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Today, let’s spend some time in visualization. Give some thought to where your life will be in one month, three months, six months, and one year, if you follow through on the actions you outlined yesterday. How will others be impacted if you choose a positive attitude rather than a negative one? Write out your thoughts, connected with specific people.
One Month
Three Months
Six Months
One Year
Remember, this is a journey and a process. Don’t set yourself up for frustration with the expectation you must be perfect and respond perfectly to the events that happen in your life. The idea is to experience the experiences, feel the feelings, and make a choice in how you will respond and move forward. My yoga mentor, Diamond Dallas Page, advises us to “live life at 90%,” meaning that 10% is what happens to us in life and 90% is how we choose to deal with it. He focuses on the 90% and strives to make the most and best of that…essentially, choosing one’s attitude.
What will you choose?
This morning, the John Maxwell Team and all of the Guatemala Trip support staff (John Maxwell Company, EQUIP, Guatemala Prospera, and La Red) met in a conference room to prepare to meet our translators. All told, there were probably 170 of us in the room.
Guatemala Prospera (Prosperous Guatemala) arranged for the interpreters who will support us in our mission this week. Some of them are professional translators, some of them — many, in fact — are high school and college students studying English and translation, and they all volunteered to help us this week. We were told there would be more of them than there were of us. This make sense because our schedule is somewhat fluid, and some of them may not be available every time we need them (or for four-hour training sessions). So, they came into the room and filed past all 170 of us, to the front of the conference room we were in. They just kept coming and coming and coming…There were so many of them, it was overwhelming. And they had these expressions on their faces of anticipation and joy and gratitude. They just kept saying “Thank you for coming to help Guatemala,” “Thank you for being here,” Thank you, thank you, thank you…”
For those of you who know me, or maybe you’ve discerned this from reading my posts, you know I am RARELY at a loss for words…but I am today. I cannot adequately describe the feelings from this morning watching them come in to us…the hugs, the hand shakes, the smiles…it was an extremely emotional time for so many of us in the room.
They have been through the same training we’ve been going through this week, so they are familiar with the material. They are excited for the change to come to change their culture and improve their nation. They are familiar with John Maxwell and his teachings and seem pretty overwhelmed to see that John brought a small “army,” so to speak, to help in this endeavor. And they are filled with eagerness and some anxiety.
The woman I worked with is named Marlene. She is a professional translator, most frequently working with pharmaceutical companies, if I understood her correctly. She has two young sons. She does a radio show on Sundays that is broadcast around the country; she shares bible teachings with children and they talk about what they understood and thought of that week’s passage. She is bright and energetic, kind and open, generous with her time and spirit, and just kept thanking me for being here.
We won’t know who our interpreter will be until we get our teaching assignments. Here’s how it’s going to work: At 6 AM tomorrow morning, every one of us will be in the hotel lobby, ready for whatever the day brings. Our logistics folks will tell us where we can find breakfast and give us our assignments for the day. We won’t know, until then, if we are teaching a morning or afternoon session, where the session will be held, how many people will be at the session (average is supposed to be 40, but could be as many as 80), what interpreter we will work with, or who will be driving us to wherever we are going. What we do know is this: Tomorrow, we will be going somewhere, with someone, to teach some group, at some time…
It’s a test of how well we function in chaos, I guess! We will need to be resilient, flexible, and patient. I’ve got the first two down; looks like an opportunity to practice patience may be coming my way!
The way I see it, this whole experience/opportunity is way beyond me and what I ever imagined I might be doing…so I will happily go with the flow, be a river not a reservoir, and do my very best to prepare these people to be confident, competent facilitators of the Roundtables they will lead over the next 30 weeks to begin the transformation of this beautiful place.
Trust that if I find the words that can do the experience justice, I will share them with you.
In the meantime, have an intentional day!
Testimonials
Patrick W. Klesel, MBA
Laura is a great listener who positively motivates me to achieve my goals through a proven coaching strategy.
