I know. I can hear you all thanking me for being your role model for extreme self-care. I told my coach the other day that I feel like I’m in the Olympics of self-care these days.

I leave bright and early tomorrow morning for a week at a resort. I do have some responsibility while I’m there–giving two talks. But, mostly I’ll be R&R’ing. I plan to hike, take aqua-fit classes, meditate and do yoga. All of my meals will be prepared with food from their organic gardens. No beds to make, no decisions to make either, other than hot stone massage or herbal wrap.

The resort is Rancho La Puerta. Watch the incredible history-movie.html about its origins. I was so inspired by the owner’s story. It’s now a high-end spa, but when she and her husband began it 40 years ago, you brought your own tent and it cost $17.50 a week.

My outgoing messages say that I am out of the country and will not be returning calls until December 28. I plan to turn off all electronics and totally relax and recharge for 2012. No blogs or newsletters until early January either.

I hope you’ll take designated time for yourself during this hectic season to use however you choose, whether it’s an hour, a day or more. If you happen to be taking my webinar and read this, you get extra credit for letting me know what you did for YOU.

So I’m honored to participate in Gail’s Blog Tour promoting her new book, The 12 Secrets of Highly Creative Women Journal.

Here’s an Excerpt from Her Journal…

Living in Abundance with Positive Priorities

Abundance is the experience of plenty, often called prosperity. For creative people, the opportunity to dance with the creative process is itself an experience of abundance. Abundance invites us to live the life we truly desire instead of settling for less. We are the choice-makers of
our own priorities. We do indeed design our own lives.

When I begin coaching a new client, I take them through a series of discovery exercises and conversations about what it is he or she truly desires. Determining our priorities gives us a roadmap for decision-making. Let me share an example with you. Sara contacted me a few weeks ago to help her change careers. She wanted to express her submerged creativity. She had read The 12 Secrets of Highly Creative Women and felt it was time to change her life. Sara’s personal Positive Priorities, which I define in the book as “life choices that express who we are and what we want for ourselves,” are:

Having time to explore her creative potential

Nurturing mutually beneficial relationships with others

Maintaining healthy habits that support her body, mind, and spirit

Keeping in touch with opportunities for learning about landscape architecture

At this point, Sara feels her creativity has been lost in a stressful job and a legacy of putting everyone else’s needs first—in a city she no longer loves. Her number one creativity saboteur is guilt about finally defining and claiming her own definition of abundance. By celebrating her Positive Priorities, Sara now has a yardstick by which to measure her life choices up to this point.

Many of the women I interviewed in The 12 Secrets of Highly Creative Women had transformed their lives to honor their Positive Priorities. Sixteen themes emerged again and again, and I share them with you here to help you capture your own Priorities:

1. Time for creative exploration
2. Fulfilling work
3. Encouraging partners, friends, and community
4. Personal growth experiences
5. Good health
6. Nurturing living spaces
7. Learning opportunities
8. Self-protection from negativity and toxic people
9. Reflective time
10. Spiritual practices and beliefs
11. Independence
12. Solitude as needed
13. Inner centeredness
14. Connection with nature and the arts
15. Inspiring activities
16. Balance

Gail is currently on a Blog Book Tour so if you want to read more you can find yesterday’s post here at A Room of Her Own and tomorrow you’ll be able to find Gail here. Share a comment on today’s post and you will be entered into a random drawing to win one of Gail’s books – 12 Secrets of Highly Successful Women, 12 Secrets of Highly Creative Women or her new book, The 12 Secrets of Highly Creative Women Journal.

I attended my first 341 Studios  Fresh Intelligence Roundtable Series almost exactly a year ago–late September 2010. I was so knocked out by the power of that event, I wrote a gushing love letter blog post for all to see. Not surprisingly, the women at 341 were among the first to read it. We’d had a mutual admiration thing going on prior to that, but something about my post that day put a punctuation mark on our growing relationship.

That’s the power of the blog.

I’ve attended many of their roundtables, learned from each one, and continued to enjoy our mutually beneficial relationship.

Today I sit here at another event in their series, only this time, I’M the expert. Let me qualify that. I’m on their panel as an example of a successful blogger–who is open to going from good to great.

With brilliant suggestions from social media expert Rhonda Hurwitz you’ll now begin to see a more focused and strategic use of keywords in my postings. It won’t interfere with the content, I promise. Mary Callahan of 341 illustrated the back-end features of sites like WordPress.com, which is the one I use.

Once again, Michele Graham hosted the roundtable and kept the questions and discussion flowing. The four of us are in the photo above.

I’d love to hear your suggestions, too, for going from good to great. What would you like to see more of?

An era has ended. We have lost a major contributor to life as we know it. Wow, what a loss.

On a regular basis I’m asked, “Do you miss doing your art?” The answer is “no,” but today I heard a perspective that articulated perfectly why I don’t. I was being interviewed by Patrick Kiger for secondact.com, a website devoted to helping people over 40 with all aspects of their lives.

Patrick had first interviewed me for a piece he was writing about my good friend and colleague Mary Ellroy. During that conversation he mentioned that he’d like to interview me at a future time, which turned out to be today. He’s very interested in the whole idea of re-invention, so my transitions from schoolteacher to mother to egg decorator, entrepreneur, speaker, author and coach was fodder for his mill.

