Perfect Moment Monday: Pet Therapy Project Realization

Each week I hold the intention to participate in Perfect Moment Monday, sponsored by Weebles Wobblog. According to Weebles, “Perfect Moment Monday is about noticing a perfect moment rather than creating one. Perfect Moments can be momentous or ordinary or somewhere in between.” And so, here is my Perfect Moment for this week.

The experience which empowered me to step into creating Therapy in Transition was supporting my dog Tito through his bone cancer. During that time I worked with Providence Hospital for Medically Fragile Children to start a pet therapy program. Tito was able to make one visit before transitioning into the next level of his journey, but I continued to dedicate part of my life to having the many healing benefits of animals brought to those open to receiving it.

Continue reading here.

Intentions

Today's blog posting:

Over the last few weeks I've been revisiting the purpose of why I began facilitating the educational seminars. To date they have been successful, although not exactly what I had envisioned – or so I thought. The reason for hosting the seminars was to get my name out there, provide a service to the community, and have a way in which I was also able to give back.

But was I really being successful? Did I really hold the limited vision of only one or two people for attendance? What is my true intention behind these seminars? What fears might be holding me back from receiving full attendance?

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It's All a Matter of Perspective

Today is a day the world has decided to pay respects to a man who on more than one occasion changed the course of direction in the music industry. Michael Jackson (or MJ, as some refer to him) is also considered the “King of Pop.”

In death we begin to view an individual from the eyes of goodness and greatness, but why is it during life we view these same individuals from a completely different perspective? I am generalizing here, but in more cases than not Michael Jackson was definitely put through the ringer when it came to judgments made against him. Did he deserve some of these? Possibly, but it's not my place to judge his actions of the past, nor is it my place to judge another in the present or the future – especially when the actions did not directly relate to me personally or my family.

Continue reading today's blog posting here.

Meet Karen Kleinwort: Our Flourishing Friend for July

"When you first meet Karen Kleinwort, you'll notice her friendliness, warmth, and tendency to physically reach out and touch the person with whom she's talking. We guarantee you'll be drawn to her amazing blue eyes and passion to help women live their best lives. We are excited to share her inspiring story as well as how her love affair with an adopted shelter dog named Tito changed her life forever... "

This is the beginning or the teaser from Flourish-PDX's newsletter today. We are honored to have been selected by such a fantastic organization to be their chosen friend this month. Enjoy their article here.

Namaste,
Karen

Restrictions

Restrictions may be held deeper than you might realize…

Working with my clients over the last few years, I 've come to realize that most individuals say what they think they believe and know but ultimately don't embody the belief. Here’s an example:

John hurt himself while doing yard work this week. He has had past issues with neck pain and a lower back ache for a long time. While he was working with me for coaching and receiving both the energy and body work during his sessions, he continued to approach his professional work with the same determination.

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To Be Or Not To Be In Business

Today's blog posting is ready to read:

Forgive me, but I'm going to jump right in and assume you’ve all heard the famous Shakespearean saying “To be or not to be: that is the question.” Let me ask you this: Have you thought about actually applying it to your life or career? With the state of the current global economic crisis, it might not be such a bad idea.

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Energy: Spiritual, Religious, Scientific?

Within my coaching practice I embrace the energy of my clients, support them to release the energy that's not in their best interest, and balance their energy so they're in a position to positively move forward in their life’s journey. But what does this really mean? It sounds great, but how do I know what I say I'm doing is really what I am doing?

Continue reading our most recent blog posting here.

Thank You, Hannah Montana

This is guest blogger Jackie Nees' from Integrity Office Solutions most recent submission. Enjoy!

Last weekend my husband and I took our daughter to see the Hannah Montana movie. We’re all huge fans of the show and knew the movie would be great, but we had no idea the effect it would have on us.

With our four year old sitting happily between us we watched anxiously, wondering whether Miley would continue to live her double life or give it up for something else. But something happened about midway through the movie. It stopped being about Miley/Hannah and became about us.

Continue reading here.

