Stick a Fork In It

Is it done?

That book you've been writing. That degree you've been wanting. That project that could change your career. That budget that could get your finances in order. That conversation that could repair a relationship. That business plan you started. That closet you were cleaning out. That vegetable garden you've been planting.

What do you have in your life that's undone? You know...those things that we talk about. Those things that we start but never finish. The very things that we have invested some of our time, money and resources into. Those things we SAY are important, but our actions prove otherwise.

When it comes to getting those items done, two options come to mind.

Option #1

You can take the approach that "Sometimes, done is better than perfect." Want to write a book? Stop waiting for a burst of creativity or a large block of time. On your next lunch break, pull out paper and pen or open up Word and start writing. As someone who has written and published several fiction books, I've discovered a great button on the keyborad. It's called "delete". If you don't like what you've written, you can just delete it. But you can't delete what you don't write.

Been putting off a difficult conversation? Go ahead and set a time to talk or just call them up. You can start with "I don't know exactly what to say, but we need to talk. I feel..."

Want to plant a garden? Stop looking at that plot of land in the backyard and go to your local nursery and ask how to plant a few of your favorites indoors or in a small area outside. Buy the soil, the container, some seeds, and start planting.

Unfortunately, we can get so caught up in doing it right, making it perfect, having the best setting, or wanting to only do something when we know we can "give it the attention it needs", that days, weeks, months and years go by. So, I say you go with the theory that "done can be better than perfect" and get moving on your project today!

Option #2

Let it go. Simply decide that you are no longer interested in that goal and release yourself of the burden. Maybe you wanted to write a book, but now you don't. Maybe you wanted to plant a vegetable garden, but your local "Whole Foods" is serving you just fine. Maybe you wanted to finish school, but at this point, it's no longer a priority for you. If that's the case, give yourself permission to let it go and move on.

Who cares what people may think? It's your life, and you have the right to change your mind.

No matter which option you choose, the good news is that you can finally take that project and stick a fork in it...because it will be done!

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As the RADICAL Success Coach, Doreen Rainey helps her clients take charge of their professional and personal life.  To subscribe to her FREE bi-weekly newsletter and get 7 RADICAL Tips that you can use today, visit her website.

Becoming a Champion

At some point in our lives, we've all witnessed it. For some of us, we have experienced it. It is the thrill of being a champion. Being THE winner. Being #1. Hearing the applause of those around you as they celebrate your accomplishment.

It's in those moments that we look back on all the hard work, blood, sweat, and tears it took to get there and admit that it was worth it.

But if you haven't had those moments lately, it could be because you have strayed away from doing the hard work. To me, being a champion is the easy part. It's BECOMING a champion where the road gets tough.

Becoming a champion means that you're in training...and training requires two things: Commitment and Discipline. If you've been lacking in one, or both, of these areas lately, I would venture to guess that you haven't stood in the winner's circle in quite a while.

What championship are you working towards? Is it a college degree? Getting in shape? Eliminating your credit card debt? Starting your own business? Perhaps it's getting a new job, going after a promotion, or saving for a house. Whatever it is you are going for - now is the time to do an honest gut check on your commitment and your discipline.

Ask yourself: What does it really take to get what I want?

Do you need to get up early? Stay up late? Turn off the TV? Cut up the credit cards? Skip dessert? Go to the gym daily? Take on an new project at work? Do more professional networking?

My challenge to you is to choose one area where you're going for the gold. Pick one goal that you've let a lack of commitment and lack of discipline get you off track. Now, decide to recommit yourself and to have daily discipline towards reaching that goal.

Grab a pen and paper right now and write down exactly what you will do to move toward your goal - then read it every day to remind you of what action you must take . By doing so, it won't be long before you'll once again feel the thrill of victory!

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Doreen Rainey is a Life Coach and Speaker who helps her clients Get RADICAL! For a FREE 30 day membership to the RADICAL Lifestyle Women's Network or to subscribe to her bi-weekly newsletter, visit her website. Join Doreen in the Washington, DC area for the 2010 Get RADICAL Women's Conference featuring Jillian Michaels, Fitness Trainer from The Biggest Loser and Rhonda Britten, Emmy Winner Life Coach from Starting Over and Celebrity Fit Club.

Your Calling Circle

I use to have a cell phone plan that only allowed me to call a certain group of people at no charge. The company called it my "calling circle". With a limited number of spots, I had to think carefully, and choose wisely, who I would let in.

Who would be worth my coveted free airtime? Family? Friends? A couple of coworkers? And I wasn't the only one making this type of decision. I knew other people who had the same type of plan. Would I make it into their calling circle? Have I fostered enough relationships to be worthy of someone else's talk time?

Fast forward a few years, and most of the plans now allow you to call anybody and everybody at any time. People no longer have to think about who to let in and who to exclude. That's what technology has done to us.

