|
|
|
November, 2006: What got us hooked on Dancing With the Stars? Greetings, Welcome to your fr*ee monthly e-newsletter about living the solution... not the problem! Written and published by: Dr. Toby Silverton & Dr. Bev McLagan Sent to subscribers in Canada, U.S., U.K., the Middle East and Asia. Many thanks to everyone who forwards the newsletter on. We grow through your recommendations so please keep up the good work and forward this newsletter to a few friends and colleagues. In This Issue: Go anywhere in this issue fast by clicking on a topic.
We hang our heads and confess to being sad examples of current pop culture…neither of us are into reality shows. It’s sad but true. Not a single episode of the Apprentice, Amazing Race, Survivor, Wife Swap, any Idol show, or The Bachelor …(we do admit to the occasional Holmes on Holmes, but only for renovation tips) has captured the imaginations of these two. So imagine our surprise when we found ourselves hooked on Dancing with the Stars! So what got us hooked? Could be because (a) we both danced in a previous life (see the bio page of our website for the gory details), or (b) the glitzy almost there costumes, big hair, high heels and amazing bodies or (c) witnessing the perfect example of drive, motivation and ultimate triumph. Well, it is probably (d) a unique combo of all the above, but since it would require an entirely different newsletter to go with the sequins and high heels we’ll stick with (c)! If you haven’t seen any season of Dancing with the Stars, we’ll just quickly fill you in. Ten celebrities pair with ten professional ballroom dancers and over the next few weeks go from having, in some cases, two left feet to being able to hold their own amongst the professionals. The celebrities range from soap opera stars to professional football players, to this seasons favourite Jerry Springer! Needless to say, most are waaay out of their depth. We’re thinking that it’s all about leaping out of your comfort zone; taking risks; not fearing failure; stretching your identity; and learning a whole new set of skills. So when you take that leap, what can you expect to encounter when you leave base camp and start climbing to who only knows where? In a nutshell, you can expect to uncover more potential in yourself than you ever realized existed. Challenge does that for you; it makes you face your limitations and push beyond your current physical or mental capabilities until you discover a new strength, a new agility, a new sensibility of your world, and most definitely a new philosophy for living. Then there’s the part most people don’t tell you. Expect failure. Yes, you heard us right, expect failure. If it’s all going right, it will look something like this: try, fail, learn more, get frustrated, fall down, get bruised (bones and ego), get back up, try it over again, goof-up some more, experience improvement and ultimately experience the exhilaration of accomplishment. What keeps you going? Belief. Belief that you will live through the journey from mistakes to triumphs. Then there is coming to terms with your competitive drive. We all have one. Most of us have been taught that competing has to do with winning and losing, and to win means to beat someone else. That, in essence, puts a lot of people off the very idea of being competitive. When it comes right down to it, competition with others is always about competition with yourself. So we need a mental shift from wanting to win to wanting to accomplish. It is the difference between success and fulfillment. When we compete with others we simply rack up the external successes, you know the ones you can measure like number of promotions, number of holidays taken, type of car driven, salary, yes, even number of kids you have – that’s what society calls success. When we compete with ourselves we seek fulfillment and a deep sense of satisfaction and well-being that can only come from inside ourselves. So you’ve climbed and you’ve slipped and you have finally reached the summit. It’s hard to recognize base camp from this height. You are looking through the eyes of someone who you never could have imagined before you accepted the new challenge. You have stretched your identity to grasp a new reality of who you could become and what you could accomplish. There is no going back. It’s time to catch your breath and take in the vista. Life is never just one mountain peak…nor one valley. So everytime you think you have “peaked” look outward across the whole mountain range cause it goes something like this. Know your truth, define what you want, learn how to get it, know what to do with it when you get it, redefine who you have become because of your challenge and then begin again. Another base camp to leave, another summit to aim for. Who would have thought that ballroom dancing in 4-inch heels could be so profound!
We thank you for being out there. We thank you for reading what we put out into the world. There is lots of new stuff to come this year and we invite you to join us on this journey toward equilibrium and prosperity. If you would like to share any thoughts with us, we’d love to hear from you. Till next month… Embrace Life
You are free to use material from Live the Solution!® in whole or in part, as long as you include complete attribution including our website and email link. The copyright notice should read: "By Toby Silverton, PhD. and Bev McLagan, PhD. of Silverton McLagan Coaching. Contact: coach@livethesolution.com. To unsubscribe or change your email address, just go to www.livethesolution.com/lwiezine.html Did you enjoy receiving Live the Solution? If you did, please forward it to your friends and associates. We would like to hear from you, email us your comments and ideas. T: 604-241-0810(PT) or E: coach@livethesolution.com. Visit our website at www.livethesolution.com. |
|
Don't keep this newsletter a secret!
Help spread the word about how to Live the Solution by clicking the button below now.
|
Live the Solution!®
is a registered trademark
of Silverton McLagan Coaching (Canada)
© 2006
