I invite you to join me as part of a circle of women for a weekend retreat that I am planning for July 2008 on my home island of Moloka’i. This is first in a series of retreats I am hosting, so please check your calendar for availability and contact me if you’d like to keep informed.

There are few opportunities for women to meet with each other in an honest, open, and supportive way, especially for those of us who are so involved with so many different projects.

The intent of this retreat is for us to create an opportunity for us to recharge, refresh our spirits, and find ways to mutually assist one another.

When we support each other in the spirit of growth, we all become better, stronger, and more sucessful people. My intent with these retreats is to connect all participants with the unique energy of other active women to develop alliances and foster connections.

Who Attends?
I invite those of you who are women in business or leadership to attend, particularly minority women who are using their current endeavor as a vehicle for personal and professional growth. Past attendees have included self-employed business owners, consultants, and startup entrepreneurs.

You’ll benefit the most from this retreat if:

• + You are either mid-career or you started out recently and you have big plans for your business or career
• + You have already accomplished certain goals and you are looking towards a next step of bigger and more challenging goals
• + You have big ideas about what you want to accomplish and how you want to live your life

Practically speaking, if you are in a position of increasing responsibility and you are facing great change in the next phase of your life, if you are desiring more accountability, or if you’d like to keep excited, motivated, and energized by your day-to-day routine, this retreat will be helpful for you.

Most women will be in their 30s to 40s, but I do encourage women who are just starting out in their careers to attend. We have space for 5-7 women.

How does it work?
Make a commitment to write down and develop benchmarks for your growth in the next 12 months (for example: increasing your asset base, developing new revenue sources, increasing your clientele, increasing profits, having more holistic balance, increasing your health and longevity, having better well-being, developing more spirituality).

Consider your goals before attending. Bring your goals: we’ll have a chance to review them and find out ways to help each other achieve them.

The womens’ retreats takes place over a Saturday and Sunday. On each day we’ll have a light breakfast and a healthy catered lunch, an opportunity to renew, reaffirm, and be accountable to our 2008-2009 goals, and facilitated sessions to see how we may help each other become positive forces for changes. We’ll also have adequate time for relaxing, focusing on ourselves, and visiting the island.

As a special treat, we’ll also have pampering, including a lomi massage and luscious chocolate confections. Prices inclusive of breakfast, coaching, lunch, and spa retreat services.

Please join us at this very special event.

AGENDA:
DAY ONE
9:00am - 9:45am: Breakfast and introductions
9:45am- 10:45am: Envisioning our Future (guided session)
10:45am - 11:00am: Break
11:00am -12:15pm: Holistic Goalsetting (facilitated discussion)
12:15pm - 1:00pm: Lunch
1:00pm - 2:30pm: Pampering and Reconnecting
Rest of the day off for visiting the island

DAY TWO
9:00am - 9:45am: Breakfast and review
9:45am- 10:45am: Planning for Success (guided session)
10:45am - 11:00am: Break
11:00am -12:15pm: Keeping Accountable (facilitated discussion)
12:15pm - 2:00pm: Leisurely Lunch
Rest of the day off for relaxation

Price*: $150/day

*not including accommodation (lodging and camping are available on the island)

If you are interested in attending, please contact me for more details.

For more information on Molokai:
Visit Molokai
Hawaiian Air
Pacific Wings Express (interisland)

Upcoming Retreat Dates:
July 5-6, 2008
September 20-21, 2008

For the last two years, I’ve been in a professional coaching relationship with Rob Seidenspinner of Sage Circle Coaching. I wanted to share with you some of the insights that I’ve found through coaching and especially how coaching relates to my personal development in business, family, relationships, and health.

When I first started coaching, I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I knew I wanted to make some drastic changes in my life and I thought it would be good to have some support to make that happen. Coaching typically takes the form of an intake session, which is about an hour in-person, and then weekly 45-minute phone calls, with a particular emphasis on goals, accountability, and an action plan towards achieving your goals.