With so much access to people and information available in every possible form, we no longer have defined parameters of deciding who, or what, gets let into our "circle". We get emails from companies we don't remember signing up for. We get "friend requests" from people we barely knew years ago - or don't know at all. We have access to the Internet from just about anywhere. And we have hundreds of television and radio stations vying for our time and attention. No wonder it has become so challenging to manage our circle.

With a New Year just a week away, now might be the best time to become the gatekeeper of your circle again. To evaluate all the things that have infiltrated your circle - the good, the bad, and the complete time waster. Your circle is valuable space and should only be occupied by those people, and things, that contribute to your joy, fulfillment, peace and to the path that leads towards your family, personal, and career goals.

What Will the New Year Bring For You?

If you're like me, in the midst of all the holiday preparations, you're thinking about 2010 and what the new year will bring.

Knowing some of the things I want to accomplish, I've already become part of a mentor program and have joined a business mastermind group - both of which begin after the new year.

Taking a few steps now to set things up in January is a great way to get your year off to a fantastic start.  And if you're looking for a way to set your goals, gain focus and create a practicle plan of action, have I got the program for you! 

Check out my brand new self-paced coaching program.

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  7 Steps for Taking Charge of Your Professional and Personal Life

• Are you ready to make changes in your professional or personal life but not sure how?
• Do you have goals and aspirations that you have yet to achieve?
• Does the thought of doing something different scare you - even though you know you need to make a change?
• What would it be like to define success for yourself and then take positive steps to achieve it?
• How would your life be different if you reached your goals in your finances, career, health, and/or life balance?

If any of these questions apply to you, now is the time to invest in you with this brand new self-paced coaching program.

This step-by-step coaching program shares how to take bold and courageous action towards achieving your self-defined success. Giving you a blueprint for taking charge of your professional and personal life, you’ll deepen the learning about your passion and purpose and move forward in action to create the life – and the lifestyle - you deserve.

Your 3-CD set and accompanying workbook is not a “one size fits all” solution. I understand that your goals and dreams are just that - yours. Knowing this, the program provides an interactive format that allows you to focus on your unique goals, ambition and aspirations, so that you can design the action steps necessary for your own success - at your own pace.

Being released on January 14, 2010, you can save now by taking advantage of pre-release discouts.  Find out more.

You Gotta Know When to Hold 'Em

You got to know when to hold 'em,
know when to fold 'em,
Know when to walk away
And know when to run.

I love the lyrics from The Gambler by Kenny Rogers. At the end of every year, many people, including me, start thinking about and evaluating where they are in life.  They take stock of what they have accomplished and what they may want to be different in the upcoming year.  One of the best ways to do that is to follow Kenny's instructions!

You got to know when to hold ‘em:
What’s working well in your life? What is it in your relationships, career, business, or finances that’s worth holding on to? These are the things that make you happy, bring you joy, and keep you motivated to keep moving in a positive direction. These are the things you want more of in your life.  You want to hold on to the people, processes, and habits that are serving you well and giving you the results you want.

Know when to fold ‘em:
What do you need to just let go of? Is there something – or someone – in your life that you need to say “enough”? It can be hard, emotional, and challenging to release those things that bring you down, drain your energy, and cause you pain and suffering. Maybe it’s a job that’s no longer challenging.  Maybe it’s a client that has worn out their welcome. Maybe it’s a friendship that has run its course. Maybe it’s a habit that you have to break once and for all.

Know when to walk away:
I heard a woman say that when she started her business and got a couple of billion dollar companies as clients, everyone thought she’d reached the pinnacle of success. But while the money was good, the clients were wearing her - and her staff - out. So what did she do? She walked away from them and started working with new clients. And she is just as successful and has never looked back. Walking away can be one of the hardest things you will do, but it can also be the thing to give you your life back.

Know when to run:
Whether you run towards something or away from something, it can be an exhilarating experience. Know what you want out of life – and then be bold and courageous enough to run after it!

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Doreen Rainey is a Life Coach and Speaker who helps her clients Get RADICAL! For a FREE 30 day membership to the RADICAL Lifestyle Women's Network or to subscribe to her bi-weekly newsletter, visit her website. Join Doreen in the Washington, DC area for the 2010 Get RADICAL Women's Conference featuring Jillian Michaels, Fitness Trainer from The Biggest Loser and Rhonda Britten, Emmy Winner Life Coach from Starting Over and Celebrity Fit Club.

So You Want to Be a...

Periodically, people contact me to get insight and information about becoming a life coach. They’ll share that they are the ones that all their friends come to for advice. They tell me how they want to help people reach their full potential. They’ll talk about the fact that they know “complainers” and people who are not happy and they want to help them find contentment and satisfaction.

As the conversation continues, the questions they ask begin to revolve around whether they should get certified, how they should market their business to get clients, and how much to charge.

