Yesterday for my (milestone!) birthday, my husband gave me an airplane flying lesson. I’ve wanted to learn since I was 17.

I had a one hour lesson with 30 minutes in the air. This occurred two days after Hurricane Irene yet it was amazing how calm, brilliant, blue and clear the sky was. I walked away with many insights related to life and work that I will be blogging about for the next week.

Within minutes of landing in the cockpit, I was on information overload: My instructor explained the takeoff checklist, the different dashboard tools, how to steer, keep the airplane nose and tips level, etc. I enjoyed the experience knowing HE ultimately had control of the vehicle so I didn’t have to retain everything. Whew – nothing like having a safety net! Like learning to ride a bike – this was as much a visceral as an intellectual experience. I had to steer with my feet. Talk about feeling uncoordinated! I needed to get in touch with my toes while my eyes made sure I was level with the horizon.
Taking Off

The only way that we continue to grow is to put ourselves in situations that are stretching or foreign. If life doesn’t present us with challenging experiences then it is up to us to actively seek them out. This is how we grow beyond what we know and can do. Otherwise, we replicate the same experiences which breeds complacency and ultimately, atrophy of body or mind.

Do you want to be renewed or get a fresh perspective on your career, relationship or work project? Take on learning something new, however small. You’ll be amazed at what else you’ll learn as it keeps you young by creating new brain cells which gives you access to new insights and actions.

© Copyright 2011 Sage Leadership Strategies, LLC All rights Reserved. www.sagelead.com

…at least in your own mind. You can’t control what changes around you. But you can control your response to change. Come join us today at noon for a one hour relaxing meditation that will rewire your brain to handle incoming chaos.

24 Clapboard Ridge Road, Danbury, CT

You can experience better focus, more relaxation and optimal decision-making using Naam Brain Tools™.
Come to our monthly Naam Abundance Meditation and experience the difference. This will lay the groundwork for a prosperous life or business.

We meet once a month on the first Saturday of the month. Tomorrow is our next Meditation 12-1, at:
24 Clapboard Ridge Road, Danbury, CT.

© Copyright 2011 Sage Leadership Strategies, LLC All rights Reserved. www.sagelead.com

“To attain knowledge, add things everyday. To attain wisdom, remove things everyday” (By Lao Tzu).

Are you making a new year’s resolution or do you really want to set a different intention about how you live your life? The statistics with resolutions are not good. It’s over by January 15th typicallly. But a deeply-held personal intention with focus and action behind it, can be different.

We live in a culture that always wants more – more of ourselves, more from others, move “stuff.” The reality is, we are stuffed. I propose the focus be on what are you going to stop doing? What will you release, remove, let go of in your life – at home, at work, in your relationships?

For those local, come join me for an abundance meditation tomorrow, new year’s day at noon – and every month thereafter – the first Saturday of the month. The way to having an abundant life or business is to stop doing the things that no longer serve you and allowing, creating space for new things to emerge. Live in the white space.

2011 promises to be a year of transformation – let’s go with grace versus kicking and screaming. This is how to live a strategic life – one that harnesses your passion and integrates your experience to select – and deselect – the wise choices. Happy Different Year!

For more details, check here.

Solstice, Full Moon, Lunar Eclipse. An incredible time to work with the energy of the earth to set intentions for next year. What do you want to clear and make way for new growth next year?

According to Grove Harris: “Winter Solstice, Dec. 21, 2010 packs a celestial punch with a full moon and a full lunar eclipse, visible in the Americas if we’re lucky enough to have a clear sky and energetic enough to be up. The eclipse will be visible after midnight EST, reaching it’s maximum at 3:15 a.m. The last winter solstice eclipse was in 1638, and this one will be topped off by the Ursid meteor shower. Even city lights won’t block out all this action.

“In New England, winter solstice marks the first day of winter and the beginning of the return of the sun. While the cold deepens, the lengthening days show a welcome turning towards spring’s renewal. This gives a message of hope: frozen ground, relentless cold and the darkest season will not last forever….

“…preserving hope is one role of religion — to help people negotiate how to remain hopeful despite adversity and to live in the realm of possibility rather than in despair, no matter how warranted. The winter solstice models this on a celestial level. No problem between science and religion here. When it’s darkest, the light begins to return. And this year, the full lunar eclipse reinforces that message. Light and dark are intimately interconnected.”
Where can you find hope when it’s the darkest?

www.sagelead.com

Mahatma Gandhi once said, “My Life Is My Message.” We all know what kind of message his life sent… facilitating non-violent peace by his actions and serving as a spiritual leader to a nation. He undertook what no one believed possible – to get British rule out of India AND to do it in a non-violent way.