Balancing More Than Just Our Checkbooks

The balancing act we all strive for can so easily be put out to pasture with a flick of a pen, the sneeze of a child, or when the heavens open up with some much needed rain. How are we supposed to live in the present when the present we face continuously changes? One of the hardest transitions a family goes through after a child has entered their lives is bringing back a sense of balance or normalcy to everyday routines.

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Finding Center - Free Seminar

Learn how to identify areas in your life which seem chaotic and out of balance; establish action steps to center yourself, bring change and find clarity; and learn to recognize road blocks as opportunities.

Pre-registration on our website is requested due to limited seating.

There will be snacks, beverages, a small gift bag and a chance to win a free coaching session.

Finding Balance Where Chaos Resides

Before having my son, I adhered to a daily ritual of getting a coffee in the morning, sitting down to write my three pages of "stress dump," and then 20 minutes of meditation focusing on being centered and having a proactive day.

Continue reading our most recent article here.

Business Is Like A Slot Machine

Today's guest blogger Jackie Nees of Integrity Office Solutions has provided the following submission. Enjoy!

Since I have only a couple of months left in Vegas, I figured I should squeeze in at least one Vegas-related post before I go.

This past weekend I spent two nights at a local resort, which is something I do for myself every year around my birthday. I take my favorite books and magazines and just unplug from work and life for a couple of days to relax and recharge. Of course, I couldn’t pass up an opportunity to try my hand at winning some serious Vegas cash at a slot machine. Just my luck...

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When the Love Is Gone

Here is guest blogger Jackie Nees' from Integrity Office Solutions newest posting. Enjoy!

I was flipping through a magazine recently when the title of an article caught my eye. It said, “Do You Love Your Business?” My initial thought was, what a silly question, who doesn’t love their business? Then I realized that number is probably much higher than I think!

Read more here.

Twitter: It’s “What Are You Doing?” NOT “What Are You Selling?”

Here is guest blogger Jackie Nees' from Integrity Office Solutions newest submission:
Everyone who knows me knows I’m a HUGE Twitter fan. In fact I frequently tell people that I have grown my business significantly over the past several months from Twitter alone. The problem is, when I tell people that their first response is usually, “That’s great! How can I promote MY business on Twitter?” Ah, see? That’s where they are misunderstanding. I never said I was promoting my business, I said I was growing it. Big difference!

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Surviving the Facts of Life

Enjoy reading today's most recent submission from guest blogger Krista Kleinwort, Parent and Behavioral Consultant:

Talking to our kids about the facts of life is both a fact of life and life of facts! As the child gets older the job becomes more daunting to the majority of mothers and outright anxiety-provoking for most fathers. It doesn’t have to be that way, though, and the earlier you start, the better.

Learning about the birds and the bees (As if these two species mate any how!) begins in the cradle. Your children learn from you...

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Take 5 (or 10)

Here is guest blogger Jackie Nees' most recent submission. Enjoy!

As business owners it's easy for us to get and stay in the zone. We are passionate about our business and want to make sure it's running on all four cylinders. Often we grab a quick cup of coffee in the morning and call it breakfast or throw a frozen box meal in the microwave for lunch and scarf it down while we're busy checking emails. It seems there's always something that needs to be done and not enough hours in the day to do it all.

Continue reading here.

The Passage Of Time And Its Effect On Life

It's hard to believe it is Friday already. These last few months I cannot tell you where the time is going, but it certainly is not on my side. Just when I think I have gotten caught up I look at my to-do list and realize that it actually wasn’t complete, so I add another few items to it along with any new tasks which have been passed onto me.

We have scheduled our first event of the year – Introduction to CranioSacral on March 4 at 7 p.m. It will be fun, but I realize by scheduling it I also have given myself a cart load of new to-dos. The balancing act continues to get refined between self, work and my family. I am fortunate that I have a very supportive husband and a nine month old who thinks it is just great I work from home.



Continue reading here.

Just Call Me Sybil

Today's guest blogger is Jackie Nees from Integrity Office Solutions. Here are her wise words this beautiful sunny Monday morning:

You remember Sybil, that film back in the 70s based on a true story about a woman who had multiple personalities. Well, that's kind of what it's like being a Virtual Assistant. Let me give you an example of my many titles and roles:

Copy Editor: Client emails me with rough draft of newsletter and asks me to go over it with a fine-toothed comb and check for spelling or grammatical errors before she sends it out. Done! Check that off the list and switch gears to....

