Happy Thanksgiving!

A very Happy Thanksgiving to you all! I wish to express my gratitude to you for sharing your ideas, thoughts, feedback, challenges and successes with me. I am honored to be included in your life. I thank you for the deep connection that you offer.

There will be no Coaching Tip of the Week on November 25, 2005, so that we may enjoy this holiday with our families. May you, also, enjoy your holiday. Our next tip will be issued on December 2, 2005.

This week's tip is the same article and prayer that I sent last year. I have had so many requests for it, that I felt you could have value in seeing it again.

by Susan Klein, MCC

Gratitude doesn't come easy. Celebration and gratitude for all that we have is one of the central themes in Judaism as we celebrate the Sabbath from sundown on Friday night to Saturday night. We do that because it takes most of us 24 hours to let go of the voices in our heads screaming at us about the things we ought to be doing instead of just relaxing, enjoying and celebrating our lives and the gifts from the universe. The message on Sabbath is this: don't spend this time "getting things together -- just relax and open yourself up to the rest and rejuvenation." It seems to me, Thanksgiving is very similar. Unfortunately, the idea of really slowing down enough to celebrate all that is good in our lives and in the world, doesn't fit with the pace of our daily lives, nor with the internal messages that "you haven't done enough" and that "you are not enough." That's probably why Americans resist making Thanksgiving the spiritually rich holiday it has the potential to be.

Every year we do everything possible to avoid the focus of giving thanks. Instead, we fill our time with parades, football games, preparations for eating and conversation at the table that usually feels too awkward to allow us to immerse ourselves in gratitude. Some courageous ones start the meal by saying "let's go around and say something for which we are grateful." Yet to stay in that mode of gratitude for the whole meal, much less the whole day, is almost unheard of.

What if Thanksgiving started the night before with a ritual of celebrating the evening? What if we took 24 hours to focus our gratitude? What if the day was dedicated to sharing with each other the good things we had experienced all year? What if families made a commitment to invite 3-4 single people, plus other couples to expand the celebration beyond the family dimension? What if all meals shared that day included singing, dancing, poetry reading, story sharing?

Could we actually make this happen? Try it and see what happens. Tell me what you did and said, what obstacles you faced and how it worked out.

Susan Klein, Master Certified Coach can be reached at http://www.coachklein.com.

This day, I thankfully accept all the good things that are coming my way.

This day is full of excitement, love, energy, health and prosperity.

This day, people are calling on me to be of service to them, and I respond by giving my very best.

This day, I think and practice health in my life, refusing to accept anything less than perfect health.

This day, I focus on the moment and give no thought to the past or to the future.

This day, I spend in total enjoyment of what I do.

This day, I spend in grateful appreciation of all that is mine.

This day, this hour, this minute, this moment is all that I have and I will use it in celebration!

During this Thanksgiving time:

1. Be present.
2. Be open.
3. Share and give of yourself.
4. Be grateful.
5. Enjoy!

Warm Welcome to Program Attendees from Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard

A warm welcome to our new Coaching Tip of the Week subscribers who I met at Broad Institute during my program "Accomplishing Goals that Truly Matter". Thank you for attending and sharing.

December 1, 2005
Pounce on a Project for December (Last time in 2005)

This is the last offering of Pounce on a Project in 2005. Join us and complete the project that will result in the biggest positive impact on your life or business between now and the end of the year. Here's what our newest participant said, "Pounce on a Project is a great motivator to get a project done that may need that extra focus and support of the group. An excellent experience; can't wait for the next one!"

Last month we were in "accomplishment mode" - adding new products to a shopping cart on a website, getting the house ready for company, cleaning out e-mail inbox backlog from last year and this year, whipping through a to-do list, researching web sites in preparation for a new website design, and emptying an e-mail inbox and catching up on ACT action items. Is it time for you to focus on that project that is calling your attention most loudly? Join us in Pounce on a Project on Thursday, December 1st from 8:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. Eastern. We will join as a group by phone and declare what you want to accomplish: write a new talk, plan your next marketing piece, finish a client project, back up your computer before you buy a new one, cold calls, organize your office, or making that Holiday shopping list.

During the morning, the group will gather by phone a few times to check progress and get any support needed to finish with a bang. At noon, the group will celebrate their accomplishments. Who says projects have to be boring and tedious? Bring your lightness and fun and join us for the energization.

To sign up or learn more, call or e-mail Andrea by noon on November 30th. Feel free to share this with friends and co-workers, the more the merrier. (Cost of the program is only the cost of long distance phone calls.)

Coach Andrea's Coaching Tip of the Week is brought to you by Andrea Novakowski, Master Certified Coach who provides Business and Personal Coaching to Corporations, Businesses, and Individuals. Andrea is a professional coach who partners with people to set goals and create momentum to produce effective results in their business and/or personal lives.

Andrea is available for individual coaching. If you are serious about reaching your goals and living with greater fulfillment and satisfaction, consider using a coach. To schedule a COMPLIMENTARY initial consultation, send an e-mail to Andrea at
andrea@coachandrea.com.

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Coach Andrea
Focusing your vision, achieving results