He, too, asked me if I ever missed doing the eggs. I explained how creative it is coaching entrepreneurs, how my mind fires ideas like never before and that my clients’ creativity is satisfying to me as well as to them. “You’ve made business your art form,” he said matter-of-factly. I felt like saying, “Eureka!” It was crystal clear in that moment that I am still practicing art, but in a medium that is unlike any that I’ve used before.

Patrick reminded me of how Salvador Dali spent the first half of his career painting and the second half self-promoting. He didn’t stop being an artist, but his medium changed. I liked the comparison.

Last night 30 remarkable women gathered in her beautiful, serene spa for an evening of inspiration and networking. Alfya shared some of her story and then joined the 5 other experts to offer tips, strategies and a new perspective to each attendee. Many thanks to Betsy Krobot, Scarlett DeBease, Liz Ball and Tracy Boyce who also contributed their vast expertise.

My client’s subject line in her email to me was–You won’t believe it! But she was wrong. After listening to Earl Nightingale’s gold-record-winning tape called The Strangest Secret many years ago, I’ve become a believer. I’m never surprised when I hear that what you’ve put out into the Universe comes back to you.

First there was this client’s email above. I had asked her if teaching art was something she had considered as an alternate income stream. As she put it, “If the opportunity fell into my lap…” she would take it. Not 24 hours later she sent me the message that she had received a call from someone wanting oil painting classes.

I’ve mentioned that I’m taking Rebecca Morgan’s webinar called Making Money in Your Jammies. A long-time friend and colleague is also taking the sessions. She told me in a phone conversation yesterday after our class that she’d been wanting to figure out a way to re-purpose her articles and blog postings. She had made the decision to enroll in some class situation, came home from being out a couple of weeks ago and saw my blogpost about Rebecca’s class. She immediately signed up.

Another client of mine had been seeking a photography adventure. I asked her what the ultimate adventure would look like. She named her favorite periodical, the one she would think she died and went to heaven if she could ever be associated with. I suggested she do some research and find out how to submit to that magazine. Lo and behold, in her online meanderings, she found a photography expedition being offered by them. It was exactly the opportunity she had envisioned.

Where you put your mental, emotional and spiritual energy will influence what shows up for you in life every day. Say out loud, to yourself or someone you trust, what you really want. You can do this annually or daily. The work is coming up with what excites and energizes you and having the courage to speak it.

Although it takes an hour for Earl Nightingale to reveal the Strangest Secret, I’ll shortcut it for you. The strangest secret is also The Secret, based on the Law of Attraction: we become what we think about. Your mind is so powerful that when you get a clear picture of what it is that you want (or don’t want–so be verrry careful), you will attract exactly that into your life. Verbalizing it, writing it down, and holding it in your consciousness is what helps bring it into reality.

Do you have any examples of this you’d like to share?

I’ve been interviewed several times this month and wanted to give you the opportunity to listen via podcast download. Here is a link to Karen Hodges’ interview where:

We discover a few secret’s to Jane’s success:

• The rituals and routines she uses to keep her on her path
• How she deals with the inevitable obstacles on her entrepreneurial adventure
• What the view is from where she is now
• What’s next for her

An organization called The Skirted Roundtable has also posted our recent conversation. As they so eloquently put it:

We chatted about establishing core values, establishing our own worth and charging appropriately, learning from those who have done it before us and enjoying our successes. Great stuff and as we say on the podcast “Food for thought”.

Life without power continues to be a challenge. Here’s a photo of the bugaboo keeping my neighborhood in the dark.

Born with an entrepreneurial spirit, I’m finding a way–blogging this morning from Panera Bread where there is free wi-fi (before the public library opens), showering at my fitness center, putting on my makeup by daylight coming through the kitchen window for last night’s Remarkable Women’s Network event.

Also, today I let my clients know by text that they’d need to call my cell phone for our sessions. I sat in my car with the motor running (fortunately, I drive a hybrid, so it didn’t use up any gas) and coached from the driver’s seat. Appropriate, no?!

This is getting old. It may go on until Friday, we’re told. But here’s what I’m grateful for:

That I live in a country where I am completely assured that this will get resolved.

That it’s Daylight Savings Time and I can still see things in my house without the benefit of my battery-powered lantern until about 7:30pm.

That I have owned a MacBook since last June which retains its battery power for 4-5 hours, or about 3 hours longer than my Dell laptop held out.

That good friends offered me showers and a place to stay should I need it.

That 21 Remarkable Women showed up for last night’s event in spite of whatever was going on at home. One woman even saw an added benefit of the evening that she could charge her cell phone there while networking. I love being around positive, action-oriented people.

I trekked over to the nearby library only to have the door held open by a 10-year old boy entering with his family. “Lose your power?” he asked, probably due to the backpack and tote I was sporting. “40% of Westport lost its electricity,” he announced. So, I wasn’t surprised to find the outlets full of computer plugs, nor to hear the announcement a few minutes later over the PA system saying, “We’ve done what we can to set up as may plugs as we can. The Senior Center also has its doors open if you need to go someplace after we close at 5pm.” Felt good to know the status, that they were paying attention and also offering solutions to the dilemma. Made me grateful that I live here, that power will be restored and that this is only a short-term challenge.