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What's New with Opening Eyes, LLC  View the latest Newsletter, and Archives
Access Dana's articles on effective strategies for personal and professional growth and change: ezine.com Articles.
What's New in Coaching Current Teleclass/Workshop Courses
Women's Initiative for Self Employment LEAP Program: Becoming a Successful Entrepreneur—"I've written my business plan; now what?"
Join Dana—coach/mentor/facilitator—who will help you define major and minor business development goals, creatively and successfully confront inevitable challenges and, with other budding entrepreneurs, identify and strategically follow solutions towards creating a business that brings you pride, joy and financial freedom.
Leadership: Balance; Is It Possible? YES!
What does it mean to be a successful leader today—and avoid burnout—given one's myriad professional and personal responsibilities? Aspiring and current women leaders, join Dana in the discovery and practice of essential strategies to identifying and following YOUR priorities, letting go of unnecessary tasks and feeling good (versus guilty) about doing so. Balance is about what matters to YOU.
Resources: Dana's Book Picks:
What if you could be resilient, motivated and successful, no matter what? If you have such desires but are having a difficult time getting or staying there, you must read the engaging, step-by-step guide book, Happiness at Work, by Professor Srikumar S. Rao, Ph.D. Learn how to see your circumstances in fresh, new ways, make and reach realistic goals, and discover the passion within yourself that is sustaining, no matter what! The McGraw Hill Companies, 2010. If you want to be in-the-know and inspired by innovations in technology, ethonomics (ethical economics), leadership, and design—domestic and international, you'll want to subscribe to www.FastCompany.com. "Written for, by, and about the most progressive business leaders, Fast Company and FastCompany.com inspire readers and users to think beyond traditional boundaries, lead conversations, and create the future of business." Fascinating, want-to-share daily articles. Are you taking too long to get to THE point, convincing a client, connecting with colleagues, conducting a meeting? In How to Get Your Point Across in 30 Seconds or Less, Milo Frank's clear, concise strategies and examples (often packaged in 30 second-long paragraphs!) will prepare you to hook your audience, explain your goal using the right tone—including body language, and ask for what you want all in a natural, credible, inviting way. A quick read with invaluable impact. What is a leader? There are myriad definitions, but one article that outlines key components of a successful leader comes from Chapter Two of Bruna Martinuzzi's new book, The Leader as a Mensch: Become the Kind of Person Others Want to Follow. An adapted article of this chapter can be found here. MindTools.com is a superb source of information on topics ranging from team management to creativity, problem-solving to stress management. What does it take to be resilient to adversity? Can such resilience be learned and nurtured? According to author Martin E. P. Seligman, Ph.D, optimism—believing oneself and circumstances are changeable, that the event and one's part in it is specific, and there are also non-personal causes of the event—is the key to getting up after a setback. In Learned Optimism, How to Change Your Mind and Your Life (Vintage Books 2006), Seligman says that we need both optimism to explore and revive and pessimism which elicits caution, reflection and safety. But an over-abundance of pessimism—believing that oneself has permanent flaws, that one mistake or setback represents all future possibilities and that setbacks are purely one's fault, is not only not helpful to being resilient, but not true! Those are simply beliefs, thus changeable! Becoming aware of one's beliefs, checking for evidence of the causes of the setback, and opening up to new ways of seeing the event and the possibilities for future change is the optimism that can be learned. Unfortunately, our bodies and our weight are intricately tied to our self-image. Anyone not on a (perpetual) diet is seen as odd and envied by the majority of people who are. Author, Geneen Roth, who professes to have gained and lost 1000 pounds in her life, has turned her one-time obsession with food, feasting and fasting into a gift to herself and to all who attend her workshops and read her books. Her latest, Women Food and God (Scribner 2010), explores the real reasons we diet and the expense we pay for using food to hide who we are, want to and can be. She gives us a way to say 'No' to The Voice that keeps us barricaded from what our bodies really want, and 'Yes' to ourselves, body, mind and spirit so that we never have to be on a diet or deprive ourselves again. Suzanne Scurlock-Durana's book, Full Body Presence, shows us via