James Wells, IPMA-SCP, SPHR, SHRM-SCP
Laura presented an excellent program, “Building Healthy, Smart Teams,” during our local SHRM Chapter’s September 2012 meeting. She shared useful information and practical insight into the key characteristics healthy teams possess and demonstrate, which we can apply in our workplaces, volunteer organizations, etc. Laura added value to our Chapter’s meeting and we would welcome her… Read more “James Wells, IPMA-SCP, SPHR, SHRM-SCP”
Kyle Mork
Laura has been a fantastic asset for our company and for me personally for well over a year. She has provided both coaching and consulting services, as well as handled group sessions with our managers. She has a unique ability to discern the core issue and help you work through possible solutions. She has become… Read more “Kyle Mork”
Betsy Eberg, CEP
I loved working with Laura! I learned so much about myself during the 6 months I mentored with her. Laura taught me how to be more self aware, and this has shed light into many areas of my life, both personal and professional. I am more intentional in my behavior. I now recognize that intent… Read more “Betsy Eberg, CEP”
Wes Harvey
When looking for a coach to bring out your inner potential and guide you on a path of self-discovery, one word comes to mind when choosing the right person. Passion! Laura has a passion to become the best version of herself that she can be and in the process is looking to do the same… Read more “Wes Harvey”
Tim O’Neal, Manufacturing Leader
I am Tim O’Neal, a manufacturing leader at the Dow Chemical Company in West Virginia Operations. My leadership team played the Leadership Game. From the start, it was clear that this is no game. To my team and I, it was an experience. The principles and laws from John Maxwell are spread throughout the discussions… Read more “Tim O’Neal, Manufacturing Leader”
David Houser, West Virginia Market Manager PrimeLending, A Plains Capital Company
“When you meet Laura, it becomes very clear very quickly that she’s on a mission to wake people up to become their best selves, to become intentional leaders, and to live their lives on purpose! And she’s well-equipped to do it, continually investing in her own growth to ensure she’s ahead of the curve with… Read more “David Houser, West Virginia Market Manager PrimeLending, A Plains Capital Company”
Kara Rogers
The word that exemplifies my work with Laura is “intentional”. So many things in my life are on auto pilot, or I am multi-tasking so much I start “flying by the seat of my pants”. While I can and do get things done in both of these modes, it isn’t the best or most efficient… Read more “Kara Rogers”
Angela Miller
Laura has been a mentor to several protégés in the Everwise program. Her insight and knowledge has been highly valued and her protégés have made measured progress toward their professional goals. Her commitment to development is evident and she is a delight to work with. Laura brings deep expertise in effective communication, personal brand and… Read more “Angela Miller”
Barry Pearson, Group Manager Administration & Quality at Toyota North America
Every successful company strives for the next big idea that gives them the advantage over their competition. Focusing on human development has clearly become an area thru which companies separate themselves from the competition, and at TMMWV, we are no different. Two years ago, we began looking for a more comprehensive approach to human development… Read more “Barry Pearson, Group Manager Administration & Quality at Toyota North America”
Margaret Mary Layne
“Laura Prisc was an invaluable asset in helping the Museum solve a troubling personnel issue between two very valuable, professional employees. These two particular members of our staff had to work together on a regular basis and it just was not running smoothly. The sessions that Laura set up and the assignments given to each… Read more “Margaret Mary Layne”
Peter Hein
Laura provides a service that I feel more people should look into as it is very valuable. It is not just another rah-rah team training seminar, but a well thought out one-on-one program. We started with goals (work and changes in careers) but also how to achieve them which lead into discussions of leadership… Read more “Peter Hein”
Melanie Gorman, SVP YourTango.com
It was a joy to spend a weekend with Laura. I reached out to work with her after coming to a realization that the feedback from my supervisor, team, and clients were riddled with my own interpretation. I wanted to know definitely what I’m good at; what my strengths are and where I can be… Read more “Melanie Gorman, SVP YourTango.com”
Ryan Deaderick
Laura has been a joy to work with. She can seamlessly move between the roles of teacher, mentor, and coach to provide useful insight and challenging questions. I have worked with Laura for over a year and a half, and have grown tremendously as a leader and individual during that time. She has helped me… Read more “Ryan Deaderick”
Tisha Schmidt, MBA
I had the opportunity to work with Laura following a job elimination. Laura led me through a Strengths Finder tool , which produced an updated resume that highlights my strengths rather than a resume that lists job duties and tasks accomplished. Laura also facilitated personal goal setting. I had spent much of professional life working… Read more “Tisha Schmidt, MBA”
Terry Hollandsworth
Working with Laura in communication training improved my self awareness, communication skills, and the relationships with my customers. I highly recommend her services and value her guidance.
Amy Dennis
I hired Laura to help me explore ways to broaden my career path. It was a pleasure working with Laura. I learned a lot about myself. I also learned to think more deeply about what I want for myself and why. Laura is a great motivator and pushes you to be your best.
Maureen McIntosh, LCT. M.Ed.CCC ACC
I have been working with Laura weekly for the last five weeks. She is personable, reliable, full of integrity and has managed to help me stay focused and on task. She is excellent at holding me accountable, a benefit of working with a great coach. I easily recommend Laura as a great coach that will… Read more “Maureen McIntosh, LCT. M.Ed.CCC ACC”
David Rosier, General Manager Toyota North America Toyota Motor Manufacturing, West Virginia
“We engaged Laura because we recognized most of the team we considered our core leaders were not leading at all. In fact, they were so caught up in the details of day-to-day management activities, they weren’t growing themselves or developing their direct reports. We need leaders at every level of the organization if we are… Read more “David Rosier, General Manager Toyota North America Toyota Motor Manufacturing, West Virginia”
James Owrey
It was a pleasure to participate in Laura’s Maxwell Mastermind Group during Fall 2012. She has a great acumen for teaching and demonstrating principles of leadership, particularly from the works of John Maxwell. Her caring nature combines perfectly with her commitment to accountability. This is an “actions-to-outcomes” approach that keeps participants both engaged and motivated.… Read more “James Owrey”