Day #25 – Slide Down the Hall in Your Socks

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being happy, executive coaching, Feeling joy, have some fun, how to be happy, how to stop worrying, life coaching, life transition, Mary Lee Gannon, starting over again, starting over now, Stop worrying

365 Ways to Start Over: Day #25 – Slide Down the Hall in Your Socks

When is the last time you were so absolutely elated about something that you cranked up the radio as loud as you could and danced your heart out? When was the last time that you threw back your sun roof, rolled down all the windows, tossed in your favorite CD and cruised your favorite sites while singing like a rock star? When was the last time you were so revved up that you raced down your hall in your socks like you were master surfing a wild tube in Kawai?

Do it today. What are you waiting for? Five years from now the thing you are worried about will be a distant memory. But feelings of joy will not. There are people who cannot drive a car, hear music, sing, or swim who would love to have these feelings. Life is grand. Get going!

Get Mary Lee’s article Anxiety is Practicing Fear in Advance – Eliminate It!

Mary Lee Gannon is the president of Gannon Group – an executive coaching and consulting firm that produces higher individual and organizational performance through Executive Leadership Coaching, Fundraising Coaching, Organizational Development, Board Retreats, Visioning, and Planning. Mary Lee’s personal turnaround came as a stay-at-home mother, with four children under seven-years-old, who endured a divorce that took she and the children from the country club life to public assistance from where within a short time she worked up to the level of CEO. Her book “Starting Over – 25 Rules for When You’ve Bottomed Out” is available in bookstores or at Amazon. Get her FREE ebook – “Grow Productivity – A Leader’s Toolbox” on her web site at www.StartingOverNow.com.

Day #12 – Plan “A” Versus Plan “B”

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365 Ways to Start Over, 5 year plan, Day #12 - Plan A Versus Plan B, Gannon Group, Goal setting, How to be a success, how to be happy, Mary Lee Gannon, Planning, starting over, starting over now, Success, successful planning

365 Ways to Start Over: Day #12 – Plan A Versus Plan B

If you work on your weaknesses and back-up plan, then you will become a little better at being underperforming. If you use your strengths to focus on your big goal, then you will be sensational.

There is no reason to have a plan “B” because it detracts from plan “A.”

Get Mary Lee’s article on defining your Strengths.

Mary Lee Gannon is the president of Gannon Group – a full service executive coaching, training and consulting firm that provides productivity strategies for people and organizations by improving team performance, executive leadership skills, board performance, planning and project execution. Mary Lee’s personal turnaround came as a stay-at-home mother, with four children under seven-years-old, who endured a divorce that took she and the children from the country club life to public assistance from where within a short time she worked up to the level of CEO. Her book “Starting Over – 25 Rules for When You’ve Bottomed Out” is available in bookstores or at Amazon. Get her FREE ebook – “Grow Productivity – A Leader’s Toolbox” on her web site at www.StartingOverNow.com.

Day #11 – Mostly Sunny or Partly Cloudy

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being proactive, Gannon Group, how to be happy, how to start over, Mary Lee Gannon, Pittsburgh weather, starting over, starting over now, startingovernow.com

365 Ways to Start Over: Day #11 – Mostly Sunny or Partly Cloudy

When listening to weather announcers, is there really a whole lot of difference between “mostly sunny” or “partly cloudy?” Probably not. Or how about when they add, “with a 50% chance of rain.” Those of you who live in or have ever been to Pittsburgh know that this forecast could suffice for about 75% of the year in this town. The truth is that no one can predict anything with 100% certainty. But how we color our comments reflects how we see our life today and into the future. Quite simply “mostly sunny” sounds a lot more uplifting than anything cloudy. And there is a 50% chance that it won’t rain too.

Uncover the “perfect day” moments in your life each day and more of those moments will prophesy into the future. The day may be stressful but the sky may be a brilliant shade of blue that calls you to remember lying in your yard as a child and finding animals in the cloud shapes. You may have had an unpleasant encounter with a friend or colleague but you are grateful for the income of your job and that you have friends in your life. There are so many things outside of our control. We can only control how we see what happens. What forecast do you want to project?

