TRAPPED IN SWEATPANTS: Erase these two words from your vocabulary.....

Medical Lake's Next Top Model: Only models five feet and under need apply!

This post is dedicated to those guys and gals in the fashion "scene" who keep Spokane looking good. It was so much fun to experience an actual photo shoot. If you're a mom, you should get to experience this at least once in your life. But I will WARN YOU: This is harder then it looks. I hate to say it, but....I always thought models just stood there and looked pretty. WRONG. I really thought just anyone could do it. WRONG. I also thought I was in pretty good shape. WRONG. There are muscles that are still sore I didn't even know existed anymore! I still can hardly move from this photo below. AND it was freezing! (I'm wearing two pairs of nylons underneath the knee highs) I think I seriously pulled a muscle and may need a hip replacement. I gave up my chocolate chip cookies for 7 days in preparation. MMMM cookies!

Photo by: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Thomas-Richardson-Images/116021311793439

By Joy Mizzoni
Team Support Specialist at ActionCOACH Spokane

I have strong feelings about the fashion industry, society's standard of beauty and the ceaseless self-deprecation women endure to attain that never attainable pie in the sky called perfection.

Few people know that I am a classically trained ballet dancer. I studied in Saratoga Springs with Madame Phyllis Latin (http://www.americandancecentersaratoga.com). Although these years spent with Madame deserve much more then a brief cameo, I'll save that novella for another day. Point being, I understand perfection. I understand hiding extreme physical pain behind the illusion of graceful fingertips and elongated necks.

I don't care who you are, what you do, or how strong you profess to be both mentally and physically. I DARE you to spend a week with Phylis Latin. Go ahead. I DOUBLE DARE YOU.

They say youth is wasted on the young. How quickly we forget our inner strength and outer beauty. Motherhood, marriage, and mortgages alone are enough to make most women forget the dazzling joys of celebrating our beauty. We are so quick to replace glitter and sparkles with the muted colors of the professional world. When once we admired and emulated the seductive power of beauty, we now judge, disparage and condemn.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not pointing fingers...what happens when you point a finger at someone else? That's right boys and girls...there are those silly three fingers pointing right back at moi'.

Every woman wants to feel beautiful and I suspect most women really do, indeed, care that others think they are beautiful as well; but we limit ourselves. We become too sensible. Suddenly there is an "us" and a "them". We become too short, too old, too chubby, too this and too that. "Someday" and "When I..." have become our mantras.

But what about now?  It's not like you're suddenly going to wake up looking like Giselle. I hate to tell you, tomorrow, and the next day, and, the day after that...you are going to wake up with the same gray hairs, stretch marks, wrinkles, and c-section scars. You're going to look in the same mirror and see the same face.

So what are you going to do with it? Do you intend to keep ignoring  your very own daydreams and fanciful wishes?

There are TWO WORDS that you MUST erase from your vocabulary. Ready? Here it is...

"YEAH BUT..."

Want to kill you dreams?

Want to pass up opportunity after opportunity to have a little fun in your life?

"YEAH BUT" WILL DO IT EVERY TIME!

S.M.A.R.T. Goals and Action Steps: Set Yourself Up for Success!

By Joy Mizzoni
Team Support Specialist
ActionCOACH Spokane

I recently had the opportunity to participate in a 90-day planning session called GrowthCLUB. During past workshops, there seemed little in the curriculum relating to my art business, but this time around, something has changed.

Perhaps it's been consistent sales during my shows. Or maybe I just realized that people aren't being just nice. Let's face it; in all my years of living, I have never been overwhelmed by the niceness of people. Suddenly, there is an epidemic of nice?

I have been extremely fortunate in the support I have received with my artwork. I would even dare to use the word lucky. And each day, I wait with bated breath for my luck to run out.

It just dawned on me, however, that I have another option. That option is called planning: setting a goal and then working to achieve it. This seems to me a much more optimistic approach.

Who knew you had control over your own success? Did you know this? 

So instead of gambling on luck, unicorns, and wishes, sitting before me are my very own "S.M.A.R.T." goals.

S=Specific
M=Measurable
A=Agreed Upon
R=Realistic
T=Time Bound

Sounds pretty straight forward right?


So let's take a look at my first attempt that day:

Goals:
1. Focus on creating art.
2. Find people who like it.

Not bad, maybe a little vague...

Now, let's look at the revised goals (courtesy of Coach Jim Munro who, by the way, found my second goal nothing short of hilarious)...

Goals:
1. Create an average of 3 new pieces per month or 18 new pieces total by 12/31/12.
2. Liquidate existing inventory by 12/31/12.
3. Sell 10 of the new pieces by 12/31/12.

As you can see, my goals were not very specific and much too vague to foster motivation. Additionally, it's very difficult to measure results if no numbers exist in your plan. Unfortunately, measurable means you must adopt a binary mindset to accomplish your specific goals; either you did it, or you didn't. That puts the accountability factor smack dab in your face. Ouch!

After you have defined your "S.M.A.R.T." goals, the next step is to break each goal down into action steps. These are tasks performed weekly and daily that will lead you to your goal. Then, these steps are put into your respective calendar system.

For example, one action step could be finishing my current painting in 4 days. My action steps would reflect the specific tasks over the next 4 days in order to complete the piece within the assigned deadline.

Ultimately, by utilizing action steps in a measurable and organized fashion, I work each day toward my goal which enables me to prioritize my time more efficiently.

Like anything, this approach works great in theory. But there is always a catch. The first catch is Procrastination. It gets me every time. Motivation comes difficult after the pep talks have worn off. The old "I'll get around to it after this nap" fever can blind side you if proceed unaware of your own weaknesses, habits, and the detrimental ways you deal with stress.

For me, one of the most common ways I talk myself out of proactivity (okay, activity in general) is my perceived indelible right to mentally check out when I feel overwhelmed, stressed out, or generally unmotivated. I tend to tell myself it's my "reward" for persevering; it's the same logic that justifies a cupcake after a hard workout in the gym. It's all self-sabotage and old habits no matter how much you cover it in frosting.

But the good news is that there are other options. There are tools. And yes, there are choices.

I have not moved forward with my action steps as of yet (oh hush) but at least I have three goals.

REAL GOALS! 

Not, "what ifs".  And for me, that is one fabulous start!


Remember what Julie Andrews said (you know, that goody two-shoes 'Mary Poppins')...

"Perseverance is failing 19 times and succeeding the 20th!