Portage Transition Coaching January 2012 Newsletter The Best of All Possible Worlds<title>

Welcome

Welcome to my Portage Newsletter. If you find value, please pass this along to others you feel might appreciate my writing. You can subscribe to this newsletter at my website, Portage. Or, stop by my Lessons From The Creek Blog where you can subscribe to these posts and more.

I find inspiration and motivation in the world of the wilds, the woods, the waters and the winds. So, like this dynamic world I crave, I tend to contradict myself. I think I'm in flow in some smooth and straight direction downstream. Then I turn the bend and things get choppy and I find myself going in a new and different direction, even backward if I'm not careful. I think I've made the portage beautifully and have found a new lake to explore. Then I realize I'm in some small transition pothole and the lake is yet to come, perhaps after the next portage. Evidence tells me I've found the hot fishing spot in the whole lake. Then the weather turns and the fish turn off. So my writing is like that too. What is true for me today may not be my truth tomorrow. So please enjoy my words today, if they work for you, and discard what does not. I won't mind a bit. Hell, they may not even work for me tomorrow.

This has been one of the slowest onsets of winter I've seen in years. I think I was in my late 20's or early 30's the last time we did not have snow on the ground for Christmas. And what we got around New Years is melting quickly. It's strange. I'm not complaining though. Walking has been incredibly easy in my hiking boots instead of my heavy snow boots or waddling in my bear paw snowshoes.

I hope the New Year brings you Warmth, Wellness, and Wealth, surrounded by friends and family. Happy New Year!

Back to Contents

The Best of All Possible Worlds

Relax. No resolution suggestions will be shared here. I am a Resolution Free Zone. I just don’t make them. And I've come to accept that I cannot convert everyone to my way of thinking. Make your New Year resolutions. And have fun.

And if you still have some inspiration left over from the new leaf we all turned when January 1 came around the bend, here are some ideas that are not really resolutions at all. Take only one, or one a day, or one a week, or one a month, or create your own. It’s your choice. The question is:

What can I do or who can I become, this year, that will help make this the best of all possible worlds?

101 Suggestions:

1.    Be happy
2.    Love openly
3.    Plant something
4.    Meditate
5.    Talk about the things you love
6.    Pass on conversations about the things you dislike
7.    Pamper someone you know
8.    Pamper a stranger
9.    Turn off the TV
10.   Turn off the computer
11.   Reuse more and dispose of fewer things
12.   Use freecycle
13.   Give away some books
14.   Give away some clothes
15.   Give away some food
16.   Give away some time and energy
17.   Play in nature
18.   Support something you know is right
19.   Stop supporting something you know is wrong
20.   Help change something bigger than you
21.   Think before you buy
22.   Share an insight
23.   Share this list
24.   Make more of the things you use and eat
25.   Take a nap
26.   Take your time
27.   Take a trip
28.   Take the train
29.   Support another’s dream
30.   Add a splash of color
31.   Laugh
32.   Help an acre, or a few thousand acres, of earth be free and wild again
33.   Help a person, or a few thousand people, be independent again
34.   Help a needy animal, or a few thousand animals, be safe
35.   Give of yourself
36.   Gift to yourself
37.   Downsize your home
38.   Become curious
39.   Stop tolerating junk mail
40.   Learn something
41.   Then become good
42.   Then become a master
43.   Then teach it
44. Then break the rules
45.   Speak up
46.   Write about something important to you
47.   Thank everyone
48.   Become patient with someone
49.   Become patient with yourself
50.   Smile at friends
51.   Smile at yourself
52.   Smile at strangers
53.   Follow your heart
54.   Give your heart
55.   Make something for someone
56.   Create some wacky solutions to your dilemmas
57.   Allow others to do as they please
58.   Ask for a better reason than “Everybody’s doing it.”
59.   Clear your clutter
60.   Use the things you love
61.   Fix that which needs fixing
62.   Create some freedom in your day, week, year
63.   Create some freedom for someone else
64.   Understand that which you fear
65.   Be silent
66.   Become conscious
67.   Bake something for someone
68.   Aspire to the TED Prize
69.   Climb to the top of something
70.   Climb to the bottom of something
71.   Take naps
72.   Move naturally
73.   Live and work in a walkable community
74.   De-convenience your home
75.   Meditate
76.   Share a meal
77.   Create your own Blue Zone
78.   Focus on what's important for YOU each day and let your legacy take care of itself
79.   Learn a language
80.   Send a stranger some silent love
81.   Visit someone you know and admire whom you've never met in person
82.   Write a letter or appreciation to your favorite author
83.   Write a letter or appreciation to a politician who has supported something important to you
84.   Write a letter of appreciation to yourself
85.   Write a letter of appreciation to someone who has supported you
86.   Write a letter of appreciation to a stranger
87.   Grow something
88.   Raise something
89.   Notice the amount of disposable plastic you buy
90.   Throw a party
91.   Know what's in the food you eat
92.   Be aware of your food miles
93.   Kiss the ones you love
94.   Kiss the cat
95.   Kiss the dog
96.   Kiss a fish
97.   Kiss a stranger
98.   Take a risk
99.   Take a break
100. Call your Dad
and by all means...
101. Call your Mom!

