Education Through Life

by Zahra Petri

Growing up in a world of organic food, spiritual thinking, and creating harmony and balance for yourself and those around you would seem out of the ordinary anywhere in Texas but Austin. I grew up not only surrounded by all those wonderful elements but also grew at a school for thirteen years that instilled the backbone of who I am today. It was not solely an education; it taught values, creativity, cooperation, and most importantly, how to thrive as a strong, dynamic individual.

It was called the Austin Waldorf School and was a branch of the Rudolf Steiner schools that began in Stuttgart, Germany in 1919. Rudolf Steiner was an Austrian philosopher and the founder of Anthroposophy, Waldorf education, biodynamic agriculture, anthroposophical medicine, and much more. He advocated a form of ethical individualism and strongly viewed anthroposophy as “a path of knowledge, to guide the spiritual in the human being to the spiritual in the universe” (Rudolf Steiner). It took me thirteen years of Steiner education to understand and develop the ability to appreciate its teachings and the meaning behind them. It was not until I finished college that I realized I missed the Waldorf education system. The curriculum incorporates every aspect of learning possible from music, art, history both ancient and recent, humanities, advanced levels of math, every type of science feasible and so much more. It offers not only a fully well rounded education, but it becomes a home where each child develops and grows with and from its peers and the entire community; because that is what it is, it is not just a school but a whole community where families interact in every step of the process. It is a place where teachers play an integral role in the development of that child and are not distracted by a whole class of children but are able to give each individual child the help and attention they thrive on.

This education, community and lifetime relationships that were built while I attended school will never be lost or forgotten. They are instilled deeply within me and have created a desire to never stop learning and furthering my goal of life balance. Without structure and guidance it is nearly impossible to get on the right track and push forward to achieve one’s highest goals. If you do not recognize imbalance and how it can be corrected, it creates an undesired path that is often difficult to find your way off. You have to ask for help, and accept change in order to move forward, increase your desired intentions and have success in achieving them.

Preparing for Change

by Angela Ware

All around us there are signs of individuals and industries adjusting to change. The housing market, auto and finance industries are all relevant and national examples. Our current president-elect campaigned under the axiom of change. We are being reminded that change is the normal flow of life. As proof, I offer the seasonal fact that at this moment autumn is giving way to winter.

Many of us have heard the adages “change is inevitable” and “change is good.” If these statements are true, why is it that so many of us find it difficult to change? Why after change has occurred do we often hear people say, “I didn’t see that coming?”

Well, it’s not that we didn’t see it coming; rather we were reluctant or unwilling to move from a place of knowing to a place of learning and/ or trying something new.

Like many in our current economy, I was laid-off once. Can you say, “Change?” Now, in as much as this situation forced me to change, it also revealed a long thought truth: Preparation is the number one resource needed during times of change.

If your situation of change is coping with the peeks and valleys of industry, being placed on a new project at work, a new position within your company or the newly elected leader of the free world, you can only speculate as to what the actual change will entail. You must allow yourself the freedom to prepare for the possibility of what’s to come. Therefore, I would like to offer the following four tips that have served me well in times of change.

· Prepare daily - read blogs, articles online or in magazines and/ or the newspaper on a daily basis in an effort to remain current with your industry or an industry that you are interested in transitioning to.

· Invite discussion – join a professional society or networking group in an effort to build relationships and enhance your understanding and communication skills regarding your profession.

· Continuously seek opportunities for training and certification – the more you are skilled at doing increases the amount of what you are capable of doing!

· Remain organized – keep your current and long-term goals in front of you and keep your information organized for effective access. When change falls your way being organized will allow you to keep your mind clear and focused.

Now, go out and embrace change!

Practicing for Hard Times

by Alison Chapman

During tough times, we should try to keep a handle on our mood and energy levels if we hope to maintain our work life balance and achieve success. Some people are hardwired to respond to things optimistically, others are simply wired differently. Fortunately, we can improve our chances of staying resilient and hopeful by acquiring positive thinking skills.

The process of building optimism and positive thinking is similar to working out. You have to focus on your goals and commit your time to it. If you approach a workout program with that focus, then you can improve your fitness and the ability to successfully reach goals. Similarly, if you approach improving your resilience this way, you can improve your ability to think positively.

The first hurdle to get over is realizing that you need to change your way of thinking in order to think positively. You can not change the person you are but understand that you can get overwhelmed and anxious at times, which is okay. Do not complain about how you are feeling but realize that you have the power to control your work/life balance. Start thinking this way immediately, not only when you decide you are ready or when it’s convenient. Do your best not to interpret your progress in the short term, just as you should not measure an increase in strength and endurance after a single workout. However, you should take note that you will see a small change in the short term that will eventually build to envelope your whole self and the changes that will come about as an end result of the process.

People who think pessimistically tend to dispute the positive and accept the negative. People who are optimistic tend to assume that their life balance will be restored, good events will eventually occur and that bad events are an exception. You have to work at restoring your work life balance so that you will have good events and avoid the bad ones. We should all strive to be optimistic so we can continue to maintain work life balance and be successful.

Volleyball Court Drive-By

by Russell Tibbits

Wednesday afternoon and the sun, like a majority of afternoons in Austin, is shining on the sand volleyball courts at Zilker Park. My friends and I are engaged in the traditional Monday and Wednesday ritual: after-work volleyball and catching up on the week’s events. As the sun begins its descent behind Mopac Expressway and the surrounding hills, hunger pains and tomorrow’s work responsibilities beckon each of us in our own direction.

Spending our last few minutes of sunlight talking and cleaning away the excess sand, our group discusses the next outing and the weekend’s future events. During our conversation, Lyssa remembered that she needs Boone to be at her house at 1PM tomorrow; her dog is being trained to behave well around men. Boone will be the male representative/ guinea pig. Lyssa asked Boone for the favor to which his response was a simple, “Email me so I don’t forget.”

I have been an observer of our Getting the EDGE class many times, but I rarely get to experience how concepts from our class are applied to others’ work or to real life situations.

Lyssa pulled what’s often referred to as the drive-by. This may be the worst type of task you can ever get. The drive-by occurs when a co-worker gives you new information verbally and typically without warning. “Hey Russ, you headed out to lunch? When you get back, be sure to send me the results for all of last year’s classes. I have a huge presentation today at 4PM and I need to share those with the CEO.”

Drive-by’s commonly occur on your way to the next meeting, pacing to the bathroom or headed home for the day. You have no way to record what the action is or when it’s due, never mind record that there is even a task required. And the worst part is that the responsibility for this task is now assumed to be yours. By asking the driver to send you an email, you have now switched the responsibility back to that person to remind you, allowed yourself to get a reminder email that you can make into a task or calendar event and freed your mind to think creatively instead of juggling all of these tasks in your head.

Boone headed home able to enjoy the last few minutes of his day and Lyssa got the help she needed through that gentle reminder of an e-mail. It’s nice when you can end the day with everyone winning.

Be Like Water

by Kirk Miller

I studied Karate and other martial arts for several years and have always been a huge admirer of Bruce Lee. Bruce Lee was widely held as the foremost expert in martial arts. I have also been intrigued and fascinated for most of my life by the Eastern philosophy and approach to life. Not only was Bruce Lee the individual who introduced Martial Arts to America, he was also an avid student of philosophy and was way ahead of his time in terms of his views and philosophies on life.

In one of his last interviews, Bruce Lee talks about his approach to martial arts and life. He says, “Be like water. Empty your mind. Be formless, shapeless….like water. You put water in a cup and it becomes the cup. You put water in a bottle, it becomes the bottle. You put water in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now water can flow, or it can crash. Be water my friend.” He speaks of water as the ultimate metaphor for being fluid and adaptable to whatever comes.
He also emphasizes clearing your mind. In martial arts, if you are not operating from a clear mind or you allow yourself to become distracted, you could wind up flat on your back. In our course, Getting the EDGE, we teach the daily Mind Sweep exercise and use a similar metaphor with water. Water represents stillness and peace. The daily Mind Sweep allows us to empty our minds, get everything out of our heads and onto paper, and to flow more peacefully throughout our day. It frees up our energy and creativity.

Be like water. Water is alive and sometimes flows, with a sense of power. Water cannot be held down or forced. When you see a stream with rocks put in its way, the water simply flows peacefully and quietly around it. It does not meet it with hard resistance. Over time, water will quietly wear down even the hardest of rock. Be like water. Empty your mind at least once a day with the Mind Sweep exercise and get your commitments, to-do’s, appointments and responsibilities into your Outlook Tasks. Turn them into Actions and execute, freeing your mind to flow peacefully in a state of ease and tranquility.

Overcoming Email Addiction

by Robertt Young

I recently delivered a class to a group of program and project managers at a large international engineering and manufacturing company. This company makes valves and systems for refineries, gas producers and nuclear power plants. During the class, we had a lively and stimulating discussion around the use of email e.g. when to use it, how to use it effectively, etc. At the end of the class, I received this email from one of the directors who attended. I want to share this with all of our current users as to how one person can make a difference. He sent this to all of the stakeholders in his division.

Colleagues, my name is Mike, I am a recovering email addict. Today is my first day of being "clean."

