Read back issues:

Issue #3 – July, 2004

Issue #2 - June, 2004

Issue #1 - May, 2004

in this issue
-- Learning How To Fail
-- Start Today
-- The ABC's of a Wonderful Vacation
-- Mindfulness Based Sea Kayaking In Maine
-- Dear David,

Greetings!
Welcome to PERSPECTIVES, a monthly e-letter I am sending out to stay in touch with friends, colleagues, clients, and potential clients. PERSPECTIVES includes brief articles on Life and Leadership Coaching, as well as some thoughts to inspire and encourage you on your personal and professional journey.

Learning How To Fail
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One of the essential skills I work on with all my clients is the skill of failure. If you are serious about living a full, creative, and satisfying life, you must be willing to fail. When we are afraid of failing, we play it safe. We avoid risk and stay squarely stuck in the way things have always been.

A more adventurous and ultimately more satisfying way to live is to be willing to fail in the service of something important. As you are moving into new territory, practicing new skills, creating new patterns of living - you are doing what you do not yet know how to do and of course you will fail sometimes. So next time you fail, take it as a positive sign that you are moving into new places, reflect on what you have learned, make any adjustments necessary, and jump back into action!

Along the journey there will be both successes and failures. Celebrate both. The essential thing is to learn from whatever happens and to keep moving forward.

Start Today
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What is one thing you could begin doing today that would make the biggest difference in your life? Is it telling the truth to someone close to you? Is it taking time to do the daily practice that nurtures you? Is it making that phone call you have been putting off? Whatever it is, I challenge you to begin today.

As a coach, I help you remember and act on what is truly important to you. If you're ready for a change and want support, challenge, and accountability to make it really happen - pick up the phone and call me at 508-757-3303.

The ABC's of a Wonderful Vacation
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Vacation: a time of carefree relaxation and play. Or is it? What happens when our wonderful plans don't work out? When the visitors stay forever? When our family and friends are not cooperating with our personal agendas? Here are the ABC's of really enjoying this year's vacation - no matter what happens.

--Appreciate who you are with. We are always with someone - even if it's just ourselves. Each one of us is an extraordinary miracle - a gift of the universe. When we see ourselves and others through loving eyes, we are nourished by that gift.

--Be where you are. Actually, we have no choice, but when we consciously accept where we are, we can begin to find what we're looking for right here. This year, notice when you are wasting energy wishing things were different and get curious about exactly where you are at each moment.

--Celebrate the unexpected. It's great to have plans and visions. And it's just as important to be able to adjust and improvise and adventure when those plans encounter reality. The unexpected may just be the universe's way of getting your attention.

PS - to extend your vacation beyond the time allotted, try practicing these at home.

Mindfulness Based Sea Kayaking In Maine
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Join me this September for a three-day meditative kayak expedition in Muscongus Bay. This lovely area just south of Camden, Maine is filled with pristine island camp sites, wildlife, and colorful lobster buoys. Our focus will be appreciating the moment - enjoying the graceful glide of the boat through the water and the smell of fresh salt air as we navigate, cook, and camp together. We will alternate periods of mindful activity with kayak & navigation instruction, periods of silence, reflection, and just enjoying being outdoors.

--Dates: September 24, 25, & 26, 2004
--Cost: $250 - includes kayak and wet suit rental

Along with being a certified Life Coach, I am a Registered Maine Sea Kayak Guide and long time Zen teacher. I have led numerous outdoor trips as well as retreats and workshops on topics from improvisational dance to systems theory to meditation.

The trip will be limited to three participants and is open to anyone in good health who has some experience on the water. For more information contact me at 508-757-3303 .

Dear David,
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All this coaching stuff sounds great, but isn't it just another form of wishful thinking? We all know that what really matters is the bottom line. D. Watson

Dear D. Watson, I too am suspicious of talk without action. The proof of coaching is not about inspiring words, but about what changes people accomplish in their lives. There are many responses to the question 'what really matters?' --the bottom line, love, personal integrity, family, money, making a difference. My questions for you are: What is the bottom line for you? And how are your actions today moving you toward or away from that meaning? David

in this issue
-- Fundamental Practices
-- Cyber-Connection: www.RynickCoaching.com
-- Hope Is Not A Method
-- Three Minute Zen
-- Dear David,

Greetings!
Welcome to PERSPECTIVES, a monthly e-letter I am sending out to stay in touch with friends, colleagues, clients, and potential clients. PERSPECTIVES will include brief articles on Life and Leadership Coaching, as well as some thoughts to inspire and encourage you on your personal and professional journey.

Fundamental Practices
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All spiritual traditions have activities or 'practices' to help seekers on their chosen path. These repeated actions of the heart and of the body are designed to help the seeker remember what is truly important and to bring that energy into their life. Whatever path you are on, I encourage you to consciously develop at least one 'fundamental practice' to nourish and sustain you on your journey. Here is a five-step process to get you started creating your own fundamental practices:

Write down a list of the activities that reconnect you to what is most central to your life. Here are some ideas: exercising, eating well, meditating, playing music, listening to music, cooking, praying, singing in the shower, journaling, working in the garden, being outside, knitting, reading a good book. Knowing and naming what nourishes and restores us is essential.

Choose one of these practices to do every day for the next week.
Choose something that calls to you -- that entices you rather than something you think you 'should' do. Be specific about what, when, where, and for how long.

Do your fundamental practice for one week.

After one week, reflect on what you have learned. What was it like to commit to do something every day? What did you learn about yourself? How did doing (or not doing) this practice impact your life? What's the next step for you?

Make a new commitment for the next week. It could be to continue as is, to make modifications of your practice, or to start with something completely different.

