I am a big believer in the importance of knowing your values and aligning your life in order to honor those values.
What are values? Quite simply, the principles by which you live your life: authenticity, courage, fun, relationships, personal growth, service or spirituality. Each person has a unique set of these principles that define you and tell you what is truly important to you. In effect, values are the essence of who you really are: i.e., the core to your authenticity.
Values are the core principles that run your life. They are the key to your authentic self. One of the best ways to create success in your life is aligning your life with your top values and making decisions that honor those values. In my career development workshops, I introduce the concept of values so that my workshop participants can …
Many high-achievers reach their goals, only to move on to the next one without pausing to reflect on their accomplishments. Then they wonder why they do not derive satisfaction from their achievements. Often, the reason stems from perfectionism and the voice of your inner critic.Celebrate Your Achievements and Get Over Your Perfectionism
A few months ago, I wrote about the first meeting of the personal board of directors of my friend and mentee, a brilliant, talented musician. This young music entrepreneur has assembled a personal board of directors with a wide range of experience:
• An internationally famous professional musician
• A retired business executive
• A retired media executive
• Her boyfriend/life partner, also an early-stage professional musician
• Me, a lawyer, life coach and former arts executive who knows a thing or two about creating career success in the music world
Whereas our first meeting was a general discussion of how our young musician could launch her career, this meeting has a very specific goal: to provide feedback on her applications to university teaching positions.
Welcome to 2011!
Are you one of those folks who made a solemn New Year’s Resolution that this is the year that you will lose 10 pounds, start working out or learn French?
How long has this been on your list? And what’s your pattern?
If you are like many people, you devote yourself to this new activity for the month of January and then, a month later, that life-changing resolution has fallen by the wayside. Often, these new goal are “shoulds” or are motivated by fear rather than things that you genuinely want. Another reason is that you may not have cleaned up your house enough to let in new habits. Think about all the things that are sucking the energy out of you and do not leave you with enough time or energy to devote to your authentic self. You may not even have the energy to contemplate your authentic self. So instead of making a lofty New Year’s Resolution, maybe what you need to do is to declutter and get rid of that negative energy.
With holiday season upon us, top ten lists abound! So here is my contribution of the Top Ten Gifts that you can give to yourself to help you take charge of your life and begin to experience authentic success.
What comes up to interfere with your effective use of your time? Perhaps you have heard yourself think the following thoughts:
To be a successful musician—or indeed successful in any enterprise—time management and prioritization are essential skills. Musicians are busy people! It is essential for them to manage their time AND their energy. And often, things crop up that interfere with smooth time management and create obstacles to career success. Read what time management challenges the students at the Yale School of Music are facing and how we went about solving them.
In a recent blog post, I shared my experience of judging a famous pianist for what I felt was a less than perfect performance. My harsh judgment of this artist turned out to be a judgment of myself and my own abilities. So what happens when you find yourself being judged by someone else and being the brunt of that person’s criticism of you?
Do you feel stuck in your life right now?
Do you have that unsettling feeling that you know that you can do more with yourself but you are not sure where to turn?
Do you long to be successful (however you define that success) but you do not know where to begin?
If you are someone who seeks deep fulfillment in life and longs for true success, you may need a Life Purpose Statement. This is one of the keys to success in life since discovering your purpose will give you a sense of clarity around what you want to achieve, a sense of direction in where to start and the motivation to make it happen. Learn the four-step process that will lead you to discover your life purpose and supercharge your search for fulfillment.
