All Aboard! Heck, yeah!I am so on board for a nice long five-star rail tour. Sign me up. TheCanadian Rockies please. Oooooh, the southwest sounds spectacular.Alaska by rail? In a heartbeat. A European adventure into the Alpsperhaps? I hear the Japanese bullet train is legendary.
As a professional free spirit, why don’t I just pick? So many choices, so much confusion. Maybe I should just load my white bike, Ike, onto Amtrak and see where we end up. Again. We are living in the gilded age of choice. With so many options, it can be tough just to choose which bottle of katsup to put in our shopping cart.
Con-fu-sion: Noun. Lack of understanding: uncertainty. The state of being bewildered or unclear in one’s mind.
Synonyms: Bafflement, befuddlement, bewilderedness, bamboozlement, fog, discombobulation.
Oh yeah. I can relate to these feelings. How about you?
Confusion is a normal and healthy condition when we are doingsomething new. learning a new role, developing new competencies,improving something, growing something. BUT….being in a state ofconfusion for too long can cause indecision, second guessing,backtracking, frustration, immobility.
How do we move from being confused to being clear to being in action? Well, it starts with paying attention to what is going on inside our busy little brains. Are we struggling to decide something? Why?
Admit it. Own it. And then coach yourself into action. Use that beautiful brain of yours and our powerful coaching process below. Caution: This process will put you into action and move you forward, so if you want to stay stuck, please disregard.
“There is stability in walking on an uncertain path because you never allow yourself to be misled by what you think you know.” - A. J. Darkholme

Your Coaching Challenge: Week 21
Notice and acknowledge the source and specifics of the confusion youare experiencing. Call it out. “I am confused about XYZ.” Own it. (Or it will own you.)
Coach Yourself from Confusion to Clarity
Specifically, what am I confused about?
Am I clear about my motivation, my why? (this is huge)
What do I need to do to gain a sense of clarity?
What information do I need?What are my top 3 options?
How will I evaluate the options?
What action can I take now?Am I juiced? Am I inspired? If not, why not?
Repeat as required.

Jeanne 
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A few months ago, I found myself stuck between a rock and a hard place. Literally. As it happened, a spate of errands appeared on my to do list that day. I set about conquering all tasks with great urgency and efficiency.
Somewhere between errands number 8 and 9, I failed to negotiate amid-sized boulder prominently placed at the intersection leading into our nearby Chinese restaurant.
A sharp right, a crunch, a pop, and an oh crap! My white Rav positioned itself on top of a freakin’ boulder, wheels spinning in mid-air. Front passenger tire blown to bits, scrapes and scratches on the passenger panel and some not so obvious damage to theundercarriage, all of which I was to learn later.
Atop the boulder, I was literally stuck between a rock and a hard place.A spectacle that could not be ignored by kind friends and neighbors.A small crowd of concerned citizens gathered round to assess thesituation and to make sure I was okay. I was advised to call a towingcompany. Straightaway my dangling Rav was winched off the boulderand towed to a shop where it would be restored.
I could no longer deny the bolder truth. My vision was deteriorating rapidly. Information that I desperately did not want to hear or act upon. That is until the boulder presented me with a lesson. And a choice.
I could either learn from the boulder incident or I could continue the pretense that my eyesight was reliable and wait for a bigger boulder to come along.
Life is made up of tiny moments, miniscule signals that can accumulate and point us to more serious choices and changes. By resisting the wisdom of life’s little lessons, we increase the potential of catastrophic consequences.
Or we can pay attention to what life is trying to teach us day by day. We can alert ourselves to look for life’s little lessons, then make subtle shifts and changes in real time.
The point of all this? You do not need to run over a boulder, unless, ofcourse, you prefer the drama and trauma.
“If you change the way you look at things, the things you look atchange.” Wayne Dyer

Your Just Keep Growing Challenge: Week 22
What’s happening with you right now?
What subtle or not so subtle messages are you picking up on?
What choices are presenting themselves to you?
What changes are you considering?
What does your life seem to be teaching you?
Jeanne

