Laura and I “met” when her publisher asked me to blurb a book of hers. I loved it so much I dragged myself out bed, where I was languishing with bad cramps, to email her something like, “Love it!” We became friends when she shepherded me through my first coaching conference, where we bonded over our Oprah experiences.
But I don’t share Laura with you because she’s my friend – why would you care? I share her because this book of hers – Now What? – is so, so good and so, so, so effective – it deserves your attention.
Laura Berman Fortgang is a pioneer in the personal coaching field and the author of six books. She is published in 13 languages and is proud to say she and the Dalai Lama both lost to someone else for the Books for a Better Life Award in the spiritual book category with her Little Book On Meaning.
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How Do You Choose The Life You Want?
I wish I could say I have a morning ritual to start the day right. Other than a fantastic cup of coffee and fifteen to twenty uninterrupted minutes for it’s awakening properties to kick in, I have lost my discipline for meditation and exercise to managing five very big lives. Mine, my husband’s and mine, and that of my three teens. But, the coffee matters. We can tell our kids we are in the ‘SHHHH’ as demonstrated by the photo included herein.
Resetting my brain, however, is a very common practice for me. Brain fog has become an almost daily nuisance and the best cure is sleep. I’m a napper. It causes some guilt, but when I wake up, I can make up for lost time like nobody’s business. I’m sharp, I’m faster and occasionally, prolific.
By now, you might conclude that I live the life of a slug. I’ve chosen this, believe it or not. Gone is the ambition that made me work at the cost of relationships. Gone is the desire to have big goals that make me miserable if I don’t achieve them and gone is the self-obsession that rendered me anorexic and exercise bulimic. I now watch what I eat, exercise semi-consistently (travel takes me off my game) and spend my time with the people I love. Having dinner with my family of five can bring me to tears. That’s where my happiness comes from. Nothing fills me more.
There are two things, however, that I do consistently in my work life that keep me on my game that have nothing to do with my family. One is that I keep my eye on living what I’m built to do and measuring my success by the work I’m doing rather than a financial or goal-related benchmark. Am I causing change? Am I moving people to be aware and conscious? Then, it was a successful day.
The other way that I stay on track is by making a daily ‘must happen’ list. What will be the priority? What has to get done no matter what? I am constantly stopping myself from doing something easier that could help me escape the top priority but I only feel good about a day’s work if I keep my word to myself. That’s how I get through a big project or accomplishing something I say matters to me whether it be a work project or having more fun with my sweetheart.
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Thanks, Laura, for sharing your world with me, and everybody do me a favorite and click over here to see Laura’s book and the bonuses – real good ones, not silly fluff – if you know anybody who needs to figure out what is next.
Love,
Jen