In an effort to break my addiction to email, implement new time management skills and improve productivity, I will no longer be continuously monitoring my email as I have in the past.

I will process email at only two or three discrete times during the day. At this time, your email will be read and:

1) I will reply - time permitting
2) I will delegate it to another expert who can reply more accurately or more quickly than I can
3) I will defer your message for proper analysis and reply when my schedule permits
4) I will file or delete the message if no response is required

During this transition period, you may experience delays in response to your message. In addition, I may not have read your email by the next time we pass in the hall or you pop into my office.

When fully "leaned out" I expect response times to decrease from current levels of today.

As always, I stand by my personal guidelines for email usage:

1) Important decisions are NOT documented in emails - but in memorandums that can be transmitted by email
2) Do not email anyone if a quick phone call is sufficient - yes, the art of the phone call is back
3) Do not continue an email thread more than 3 deep
4) Highest priority on message that are sent "TO" me
5) Lowest priority on messages that are "CC'd" to me

Thank you for your patience and understanding during this time. Remember, it's a process.

As I mentioned, this is an international company and his group interfaces with others around the world, where email is the only effective way of communication. But even he is making the process work. I would be interested in hearing about any similar experiences you may have had and how you are dealing with them.

Getting Punched By a Girl

by Russell Tibbits

Experiencing a euphoric sense of accomplishment after a physical feat like a marathon or triathlon is not unusual for me. Regardless of my time or rank, completing a grueling task is worthy of a few moments of self praise. On September 1st, however, the feeling of confidence and superiority lingered longer than most. Not only had I just completed The Austin Tri, my second triathlon, but I pulverized the time from my previous outing.

Indeed, as I drove home, my car floated under the sun that felt warm and bright. My dingy, aged floral- print couch enveloped me and comforted me more so than normal. I savored every bite of my lunch, which only that day tasted fresher than normal. I must have exuded a confidence when ordering it that shouted, “I have just moved mountains (essentially). Make my burrito with care today.”

Waking from my extended nap that afternoon and still feeling anything but modest, I logged on to the Austin Tri website to view my overall time and calculate the improvements in each event. I searched for my age group and, as I suspected, I surpassed last month’s times, in each event, by a sizable margin. Shaving time from each event while competing in a longer distance triathlon clearly left me with a high sense of self worth. And if my search of the Austin Tri website had stopped there, my sense of self would have continued to pat its own back for the great work I had done over the past three hours.

But my search didn’t end there. And while scrolling back to the top of the page, I realized that I had been beaten (more like trounced) severely…by 16 minutes…by a 14 year old girl. Being beaten by 16 minutes, in no way, signifies that, had I not tripped or dove in front of a car to stop the poor girl from getting hit, we would have been neck and neck at the finish line. To give you an idea of the extent of her domination, while I was finishing the bike portion of the race and sucking in gasps of air to wrap up the first mile of my run, she was most likely getting a free massage or eating complimentary pizza and ice cream. Who knows, she might have even watched me cross the finish line.

Regardless of how it actually happened, it is sometimes tough to swallow the idea that there will ALWAYS be someone who can do what you do better, smarter or faster than you; and yes, that includes 14 year old girls. It’s probably the better mentality to stay humble, appreciate the opportunities you get and appreciate the gifts you have.

Prioritizing With the EDGE

by Kristi Willis

This morning I booted up my computer in the San Jose airport with the intent of shooting off some e-mails before I got on the plane. I logged in and an error message popped up on my screen. My Windows profile was corrupted and it couldn’t log me in using my profile settings.

Oh boy.

I quickly checked to make sure all of my files were still on the hard drive. Phew – I didn’t lose any data. But when I opened Outlook it took me to the install screen. Oh boy.

I called IT to let them know that we would have to doctor my PC when I got home before my trip to Detroit next week. Then, I opened Outlook Web Access (OWA) to send a few e-mails while I was still in the airport. But what was I going to do on the plane?

I had planned to respond to e-mails that came in yesterday while I was in class and do some work that I no longer had access to. Was I dead in the water or could I still make productive use of my three hour flight? Temptation was whispering in my ear that I could just watch a movie. While I’d love that, I don’t want to have to work extra hours next week to play catch up.

I took a deep breath and regrouped. I reminded myself of the TEST model for prioritizing that we teach in class. What will I have the Time and Energy to do and be in the right Situation to handle the Top level thing?

I looked at my Task list in OWA (which is ugly since it won’t categorize) and found the things that were due today. I realized that several of these weren’t dependent on Outlook but could be done with Word or Excel. I could still work on those. And a few items are paper-based and are in my Pendaflex. I could do those too.

As I looked through the list, I realized I had a number of things I could still work on during my flight. They might not be the most “urgent” things, but I could at least get them out of the way so that on Tuesday I could focus on the “urgent” items.

This experience reminded me that we become so dependent on our e-mail tool that when it’s not working we feel dead in the water. I still had access to my Task list through OWA or on my PDA which I referred to during the flight to keep myself focused. I don’t need Outlook to get things done, and in some ways not having it today made me more productive.

Now, back to those Actions in my Pendaflex…

Drills For Life

by Kim Brewster

Fire drills are required for most office buildings and our building recently participated in one. We had plenty of notice by the building management so a number of folks had alternative plans on their calendars which took them out of the office. It’s still pretty warm in Austin and being without air conditioning for a few minutes is rather unbearable to some, even with the enticement of free ice cream from our local ice cream maven.

As the alarms sounded, hundreds of tenants began to make their way through the stairwells to the first floor and out of the building and I marveled at how organized and quiet it seemed. Since we are hardwired for the release of adrenaline in a threatening situation, I wondered if that same sense of calm would have prevailed had it been an actual emergency. Or would I have been in a hurry to get down the stairs and out the building? Even in this organized evacuation, I found myself lacking some patience for those who descended the stairs at a snail’s pace, or those who wore shoes more appropriate for the fashion runway. After all, we had been given notice that elevators would not be an option for exiting the building.

All in all, the drill was a success. After the drill, the lines for the elevators were a little too long for the return to work, so I headed up the stairs. 16 flights later, I was back at my office and thankful for the lessons learned.

There are things in life that do we do not get drills for or cannot adequately prepare for ahead of time. However, our EDGE training helps us keep a handle on small, large and all items and events in between.

You may not always be rewarded with ice cream, but your participation in life’s drills will often be the ultimate reward.

Honoring Ourselves and Giving Our Best

by Christina Randle

Bonking is a term mostly used in endurance sports. It is the point when you hit a wall. There’s nothing left physically, emotionally or mentally. I became familiar with this term several years ago when I took up the sport of cycling. I’d go on a ride and get so excited and focused on keeping up with the more experienced riders that I wouldn’t stop to hydrate, rest or eat. Next thing I knew, I had bonked.

It’s hard to recover and manage through the pain or tired or feeling that you just can’t go on. The body, mind and emotions seem to conspire against every desire there is to finish, to succeed. In unison, all aspects of one’s being scream STOP!

Over time I got better at managing this bonking in cycling with training, stops for water, and snacks.

This past week it happened to me. But I wasn’t on my bike; I was working. I’m a big-picture, desired outcome, delegate the details and inspire others to complete them with great success gal/ manager/ leader/professional. So the pressure to complete four significant and mission critical projects by the end of the month, with all the endless details, left me dry and spent. I don’t do this much research and detail work naturally. These detailed projects weren’t my forte. All of this on top of the rest of my life, which is very full in itself.

It felt like a heavy weight was keeping me from breathing, keeping me from moving. All the details were screaming at me to handle them – and now. But there wasn’t the energy to do them.

When you bonk, it’s fruitless to keep going no matter how determined. It doesn’t produce any results. I needed some different perspective. So, I left my work and went for a bike ride.
During my ride, I heard myself replaying what we say to clients- we are holistic people, all the time; even at work. We are physical, mental, emotional and spiritual beings. But I’d pushed myself too far mentally and emotionally to drive these projects. I’d stopped taking care of the physical and spiritual. I’d stopped exercising and taking time out to find the beauty, listen inside, be quiet even if just for a few minutes.

It was a good reminder. With a fresh perspective, I returned home, stretched and sat quiet for a few minutes. When I returned to work, I felt balanced, focused and energized. I felt as if I’d re-learned one of life’s beautiful lessons. It’s only when we honor all of ourselves that we give our best.

Stated another way, thank goodness for bonking!

Take a Timeout

By Angela Ware

As an avid sports fan, there are times when my favorite teams are struggling in a game, and I find myself yelling at the coach, (sometimes via the TV) “Take a timeout!” When they don’t hear me, I yell even louder. Then I start soliciting agreement from those around me by asking the proverbial questions, “Did you see that? Why don’t they take a timeout and regroup?”

As a fan and “pseudo” former athlete, I know the importance of taking a timeout in an effort to regain perspective and set a strategy to gain momentum. I’ve seen coaches call a timeout which results in the players returning to the game with a new found energy and determination. On the flip side, I have also seen the opportunity for a timeout slip away along with the chance for victory, resulting in disappointed players, coaches and fans.

Regardless of the sport, every team takes timeouts. They have incremental breaks and half times. I have seen athletes who are at the top of their game request to be pulled out of the game in an attempt to catch their breath or seek advice.