Mary Lee Gannon is the president of Gannon Group – a full service executive coaching, training and consulting firm that provides productivity strategies for people and organizations by improving team performance, executive leadership skills, board performance, planning and project execution. Mary Lee’s personal turnaround came as a stay-at-home mother, with four children under seven-years-old, who endured a divorce that took she and the children from the country club life to public assistance from where within a short time she worked up to the level of CEO. Her book “Starting Over – 25 Rules for When You’ve Bottomed Out” is available in bookstores or at Amazon. Get her FREE ebook – “Grow Productivity – A Leader’s Toolbox” on her web site at www.StartingOverNow.com.

Day #10 – Pick Up An Eraser

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eliminate the nonsense in life, getting along with difficult people, how to be happy, Mary Lee Gannon, simplify life, starting over now

365 Ways to Start Over: Day #10 – Pick Up an Eraser

What would it take to eliminate all the nonsense in your life? More money? More time? More organization? More opportunities? When you acquire all the “Mores” does it help ease your stress? Generally not. The key to a happy life isn’t defining what you need more of. It’s eliminating what you don’t need. It’s taking a big eraser to the pieces of your life that in 10 years won’t matter so that the gems may shine through more brightly. If you have trouble with a certain person at work, limit your interaction or limit your responses to well thought remarks – remove dialogue that will only heighten the drama. If you are stressed with financial concerns, eliminate things that are not essential to your happiness – can you make do with a used car instead of a new one and do you really need all those cable channels? If you can’t make up your mind about whether to look for a new job or not, what could you say “No” to that would make the answer easier?

You control the eraser. What will shine through once the trappings of “won’t matter in 10 years” are out of the way?

Mary Lee Gannon is the president of Gannon Group – a full service executive coaching, training and consulting firm that provides productivity strategies for people and organizations by improving team performance, executive leadership skills, board performance, planning and project execution. Mary Lee’s personal turnaround came as a stay-at-home mother, with four children under seven-years-old, who endured a divorce that took she and the children from the country club life to public assistance from where within a short time she worked up to the level of CEO. Her book “Starting Over – 25 Rules for When You’ve Bottomed Out” is available in bookstores or at Amazon. Get her FREE ebook – “Grow Productivity – A Leader’s Toolbox” on her web site at www.StartingOverNow.com.

Day #9 – Open the Door

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good manners, Helping others, how to be happy, how to slow down, Mary Lee Gannon, starting over, starting over now, Steelers, Steelers Cookies, Super Bowl 45, Super Bowl 45 and the Steelers, Super Bowl Memories

365 Ways to Start Over: Day#9 — Open the Door

You’re in a hurry. You run out at lunch time to pick up Steelers cookies for the big game Sunday. You feel the pressure of imposing work deadlines but you figure this will only take you a few minutes. You pull into a parking lot with snow mountains in its corners and notice a woman helping a man out of the car but don’t think much of it. You park you car and cross the lot when you notice coming up alongside of you is the same couple. But the man was not the one being helped out of the car. He was obviously helping the woman out of the car – a woman who is in a wheel chair with half of her body limp. You wonder if her drooping hand feels the cold.

For a split second you know you could dart inside the door, get your cookies and scoot. It’s a decision similar to when you get on an elevator, the door is closing, you hear someone approaching and know if you push “Door Open” they’ll make it or if you don’t they can get the next one.

Without hesitation you open the door for the couple so that the woman’s husband may wheel her inside with far greater ease than he got her out of the car. Because they entered prior to you they were seated by the hostess who had been at the cash register adjacent to the cookie case. It took a while since they needed help moving a chair away from the table to make room for the wheel chair. You watch from the counter as the hostess then seats the people who came in to dine with them.

All of a sudden you’re not in as much of a hurry as you thought. You start chatting with the hostess about how they sold 1400 Steelers cookies last night alone. Another employee joins the conversation and shares that yesterday they had to make green and gold cookies for the Green Bay Packers. You’re all smiling as she explains they told themselves they were just making Irish cookies.

