Posts

Dr Peggy Marshall

A Passionate Life

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"Enthusiasm is one of the most powerful engines of success. When you do a thing, do it with all your might. Put your whole soul into it. Stamp it with your own personality. Be active, be energetic and faithful, and you will accomplish your object. Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm."— Ralph Waldo Emerson It’s February-a month associated with love and passion. I want to focus this month’s blog on doing what we love. I have worked with clients who are extremely successful, yet are not doing what they love. This seems counterintuitive because most of us believe that if someone is successful that person must love what they do. This is not always the case. Tama Kieves in “This Time I Dance” talks about her own evolution into doing what she loves. She was a very successful lawyer yet found herself lamenting to a friend that she wasn’t sure she LOVED being a lawyer. Her friend asked “If you are this successful doing work you don’t love doing, then what could you do with work you love doing?” I think this is a great question for all of us as we connect the word love with work
Dr Peggy Marshall

End of

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As we reach the end of 2010, I want to remind readers of the importance of reflection to our growth and success. There is not a better time for reflection then at the end of something and the beginning of another. I know most of you are thinking-“Is she crazy-doesn’t she realize how busy my schedule is?” I certainly do as my schedule is also brimming to the top. However, if we don’t set aside time for reflection we risk moving into 2011 without a solid evaluation of what’s working in our lives and what is not. As a result we could be destined to repeat 2011 in the same manner that we moved through 2010. I find in my busy life that the best time for reflection is the last week of the year as activities seem to have reached their peak by then and I feel like I can take a breath.
Dr Peggy Marshall

Thinking Differently about Conflict

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When we think about conflict, many of us cringe. We avoid it, we ignore it, and we may try desperately to remain disengaged from it. However, when we allow ourselves to embrace conflict as a natural component of healthy relationships, we can learn tools and techniques that move us through conflict more quickly and resolutely. Dudley Weeks in “Eight Essential Step to Conflict Resolution” lays out a road map for us to successfully navigate through conflict.
Dr Peggy Marshall

What Matters Most

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I was talking with a friend today who has survived five bouts of cancer (more on that in my September blog). We were talking about how priorities change when one is faced with life changing circumstances. He related a story about a woman who when she found out she had cancer quit her job because her job was making her sick. Our conversation made me think about Cheryl Richardson’s book, “Take Time for Your Life”. (www.cherylrichardson.com) She believes that people face seven common obstacles that seem to prevent them from living their best life. The list includes; difficulty putting self first, a schedule that does not reflect priorities, feeling drained by people or situations, living on adrenalin, lack of a support community, and putting their spiritual well-being last.
Dr Peggy Marshall

Talking to Yourself

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What do you say when you talk to yourself? For most of us, our first reaction is probably “I don’t talk to myself”. However, we all do this-it’s a matter of noticing what we are saying and when!
Dr Peggy Marshall

April Showers bring May Flowers

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I am in Ohio and spent the holiday with family. The flowers are blooming everywhere as they have had above average temperatures for the past two weeks. However, we are supposed to have rain tonight and it reminded me of the old say “April showers bring May flowers”. My coach hat turns that comment into we need to nurture what we want to grow. Here’s the question for you-what in your life are you watering?
Dr Peggy Marshall

Spring into Cleaning

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During the month of March we move into Spring. When I think of Spring-I think of Spring Cleaning. It’s a time to get rid of cobwebs, dust bunnies and the accumulations from winter. However for the blog this month we are going to focus on a different type of Spring Cleaning and that is letting go of behaviors or issues that are in our way to being our best self. In the coaching world, these behaviors or issues are referred to as tolerations.
Dr Peggy Marshall

Lets Work on the Right Thing

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“Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do, than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails." - Mark Twain
Dr Peggy Marshall

Changing Our Stories

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Last month your assignment was to explore the stories you tell in the areas of health, happiness, work, family and relationships. We focused on these five areas because we sometimes have the most creative and revealing stories in these areas of our lives. As you reflect on the stories you wrote begin to deconstruct them by identifying the hero or heroine, the victims, the circumstances, who has power and who doesn’t, and the general feeling you have about the story. Did you like you stories or did you find that some parts of your stories need changing?