Cyber-Connection: www.RynickCoaching.com
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I'm delighted to announce the launch of my new coaching web site. I've designed it to give people another entry point into the world of coaching. Here are some reasons you might enjoy a quick visit to my site:

To learn more about my approach to coaching

To use my five-minute 'you have the answers' self-coaching form

To find some inspiring summer reading on my 'books that change lives' page

To hear what other people have to say about coaching

Even as a cyber-newbee, I understand that on the internet nothing is ever complete. I see my web site as an evolving space I share with the people who visit. If you visit, would you please let me know what you think of my new site? You can link to my email directly from the site. Thanks in advance!

Hope Is Not A Method
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This time-tested birth control advice also applies to the rest of our lives. All of us want something more or different, but most of us spend far too much time complaining and hoping rather than accepting and acting. As a coach, one of my primary jobs is to help you remember and act on what you already know. I now have space for three new clients. If you've been thinking about making some real change in your life -- if you're ready to do more than hope that things get better -- call or email me. I'd be happy to talk to you about how coaching might help you get where you really want to go. To sign up for a FREE sample session

Three Minute Zen
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find a place you can sit without being disturbed

set a timer for three minutes

sit upright in a comfortable and dignified posture

let yourself become aware of the sensation of your breath

appreciate what it feels like to be alive

notice when your mind wanders off and come back to your breath

stop when the timer goes off and resume whatever you were doing repeat as desired

Dear David,
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One of my devoted newsletter readers suggested I begin a Q & A 'Dear Abby' type section. At first I thought I'd just make up the questions like the professionals do, but then I decided it would be more fun to solicit real questions. Whatever questions and situations you have, real or imagined, send them to me at drynick@aol.com using the link below. Each month I'll choose one and come up with a brilliant and perhaps helpful answer in two paragraphs of no more than four sentences each. (the new email writing etiquette)

in this issue
-- Changing Careers: It IS possible!
-- What is Life and Leadership Coaching?
-- Free Coaching Sample Session
-- If not us, then who? If not now, then when?
-- 'The One Thing You Must Do' -- Rumi

Greetings!

Welcome to the inaugural edition of PERSPECTIVES, a monthly newsletter I am sending out to stay in touch with friends, colleagues, clients, and potential clients. PERSPECTIVES will include brief articles on Life and Leadership Coaching, as well as some thoughts to inspire and encourage you on your personal and professional journey.

Changing Careers: It IS possible!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Most of you know that last fall I took the big step of leaving my position as Executive Director of Dynamy to strike out on my own as a full-time Life and Leadership Coach. From one perspective, leaving a great job and steady income just as my daughter entered her first year of college was a crazy thing to do. But from another perspective, it simply became clear to me that I was being called to leave the safety of the harbor and set out on the open sea to pursue this new adventure.

Through many successes and challenges I have been delighted with my new work and my new life. I am currently working with more than twenty individuals and several organizations, as well teaching coaching and leading workshops.

Here are three lessons I have learned that could help you make the change that you have been longing to make:

1. All significant changes begin with our beliefs and attitudes.
WHICH OF YOUR BELIEFS ARE HOLDING YOU BACK?

2. The possibility for real change comes from connecting to a deeper purpose or dream that has the power to inspire us.

WHAT ARE YOU TRULY PASSIONATE ABOUT?

3. You don't have to do it alone. Create a 'fan club' of people who will support you, challenge you, and cheer you on.

GETTING A COACH COULD BE A GREAT FIRST STEP!

What is Life and Leadership Coaching?
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Life and Leadership Coaching is an ongoing professional relationship that helps people develop clarity of purpose and focus on action. My work as coach is to support and challenge individuals to touch what is most alive for them and to use this to bring about real change in their lives.

I do almost all my coaching over the phone! While this is new to many people, it is personal, effective, and convenient. I generally 'meet' with clients for forty minutes three times a month. The agenda of the coaching is set by the individual; my job is to help you reach the YOUR goals.

Free Coaching Sample Session
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One of the best ways to find out what coaching is about is to do a sample session. It all takes place over the phone and takes about thirty minutes. You may do a session because you might want to have a coach - or you may just be curious what all the fuss is about. Either way, I'm happy to offer you a taste of this powerful (and fun) tool.

Call me at 508-757-3303 to schedule your FREE sample session!

If not us, then who? If not now, then when?
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This was the rallying call of the anti-war movement in the early 1970's calling us all to move into action to make a difference. I want to forward this challenge to you right now. We all have dreams of how we would like our lives to be. But most of the time, we are simply too busy to pay attention.

So here's my challenge to you. It comes in four parts:

1. Take ten minutes today to remember one of your dreams. It might be a big dream of something you wanted to do with your life. Or it might be the dream of eating lunch slowly enough to enjoy your food.

2. Brainstorm a list of ten different ways you could honor that dream. You could talk about it to a friend or journal about it. You could set aside some time to 'do' the dream. You could take a baby step toward that dream.

3. Do it! Make your action specific and plan when and how you are going to do it. THEN DO IT!

4. Notice what happens and what you learn.

'The One Thing You Must Do' -- Rumi
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"There is one thing in this world which you must never forget to do. If you forget everything else and not this, there's nothing to worry about, but if you remember everything else and forget this, then you will have done nothing in your life... [as] human beings [we] come to this world to do particular work."

Rumi, the great 13th century Sufi poet, reminds us that there is some greater purpose to our life. In our hearts we all remember, but we must take the time to listen to that 'still small voice' that calls to us. It may be just a vague feeling. It may be that we can only know what we are called to do as we walk step by step toward that which we do not know. Begin now.