When you get back to the office you share the stories of the 1400 Steelers cookies being sold in one night and the Green Bay Packers Irish cookies. Your day slows down just a little and you take the time to eat lunch with people instead of at your desk today. You smile at people you hardly used to notice and stop to take part in Steelers activities you wouldn’t have had time for a week ago. And you got a lot more work done after that then you ever thought you would.

Slow down. Open doors. Smile. Laugh with others. Laugh at yourself. Start now!

Mary Lee Gannon is the president of Gannon Group – a full service executive coaching, training and consulting firm that provides productivity strategies for people and organizations by improving team performance, executive leadership skills, board performance, planning and project execution. Mary Lee’s personal turnaround came as a stay-at-home mother, with four children under seven-years-old, who endured a divorce that took she and the children from the country club life to public assistance from where within a short time she worked up to the level of CEO. Her book “Starting Over – 25 Rules for When You’ve Bottomed Out” is available in bookstores or at Amazon. Get her FREE ebook – “Grow Productivity – A Leader’s Toolbox” on her web site at www.StartingOverNow.com.

Day #6 – What Is the Box of Crayons in Your Life?

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Anxiety about starting over, building compassion, crayons and life, executive coaching for difficult situations, finding my purpose, how to be happy, How to Build Confidence, how to get unstuck, how to get what you want, life purpose, Mary Lee Gannon, starting over, starting over now

365 Ways to Start Over: Day #6 – What Is the Box of Crayons in Your Life?

Remember when you were little and summer was coming to a close, swimming pools were shutting down and everyone was getting ready to go back to school? You were sad to say goodbye to your pool friends, melancholy about losing the liberty of playing in nearby parks and hanging out on neighbor’s porches, and contemplative as you listened to crickets usher in the fall. What would school be like this year? Who would you sit next to at lunch? Who would be your homeroom teacher? Lots of new things were on the horizon. But was there anything about going back to school that was as awesome as a brand new box of Crayola Crayons?

Remember the big box with the sharpener on the back? Remember the smell when you opened it? Remember how cool it was to organize them by color or to just spill them in a vibrant waterfall over the table? Remember how your favorite colors always got used up first: Aquamarine, Burnt Orange, Caribbean Green, Canary, Chestnut, Goldenrod, Mountain Meadow, Mulberry, Sepia, Sky Blue, Forest Green.

Crayons invite you through a door of promise. They call you to create a canvas of imagination by giving you the soft pliable touch of an art instrument coupled with a palate of freedom. They wave you to open ended possibilities in a sea of soft hues.

What is the box of crayons in your life? What excites you to the point that you shed the melancholy of the past and reach for the opportunities to shade your world a new tone? Maybe you don’t yet know what your masterpiece will look like. Maybe you try a few colors and switch to a few more. Ever wonder why nobody invented an eraser for the end of crayons? Practicing your masterpiece is part of getting it right. There’s a lot of paper in the world. You just start over.

Mary Lee Gannon is the president of Gannon Group – a full service executive coaching, training and consulting firm that provides productivity strategies for people and organizations by improving team performance, executive leadership skills, board performance, planning and project execution. Mary Lee’s personal turnaround came as a stay-at-home mother, with four children under seven-years-old, who endured a divorce that took she and the children from the country club life to public assistance from where within a short time she worked up to the level of CEO. Her book “Starting Over – 25 Rules for When You’ve Bottomed Out” is available in bookstores or at Amazon. Get her FREE ebook – “Grow Productivity – A Leader’s Toolbox” on her web site at www.StartingOverNow.com.

Day #2 – Being Treated Unfairly? Assume Nothing.

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being happy, being proactive, being treated fairly, executive coaching, executive coaching for difficult situations, executive coaching for teaching compassion, how to be happy, How to Build Confidence, how to get unstuck, how to get what you want, how to have a positive attitude, Mary Lee Gannon

365 Ways to Start Over: Day #2 – Being Treated Unfairly? Assume Nothing.

Ever find that you are being treated unfairly? My question is this: Are you REALLY being treated unfairly or is that your assumption? Our perception is ours to own but may not be reality. To focus on it pushes us to perseverate on feeling disempowered instead of opening our minds to how we may be proactive.