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Inspired Action: When things come together easily and effortlessly, as if they’re meant to be. I do prefer to work from a place of inspiration. A place where things just flow. Easily and effortlessly. Decisions. Actions. Outcomes. I love, love, love when this happens. Truth is though, there are times when I’m just not feeling it. Inspired, that is. I feel more tired than inspired. I want to trade my Just Do It List for my Don’t Feel Like It List. Don’t feel like.. getting up early and getting after it. making breakfast. working out. leading that project. being a positive role model. spending another single second on Zoom. keeping that lunch date. writing that proposal. I wait for that cup of inspiration to jolt me into action. I read a few great quotes. Stretch. Shower. Shine. Still, not feeling it. Daunting day alert. What about you? Are you generally running on inspiration or perspiration? If your answer is, “well, it depends.” consider yourself normal, whatever that even means. When I’m just not feeling it, I find these kinds of questions and actions to be useful. What do I want to see? What is my vision for this project or action? What Could Possibly Go Right? Who will benefit? Who cares? Why? Why does this task even matter? I show up. Which often means placing my fingers on the keyboard.
I shush Judge Jeanne and remember to appreciate my efforts, no matter how small or insignificant. My Mantra: Show up. Add value. Let it be easy. Pulled into and along by the task itself, soon enough the work flows and, on rare occasions, inspiration shows. Be kind. Be gentle. Give yourself breaks. And kudos. Appreciate your efforts and progress. It’s the little things. It’s always the little things. Show up. Add value. Shine on.
Give yourself credit for a job well done, instead of berating yourself for your mistakes. Alan Cohen

Your Coaching Challenge for Week #23
What are your favorite ways to make your work fun?
What might you do when you don’t know what to do?
Where might you look to inspire yourself?
How might you appreciate yourself for taking small steps? Love, jeanne… doing it with you not to you

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As a 10-year old aeronautics prodigy, teaching my brothers to fly was my calling. For a time. My vocation. The brothers were 8 and 5.
We three earthlings thrilled to see planes pass overhead. Where were they going? Where had they been? The lingering contrail tugged and teased. We’d pretend to be passengers. The next day, pilots. And then, we’d be the ground crew.
Absent close neighbors and other diversions, we reveled in tales of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn. Like Huck and Tom, we were free to roam, to devise our own glorious adventures.
We had the run of 20 of the rockiest acres in all the Ozarks. Our property boasted several out-buildings, sheds and chicken houses. These remarkable facilities served as base camp, along with an epic Mulberry Tree.
Seniority dictated my obligation to serve as high commander, ring-leader, and inspirer in chief. I took my role to heart.
As we launched our morning maneuvers, it was my duty to assure thatwe worked ourselves into a proper frenzy sufficient to fuel our variousmissions for the day.
One scorching summer day we deemed the flight of the brothers asmost urgent and of the highest importance. So much so, that it wasconsidered classified. No grown-ups must know. Ever.
One of our favorite hangouts was atop the tin roof of the old clapboardchicken house. The chicken house featured a multilevel roost, whichmade a nice set of monkey bars. Of course, we did share the roost withthe resident chickens. We collected their eggs each morning, hoping tobeat the black snakes who apparently enjoyed eggs for breakfast asmuch as our Dad did.
The brothers shimmied up the scrawny peach sapling adjoining thechicken house. One could take a baby step from the peach tree and beatop the hot tin roof of the chicken house.
Barefoot. Hopping from one foot to the other Brother One extended his arms and flapped a bit for aerodynamic purposes.
I assumed ground control authority as I spoke words of wisdom and encouragement. “Just spread your wings and fly. You can do it. On your mark, get set, gooooooooo.”
Kersplat! It didn’t work.
Already poised to fly, Brother Two hopped from bare foot to bare foot, ready to test his wings. Reasoning that a bad landing was better than hot footing it back and forth on the tin tarmac, he launched himself preparing to fly, fly away.
Kersplat! We’d yet to learn the laws of gravity.
No Tears. Just unwavering resolve to get it right the next time.
“Brothers, you must think positively. You must think aerodynamically.You must fill your mind with uplifting thoughts. Our mission dependsupon it. Let’s go.”
Kersplat!Kersplat!Kersplat!
The thing is…. the Brothers really did want to fly. You see, Brother One became a Naval pilot, Captain and Commander, flying P3 missions throughout the world tracking Soviet Submarines during the Cold War. Brother Two became an Electrical Engineer and a distinguished designer of leading edge aviation systems.
And, me? Well, I loved to teach….and inspire…..and encourage people to take risks….to learn… to become whatever and whoever they wanted to be.
If I were to come with a warning it might read something like this:
If you hang out with me for too long, I’ll brainwash you into believing inyourself and thinking that you can achieve anything.