In today’s fast-paced business world, we would do good to follow the lead of some of our favorite athletes and teams. When your day is running “full press”, give yourself permission to take a time out, catch your breath, regain focus, and set a plan for gaining momentum.

If you spend your entire day on the field, in the trenches of your work, you are missing an opportunity to step back and see the entire field of play. You are also draining yourself of the energy needed to have a clear mind and full life after the game.

So, go ahead. Call a time out! Then get back in the game with greater focus and an effective strategy for gaining the edge.

Desired Outcomes for Long-Term Goals

by Russell Tibbits

In training for my first triathlon I learned about workouts called bricks. Bricks are two activities back-to-back. So a brick would not just be a run, but a run and a bike workout, or a swim then a bike workout. They are more intense than a single activity and are meant to train your body and your mind to switch from one activity to another without rest or recovery time. For one of the last workouts before my triathlon, I planned a swim at a free neighborhood pool followed by a three mile run.

I waited for the heat of the day to pass and showed up at Big Stacey Pool at 7:45PM…without my goggles. Angry with myself, I rushed home and returned 10 minutes later mentally prepared for a grueling workout. After stretching for five minutes I entered the pool to be greeted by the lifeguard’s whistle announcing the 8PM close. A 25 meter swim wasn’t quite the intense workout for which I had prepared. Like a child, I stomped back to my car, steam pouring from my ears, disappointed that I had wasted time forgetting my goggles and not getting to the pool early enough.

Calming myself, I focused on my desired outcome for the day’s events; a successful swim before my run around Town Lake. Because I knew my desired outcome, I determined quickly what my next action should be. With a credit card but no cash on hand, I decided to drive to another pool, knowing it was open for at least another hour and hoping that they took credit. I arrived to find out that they did take credit, but only for season passes. But fortune was on my side. The pool was out of season passes and let me swim that day for free. Taking the next action, I was able to complete a solid swim workout. And because this pool was closer to Town Lake, I immediately threw my running shoes on for the second half of my workout.

Looking back on that evening, it would have been so easy for me to give up when I hit the first, or second, roadblock. But I was able to refer back to my desired outcome for this small event and stay focused on how it would help me with my much larger event, my first triathlon. Having this desired outcome kept me on track not only for this brick workout in my immediate future, but my long term goal.

Emptying Your Cup

by Kirk Miller

There is an old story about a university professor went to visit a famous Zen master to learn. The master began quietly serving tea, while the professor asked about Zen. As the professor spoke, the master poured the tea cup to the brim. When it reached the top, he kept pouring. The professor watched the overflowing cup until he could no longer restrain himself and shouted, “It’s full, it’s full! No more will go in!” The Zen master replied, “You are like this cup. How can I teach you anything unless you first empty your cup?”

Many of us are like the professor, with our cups and our minds completely full. Then we keep on filling, or should I say, life keeps on filling for us. Since joining the Effective Edge team, I have been immersed into a full cup of new information, new things to learn and new responsibilities. Between my roles as a trainer as well as member of the business development team, there have been many things to learn, materials to study, books to read, tools to implement, classes to teach and plans to develop. Being a trainer is a full-time job. So is being in business development. I must admit that I have begun to feel a sense of an “overfull cup” myself. And life keeps on pouring.

In our Getting the EDGE course, we teach and implement some basic fundamentals that enable us to appropriately manage whatever amount of information that comes our way. EMPTYING is the first key step we teach in our Getting the EDGE course. Until we empty, whether our mind or our inbox, there is nowhere to put new information. Beginning the day intentionally and emptying our heads and our inbox allows us to manage all that comes our way in a peaceful and relaxed manner. It’s nothing complicated; very simple to practice, but deceptively easy to overlook. Beginning the day intentionally and emptying your head and collections points is the first step on the road to peace in your workday. As I return to these fundamentals on a daily basis I find myself returning to that peaceful place and that “Zen state” in my work. So can you.

Balancing Obligations with Social Temptations

by Alison Chapman

Football season has arrived again. I am anticipating many weekends of fun-filled social activities. They start on Friday night, and they do not end until Sunday evening; sometimes even later than that. Friends come into town, dinners, tailgating, and numerous parties to go to. These are always fun when the season starts, but they get tiring after a month or two. It is difficult when Monday comes around and you haven’t gotten enough sleep. You drag and barely make it through the day.

In addition to working and social activities, I am now in graduate school, working on my MBA. I work, go to school and study during the week. On the weekends, if I need to, I study. But I try to relax and enjoy myself as much as I can. The problem is I have friends coming in town, weddings, wedding showers, happy hours and parties that I want to go to as well. I enjoy going to all these events, and I hate missing even one. After starting graduate school, I had realized that I have to make sacrifices and say “no” when I need to. I need my energy for work and school right now, and those are my priorities. It is difficult enough for people that work to have enough energy to get through the week, much less someone that is going to school in addition.

As much as I have hated it, I have learned to decline social events that I am invited to. I realize that there are sacrifices that I have to make in order to accomplish my goals. I have also realized that, although I am missing out on some small things now, there is a much greater goal down the road. This is something we all have to realize when we are trying to accomplish our goals, whether that goal is going to school, raising kids, buying a house or advancing in your career. It is a difficult thing for people to realize. But if you want something bad enough, you will learn to balance.

Get Out of Your Own Way

by Diane Holz

In our office we have a couple of bookshelves with self-help books, and other books to inspire us. Every time I walk by the bookcase one book in particular always sticks out. It is entitled “Get Out of Your Own Way.”

I always want to stop and read that book. If I can read that book I can switch off the counterproductive parts of my brain and use the parts of my brain that are waiting to align my best energy and brainpower to my goals, hopes, wishes, dreams, and aspirations. If I can just read that book…everything will be better. But that means I would have to let go of something.

We talk about being so busy all the time. But a lot of times, we are distracted by things that are not very important; falling into ruts and routines instead of seizing every chance to give our best to each other and to our work and our family. I chug along on autopilot, a lot of times sidestepping anything new or challenging.

Do you beat yourself up because you don’t have the time to do things for yourself? One of the things taught in our trainings is to schedule time for you. Stop now and take the time to put you on the calendar….go for a walk, watch a movie, listen to music, go to dinner with a friend…or read a book! So easy, so simple.

Handle Email or Watch A Movie

by Robertt Young

Last Saturday I travelled home from New York and observed several people around me on the airplane. They had their laptops open and were working during the two hour flight. The one thing that they all had in common- they were all checking, reading and doing who knows what with their email. I felt a little guilty as I watched a movie on my computer while these folks tried desperately to get out of email jail before they got home. It occurred to me that these people were just like so many in the business world today; taking every spare moment they have to catch up on their email. Watching this scene in the airplane reminded me of something we talk about in the Getting the EDGE workshop. “Small things done consistently in strategic places create major impact.” And depending on the small thing, this can either be positive or negative.

What I saw on the plane, people handling email, was an example of a small thing done consistently in a strategic place that created a major negative impact. This small thing was opening an email, looking at it and making the decision not to do anything with it at that time. They made the choice to come back to the email later and do something with it. On the airplane was the later time. Instead of sleeping or reading a good book or watching a movie and relaxing, they were then forced to be heavily engaged and focused, catching up on all the stuff they let accumulate during the week.

The small thing they could have done consistently in a strategic place that would have created a major positive impact would have been to open each email and make a decision to either Dump it, Do it, Delegate it or Defer it. They would then be facing an empty inbox on the plane. The only decisions they would be making is whether they were going to sleep, watch a movie, read a book or magazine or having a conversation with a seat mate who might just be a potential new friend, client or the next President of the United States.

Someday, Maybe

by Kim Brewster

“Death, taxes and childbirth. There’s never any convenient time for any of them.”
--Margaret Mitchell, Gone With the Wind, 1936

In our day and age, childbirth, however, can be scheduled for the convenience of the mom, should she and her physician make that choice. Taxes – well, let’s no even go there.

I recently attended a funeral; something all of us do from time to time. It was for the father of my brother-in-law, an elderly gentleman I had met several times. I never really got to know him that well, mainly because he lived several hundred miles away. By the end of his funeral though, I had a come to know him in a much deeper way and I attribute that to his foresight in leaving his story.

He approached his son-in-law several years ago and asked his assistance in writing his obituary and what he wanted said at his funeral. He was not in ill health or in a hurry; he just wanted to “get it out and have it right.” They met regularly to add or make changes to the story, a story which began in early childhood and was completed a few days before his death. He had even selected the songs he wanted sung and the bible references he wanted recited. He may have even selected the menu of fried chicken and mashed potatoes which was served at the church following the gravesite ceremony.

Maybe this is a subject you would rather not address now. Maybe it’s an idea for the distant future, or never. But if this idea connects with you, the perfect place to have those gentle reminders to keep a record of your life is your Someday/Maybe list. After all, who can tell your story better than you?

As Van Morrison sings in his song, Precious Time, “…precious time is slipping away.”

Multi-tasking. The Wave of the Future?

by Kirk Miller

In our Getting the EDGE course, we speak extensively about the downside of multi-tasking; even the negative effect it can have on our health and well-being. As a father of two daughters, it is especially alarming to see that multi-tasking seems to be the wave of the future, as opposed to showing any signs whatsoever of slowing down.