Website Manager:Log into client's website and upload new content, make sure all information is up to date, and change out necessary graphics. Also implement SEO strategies and make sure client's website is submitted regularly to search engines. Done! Next......

Social Media Strategist: Develop social media marketing plan for client who knows it is necessary but is unsure of how to proceed. After reviewing detailed plan, client agrees but decides it is best left in my hands to execute, so I become.....

Read more here.

The Housework Will Keep; Your Children Won't

Today's guest blogger is Krista Kleinwort, a highly respected behavioral consultant dedicated to supporting parents and professionals who have children experiencing behavioral challenges. Enjoy!

Parenting children is definitely a full-time job. Frenzied mornings, forgotten mittens, frozen tears: remnants of the frantic rush to drop off at daycare and get to work on time. Who is the parent and who is the child? Hard to tell sometimes. Working all day, picking up at daycare at night, hurried suppers and then out the door to just barely make yoga class or skating lessons. Is this the life we envisioned?

Well, naturally, it’s not exactly like life on TV is it? Picture-perfect Sunday mornings spent vacuuming, cleaning and doing laundry instead of taking advantage of the beautiful new fallen snow, all hastily fit into the few hours of nap time. Time for me and a cup of tea? Hardly! But time for you and me and cup of tea? That works.

“The housework will keep, your children won't” is a saying that has become my mantra. My little guy won't feel secure if we don’t connect with him every day. He won't keep learning if we don't read and play with him. He won't keep healthy if we don't cook for him. He won't keep friendships if we don't support him with peers. But how is a busy working mother going to accomplish this and keep a house clean enough to at least keep the dust dinosaurs at bay? (In our house the dust bunnies have been eaten by huge, dog-hair covered dust dinosaurs.)

First and foremost, organize yourself. When you do what you should do in a timely manner, your kids will fall in line because you’re ready. Plan your week ahead of time and post your schedule in a common area. We have a large black board on which I write my work schedule, including when I leave the house and return home. Think about what clothes you’ll need and when, and have them clean. Think about your kids' schedules and get their lunches, swim clothes, etc., organized the night before. Use an online family scheduling system like Cozi. (www.cozi.com).

Second, organize your house. Hire a cleaner on a weekly or monthly basis to do the cleaning you hate to do and that therefore never seems to get done. Buy some large plastic bins and organize kid clothes and sportswear, using a marker to clearly label contents. Try to avoid giving and receiving those useless gifts that collect dust; encourage family and friends to give "usefully" and ask what is wanted or needed before they buy! Purge, purge, purge! Use the 12 Month Rule: if you’ve neither worn it nor used it in 12 months, get rid of it! (Precious family mementos excluded.)

Third, give up on organizing your spouse! They have to figure out their own way, so if you can get yourself, your kids and the house organized, then three out of four ain’t bad!

As a working mother I'll take the excuse the saying offers, thank you very much, and rationalize my messy house til the sun goes down. As a professional I’ll tell myself to “practice what I preach” and make organizing myself my priority for the upcoming month, focusing on my internal and external housekeeping skills. And I'll make sure I get to my yoga classes to keep my body and mind fit while I tackle the basement, garage and the bigger picture called life.

Parenting Rule # 1: The best return on your investment is time with your children, not with the housework! Just work smart.

Parenting Challenge # 1: Focus on "soulkeeping" more than housekeeping, and spend more time with your kids every day than you do cleaning/tidying/organizing!

Recommended Book for the Month: The Secure Child: Helping Children Feel Safe and Confident in a Changing World by Stanley Greenspan

Tweeple Who Need Tweeple....

Today's guest blogger is Jackie Nees from Integrity Office Solutions. Here are her wise words this wonderful Monday afternoon:

... are the Luckiest Tweeple in the World! Some of you are reading this thinking, "Wow, she must be hitting the sauce. What is she talking about?" Others know exactly what I mean. I'm talking about Twitter. What is a "Tweeple," you ask? It's just a silly Twitter word for people. If you're a Twitterholic like I am, you understand that just about anything can be "Twitter-ized" by adding a TW in front of it. Seriously, though, I want to discuss this week the value of Twitter and how it has impacted both me personally and my business.