Your Coaching Challenge for Week #24
 What do you miss most about your childhood?
 What did you love to do as a child?
 Who did you pretend to be?
 Who did you dream of becoming?
 How have those childhood dreams influenced your choices anddecisions as an adult?
 How might connecting with your childhood dreams and schemesinspire you now?
 Jeanne
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I love watching people at work. Whether in a manufacturing environment, a restaurant, a retail shop, or on a flight. I want toknow how the work gets done. How customers are treated.
Work places fascinate me. How they are organized, or not. How they function, or not. How team members interface with one another, or not. How engaged and empowered team members seem to be.
Just last week, I got a front row seat, so to speak, from which to observe a workplace. As a patient for my own eye surgery.
Prepped for surgery on my good eye, I kept my bad eye trained on the activities and interactions of the health care team attending me and other patients in the queue. I vowed to keep my bad eye on the surgical team, as they performed their tasks on my good eye.
Vision through my bad eye is hazy and crazy. Still. I willed my bad eye to keep watch over the surgical proceedings.
What I saw and heard from the surgical team inspired my confidence. That I was in excellent, caring hands and that my good eye would remain good. Stable. And able to see and interpret situations and circumstances for me.
In a haze and a bit dazed, I squinted my way back to the recovery room.
“I have one good eye. And one not so good eye,” I reasoned. “I get to choose which eye to use.”
Hours passed, or maybe it was minutes. Not sure. What I do remember is that I woke up with a patch on my good eye. I could see nothing…clearly. I was left to figure things out using my bad eye. Life became very complicated. Very fuzzy. My decisions and actions were informed by the bad eye, the only eye I had access to. Safety. That’s what mattered through the lens of my bad eye.
Days passed. As my sight became a bit clearer, I found myself reflecting on my realization. That I would need to choose which eye to use. Turns out, my brain was already on this task, coordinating the two eyes, but it still needed my input and cooperation.
Back to my realization….
When it comes to daily decisions and more complex discernment, we have two eyes. No matter what happens, no matter the circumstance, we get to choose whether to view it from our good eye or our bad eye.
Our good eye sees possibility and expansiveness. It leads us toinspired action. Enlivens and empowers us. Pulls us into abetter space or place. Invites us to take a few risks.
Our bad eye sees problems and losses. It leads us to dead end sand disappointments. It keeps us stuck and pinched off. Safe but focused on threats.

Your Coaching Challenge for Week #25
Become particularly alert and aware of the various circumstances you find yourself facing. Best to do this in real time. Which eye will you use? The view can be radically different depending upon which eye you choose. The good eye sees out into the distance, sensitive to possibilities. The bad eye is conditioned to see close-up, threatened by limitations.
Which eye will you choose?
Jeanne
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Mute: Refraining from speech or temporarily speechless. Absence of sound.

Muffled. Reduction in intensity or strength. Muted markings or color. Less intense or vibrant.
When the pandemic took hold in early 2020, we were forced to learn new
methods of communicating. An abrupt switch from in person meetings to Zoom and Microsoft venues meant we needed to learn how to be together while staying apart. We were required to learn virtual ways to conduct business,
classes, family gatherings, church, medical appointments, parties, etc.

This required anyone who still wanted or needed to participate in life and work to learn new skills. The most important skill seemed to be how and when to mute and unmute ourselves. That one skill seemed to challenge even the best of us. Never mind, the rest of us. And, just because one nailed muting and unmuting in one setting, it did not follow that we would repeat our success in the next.
Years have passed since we were forced into virtual meeting spaces. Even so,
when we gather virtually, we are still very likely to hear or say. “You’re on mute.”
“Unmute yourself.”

A bit of trivia. “You’re on mute” has become the most frequently uttered phrase
in corporate call transcripts. Check out Amazon or Itsy, and you will find an
assortment of “you’re on mute” mugs, t-shirts, ornaments, and signs. More trivia.
I could write myself silly about muting and unmuting, and still screw it up in my
next meeting, which begins in exactly 18.5 minutes.

All this got me thinking….in what other situations and circumstances do we find
ourselves muting? Either consciously or unconsciously? And why?

I’ll go first.
I tend to mute myself when….
I want to allow someone else to shine.
I want to learn from another’s experience.
Someone talks over me. Or down to me.
Someone seems to need/crave attention.
I feel irrelevant, boring, or that my opinion could start an argument, one that I’m not prepared to defend.
I don’t have the energy to engage.
I can’t find the words.
It seems my opinions or experience are not valued.
I feel irrelevant. That I don’t matter.
Out of habit.

In Ecclesiastes we are taught this piece of wisdom. “To everything there is a
season and a time to every purpose under heaven.” A time to speak up. A time
to be quiet. A time to teach. A time to learn. A time to share. A time to take in.