I recently sat at a restaurant with my 14-year old daughter and her friend. I sat bewildered, watching my daughter’s friend, not only eat and have a conversation with us, but all the while texting back and forth with multiple friends at the same time. She was proud of the fact that, in school, she is able to text friends while in the classroom with her phone in her pocket. She is part of the “MySpace Generation.”

In an effort to better understand what is going on with my daughter and her friends, I picked up a book called “Me, MySpace and I: Parenting the Net Generation”, by Larry Rosen, PhD. In the book, he goes into the topic of multi-tasking in great detail. He describes one evening sitting in his daughter’s room, watching her not only doing homework with an iPod on, but also manage 8 IM windows open on her laptop, while also checking her MySpace page.

We reference an article in our Getting the EDGE course that describes the damaging effects of multi-tasking on IQ. In light of this, one can only shudder to think of the effects all of this multi-tasking will have over time on the MySpace Generation. Culturally, multi-tasking seems to be not only here to stay, but gaining momentum. Keeping the EDGE reminds us to prioritize our tasks into single actions that we can execute single-mindedly, giving our full attention and focus to that single task. We still get everything done, but in a peaceful and relaxed manner.

The Outcome is in Your Attitude

by Angela Ware

I recently relearned the importance of keeping a positive attitude in the midst of an unpleasant circumstance.

In preparation for a recent business trip I logged on to a popular travel site to find the most cost effective car rental company to meet my needs and save on expenses. After viewing all of my options, I made my decision and booked my car. Great! I’ve saved the client some money and secured dependable transportation for myself. Or did I?

Yes, I did book a car with, let’s call them Rental Car, and the price was the second lowest price of all of the companies listed. But that is where the fairytale ends.

I arrived at Oakland International Airport and proceeded to the Rental Car Shuttle service. While riding the shuttle I noticed that the rental car company I had chosen was not listed on any of the shuttle signage. I asked the driver if this was the correct shuttle for Rental Car. He said, “Yes.” He went on to tell me that I would need to call Rental Car once we arrived at the shuttle station. I smiled and said, “Thank you for your help.”

Upon arrival, I called Rental Car and, sure enough, within five minutes they had a company van out front to pick me up. Apparently Rental Car did not park their vehicles on the same lot as the other companies.

After driving four blocks we turned into a motel parking lot. That was a clue!

In front of the motel was a small sign reading Rental Car. I couldn’t help but to ask the driver, “Is this the correct location?” To which he replied, “Yes, mama”. I smiled and said thank you and proceeded to the rental “counter” where I met an agent who was clearly bored with her job. We completed the required paperwork and I smiled and thanked her for her help. Before walking to my car I asked if I could get a local map, only to learn that they do not have maps. I smiled and said, “Thank you.”

A gentleman, also clearly bored with his job, pulled my car around. The car had not been washed. The interior had stains and smelled of smoke. I asked for another car, only to learn that this was the only car available.

Upon returning to the rental “counter,” which was a pop-up table, to cancel my reservation, the woman explained that it was too late to cancel my reservations without penalty and that it was not there policy to take noncustomers to the shuttle station. I smiled, said thank you and went to give the rental another look in the hopes that it had transformed while I was inside.

After two or three minutes the agent came outside. She thanked me for being so polite to everyone during an unpleasant circumstance. She agreed to cancel my reservation without penalty and the driver volunteered to take me back to the shuttle station.

Needless to say an agent for a company that is known to try harder got me into a clean, fresh smelling car with a local map. For this, I smiled and said, “Thank you.”

Get that Monkey Off of My Back

by Kristi Willis

I am participating in my first full sprint triathlon in three years on Sunday and I have pre-race jitters. I felt them for the first time this morning when I was doing my last big workout before the race. As I was riding my bike around the neighborhood, the thought “you haven’t prepared enough” ran through my mind. Ugh!

When I did the Danskin triathlon in 2005, the race spokeswoman told us that this would happen while we were training and even during the race. She said monkeys would jump on our backs and try to weigh us down from being successful. And she was right. Smack dab in the middle of my quiet street, I had a monkey on the back of my bicycle.

I was able to silence it long enough to have a good workout, but then I heard it again while I was getting ready for work. And then it popped up again while I was driving into the office. Clearly, trying to ignore the monkey wasn’t going to make it go away.

I decided that the best way to silence the monkey was to look back over all the things I have done in the last six weeks to get ready. On my flight to Arizona today, I opened up Outlook and went through my calendar starting with the Danskin relay that I did in June.

Despite a busy travel schedule, vacation and taking care of my niece and nephew for several days, I have managed to exercise at least 5 days each week for at least an hour or more. I even swam a mile and a half the day I moved. I’ve trained on my hybrid and my road bike, practiced using my new bike clip pedals and have all my equipment lined up.

Sure, I could have worked out more. I could be in better shape, have eaten better, slept more, but I have done enough. I am ready. And after looking through the list of what I’ve been up to for the last six weeks, I feel pretty good about it. I’m not trying to win; I just want to finish injury free. And I will – without the monkey on my back!

Do you have a monkey on your back? What are you going to do to get rid of it?

Hit A Target

By Diane Holz

Most companies have one year, three year, five year and ten year strategic plans. I used to call them the pie in the sky. In our personal lives, do we even have a strategic plan? I used to not bother with the pie in the sky in my personal life. Then, I learned about affirmations. It is a simple thing to do. Write a sentence that states positively or affirms your goals in life. One sentence that I started with was “I have a thousand dollars in my savings account.” When I reached that goal, I changed it to “I have two thousand dollars in my savings account,” and so on. That doesn’t mean that I never spent any of it. I did, over and over again! But somehow repeating that affirmation made it easier for me to put money in savings and harder for me to take it out.

Many of our goals are to stop doing a certain activity; stop spending money, stop gaining weight, stop procrastinating. But as we teach in the class, when you tell your brain a negative statement, it only hears the positive part. So if you keep telling yourself, “I will not spend beyond my limits” your brain recognizes that as a command to spend beyond your limits, and happily complies.

Start thinking about your own goals and write them down as affirmations. Remember, they should stretch you; they should feel uncomfortable. Be sure to include anything you can imagine-education, hope, love, achievement, invention, caring for others, security, you name it.

I still have one affirmation that I keep working on. “I am 125 pounds and my firm, tight body enjoys thirty minutes of exercise every day.” Miracles have happened, right?

I Have To Have a Goal

by Kristi Willis

When I started traveling for work, I let my exercise program fall to the wayside, so this year I decided that increasing my fitness level was a major goal. Like a good “edger,” I kicked off this goal by creating a project using our system and breaking it down into doable tasks.

I joined the gym, created an exercise plan and started tracking my progress. And, little by little I started to feel stronger. Then I got sick. The end of February rolled around and I caught the flu I had been avoiding for months and, sure enough, my exercise program fell to the side again.

When I recovered, I started working out again, but something was missing. I wasn’t motivated the way I was before. I needed something to work toward; something that would keep me from skipping a workout just because I was a little tired that day.

A few years ago, I completed the Danskin triathlon. Let me be clear that I’m not an uber-athlete. I’m quickly heading to middle age and, while I exercise, I’m only in moderate shape. I did the Danskin the first time with my sister so that we had a goal to work toward and the goal was to finish, which I did.

I decided it was time to revisit that success. I recruited a friend to do the Danskin Triathlon as a relay with me - I did two of the three legs - and voila, I was back on track. Each week when I looked at my exercise plan, I had certain benchmarks I had to reach because if I didn’t, it wasn’t going to be pretty on race day.

It’s amazing what having a due date and a pre-paid registration fee did to my motivation. Race day came and our team did well. I met my goal for the two legs of the race and I now was chomping at the bit to do a whole race by myself again.

After the race, several of my friends and I celebrated our success over enchiladas (we’d earned it after all). As we reviewed the race we just finished, we started talking about the next race. I asked if it was too soon to pick another race and one of my friends said, “Not for me. I have to have a goal. I need another date to work toward.”

As the words came out of her mouth, I realized I did as well. Without a specific benchmark to reach, it was too easy for me to push it off until tomorrow or not work as hard. So, race two is right around the corner and I have significantly increased my fitness level again and am ready to do all three legs of the race. If all goes well, race three will be at the end of August – a race that is a little longer and a little harder so I stretch myself a little more.

Etch, Sketch, Stretch

by Kim Brewster

Spring cleaning often uncovers items we had long forgotten about or had been searching for. This year’s spring cleaning in my 13 year old daughter’s room uncovered an Etch-a-Sketch. You most likely have one or had one of these very popular drawing toys, released at the beginning of the baby boom years. It’s immediately recognizable with its square red edges, gray center and two white round knobs.

Instead of putting it in a box to be hidden from sight, I set it aside until the room cleaning process was complete. After all, I had set this spring cleaning task on my calendar and was determined to check it off as complete.

Now I could spend a few minutes sketching. The first few turns of the knobs let me know I was very out of practice. But just a few minutes of focus and concentration unlocked some latent spatial abilities and allowed me to actively get two hands and one brain to work in conjunction with each other.

With a little more practice, I was able to morph the lines I had created into curves allowing for more detail in my sketch. Etch-a-Sketch is actually addicting, so you may want to set aside some interrupted time to enjoy it.