"I don't like that man. I must get to know him better." ~Abraham Lincoln

"If we cannot now end our differences, at least we can make the world safe for diversity." ~John F. Kennedy

"The world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don't do anything about it." ~Albert Einstein

Back to Contents

The Adventure and Retreat Leader Success Team Begins January 10. Join Us!

And Let us help you Take It Outside!

We meet 6 times a year. 90 minutes each. Loads of insight, learning and help.

This is the absolutely best way to jump start your adventure or retreat business.

And we are offering the entire Audio Series and Playbook at a very special price if you join the Success Team in 2012!

Back to Contents

"The List" Coaching

If you find value in this list and would like to experience some group coaching around this list and additional items we come up with as a group, zip me an email or give me a call at 231-879-4178.

I would be happy to provide 9 sessions (55 minutes each) of group coaching via teleconference for only $150 per person. Calls will be recorded should you miss one.

We will explore in depth many of the items on this list, create some of our own, and support every person in the group to create their personalized list and focus for 2012. If 2012 is the year you want to help make this the best of all possible worlds, consider joining us.

I need a minimum of 5 participants and a maximum of 15. Days and times will be determined once we have our group.

Back to Contents

A Bigger Fish to Fry Coaching Adventure

I have one week available this summer for a party of 3-4 to experience a coaching and fishing trip with me in Northern Ontario.

If you have a party of 3 or 4 who would like to experience this kind of adventure, please call me with your needs and details and I will be happy to put something together for your group. You package will include, your cabin, boat and motor and gas, shared meals (I'll ask you to bring a few things and I'll handle the rest), guiding on the days I'm fishing in your boat, and all the coaching you want during the week.

You will be responsible for your Ontario fishing license, beverages, transportation to and from camp and some food items. Depending on the camp, generally arrival will be on Saturday and departure on Friday. We will be sharing a cabin and doing all our own cooking. Email or call me at 231-879-4178 to book this adventure for your group.

Back to Contents

The Fine Print
A Note About My Recommendations
Occasionally I provide links in this newsletter to products and services I am offering or 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.

You can subscribe to this newsletter by visiting the subscription box on my home page at Portage.

If you find value in Portage, please pass it along and ask friends to subscribe. Thank You.

Help me stay with you. If your email address is about to change, please visit Portage and subscribe your new address. And if your email service automatically deletes large broadcasts like this one, let them know that you want Portage from Deb Martin to come through.

Portage is published about 12 times a year and distributed monthly by email. Comments, submissions and suggestions are welcome.

Although this material is subject to copyright, you may reprint this publication in whole or in part in your company publication, presentations, training, or wherever you feel it may be valued. This also holds true for members of the media. All I ask is that you include the following:
Reprinted with permission from Deborah Martin of Portage at http://www.portagecoach.com
If you would like a short bio, I am happy to provide one.

Copyright© 2012 by Deborah Martin. All rights reserved.

Top