Dyana Valentine » ask for help

Keep Your Creativity in a Corporate World

admin — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 21:14:09 +0000

I had a BLAST talking with Andy Epstein about strategies for keeping focus, being creative and leading with your strengths in corporate (or new to you) environments. Please listen in, tell me your experiences, ask questions and share ideas in the comments.

Flu Reason: (34/40)

admin — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 02:33:50 +0000

What could be more about my body than being laid up with the flu? I planned for day 34 of 40 of my body challenge to be titled “back in action” because I assumed that all of the days of the challenge had to be in ACTION, thus taking days off and not posting on Sundays (and an occasional Sunday/Monday when my body was so worn out it sent flares).

Well, that thinking helped me:

stretch this 40 days out to an annoying, un-subscription inspiring, ridonkulously long time (total time elapsed since day one: 46 days);
practice valuing the days when I (over)worked as the only ones that “counted”; and
pushed my body past the point of health.

Where else do I do this in my life? More places than not. I push the envelope in ways that are sometimes brilliant, but truly most ways that simply make me tired. My busy-ddiction showing itself left and right.

Here’s what I learned (even though I don’t act on them):

slow and steady may not win the race, but it may get you there alive; and
you can’t unlearn how to rest, you may just get flabby rest muscles. Tone up those suckers and lay down–even for a minute.

As if her inspiration could be more on time and en pointe, Danielle LaPorte posted this Merton quote during my flu reasoning,

“Take more time, cover less ground.” – Thomas Merton.

I like the idea and the tone of his statement. But, what does it mean to me and how I might implement it. Ideas?
It really isn’t the end of the world to clear six days to rest and recover from the flu, just imagine what earth shattering reasoning I could do if I took that many days to frolic and create while healthy.

The 40 days of My Body (if you are new to this story, read the intro here) project, is a quest in service to my business, my body and my own path of finishing what I start. I am committed to exercising 6 days/week, keeping a food journal and being more aware of ways I use (and abuse) my body. Going public is extreme, yes, and it’s working! I’m working with a fantastic trainer, Sunny Riggs, to create a program I can sustain over time. She’s amazing. HIRE HER!

I am not alone on my quest. The roll call is at 31 people (including me)! Some are getting organized, others giving up fast food and some are simply breathing! Check out the updates and links below and show your support:

Tanya Geisler–40 days of hatha yoga and radical self-care. Check out her ROCKING tell-all post!
Petra Korn–30 days on her body (supported with love by hubby Nick)
Tia Reddy–yoga and exercise: she found her yoga plan was NOT working and made these adjustments.
Alisa Bonsignore–working out and food consciousness and shares a great Huffington Post article, 10 tips from a Personal Trainer today.
Suzie Powanda–no fast food or beverages. Check out her guest post getting into the nitty gritty of her challenge progress.
Julie Rorrer–training for the Austin marathon in Spring
Emma Alvarez Gibson–some bit of exercise, every day. She says, “micromovements are proving to be very effective! I’m beginning to look for excuses to get more exercise.”
Joyce Black–FINISHED her 21 days without caffeine and doing a general detox, congratulate her! She did a guest post, too!
Carabunga is rocking 40 days of hardcore productivity and rocking a blog about it. She gives a GREAT tutorial on strategic rest!
Paula Trucks-Pape and her husband: 87 Days of exploring their passions
Monica Kingsbury: 30 days of the Candida diet to deal with her sweet tooth
Jack and LisaMarie Rowell: 30 days of extreme health (alkaline diet)
Diane Sherry Case: 3 weeks of walking–she’s up to 20 minutes 4 days/week! (yoga if it rains)
Cindy Morefield: 21 Days of 30 mins/day of cardio exercise. Check out her guest post/video here.
Paula Estes: 30 Days of playing congas while she works in her studio
Sheila Hart is IN: 21 Days of no sugar!
Amy Ahlers: 40 days limiting processed food.)
SouperJenny Team: 40 Day hits the ATL! So far, Meredith is giving up sweets and Jenny is giving up booze!! 7 folks have joined their group. Gooo, Team Body, Mind, Spirit! Watch their update videos here.

John from San Diego is giving up carbs and working out 3x/week
Sharon’s giving up all sugar except fruit
Merrideth giving up all sugar and exercising 4 times a week
Marcie will journal every day and cut down from 4 to 5 diet sodas a day to one per day
Tricia from Atlanta will drink a quart of her green juice concoction and exercise 5 to 7 times a week
Lucero Martinez a restaurant/bar owner will give up all alcohol
Jenny giving up all alcohol and working out 5 times a week

Ashley White-Stern: 40 days of meditation and says, “a controlled person is a dead person. A controlled person is not necessarily a disciplined person; discipline is totally different. Discipline comes out of awareness; control comes out of fear.”