The handiest tool the Etch-a-Sketch offers is the ability to erase mistakes quickly and easily by just turning it upside down with a few gentle side-to-side shakes. We’ve all experienced having a day turned upside down and the feeling of being bounced around. However, when you are right-side up again, it’s like starting anew with a blank slate, a clean screen.

A few minutes of Etch-a-Sketch time allows us the ability to “think outside the box” and experience being in the present moment. Use of this simple toy allows us to s-t-r-e-t-c-h in ways we may not have considered.

Why not add an Etch-a-Sketch to your tool box? It’s also a thoughtful gift no matter the age of the recipient.

Thank Goodness for Bonking

by Christina Randle

Bonking is a term mostly used in endurance sports. It is the point when you hit a wall. There’s nothing left physically, emotionally or mentally. I became familiar with this term several years ago when I took up the sport of cycling. I’d go on a ride and get so excited and focused on keeping up with the more experienced riders that I wouldn’t stop to hydrate, rest or eat. Next thing I knew, I had bonked.
It’s hard to recover and manage through the pain or tired or feeling that you just can’t go on. The body, mind and emotions seem to conspire against every desire there is to finish, to succeed. In unison, all aspects of ones being scream STOP!
Over time I got better at managing this bonking in cycling with training, stops for water, and snacks.
This past week it happened to me. But I wasn’t on my bike; I was working. I’m a big-picture, desired outcome, delegate the details and inspire others to complete them with great success gal/ manager/ leader/professional. So the pressure to complete four significant and mission critical projects by the end of the month, with all the endless details, left me dry and spent. I don’t do this much research and detail work naturally. These detailed projects weren’t my forte. All of this on top of the rest of my life, which is very full in itself.
It felt like a heavy weight was keeping me from breathing, keeping me from moving. All the details were screaming at me to handle them – and now. But there wasn’t the energy to do them.
When you bonk, it’s fruitless to keep going no matter how determined. It doesn’t produce any results. I needed some different perspective. So, I left my work and went for a bike ride.
During my ride, I heard myself replaying what we say to clients- we are holistic people, all the time; even at work. We are physical, mental, emotional and spiritual beings. But I’d pushed myself too far mentally and emotionally to drive these projects. I’d stopped taking care of the physical and spiritual. I’d stopped exercising and taking time out to find the beauty, listen inside, be quiet even if just for a few minutes.
It was a good reminder. With a fresh perspective, I returned home, stretched and sat quiet for a few minutes. When I returned to work, I felt balanced, focused and energized. I felt as if I’d re-learned one of life’s beautiful lessons. It’s only when we honor all of ourselves that we give our best.
Stated another way, thank goodness for bonking!

Super Powers over Email

by Kristi Willis

The other day I read an article about people declaring e-mail bankruptcy. Their e-mail had gotten so out of control that they gave up, deleted everything in their inbox and sent out an e-mail message that said they had declared e-mail bankruptcy and if you had anything outstanding with them to please re-send the item to them.

I wasn’t sure whether to be horrified or laugh.

In these tough economic times, “bankruptcy” is back in our day-to-day dialogue, but e-mail bankruptcy?

If you think about it though, the term makes sense. Just like people who declare financial bankruptcy, these people probably feel so out of control that they don’t see a way out. They don’t know how to process or organize their e-mail, so the count of unread messages in their inbox is probably spinning upward like the numbers on a pinball machine. I can definitely understand how that could stress you out and why all you would want is a fresh start.

As I mused about it, I realized that I was probably on the verge of e-mail bankruptcy myself in more than one job. My favorite “patch” was to print e-mails that I needed to do so I would have the paper on my desk and wouldn’t forget. That was a real winning strategy – then I had thousands of e-mails in my inbox AND paper all over my desk. It makes me shudder just to think about it.

I am so grateful for my EDGE system. I can’t imagine what it would be like to have an out of control inbox again, and I don’t ever plan to find out.

Now, if I could just find some sort of super hero powers so I could go save those other folks out there before they declare e-mail bankruptcy….Maybe my name could be Super EDGE.

Reward Yourself

by Russell Tibbits

It is now just past 3:30PM on Friday, June 13th. For the past few hours, I been in my office on the 16th floor overlooking the amazing intersection at 6th and Congress. On a typical Friday afternoon, traffic increases by the hour and the sounds of the approaching weekend fill the streets with life. However, today is not an ordinary Friday. Today, the Republic of Texas bike rally stops in Austin. The thunderous roar and rumble of Harley Davidson motorcycles cruising toward Congress Avenue drown out the standard Friday commuters. The shouts and yells from bike to bike make inaudible the usual foot traffic created by pedestrians.

What occurs to me as I write this blog is the idea of balancing our work with our personal life. At Spring Hill College, my colleagues and I performed several case studies on Harley Davidson. The one fact that I always found fascinating is the profile of the typical Harley Davidson customer entering the 21st century- lawyers, doctors, engineers, chief executive officers. These aren’t all rebellious kids or young adults as we so often picture. These are professionals with a large amount of tasks and projects. They receive emails and voicemails. They have supervisors and team members, filing systems and paper inboxes. They have spouses and children, pets to feed, bills to pay, and lawns to mow.

Yet every year, masses of motorcycle enthusiasts escape their day-to-day responsibilities. They arrive in Austin, exchanging, for a few days, their professional passions for their personal. Despite the professional responsibilities, they are able to make time for themselves, putting at the forefront the all too often forgotten responsibility of occasionally putting ourselves first.

When was the last time you put yourself first? Reward yourself for a job well done. Like me, you may be amazed at how easily you are then able to reengage in your professional responsibilities after you've had a chance to let your motor roar for a little while.

Making the Weekly Update Yours

by Kim Brewster

One of my most dreaded tasks in the first few months of my job was a weekly update e-mail that we send to let everyone know what we’ve been up to. With our trainers out so often, it’s nice to have that weekly connection.

As office coordinator, there are a lot of the usual weekly tasks to promote smooth processes between the president, our team members and me. A lot of my e-mails are things that can be handled in two minutes or less (remember from the 4 D’s – Do It if it takes less than 2 minutes) – hardly stimulating material but definitely filler if I chose to list them. My team members also don’t need to know how many airline reservations I booked last week or how many spreadsheets I updated. What they need to know is the status of projects, processes and requests.

But somewhere between the mystical and mundane, there is life. So often, our work lives take on a life of their own and we forget or don’t elevate what is important to us outside of work. Take time to include something from your personal life in your updates. It helps you remember those special times and lets your co-workers know there’s more to each of us than our job descriptions or titles.

Of course, choosing how much “personal” you choose to share depends on the audience. But hobbies, classes you may be taking, movies you saw, books you read, what’s happening with kids-grandkids-pets, vacations, etc., are all worthy of capturing. Plus those activities are part of our work/life balance or we would be just work.
Why wait until Friday afternoon or Monday morning and try to recapture the past week? If I don’t write something important down, it’s like burping Tupperware – it escapes. My best tip for staying on top of an update e-mail is to record items daily. I keep a draft e-mail documenting what I’ve done this week which can be added to daily or as something is completed.

Why I Do This Work

by Robertt Young

I have been in business development, sales and training for the last 20 years. I have always been a bit of an enigma in the sense that I not only sold training programs but I delivered them too. This has its own set of unique rewards and challenges.

On the reward side, I am paid for sales. And when I delivered what I sold, I am paid for that too. The challenge however were the nagging questions: When do I sell? When do I deliver?

When email came along, that added another level of complexity to what I was doing. Before I got the EDGE I was buried in email and paper. I was trying to balance my delivery schedule and new business development- following up with clients and closing sales. I felt completely overwhelmed. When I was at work I was thinking about home; when I was at home I was thinking about work. My focus was suffering, my sales were down and I was working 14 – 16 hour days. I lived in my inbox when I was in the office and spent a lot of my time managing email rather than calling clients, prospecting and managing my accounts. I carried everything around in my head and things were falling through the cracks.

A friend of mine then told me about a position opening up with a company in California. They taught time management and sold a paper-based planner. I interviewed with them and was hired to sell and train. The “system” was a combination of unique thought processes involving how to deal with everything on your plate and manage everything in your life. As I began to use the “system,” I found my life coming together; I regained almost an hour of productivity a day and my life felt in control. A colleague at this company decided to start her own company, utilizing Microsoft Outlook as the tool instead of the paper-based planner. She asked me to come to work for her.

It was at this point that everything came together for me. It addressed the one thing that was missing from the “system” I had been using- how to deal with email and the resulting frustration from the inbox. With this new tool, I was able to manage everything in one place. The new “system” complemented and enhanced everything I had learned before. And when I delivered the workshop, two interesting things happened. At the end of the day, participants would actually stay after the class and continue to work in Outlook. I would also get emails and phone calls from participants telling me how the workshop had changed the way they work and helped them be more productive.

This is the story of how I got the EDGE. I do this work because it enables me to teach the very system that helped me.

The Benefit of the 4D's

by Diane Holz

Hi, I am the Finance Director and it’s my time to be the blogger. You might wonder what the Finance Director can know about productivity. I wondered the same thing but here I am. I would like to tell you one instance (among many) where I have said to myself…wow, this is really good stuff the trainers teach.