I always tell them that before they do any of that, they should GET a life coach. For many, the thought never occurred to them – and I find it amusing that a person who wants to become a life coach has never thought to get one. But that’s not the kicker! Some of these people who say they want to build a business around coaching others get really quiet when we begin to talk about how much one-on-one coaching can cost.

And that always leads me to ask this question: If you (person who wants to be a coach), don’t see the value in having a coach, how can you expect to convince others of the value of hiring you?

I came across this blog entry the other day, and it sums up my thoughts exactly!
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Watch the money

"How much life insurance do you have?"

Zig Ziglar liked to say that with that one question, you could tell if someone was a successful life insurance agent. If they're not willing to buy it with their own money, how can they honestly persuade someone else to do so?

If you're in the music business but you never buy tickets or downloads, can you really empathize with the people you're selling to?

My favorite: if you work for a non-profit and you don't give money to charity, what exactly are you doing in this job? I've met some incredibly generous people in the charitable world, but I can also report that a huge number of people—even on the fundraising side—would happily cross the street and risk a beating in order to avoid giving $100 to a cause that's not their own. And the shame of it is that this inaction on their part keeps them from experiencing the very emotion that they try so hard to sell.

Money is more than a transfer of value. It's a statement of belief. An ad agency that won't buy ads, a consultant who won't buy consulting, and a waiter who doesn't tip big—it's a sign, and not a good one. Seth's Blog

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Doreen Rainey is a Life Coach and Speaker who helps her clients Get RADICAL! For a FREE 30 day membership to the RADICAL Lifestyle Women's Network or to subscribe to her bi-weekly newsletter, visit her website. Join Doreen in the Washington, DC area for the 2010 Get RADICAL Women's Conference featuring Jillian Michaels, Fitness Trainer from The Biggest Loser and Rhonda Britten, Emmy Winner Life Coach from Starting Over and Celebrity Fit Club.

Bumpy Ride or Smooth Sailing?

Is your life a smooth ride or a bit bumpy? One way to find out is to complete the Wheel of Life.

This is one of the initial exercises I ask my clients to complete when we begin coaching. While it's a short exercise, it’s a powerful way to give you a visual snapshot of how satisfied you are with where you are. The results give you a vivid visual representation of the way your life is currently, compared with the way you would ideally like it to be.

You'll be asked to rate 8 areas of your life:

• Career
• Money
• Health
• Friends/Family
• Significant Other/Relationship
• Personal Growth
• Fun/Recreation
• Physical Environment

If you want to see how bumpy or smooth your life ride is right now, do the exercise. But remember, the key is to be 100% honest with yourself and rate your level of satisfaction, right now, with where you are today and NOT where you want to be.

The information from this short exercise provides a wealth of information. It helps you see where you are and prioritize what you want to change. You can see where you may be out of balance or areas of your life you have been ignoring for one reason or another. Using this information, my clients and I decide what area(s) we want to focus on first.

So go ahead...take a few minutes and complete the wheel. Once done, you can see how smooth, or bumpy, your wheel is. You'll also get some tips on how to deal with the areas that need your attention.

Be sure to leave a comment and let me know what you learned!

Wheel Of Life Exercise

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Doreen Rainey is a Professional Life Coach and Speaker who helps her clients Get RADICAL! To subscribe to her bi-weekly newsletter and receive 7 RADICAL Tips, visit her website. For a FREE 30-day membership to her RadicalLifestyle.com coaching program, click here.

What the Heck Do You Do?

When I tell people that I own a professional and personal development company, they sometimes respond with a blank stare. And when I tell them I'm a Life Coach that works with individuals in advancing in their professional and/or personal life, I usually get one of three responses:


1. Wow, everybody is a life coach now!
2. What the heck is that?
3. Why would anyone need a coach?

Then, when I share a little about what I do, their curiosity kicks in and then the questions come...

"What does a life coach do?"
"How does coaching work?
"What results do people get from coaching?"
"How did you start your business?"
"What were some challenges in starting your business?"
"Do people actually pay you for this?"
"What's the difference between coaching, therapy, mentoring and consulting?"
"Is coaching for me?"
"What's group coaching?"
"I want to be a life coach, what do I do?"

Well, I came across a radio interview I did in 2007 and it was a great discussion about what coaching is, how to start and maintain a service business, and what are the challenges that most people are facing when they come to coaching and how should they deal with them - including how to say no, how to prioritize, and how to attain balance.

This is a great interview because it basically answers all the questions I've gotten over the years. It's a little long, but well worth it (if I must say so myself...LOL)

And, if after listening to this, you are so inspired to explore coaching - enroll in my next 4-week group coaching teleclass starting in June titled "Get R.A.D.I.C.A.L. - At Work and In Life".

Radio Interview Link:
The Business of Coaching