What is Twitter?
Twitter is considered a micro-blogging tool wherein the idea is to simply answer the question: "What are you doing?" in 140 characters or less. Although it started off as a way for family, friends and coworkers to keep track of each other and find out what everyone else is doing, it has taken on a life of its own and become a powerful tool for networking and building your business.

While some may consider Twitter a waste of time, they are fooled by its simplicity. Some may wonder, "Why does anyone care what I'm doing, and how in the world could this be beneficial to my business?" The answer is as simple as the idea of Twitter itself. People DO care what you are doing, and it can be a huge benefit to your business. If Twitter is used correctly, the people who follow you get a glimpse into your life and your work. They learn about what you do, how you do it, and how you interact with others. They learn about your likes, dislikes and a lot about your character. It is all of those things people consciously or subconsciously run through their heads when deciding to do business with you. With online businesses popping up everywhere you look, people are becoming less inclined to go into a physical storefront to buy what they need. Why should they, after all, when they can shop in their pajamas in front of the TV? That means they want what you have, but when it comes down to choosing from whom to purchase they are more likely to buy from someone they have a rapport with or know a little bit about before Joe Blow Widgets whom they've never heard of.

Let's take a closer look at a day in the life of an average Twitter user (or Tweeter): AKA, me.

Anyone who knows me or follows me on Twitter knows I tweet quite a bit throughout the day. Here's why and how I do it.

Problem Solving
I try to solve problems on Twitter by looking for people who need help. They may not necessarily need my services, but maybe I know something that could help or provide a link or refer the person to someone who can help. I take time to quickly browse the latest tweets and see what's going on and how I can take action to help someone get what he needs, whether it's information or a product or whatever. If I don't know the answer myself, I've been known to Google to find the answer and quickly send them a link that can help.

Encouragement/Motivation
There may be times when I notice someone is having a really bad day. That's when I send them a message – either a public tweet or a private message (or DM, "Direct Message") – to lift her spirits. There may also be a time when someone is doubting her abilities or afraid to take the next step in her journey. I try to encourage her or offer words of wisdom from my own experience, or perhaps a favorite quote I think she might like.

Tooting Someone Else's Horn
I love to promote others on Twitter. If someone says something I think will benefit the people that follow me, I will "Retweet" (RT in Twitter vernacular) it, meaning sending out the exact same tweet with the person's name or Twitter ID who originally said it in front of it. I also enjoy tweeting about other people's upcoming conferences, radio programs, teleseminars, etc., if I think they are relevant to what my followers are looking for or something they should check out. Also, if I've tried a product or service from one of the people I follow and liked it, I will tell everyone about it along with a link to a website where someone else can try it, too.

Tooting My Own Horn (Kind Of)
I try not to do a lot of self-promotion on Twitter because in my opinion there are other more suitable places to do that. However, I do tweet when I have a new blog post, added a new service to my repertoire, or most recently when I launched my brand new ezine this week. (Speaking of which, you can subscribe by heading to my website or my Facebook page. You can also subscribe on my blog page.) Okay, shameless plug out of the way, back to Twitter. The point is, I try not to sell when I'm on Twitter. Twitter (and social networking in general) is about building relationships. Twitter is about making connections, getting to know people, and letting them get to know you. Sure, I will conversationally talk about what I'm doing, like, "Working on updating a client's website," or "Working on client's database." Guess what? Without saying, "HEY LOOK AT ME THIS IS WHAT I DO AND YOU SHOULD USE MY SERVICES," I was able to let people know the kind of work I do without hitting them over the head with it. Someone may read it and say, "Oh, she updates websites. That's what I need! I should check out her website and see what else she can do."

I tweeted the other day that I love what I do and the fabulous clients for whom I do it. After reading that, people have the sense that I love my work. I'm happy doing it and I love the people I do it for, which means I have the utmost respect and admiration for my clients. This means that anyone who might be thinking of hiring a VA knows that this is how I view my clients and my work. Wouldn't they want to be one of them, knowing that? I would hope so.