When being muted becomes our go to, our habit, we may deprive others and
ourselves of learning and growing.

Please unmute yourself. We need to hear from you. We need to learn from you.
When you sense someone is holding back, consider inviting them to share their
opinion, thoughts, or experience. Invite them to unmute. Help them to
remember and reconnect with who they are and how much they are valued.

This simple practice helps us all to just keep growing.

Your Coaching Challenge for Week #26
When do you tend to mute yourself? Be honest.
How might muting yourself be interfering with your personal or professional
growth? Or the growth of others?
Jeanne
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While my tiny hometown was designated population center of the United States, it certainly was not the center of anything happening in the sixties. Generally bored, my high school career revolved around staging protests over unpopular administration policies, organizing skip days, and leading student walkouts when class became boring.
In addition to my activism, I dearly loved my friends, cheerleading and my few bit parts in school plays. As a part time waitress, I measured my success by the
quarters in my tip jar.
I was more than ready to bolt after high school…but where? Career choices for
young women in the sixties were these:
Nursing
Teaching
Airline Stewardess
Secretary

Nursing and teaching required a college degree. Nope and Nope. I was done with school. School was done with me.

I wanted to become an Airline Stewardess, but sadly, I had stopped growing. I did not meet the height requirement.

That left secretarial work…shorthand typing, filing. No tips. It was settled then.
Get married. Be a secretary.

Life happened. My husband, Bob, a Vietnam Vet, completed his degree on the G.I. Bill while I worked as a secretary at the University. Occasionally, he allowed me to help him research or edit a paper for school. To my great surprise, I loved
helping with his studies.

I began to dream about going to college myself, but there was just no way,
financially. We needed my income. And, well, we would continue to need my
income given Bob’s chosen field.

After graduation Bob accepted a position near a Junior College, And, I was offered a secretarial job with a company that believed in growing their employees through a generous tuition reimbursement program.
I applied for tuition reimbursement. Nervously, I enrolled in night school. First
one course and then another, I took whatever was offered… in no specific field.
Art History, Creative Writing, Computer Programming, Math, Literature of
Fantasy. English, Sciences, whatever. I took any class that was offered in night
school.

I didn’t bother tracking my credits. I had no plans to graduate. I just wanted to
learn stuff. After nearly 10 years of being an undirected night student, I received a concerning call from the registrar’s office. “Do you ever plan to graduate?” the
caller wanted to know. “Do I have to?” I panicked.

Were they kicking me out? Well, not exactly. I was advised to transfer to a four-
year college. Terrifying. What if I hated it? What if it hated me? What if I failed?
Somehow, I finished my bachelor’s degree through weekend college structured
for non-traditional students. Working students, like me. I completed my formal
education, including post-grad. And, I kept on learning. I was hooked.

These days, I find joy in teaching and developing adults in the workplace. I love
helping leaders leverage the wisdom and brilliance of folks in their respective
organizations. I find that the workplace provides infinite opportunities for
learning, for growing. It can be a place where folks connect with their own love of learning.

"Education is not the filling of a pail, but the igniting of a fire." William Butler Yeats

Your Coaching Challenge for Week #27
There are infinite ways to learn. Infinite things to learn. What intrigues you?
What do you enjoy learning?
Indulge yourself. Do.
 Jeanne 
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Week 28 

I start stuff. I thrive on new ideas, fresh inspiration, alluring projects. Istart stuff.
I like to think I inspire others to dream, learn, become more. To start stuff.
I’m not so great at ending stuff. Even when ending something is my idea, which it almost always is. Projects. Relationships. Memberships. Subscriptions. Closing a work space. Or a living space. Or ending a phase in my career.
It’s illogical, really. Because endings bring new beginnings. And, I love new beginnings.
My brother is a retired Naval Captain. As his (proud) big sister, I attended numerous Change-of-Command ceremonies, in which he was either beginning a new role or ending an old role. Starting something. Ending something.
Change of Command is a military tradition that represents a formal transfer of authority and responsibility for a unit. The proceedings are meant for the officers handing off duties, but friends and family are invited to witness the ceremony. The ceremony signals a clear ending. A clear beginning. A transfer of trust. A peaceful transfer of power, authority, and accountability.
I often wish we experienced this much clarity about beginnings and endings in the civilian world. When I get stuck about how to close out a
chapter of my life, I remember the precision of beginning and ending that comes with a formal change of command.
The End.
When you are engaged in the things that light you up, it is easier to let go of the things that don’t. Unknown