M Arsenia Brown (aka: @donutdemon) joins with a commitment to 40 days of her body
Cat Sabonis-Chafee is in and says “I will move my ass” for 21 days of daily, considered exercise. She reminded me of a great tool: TAKE A DAY OFF every week and she added in an abs&stretch class today.
Emily-Sarah is joining with body awareness and daily movement. Welcome, Emily-Sarah.
Nicola Warwick kicks off 40 days of food journaling and diet hacking! TODAY! She’s using a super duper diet spreadsheet.

Are you a quester wanting to tell your story? Do it! E-mail me and put your own video or guest post up!

Photo by SuperFantastic and used under a Creative Commons license.

40 Days of My Body: Day 27, Ask for Help!

admin — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 02:54:52 +0000

I was feeling like a sticky date under a camel’s hoof (are they hooves?) yesterday and reached out for support. The responses were incredible and came in the form of atta-girls, quit-yer-griping and awesome corny jokes. The love plus dinner and a deep night of sleep worked and I feel so much better.

Do you ask for help? Do you get it? Any tips or stories to share?

Colleen Wainwright talks about asking for help in her elegant, self-witnessing way in this post. If you aren’t reading, following, worshiping at her alter of growth, do it. Now.

Today was a physical day off from the 40 days of My Body (if you are new to this story, read the intro here) project, which is a quest in service to my business and my own path of finishing what I start. I am committed to exercising 6 days/week, keeping a food journal and being more aware of ways I use (and abuse) my body. Going public is extreme, yes, and it’s working! I’m working with a fantastic trainer, Sunny Riggs, to create a program I can sustain over time and she’s amazing. HIRE HER!

I am not alone on my quest. The roll call is at 29 people (including me)! Some are getting organized, others giving up fast food and some are simply breathing! Check out the updates and links below and show your support:

Tanya Geisler–40 days of hatha yoga and radical self-care
Petra Korn–30 days on her body (supported with love by hubby Nick)
Tia Reddy–yoga and exercise
Alisa Bonsignore–working out and food consciousness. She’s on the road this week, but keeping her challenge alive!
Suzie Powanda–no fast food or beverages. She’s realizing it’s easier to cook for herself AND that she’s a great cook!
Julie Rorrer–training for the Austin marathon in Spring
Emma Alvarez Gibson–some bit of exercise, every day
Joyce Black–FINISHED her 21 days without caffeine and doing a general detox, congratulate her!
Carabunga is rocking 40 days of hardcore productivity and rocking a blog about it. She said a great thing in her blog: Frustrations are never single. . .she deals with it by regrouping, asking for help and doing a little planning.
Paula Trucks-Pape and her husband: 87 Days of exploring their passions is in Wisconsin this week, loving the snow.
Monica Kingsbury: 30 days of the Candida diet to deal with her sweet tooth
Jack and LisaMarie Rowell: 30 days of extreme health (alkaline diet)
Diane Sherry Case: 3 weeks of walking–she’s up to 20 minutes 4 days/week! (yoga if it rains)
Cindy Morefield: 21 Days of 30 mins/day of cardio exercise
Paula Estes: 30 Days of playing congas while she works in her studio–she added a strategy and is writing “D” in her calendar daily to keep her accountability solid.
Sheila Hart is IN: 21 Days of no sugar! Sheila finished her run in 39 mins and without stopping!
Amy Ahlers: 40 days limiting processed food.)
SouperJenny Team: 40 Day hits the ATL! So far, Meredith is giving up sweets and Jenny is giving up booze!! 7 folks have joined their group. Gooo, Team Body, Mind, Spirit! Watch their daily update video here. As of today, the WHOLE team is on target and rocking their challenge:

John from San Diego is giving up carbs and working out 3x/week
Sharon from Souper Jenny giving up all sugar except fruit
Merrideth giving up all sugar and exersising 4 times a week
Marcie will journal every day and cut down from 4 to 5 diet sodas a day to one per day
Tricia from Atlanta will drink a quart of her green juice concoction and exersise 5 to 7 times a week
Lucero Martinez a restaurant/bar owner will give up all alcohol!
Jenny giving up all alcohol and working out 5 times a week

Ashley White-Stern: 40 days of meditation and is up to 20 mins of meditation; Go Ashley!
M Arsenia Brown (aka: @donutdemon) joins with a commitment to 40 days of her body
Cat Sabonis-Chafee is in and says “I will move my ass” for 21 days of daily, considered exercise

What else is going on in the world?

Alex Obed started the IGNITE Facebook Group, a 40-day challenge to do one thing every day to re-ignite your life. Some are writing poetry, some are waking up earlier and Alex is working on his website and writing. Join up with them, start your own or lurk in observation and enjoy the stories! I love that folks are keeping their commitments all over the place.

Check out this really cool 3-week, 6-call class called Relationship Cleanse. I joined today and am ready to get even more focused on my health, nutrition and get some awesome coaching on shifting your relationship with your body and with others. If you sign up today, you can sign up for the class for $73! Just email Randi and mention my name. It starts TOMORROW at 6pm, Pacific.