Jackie's Top 5 Tweeps
A few weeks ago during a teleclass about Twitter I named my top five "tweeps" to follow for various reasons. I think now would be a good opportunity to name them again. (Their Twitter IDs are in parentheses after their name)

Mari Smith (@MariSmith) - Mari and I met (Where else?) on Twitter! We struck up a bit of a rapport, and I was fortunate enough to meet her in person in October when she invited me to a marketing conference called JV Alert Live. She's been dubbed by Fast Company Magazine as "the Pied Piper of Facebook," and it's true. Mari knows anything and everything about using Facebook to build your business in a big way. Mari not only tweets about Facebook, she also tweets Twitter tips, marketing tips, interesting people to follow, and lots of great information in general that every business owner should know. One taste of her friendly and bubbly personality and savvy marketing wisdom, and you'll be a fan for life.

Carrie Wilkerson (@barefoot_exec) - Carrie Wilkerson (a.k.a. The Barefoot Executive) is a woman who has been there and done that. She has four kids and four businesses, and she has figured out how to balance it all and be extremely successful doing it. She now teaches others how to do the same. She's has a phenomenal story and exudes positivity wherever, she is whether it's a live event or online. I had the pleasure of meeting Carrie in person at the same event where I met Mari, and she is the real deal. I've learned so much from Carrie about being a business woman, a mom, and a wife who makes it all work. She's incredible, and I'm honored to know her.

Felicia Slattery (@FeliciaSlattery) - Felicia has such an amazing story. She was hours away from death while giving birth to her second child just four years ago due to a pregnancy-related life threatening illness. Felicia and her daughter are both fine now, but the event altered the way Felicia approaches life. She celebrates every day and is a tremendously positive influence to everyone who meets her. Felicia is a communication consultant, speaker and coach. She teaches others how to build credibility and grow their business through public speaking. I also had the joy of meeting Felicia at JV Alert Live in October and even had dinner with her. She's a brilliant woman with an amazing soul. I'm so lucky to know her as well.

Stephanie Bell (@SpiritCoach) is a walking example of a purely positive life. She is such a joy to follow because her words are always uplifting and encouraging. No matter how bad of a day you're having, you will instantly feel better after a tweet from Stephanie. She coaches others on how to be "passionately positive" in their lives and work and how to find the joy that so many of us seem to have lost track of in our fast-paced daily lives. I met Stephanie at JV Alert Live as well (Do you see a pattern here?), and I'm so glad I did. She also lives here in Vegas, and we are planning on getting together soon.

Grant Griffiths (@GrantGriffiths) - Last but certainly not least is Grant Griffiths. Grant started blogging in 2005 in an effort to promote his family law practice. He soon found blogging to be such a powerful marketing tool that he co-founded G2WebMedia and now teaches others how to profit from blogging. I know you're thinking I met Grant at JV Alert Live, right? Wrong! I met Grant on Twitter, and although we've yet to meet in person I have learned so much about using blogging as a marketing tool and business in general by following him. If you want to know anything about anything, ask Grant. Chances are he's got an answer for you. If you want to know anything about blogging, again, follow Grant. He is THE go-to person in my opinion for all things blogging. Grant has been gracious enough to ask me to be a guest blogger on one of his blogs called Blog For Profit, which I am honored to do. We are also working on putting a teleseminar together, so watch for details on that.

Why am I asking you to follow these people? Because they have all impacted my life in one form or another, and they are all brilliant at what they do. By following them you'll learn everything from marketing to social networking to speaking and blogging – and you might even find your passion while doing it. These are all very important components of a successful business.

I hope I've enlightened you a little bit about the power of Twitter and what it can do for you. In the coming weeks I'll be posting more about Twitter and offering tips in my monthly ezine. I'm always here to answer any questions you might have about using Twitter and how to get started, so feel free to contact me.

Before I forget, if you're not following me on Twitter, please do! You can find me at http://www.twitter.com/JackieNees. I hope to be tweeting with you soon!

Have a wonderful week!
Jackie
Website: www.integrityofficesolutions.com
Blog: http://integrityoffice.blogspot.com/