Your Coaching Challenge for Week #28
What’s ending for you? What are you doing to create closure and celebrate completion?
What’s new or beginning for you?
What do you intend to accomplish/experience in the next 3 months?
What small, or large, actions do you intend to take?
How will you appreciate yourself for being true to your intentions?
Jeanne
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Second cup of coffee brewing. Comforting.
I situate myself in front of my screen, fingers poised above the keyboard. Waiting. Waiting to receive. To receive what’s meant to flow through my fingers onto the screen.
On your mark, get set…. and NOPE. I get Nothing! Nothing appears on my screen. A blank page waiting to be lettered. Littered? I play with words. Just for the joy of jotting stuff down.
“No worries,” I think. “I will just take a few sips of my steaming cup of inspiration.” My fingers become antsy from the hit of caffeine.
A sparrow crashes into my window. Falls to the ground. Dead on arrival. I observe a period of mourning. I hate my home for having windows that trick birds into trusting.
Back to my computer screen. Ready. Set. Nope.
No words show up. Again. Oh, sure there are plenty of words out there. And, I consider all the words I know, and find each word to be, well…meh
Tempted to throw a little tantrum…I hear my adult niece reminding her 2 year-old daughter…” please…use your words.” “But, what if I can’t find my words this morning? What if someone stole them while I was sleeping?”
Is it just me? Or do you sometimes find it difficult to express how you feel or what you think about whatever is weighing on you? Maybe your words take a holiday, go for a hike in the Rockies?
You want to express what’s on your mind or in your heart. You want to be heard, to be understood. But the words won’t come. Or, maybe they come in the form of tears or anger. Or sarcasm.
We hear people using words to disrespect and disparage others. Using words as weapons. Loud, lingering weapons. We see people busy trying to be right or look good. Rather than speaking and listening to create understandings. Words have become weapons of mass destruction. Hate bombs. Fear bombs.
We are so much better than that. Aren’t we?

Your Coaching Challenge for Week #29
Do you have an opinion, a thought, an observation that is important and meaningful to you? That you want to share?
What do you want to say? Who do you want to hear it?
What impact do you want your message to have? Why is it important to you? To the person or person/s with whom you wish to share? Consider writing your thoughts and feelings down…chaotically, imperfectly……for your eyes only.
Take a break from your task. Give it a rest.
Return to your message. As often as you need to. Then, decide how, when, or even if to share.
Jeanne
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Should I fold or roll my clothes? Should I use my bag with wheels or my duffel? Should I take this pair or that pair of jeans? Will my bag squish into the overhead bin or end up having to be checked? The battle of the bulging bag is real.
I desperately want to be like Rick Steves, who traverses the world with an intelligently appointed backpack…and a camera crew. Why Rick and not me?
Could my perpetual overpacking be my Mom’s fault? She made us play the Suitcase Game when we got a bit too rowdy on road trips. You may know the one.
“I’m going on a trip and packing my suitcase and I’m taking an apple,” mom would lead off. In turn, I would pack an item that started with the letter B, like my bike. Brother would get to pack an item that started with the letter C. Other brother, the letter D, and so on.
“I’m going on a trip and I’m going to pack an apple, my bicycle, my catcher’s mitt and my dog.”
Our tiny brains were tasked with remembering and regurgitating up to 24 alphabetized items to stuff in our suitcase. This game could easily goin to extra innings if nobody blew it. We children got to pack everything imaginable while our Dad got to drive peacefully down the highway.
Not to brag, but I was great at this game. I packed everything I owned and everything I wanted to own.
Could being a super star in the Suitcase Game be why I suck at packing light today? Yeah, it’s a stretch.
Gearing up for another adventure, I found myself once again facing down my travel bag brimming with “all my worldly goods.” And, to my own surprise, I called myself out. Did this really have to be another Battle of the Bulge? Or could I manage without that third pair of jeans? What if I left those sandals behind? And, those 3 fancy tops? What about that extra hoodie?
What might my bulging travel bag have to teach me? Could it be a metaphor for other areas of my abundant and bulging life? Can I discern the essential from the extraneous? Might the quality of my life improve if I reduce the quantity of stuff?
“I’m going to unpack my suitcase and leave some stuff behind.?” What if I made a game of it.
Simplicity is making the journey of this life with just baggage enough. Charles Dudley Warner

Challenge #30
What has become a bit too bulky or heavy for you? In your schedule? In your home space? What might you consider leaving behind, letting go of? What might that open up for you?
Jeanne