The other day I overheard one of the trainers doing a segment of their training session. The marketing person has been listening to video clips of the trainers, selecting which ones to use on our web-site. Since I share the cubicle next to hers, I got to hear one of the trainers say something that really made sense to me and stood out.

The trainer was surmising that some people open their email, read one message and go on to the next message, thinking they will come back to that message and do something with it later. How many of you have done the same thing? At some point you go back and re-read the message, and maybe do something with it – or leave it yet again for another time to deal with it. Think how many emails you get and initially read, go back yet another time and read the email, go back yet another time and read the email, go back yet another time and read the email…and on and on.

I know that I am guilty of reading emails and going on and reading my other emails. Then I go back through and prioritize what I need to do with the emails…leaving some for tomorrow…or another day when I have more time to deal with it. The trainer’s point was, have you then read one email, or have you now read one email ten times?

If you do that with ten emails a day, you are actually then reading 50 more emails a week. I thought…wow, I don’t have the time to read fifty more emails a week I know that for some emails I don’t just read them two times, I know that sometimes I read them three or four times. What makes me do this with my emails –I usually listen to my voice mail, write down the message and what to do and then delete it. Why don’t I do the same for email?

What I know is, it’s time to revisit the 4Ds. After I read this e-mail.

A Journey of a Thousand Miles

by Amanda Spurlock

"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step"-Lao Tzu

Recently, after delivering one of my Getting the EDGE classes, a few people appeared apprehensive about making some of the changes we recommend. I realized how all of us, at one point in our lives, are resistant to change and can get stuck in the way we do things. We are comfortable where we are. If we are successful at what we do, then why change?

Several times I asked myself why some of us, including myself at times, are so resistant to change. Change is scary, uncomfortable, and uncertain. Who, in their right mind, would look forward to that? But change is also the way we grow, develop and become stronger. Think about going from elementary school to middle school, high school to college, single to married, married to single, moving from job to job. All of these represent major changes in our lives. But, in retrospect, those changes made us stronger, better, smarter, and made us who we are today.

So if you are resisting any kind of change right now, look at it from a different perspective. How can this make me smarter, stronger, and better than where I am today and who I want to be? Take the courage to take at least one step forward. If too many steps seem like a leap, then start with a single small step. Implement one change in your life that you can adapt into your existing routine. Once you feel comfortable with that, integrate another small step. Soon, you’ll see that you have been able to implement several changes and you are in a different place than you were before. Life is in constant change. Life is change. Change is LIFE. Embrace it!

Getting Altitude can Change Attitude and Perspective

by Steven Terry

Recently I flew to the Middle East to deliver some of our EDGE classes to one of our largest clients. It was a 17 hour flight with several stops on the way. On the last portion of the flight I managed to get a few hours of shut eye during the night. For some reason I suddenly woke up and opened the window shade to witness Baghdad, Iraq lit up across a vast open darkness, some 36,000 feet below. I remember contemplating this sight and wondering how strange it felt to be above this city of tremendous challenges and pain. I witnessed several possible explosions below and thought to myself what it would be like to be at ground zero amidst all of that. I felt this change in my consciousness that gave me a different perspective at that moment. I was tired, jet lagged, cramped in economy seating and eating meals that were not the healthiest. And yet I was so grateful to be safe on board a flight so far away from the dangers of war. This changed me and I sent the city positive thoughts like a beam of light from the jetliner to the ground.

I have always believed that getting altitude can often change our attitude. There are many stories of climbers or astronauts who, after seeing the world from the top of Everest or from space, have changes of heart or mind and it changes their perspective on life and its problems. For me, seeing Baghdad from high up changed something inside of me in that moment and frankly has continued to be present for me weeks later.

This experience is very much like what we teach in the EDGE class, about getting a 30,000 foot view of our projects (and life) and creating effective and motivating desired outcomes that lift us up to continually see the big picture. When I start a project, I always take a step back so that I can see the whole picture, get altitude on it and begin “with the end in mind” and compose a successful outcome. This helps me to focus on what I want and sets the tone for the project.

The futurist, Alvin Toffler, wrote, “You've got to think about big things while you're doing small things, so that all the small things go in the right direction.” I quote this in my classes and believe it sums up the connection we must have between the big picture and the small details in our lives.

Having It All

By Christina Randle

I started the process in November. I could feel it in the depths of my body that 2008 was going to be a great year. Utilizing all the resources, strategies, processes and exercises I’d learned from the best on how to create the perfect year, I went about completing 2007 in a powerful way – finishing what I could and gathering all the learning so as to enter this year powerfully and setting the stage for 2008.

Some of the activities included writing a clear intention statement, setting clear goals inside of the intention, creating a story book and collage with visual images that I look at each day to create alignment with the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual. My intentions included taking time to spend time with spirit, exercising regularly in both aerobics and strength building, rehabbing a bad knee—well, both knees--growing the business aggressively, having a monthly date with my husband and getting my new home owners association off to a great start as president.

Simple, strong, focused. I even created a theme for the year – Every day new and every day energized. I was more inspired than I remember in over a decade.
New Years Day couldn’t come fast enough. The first few weeks went just as planned. And then it happened. Kelsey called and said she wanted to come live with us – today! It’s the same thing that happens to many of us. It’s called LIFE! It’s easy when ‘life’ happens or gets in the way, to just throw our hands up and let go of our dreams. The only thing is, this WAS THE DREAM.

How was I to handle all the other ‘dreams’ that I’d so carefully designed into my year? The first few days proved to be consuming with loads of details for school registration, clothing purging and restocking, toiletry purchases, closet storage, daily logistics of breakfast, lunch, dinner, and oh yes, the new rules like please put things back the way you found them.

Over the last few weeks, I’ve looked at each goal I created at the beginning of the year, and re-selected based on the new set of circumstances. I removed one thing from my plate, post-poned another by 2 months, reduced one morning exercise routine from my schedule and now get up 15 minutes earlier to ensure I get my much-needed quiet time.

Having the EDGE system gave me the perspective to be able to incorporate my newest dream fully into my life. I’m reminded once again, we truly can have it all.

Get A Life

By Diane Holz

One of the things we should all have is a positive work/life balance. To me that means taking time to have fun. I remember when I was growing up, my mom and dad would take us to the lake quite often. By often, I mean two or three days a week. Do any of you remember the days when you woke up and the first thing you did was bring in the milk that was delivered to your front door? Well, my dad was one of those guys that delivered it. My dad worked at Superior Dairies delivering milk. He would get up at one or two AM, make the deliveries and then be off by the time I got out of school.

I remember we went on Tuesdays and Thursdays to Blackie’s Park on Lake Travis and Lake Bastrop on Sunday’s with my cousins (yep, you guessed it, their dad was a milkman, too). I would always have so much fun…and to this day I still LOVE going to the lake. We would sometimes go to the ranch and visit my grandparents and have lunch with them. And we would drag the boat along with us and stop on the way back to have more fun at the lake for four or five hours.

When I reminisce about the “good ole days” I am so proud of my parents for taking the time to have fun. It would have been really easy for my dad to say he was too tired after getting up so early in the morning, or it was too hot; my mom and dad were not ones that got in the water…they sat on the bank watching us. I encourage everyone to take the time to go play and have some fun. Make memories for your kids or just for yourself.

Best Thursday Ever 2008

By Russell Tibbits

A couple weeks ago, a few friends and I exchanged short emails in preparation for a Thursday night out. The night, officially termed Best Thursday Ever 2008 (or BTE2K8), acquired its name from our “extravagant” agenda which consisted of dinner at a decent restaurant and watching a UT sporting event on television, capped by a sing along at a local movie theater. However, in our continued string of emails, each friend added our own twist to the night’s affairs. As a result, the list of what we all hoped to achieve that night as a group grew lengthy, clearly too long to fulfill – even in a crazy Austin Texas night.

One friend in particular, Lisa, in an obvious attempt to further exaggerate our Thursday and create the most outrageous agenda possible, concocted an entirely new Best Thursday Ever 2008 that included the following events:

First of all, we will have to skip work.

8:00am: Flight to Cancun!! (Wear your bathing suit; bring a towel and some cash).
10:00am: Arrive in Cancun. Hit the beach.
12:00pm: Drinking out of coconuts. Find some spring breakers to party with.
1:00pm: Depending on how that is going, either continue, or we can just ditch them and get a Waverunner.
2:30pm: Flight back to Austin. (Before we board the plane, we need to call someone for a ride home from the airport.)
4:30pm: Back in Austin. We'll probably be hungry, so whoever picks us up should bring us a change of clothes and take us to dinner.
6:00pm: Reserved table at Ringers.
11:00pm: We have our OWN Justin Timberlake sing-along in the street. Bring your Justin CD; we'll just play it from my car!
1:00am: Hit up Spill for last call.2:00am: Torchy's Tacos Late Night!!

Jokes were made at our undeniable absurdity and we agreed to stick with the original plan.

But as the week progressed, I began to see the genius in Lisa’s plan. With the ultimate strategic disengagement already planned, I found myself able to focus more intently on projects, make additional sales calls and drive through tasks knowing that BTE2K8 was only a few days away. I was amazed at how I was able to push through the work week with more focus, energy and purpose assured that I would be rewarded near the end of the week.