We all have thoughts and plans – but what do your actions say about you and your life? What kind of leadership do you demonstrate by your actions? Is it in alignment with what or who you think you are – or want to be?

How you lead your life is constantly sending a message to those around you. We are all the artists, architects and musicians of our lives. Are you throwing paint on a canvas and seeing what sticks? Are you deliberately drawing straight, controlled lines? If you’ve lost your imagination – then it’s time to find more material – grist for the mill –  to better align yourself to the message of your life. It is your response to the life that finds you that truly articulates your message.

Copyright 2010 Sage Leadership Strategies, LLC   All rights reserved.   www.sagelead.com

“Gratitude is the inward feeling of kindness received. Thankfulness is the natural impulse to express that feeling. Thanksgiving is the following of that impulse.” By Henry Van Dyke

Today those of us in the United States celebrate our Thanksgiving – started from a time when we were thankful to have a new land that supported freedom.

It  is my favorite holiday because it is only about sharing a meal with loved ones and not buying a ton of gifts. Enjoy and express gratitude to those who have blessed your life.

Sage Leadership Strategies, LLC   www.sagelead.com

You may be wearing a mask this weekend for Halloween. It’s the one time of year where we are out there and honest with the mask we are wearing.

Yet we all wear a mask everyday. We wear a mask every time we don’t speak our truth. We are hiding behind some other person or way of being because….

we want to be loved

we want to be accepted

we want to please

we want to be successful

we want…

you name it. The list goes on.

Whenever we are not true to ourselves – stepped into the full integrity of our own shoes – we are out of alignment. Walking around wearing a mask expends so much more of our energy than we need to. Think how freeing it would be if we could let down our mask and could be more of ourselves. What’s behind the mask? Fear.

We hold ourselves back because we are afraid:

Of someone else’s reaction

Of not being loved

Of failing

Of….

It’s as hard and simple as loving and accepting yourself without restraint. Try this on for size: “What you think about me is none of my business.” If you truly loved yourself would you care what I or anyone else thinks about what you do or say?

Therein lies the challenge: To embrace who you fully are without restraint.

So, Happy Halloween. Wear your mask and practice allowing your true self to shine through. It can give you the courage to take down the other mask more often after Halloween.

Copyright 2010 Sage Leadership Strategies, LLC   All rights reserved.   www.sagelead.com

Our personal growth division is offering another Manifestation Workshop on October 15th, 6-9 pm, in Danbury, Connecticut.

In an evening, you will gain greater access to your creativity, intuition, and resilient nature to help you better achieve your dreams and goals. This workshop will be informative and experiential in nature. You will have the benefit of creating powerful alliances with like-minded seekers. Sign up by October 1 and receive an unbelievable 35% discount!

Past workshops have included people who have worked on a range of goals and dreams such as career transition, retirement goals, weight reduction and relationship issues.

This is ideal for you if you need a boost to dissolve the obstacles to achieving the success you desire and deserve! Click here for more information or to Register Now.

See what past participants say after 40 days:

“I am finding that I feel more confident in expressing myself…less torn between alternatives, less fearful of anticipated (imagined) responses from others.”

“I am grateful for these new beginnings, for the clarity and energy I feel.”

” The mudra for lessening attachment helped me maintain some calm within a rather frenetic atmosphere.”

Sage Leadership Strategies, LLC     www.sagelead.com

By this I mean recreation, not reinventing your career. I mean having real downtime so you can come back to your problems and challenges with renewed energy and different insight. AND ENJOY your life – AND the PROCESS of your life.

Yesterday was my birthday so I took the day off. I usually do on this day. If you can’t take it off on your birthday, then when can you? Afterall, if you can’t celebrate you, how can you expect anyone else to?

What did I do? In modern, American terms: NOTHING. NO-THING.

Nothing PRODUCTIVE.

I slept in, lounged around while my husband serenaded me on guitar. I picked up my bongo drum and joined in. I meditated, did yoga, wrote in my journal, and got my family (teenagers, sans electronics) to go for a hike in the woods with me. Sounds very hippish? It was a heavy dose of taking in and reflection. And then I topped it off with a high calorie, decadent dinner out – lava cake and all!

No, I am not recreating the movie Eat, Pray, Love. I’ve been doing this on my birthday all my life. The key is to periodically do this throughout the year. I work hard and am a driver by nature plunked down into a culture that reinforces these attirbutes. So, if I don’t manage myself – who will? The rewards are integration and renewal… and living from a full versus depleted cup.

Pick a day in the week where you are intentionally NOT productive and do all the things you love. Experiencing productivity withdrawal? Guilt? Then start small and pick at least an hour or 30 minutes. This nothing thing is actually productive. I dare ya. Try it.

Copyright 2010 Sage Leadership Strategies, LLC   All rights reserved.   www.sagelead.com