When Life Doesn’t Seem Fair:

1. Use only “I” statements and not “he” or “she” statements to describe what is going on. “I am noticing that this person is ignoring me. I wonder what her perception is of me. I wonder what I could have done to make her assume that. I wonder what I can do now to alter that perception.” NOT: “He never treats me fairly. He has favorites and they always get all the perks. He is overrated.”

2. Be “curious” and “compassionate” to the other individual. What is she afraid of that prompts her to act this way? If she fears that I am not respecting her and this makes her look incompetent then maybe I can validate her with a genuine compliment. If he fears that I am not doing my job and that reflects poorly on him then maybe I need to inform him of the measurable accomplishments I have contributed to the team and ask what else I can do to help.

3. Envision the other party as a seven-year-old child. What would you do differently if this person who has been treating you unfairly was a child? This person may be thinking like a child if he is behaving badly toward you. What can you do to calm her inner child?

Make no assumptions about what others think. Indeed, you may be being treated unfairly, but to focus on what others think renders you powerless. Most likely you will be too focused on feeling personally assaulted which leaves you feeling victimized. You can only control what you think. Concentrate on what pro-active measures you can take to bring peace to the situation for yourself and the other party.

Mary Lee Gannon is the president of Gannon Group – a full service executive coaching, training and consulting firm that provides productivity strategies for people and organizations by improving team performance, executive leadership skills, board performance, planning and project execution. Mary Lee’s personal turnaround came as a stay-at-home mother, with four children under seven-years-old, who endured a divorce that took she and the children from the country club life to public assistance from here within a short time she worked out of that to the level of CEO. Her book “Starting Over – 25 Rules for When You’ve Bottomed Out” is available in bookstores or at Amazon. Get her FREE ebook – “Grow Productivity – A Leader’s Toolbox” on her web site at http://www.StartingOverNow.com.

Day#1 Life is Cool – Pay Attention!

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attitude, authenticity, executive coaching, fidning joy in life, how to be happy, life is cool, Overcoming Adversity

365 Ways to Start Over: Day#1 Life is Cool – Pay Attention!

Once upon a time I was a lifeguard. Do you remember when life was so perfect that you saw all your friends every day, you had a warm meal cooked for you at a table with every member of your family every night and your only challenge was which piece of candy to buy on the way home from school? Did you realize how cool that was back then?

When I was a teenager and lifeguard at our local pool I was happy to have that job but at the time I didn’t realize how really cool it was. I could have been working retail hours with people I didn’t know. I could have been wearing a uniform that made me look like a hamburger ad. I could have been doing a lot of less productive things but I had the luxury of working in the sun all day guarding the people in my community and eating free food on breaks.

Life is still that great – so great and so short that there are things we will want to appreciate today and remember a decade from now. What went on in your day today that 10 to 20 years from now you will remember as cool? Did someone pay for lunch? Did someone call you to chat just because they value your opinion? Did you wake up in a house full of energy and enthusiasm even if it seemed a little chaotic? And how will you celebrate the marvel of that today!

Life is cool every day. Listen to the silence. Pay attention!

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Get the articles “Emotional Intelleigence” and “Don’t Blow Your Cool” at http://www.startingovernow.com/Articles-and-Tip-Sheets.html.

Mary Lee Gannon is the president of Gannon Group – a full service
executive coaching, training and consulting firm that provides
productivity strategies for people and organizations by improving team
performance, executive leadership skills, board performance, planning
and project execution. Mary Lee’s personal turnaround came as a stay-
at-home mother, with four children under seven-years-old, who
endured a divorce that took she and the children from the country club life to public assistance from where within a short time she worked out of that to the level of CEO. Her book “Starting Over – 25 Rules for When You’ve Bottomed Out” is available in bookstores or at Amazon. Get her FREE ebook – “Grow Productivity – A Leader’s Toolbox” on her web site at www.StartingOverNow.com.