Whether a trip to Cancun (preferably real) or a dinner with friends, give yourself a reward at the end of the week and you’ll be able to focus on your tasks until then.

To Sulk or Not To Sulk

by Kristi Willis

One of my favorite quotes is from Albert Einstein, “Many people are trapped in their every day habits – part numb, part frightened, part indifferent. We must keep choosing how we are living.” The other day I was reminded of exactly what he meant when he said this.

As you may have picked up from other posts, the trainers at The Effective Edge are on the road quite a bit. Typically, we are home by Friday, but a few weeks ago, I had to travel home on a Saturday.

To maximize my weekend, I took the first flight out of Boston which would get me in by 11:00 am on Saturday. I would get in early enough to go to the farmers market, get my chores done and be able to watch the Final Four basketball games with my friends.

The flight left on time and things were looking good. I sprinted through the Houston airport to catch my connection, rounded the corner to the gate and there they were, the dreaded words – DELAYED. The plane was coming in from somewhere else with bad weather and now my flight home was going to be 2 hours late.

I was devastated. I’d been gone all week, I was tired and I just wanted to go home. Going to the farmers market on Saturdays is one of my favorite things to do and now I was going to miss it. I could feel a full scale pout coming on. I wanted to throw myself in a chair and sulk.

And then I remembered Einstein’s words. I took a deep breath. I couldn’t control the flight or change when I was going to get home, but I did have a choice to make. I could choose to sulk and pout or make good use of my time in the airport.

With a roll of my eyes and shrug of my shoulders, I muttered under my breath, “Alright, I’ll be productive,” and grabbed my laptop. I looked through my list for any personal chores I could do online and got going. I put that book I want to read on hold at the library, found a shop by my dry cleaners where I could buy my new workout swim suit, and posted a new article to my personal blog.

By the end of the two hours, I had knocked six things off of my list and had condensed my home chore list down so that I could make very good use of my time once I got home. I didn’t get to go to the farmers market, but I did make it home safe and sound to a beautiful spring day in Austin. I had time to get the critical chores done and still made it to watch the game with friends.

I could have let that delayed flight ruin my day, but instead I think I made the right choice. Thanks Einstein.

Ctrl+Shift

by Kim Brewster

Perhaps you remember the first time you tried to unlock a combination lock. My dad gave me a single-dial lock for my bicycle when I was 7. I fondly remember going through the series of 3 numbers right-left-right until, voila, the u-shaped metal came free of one side of the lock. But even more astounding were the almost infinite possible combinations available from just the numbers 0 to 40.

The same holds true with a QWERTY keyboard. The combination of 26 letters with numerals and characters above the numerals allows us to communicate around 200,000 words and millions of passwords.

But how can we store or act on those thousands of words that become tasks, projects, appointments, notes in a logical manner? The addition of the Ctrl key on keyboards, combined with Microsoft Windows’ Outlook, powerfully provides those tools.

The methods addressed in Getting the EDGE™ Mastering Work & Life Flow are bolded below:

A – Appointments
B – Address Book
C - Contacts
D – New Call
E – Create New Folder
F – Advanced Find
G – Flag for Follow-up
H – New Office Document
K – Tasks
J – Journal Entry
L – Distribution List
M – Untitled Message
N – Notes
O – Outbox
P – New Search Folder
Q – Meeting
R – Brings forth a highlighted email
S – Discussion
V- Move items
X – Fax service
Y – Copy items

Of the possible Ctrl Shift + combinations we can access through Outlook, my favorite and most used is Ctrl Shift K – Tasks. We all have multiple tasks to do. Some require daily, weekly, or sometime-in-the-future attention. The key is to take care of the tasks while not multi-tasking which, as you know, is a distraction that slows us down.

To stay on top of your tasks, devote time at the beginning of your day and maybe again in the afternoon, before you dive into your email in-box, for handling your tasks. Checking off those tasks as complete provides YES moments to my day and allows me to move forward for what awaits.

Remembering to Pack My Joy!

by Christina Randle

I’m driving to work this morning – very early. I’ve got a big project and several important tasks due, giving two local speeches and leaving town tomorrow for a big 3-day conference. I’ve been up for several hours already rehearsing my speech, pouring over my project and thinking through the day. My left brain is already exhausted.

As I glanced to my left, I saw out of the corner of my eye another professional just like me heading out before the sun is up. Another glance revealed something much more poignant - there is a smile on his face clearly a reflection of the joy in his heart as his head bobbed to the music playing on his car stereo. He catches my eye and sharing a smile and a wink. It’s not a romantic wink or a ‘hey baby what’s happening’ wink. It seems like a ‘remember, you can be in your happy place too’ wink.


His day was probably pretty close to how mine was in terms of important things to do. I realized that while I’d been getting ready for the day, I’d forgotten to pack my smile, joy and fun. As I re-engaged on the road, I checked in with myself. My frontal lobe is throbbing with all the thinking I’ve already done as I looked at the clock and it read 6:47 AM. As I glanced in the rear-view mirror, there was absolutely no smile to be found anywhere. Forcing my mouth into a smile form made no difference internally or externally to get me to the joy that seemed to emanate from this total stranger.

My choice was clear. To continue with the left-brain, stoic approach or ease and balance it with some joy, a smile and delight. I know the groups that I will be speaking with today would probably appreciate me bringing those qualities with me. As this realization came, it felt as if I were just opening my eyes for the day.

All of a sudden the sun beamed to me from the horizon, the cool breeze was blowing across my shoulders, the water rippling down carrying spotted ducks on Ladybird Lake as I drove across and the cars along the road became humans that I shared the road with. Gratitude enveloped me as I recounted all the many blessings I had – from the simple pleasures provided by nature to the work that we do in the world, the wonderful people I get to work with, our clients, my family, friends, birds and butterflies, flowers, my back porch for watching sunsets and read my current favorite book, the smell of baking chocolate chip banana bread, the blood rushing through my legs as I ride my indoor bike or my outdoor bike. Yes, I could feel it rising inside. I am blessed. And with that, the joy came forth.

Did you pack your joy today?

Multi-tasking Makes You Stupid

by Steven Terry

One of the things I teach in my class is that multi tasking is an enemy of performance and an article in Wall Street Journal some years back said “Multi tasking makes you stupid”.

As a road warrior I have learned to move very swiftly in and out of and through airports, hotels, and rental car facilities. On a recent trip to Dallas, I got into my rental car and noticed that a client had called me. As I’m driving through the facility, I decided to call my client back. I mean, why not? I had driven here many times before, this was an important client and I felt a sense of urgency.

I mean how difficult could it be for me to drive out of a rental car facility and talk to an ‘easy to talk to’ client at the same time? It was definitely easy - easy to feel stupid.

As I’m driving out, I see a red sign. What do you do at a red sign? Stop. So I stopped. Then I accelerated forward, slowly, but nevertheless forward. I continue to talk to my client about some concerns he had. Something strange happened.

It was like an episode of a tv show where everything slows down. It was a foggy day which is rare for Dallas. I noticed off to the left front of my car a guy appeared out of the mist. He looked like Jerry Seinfeld, wearing a Hertz jacket, and he was flapping his arms up and down, in slow motion. His mouth was moving and looked like he was saying Nooooooooo very slowly. My client on the other end seemed to be talking faster and faster and faster. Then “Jerry’s” arms changed formation as he waved them in front of him and his face changed. Changed to what? At the time I could not make it out. In hindsight it was, “Oh dear God?!!”

Guess what? The red sign was not a stop sign. It was a Do Not Enter sign. Those spikes work!!!! The sign said “Do not enter severe tire damage.”

Suddenly it seemed like everything sped up. There was a thud, my foot hit the brake, and my client continues to talk. I had to tell him I would need to call him back. “Something has come up” I said. Yeah quite right it had. I looked out of my window to witness my left front tire “pssssssssssssssssss” as it deflated. Somehow I was lucky. Only one tire was spiked. I was able to stop the car before the back tires went over and the right front missed.

“Jerry” proceeded to tell me to back up. I reversed the car back to the Hertz check out counter. As I looked out the back window, I see the man who had checked me out minutes earlier. He threw his arms up in the air, and although I couldn’t see what he mouthed, I think he said “There’s that Effective EDGE guy again”….
So, is multi tasking worth it? No! Did I get any more done? Yes, actually I did - I popped a tire. Now that is very “effective.”

Reducing Information Anxiety

by Robertt Young

Recently, while talking to my colleague Jennifer, the topic of different ways to manage and organize information came up. As we were discussing categories and why we use them, I was reminded of a book by Richard Saul Wurman titled Information Anxiety.

Information Anxiety notes that there are five ways to organize information:

1. Alphabet: A dictionary is an example of information organized alphabetically.
2. Location: Location is a natural way of organizing data with important relationships or connections to other data e.g.; medical students often use books that organize information by location of the body: stomach, liver and heart.
3. Continuum: According to Wurman, this means order of magnitude: largest to smallest, most important to least important etc.
4. Time or Calendar: Organize information by time or on a calendar
5. Categories: Categories are a common, reliable tool since they allow similar things to be grouped together by attributes that are considered important in some way. Defining the specific categories is crucial, as they will communicate the designer's prejudices and understandings more easily than any other organization.

