.

The independent bookstore is becoming an endangered species these past few years. People often say without thinking when we are sold out of a book, "Oh- I'll just get it online," not thinking about the impact such a statement has on an independent bookseller.

Many other people have written far more informed things about Glenn than I could, but I can talk about the store that was his vision and is a dream that all of us who work there would like to see continue.

image: c/o latimes. Our sign out front of the store.