Hey All

Welcome to my Portage Newsletter. 

Thanks to all of you who sent me well wishes for sun and snow after last month's newsletter. We got both! I can no longer move the snow out of the driveway to the top of the banks. So the banks are starting to encroach. You can turn off your wishes for snow. Please keep sending sun.

In the six years or so I've been writing this newsletter and sharing my thoughts with you, I've contradicted myself more than once. But when it's in me, it has just got to come out. Consistency is not my strong suit. Change I adore! So take what works for you, discard the rest and have fun!

"I'll let you be in my dreams if I can be in yours." ~~Bob Dylan

A special thanks to those of you who have passed this newsletter on to others.

I'd love to hear your thoughts, insights and understandings. deb@portagecoach.com

If you're anticipating a transition, personal or business, just give me a call at 231-879-4178 or 877-762-4178. 

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A Fishing Lesson

Besides being an absolute blast, fishing has taught me a few things about repositioning myself to get out of old habits in order to experience new things. Some fishing days you're right on. You've got the right lure, with the right color. You've found the perfect spot and you're retrieving the lure or trolling at the ideal speed. The day is good. The weather conditions are outstanding (which in the world of fishing could mean high winds and rain). The fish are really biting and you can do nothing wrong. 

The next day you repeat the same activities, lures, timing and location and nothing will bite. You're still feeling the adrenaline from the outstanding day before and so the temptation is to continue to repeat the patterns that worked so well just a day ago. You've just developed a bad habit…sticking with something that rewarded you once but is no longer working. You've got to change if you want to have more fun. You have to experiment with color, patterns and location and let the fish tell you what they want. Yes, you've got to be able to trust your equipment. But more importantly, you've got to trust your instincts.

If our position is familiar and comfortable, one we know well, and standing in that position has rewarded us in the past, it can be a very stale place if it's no longer working for us. 

Hey, what's not working for you these days? Are you not seeing it clearly? Try repositioning yourself. First look at it straight on and then look at it from all angles. Try some new tools or equipment. Change your schedule. Get messy and use your intuition. Try a new pattern. What's the worse that can happen? Even if the fish still don't bite, at least you're entertaining yourself with new scenery and toys.

When you are reluctant to face something, you are not positioned to see it clearly. Coach Pam McConnell
 

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Peace and much love
Deb
 

The Fine Print
A Note About My Recommendations
I provide links in this newsletter to products and services I am offering or I have personally found valuable. If you are ever disappointed with one of these recommendations, please let them and me know. If they don't make it right, I will.

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Copyright 2006, all rights reserved.