Traditional “time management” teaches you to manage information using a calendar or chronologically.

We teach how to manage information categorically. Why do we use categories instead of time to manage information? It’s less work and more rewarding – oh yeah it works!! Here's what I mean, in traditional “time management” courses they teach that:

• 
  You write all the "to-do's" down on today’s calendar you think are most important to be done, whether or not it needs to be that day.
• Then you prioritize those "to-do’s" either numerically 1,2, etc or by ABC* priority (A= high B= less important C=.everything else)
• Then you attack your day working on job 1 or the As, then job 2 or the Bs etc. until completed.

But what happens when someone comes and throws new things on your plate? Or someone comes along and changes the priority of everything you so neatly prioritize?

Here’s what folks who use this method tell us is so frustrating:

• You don’t get to finish the to-do's" you planned to get done.
• All that stuff you didn’t accomplish today gets moved to tomorrow’s calendar.
• Your daily “reward” for completing anything is having to prioritize everything again tomorrow (which is everything we didn’t accomplish today!)

Why not have your calendar show only the Action items that absolutely need to be done today? List everything else as an Action item on your Task List in the correct category. Since categories are specific – you might have categories for Projects or Actions or Calls - then you can see what you want to see when it’s appropriate. If I have all my Actions in one place, I work on what I need when I need it!

Watch for my next installment on the importance of Categories. We know time flies whether we’re having fun or not…so why try to manage it?

Savoring it all

by Christina Randle

It’s my absolute favorite time of year. Spring in Austin only lasts a few weeks and then we move directly into summer. But while it’s here, it’s simply stunning. Cool nights, temperate days. The smell of mountain laurels, thrift’s bright pink blooms coming up from the ground, the peach blossoms and even the live oaks shedding their leaves. All sorts of colors and smells.

It’s also the best time for music. Austin is the host of two yearly music festivals; one of which happens during spring break. Between the burst of color and smells and the sound of the music that comes out of the doors of many clubs, on the streets and off the shores of Lady Bird Lake, it’s almost more excitement than I can stand – even as I’ve been here for a total of 13 years now.

As I drove home yesterday from the Hilton where I gave a speech to some 300 animal health professionals on this breezy and sunny afternoon, I am reminded of how much used to pass me by. I’d get so caught up in the business of the day or week or year that I would forget about spring, music and colors.

This is what makes life so rich. It’s taking the time to be fully present in the moment. To stop for just that moment or two and take it all in.

I realized that these moments are what give me the energy and the inner strength to go into an office building and sit behind a desk most days, going from meeting to meeting while in between reading email, taking calls, and checking things off my task list.

New Beginnings

by Amanda Spurlock

Change. It’s the one constant in our lives that we can truly count on no matter what life is throwing at us. My life took a major change recently. I moved back to the States with my husband after living and working in Panama for 5 years, got a new job, and moved to a state I had never lived in or we really knew much about with the intention of getting our MBAs.

It all started with initial conversations of what we wanted to get out of our lives, and our family. We began chewing on the idea of moving to the States for better opportunities. When we finally decided to make the move, both my husband and I knew we needed to see this as a project. During this time, I truly had to work on Getting the EDGE to make sure we were going to do it right.

We settled on our desired outcome which engaged our mind, heart and soul. It was clear, succinct and was written as if it had already happened. We had several sessions of emptying our heads on topics ranging from what would be our initial expenses, recurrent expenses, housing, jobs, transportation, insurance, savings, cars we needed to sell, education, and most important, how we were leaving our family behind; this one being the hardest.

Once we decided on all the actions we needed to complete, we took each one at a time; sometimes two as we divided the actions and crossed them out when we completed them. We celebrated every success; big or small because we knew this was moving our project forward. Action by action, our project was becoming a reality and we were living it.

It took us 9 months from when we started putting our project into reality in Panama to when we were settled in an apartment in North Carolina with new surroundings, no family or friends for 500 miles, and fresh new beginnings. That project has finalized and we have learned a lot from the experience.

We still have many other projects to complete both professionally and personally. We came here to obtain our MBAs and in the process we have acquired new projects. One of those projects is on our someday/maybe list. I know we will get to it; at this time though I do not have the money to start it.

Our MBA project is still being worked on action by action as there are many to complete before it becomes a reality. It is taking us a little longer than we had originally planned, but one thing we know for sure is we must continue completing each action one at a time as it keeps our project moving forward towards success.

Stopping the E-mail Avalanche

By Robertt Young

This morning I was driving to deliver a class and was thinking about the reasons people come to the Getting the EDGE Workshop. Getting more organized, managing their projects and tasks, better work/life balance and becoming more productive are certainly big ones. The number one reason folks show up is to get a better handle on the avalanche of email that shows up everyday at work.

We do a really good job in the workshop of teaching folks the 4 Ds (Dump it, Do it if you can do it in two minutes or less, Delegate it or Defer it) to use when processing their in boxes. We also teach excellent tips on how to stop checking their in boxes all day long and to set aside time to process in-boxes to empty. So, we are helping them deal with e-mail really well.

But one thing people really want to know is; : What can they do to get less email? Is it even possible? We all know the best way to get less email is to send less, but what else can we do?

Something I have started doing in class is having folks tell me good practices they have heard are for getting less email. There have been some really good ideas and I am hoping this article will stimulate you to add to this list! Some of the things I have heard:

• Get off any distribution lists you don’t need to be on. Put magazines as favorites in your browser and proactively read the articles online.
• At the end of the subject line or the email type “No reply necessary or no thanks needed” - We all know the emails that read like: Thanks – Your welcome – Great – Don’t mention it, etc.
• Let people know that you only process your email at certain times of the day and that you will reply to them at that time. Ask them to contact you by phone or text if they really need you! (Don’t give your number to everyone).
• Set your email to come in once every hour or half hour rather than on constantly.

Some of these may work for you and some may not. Let me know what other ideas you have heard so I can share them with the people who come to Getting the EDGE!

Small Things Done Consistently

by Russell Tibbits

1:27 PM. A hard work out and St. Patrick’s day festivities have left me tired and it’s only Tuesday; so much for getting up early to hit the gym before work.

I can’t concentrate. My mind skips repeatedly to the song I heard for the first time last night. I’ve already downloaded it and replayed it at my desk 5 times today if not more. Usher and his catchy beats are costing me money!

Every time my devious mouse scrolls to the Internet Explorer icon to check our website, my fingers automatically default to social networking sites or sites with plasma screen televisions on sale. As it turns out, the 20th time checking these sites is not a charm; my friend still hasn’t joined my March Madness bracket and, no, they haven’t reduced the price on 42” HDTV’s today.

Why can’t I find the motivation to be productive? It’s not as if I have nothing to do. There are plenty of sales leads that need follow up, my portion of the sales funnel report needs to be updated, my inbox has papers in it from two weeks ago, at least that’s what the one on top says. I love my job and I still can’t find the motivation!

Applying the concepts for the Getting the EDGE course is sometimes difficult, even for people who teach the concepts. But I can apply the TEST method now without thinking about it. Even when it seems like I can’t focus, there is always something that can be done.

My mouse seems to default to the internet explorer. So while I don’t have the focus to follow up on sales leads, I decide to research the leads I do have by viewing their website, looking at the company history, finding out how many employees they have and viewing any recent news articles.

The paper inbox is glaring at me. And while I don’t have the desire to tackle that project, I email our IT person to outline three items that we need to resolve and determine a reasonable deadline. I’ve learned that in times where the motivation just isn’t there, it’s best to take small actions to move myself forward.

A quote we use in class, “Small things done consistently in strategic places create major positive impact,” reminds me to get back on task. Ah, yes, the small things in life.

The Height of Creativity

by Kristi Willis

In a recent Getting the EDGE course in Salt Lake City, a participant approached me with an “aha” observation. He told me, “I have always thought of myself as a creative person and have resisted having a system because I thought that was rigid. What I’m realizing today is that having a system is going to let me be more creative, not less.”

I exclaimed, “Exactly!”

I also think of myself as a creative person – I write, cook, create my own greeting cards and dabble in a craft or two. I had also always fought having a system because I thought it was going to take time away from my creative activities. What I didn’t realize was that having to dig through paper, e-mails and electronic documents to find what I needed was taking away significant, valuable time from my creative pursuits. I was spending a lot of energy keeping track of things and now I get to use that energy on new ideas, which is MUCH more fun.

For me, the beauty of the EDGE system is that it’s pretty simple. It took a few months for it to become second nature for me (I’m a slow change adopter), but now that I’ve got it down, I can organize my incomplete tasks quickly and easily and know that I can find them again when I need them. I no longer have to worry or stew about them or carry my work to do’s home in my head over the weekend. I can turn my attention to more creative pursuits because I have a system I can trust.

In the last two years, not only have I made great progress in my work goals, but I have compiled 2 cookbooks, made over half of my holiday gifts for family and friends, started a small company for my greeting cards, and created a personal blog about cooking (http://www.austinfarmtotable.com/). I couldn’t have done any of it if I didn’t have the EDGE! Woo Hoo!