I was familiar with the motto: “If you do what you’ve been doing, you’ll get what you’ve been getting!” and I had some ideas about what direction I wanted to move my life, but at the same time, when I first started the coaching process, I felt overwhelmed by the plethora of options and I felt a disconnect between my desire and my ability to actually move forward with a specific plan.

I’ve faced obstacles along the way (of course), where I didn’t understand why I was behaving in a certain way and needed some outside observation to help identify issues, or when external circumstances weren’t cooperating with what I wanted at the time, but coaching has also helped me approach these obstacles in a healthy manner.

When you do desire to make changes, I believe that many alternate things in your life also need to change. Self Made Chick has a revelatory article in her blog about “Lies I Told Myself that Kept me Broke and Lazy” link, and some of the things she talks about resonated with me: when one thing is going wrong in your life, typically multiple other things are also going wrong. One event feeds another, which feeds another, and so forth.

So if you’re in the pursuit of something better and something different, I believe this means making major changes to things like your diet, your attire, your exercise habits, your relationships, your household furnishings, or even your hairstyle! One positive change in one facet of your life will then start to feed another positive change in another part of your life, and so forth.

Typically if someone feels “broke” they also feel helpless, unable to participate, or unable to give anything away. Because of this, I always recommend that depressed people do some kind of volunteer work or community service: when I have been down, I’ve always found that “giving back” is a way to break my “woe is me” feeling.

Since I started coaching, I have made some major changes, including business changes (we work less but smarter now, and we have more revenue), family changes (developing closer relationships with my spouse and children), a location change (we moved to Hawai’i, a long term goal of mine), and a more holistic focus on how I want to live my life (instead of focusing on the short-term).

Because of the time and space that coaching has helped clear for me, I’ve had more ability to be introspective and think about ways to participate more fully in my community and in my sphere of influence. This has taken the form of doing more writing (like this blog and other publications), more volunteering (at the elementary school), more pro bono work (through my company), as well as more donations to causes I care about.

This has, of course, improved my self-image and my ability to feel like I am able to be a valuable part of any situation I find myself in. This has also opened up even more opportunities for me in terms of speaking engagements, referrals to more customers, an increase in my general health and well-being, and more quality relationships with others.

In terms of the coaching relationship, it probably will not work for you if you have deeper underlying issues and need someone to help you with therapy, behavior modification, or addictions. However, if you are looking for more of a support team, advisor, mentor, and equal relationship in pursuit of the goals you have for your life, coaching might work for you. A focus on business coaching is also ideal if you’re looking to improve your business process and flow: a business coach has many specific ideas and resources to help improve and expand your operations.

Some references to coaches:

Rob Seidenspinner, Balance, Fulfillment and Growth
Linkedin profile

Susan Kim, Life Coach and Professional Trainer
SusanKimCoaching.com

Akemi Gaines, Life Purpose, Passion and Entrepreneurship
Yes-to-me.com

Erica Ross-Krieger, The Wellness Coach
EricaRossKrieger.com

The following is an excerpt from the book Fifty-one Ways to Build your Community of Clients Online: How Women are Using the Internet to Grow their Business, Reach the Right Customers, and Make a Difference, by Monica S. Flores. Purchase the book online or at Amazon.

Tip 25. You’re a Clearinghouse: Link to Subject Matter

Subject matter changes so quickly as knowledge grows in a particular field. Today’s information worker typically processes more information in a month than any educated person three hundred years ago processed in a year. Because of the ever-expanding knowledge base in the world, your reputation as someone “in the know” helps your customers and clients trust your judgement.

When you act as a clearinghouse of select information, your web visitors use your site as a one-stop shop with resources to benefit their lives, improve their work environment, or keep ahead of changes in the field. Provide links to the following:

1) Articles in the news that directly impact your clients
2) Editorials on trends in your industry
3) Tools such as software or physical objects that will make your customers’ lives easier
4) Upcoming or expected regulation from the government in your field
5) Policy changes that impact your company
6) International trends or agreements that impact clients
7) An introduction to key players in your industry
8) Answers or viewpoints from industry leaders
9) Emerging trends that your customers may not know

As you add up-to-date information on your industry, others will view your site as a trusted information source.