clear, compelling descriptions and exercises how, by activating five principles, we may live fully in the present. These include: Trust in the existence of Life's nurturing energy; Feel our natural connection to Life's energy, thus enabling us to claim our internal wisdom; Integrate this energy in order to develop healthy, flexible, strong boundaries; Expand our perceptual lens to see possibilities rather than be stuck in limiting expectations, and; Choose, moment by moment, to connect to life-giving resources. (Healing from the Core Media 2008). According to A Whole New Mind, Why Right-Brainers will Rule the Future author Daniel H. Pink, the glory days of Western Civilization's left-brain linear, logical, knowledge-based biz whizzes are over. That's because for every new ingeneous product introduced by these whizzes, within months, a deluge of copycat products are developed and brought to market by other 'I can do it better and cheaper' biz whizzes, many of whom live and work (more cheaply) overseas. (Bye-bye USA jobs, and the market edge) As, if not more important, it's no longer the 'whats' one can devise and sell that defines success for a business or an individual. In fact, says Pink, our material abundance (of originals and copycats) is breeding nonmaterial desires that no product alone can satisfy. Indeed, the once revered giants of the Information Age are only going to thrive, not to mention survive, if they move into the quickly emerging Conceptual Age. Once seen as frivolous, and touchy-feely, zeroing in on the right-brain of the Conceptual Age is the answer to professional success and personal satisfaction. Within the pages of A Whole New Mind (Riverhead Books, March 2006), Pink compellingly outlines—for children to adults—the essential 'six senses' or aptitudes required to satisfy both one's personal longings and professional competitiveness. These include: design, story, symphony, empathy, play and meaning. Beginning a career search can be daunting, scary and complicated. Twenty years ago I devoted myself to following the steps in Richard Bolles', What Color is Your Parachute, and it's as inspiring and clear today as it was then. I am using Bolles' revised 2009 version to help my coaching clients better understand their preferred transferable skills and key values so that their next career is not just a paycheck at the end of each month (though that is certainly important!), but one that provides deep satisfaction. Is it possible to do less and live a richer, fuller life? Explore the whys and hows of living from passion and intention, rather than being dictated by the clock. Opening Eyes, LLC recommends: Marc Lessor. Less. New World Library, 2009. HOW we do what we do has the most significant impact on our well-being, our ability to connect with others, and to produce desired shifts in the personal and professional arenas of our lives. What are the winning HOWs in today's transparent, ever-changing, competitive business climate? Opening Eyes, LLC recommends: Dov Siedman. HOW. Why HOW We Do Anything Means Everything... in Business (and in Life). John Wiley & Sons, 2007. We do have control of our happiness quotient despite life's inevitable bumpy roads. Opening Eyes, LLC recommends: Marci Shimoff. Happy for No Reason: 7 Steps to Being Happy from the Inside Out. Free Press, 2008.
What's New in Microfinance Attend a Transforming Lives $40 at a Time Book Event:
Watch for upcoming book talks!
Resources:
International Museum of Women (IMOW) IMOW.org is a groundbreaking social change museum that inspires global action, connects people across borders and transforms hearts and minds by amplifying the voices of women worldwide through global online exhibitions, history, the arts and cultural programs that educate, create dialogue and build community. With its unique focus on cultural change, I.M.O.W. advances the human right to gender equity worldwide." Women from around the world may weigh in on subjects that uncover inequities, propose and celebrate solutions, and connect and empower women, thus the world as a whole. One of Dana's photos was a winner in IMOW's Picturing Power and Potential photo contest.
CGAP CGAP, the website for the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor, is an essential site to visit if you want to expand your knowledge of microfinance, read current findings from the field, hear from experts, learn about technology and social impacts, and gain access to publications on a range of topics.
Women Advancing Microfinance (WAM) Would you like to meet and learn with and from women involved in microfinance, both domestic and international? Check out www.waminternational.org for a chapter near you.
WORLD PULSE Experience the world exclusively through the eyes of women. Visit online to hear the latest from every corner of the world. Voice your opinion, share your stories at: www.worldpulse.com.  |
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