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Dateline: Octovalo, Ecuador In the tiny restaurant beside the railroad tracks, our band of adventurers had our first dinner. Popcorn is served with every soup course. Potatoes and beans prevail. Chicken is the offered meat… notwithstanding the hens and peeps walking across the rails. Three young men come to showcase their instruments and indigenous music. Fascinating. Intricate. But it is only the next day, when we go to the tiny house/studio of the musicians’ leader, I learn of his foray into making instruments and then teaching at the school. Juan’s eyes gleam with pride as he handles a guitar made from the shell of an armadillo. Bamboo stalks, carefully chosen and seasoned, transform into notes that surely the Greek god Pan might have breathed. We discover he taught himself how to make and mold the instruments. He is probably the first music teacher in the village. That he loves what he does is clear. He has created his life around his talent. How many times might I downplay a talent to fall into the routine of my life? Something to ponder.

Years ago, cultural anthropologist, Dr. Jeff Salz, led us through an amazing adventure as we hiked the northwest quadrant of the Indian Himalayas. From traveling the highest “navigable” road in the world (you’ve got to be kidding), to encountering the Dalai Lama in the remote monastery of Naiko, to making it across three white water rivers on foot, to discovering an India that few see, we loved it all. Hence, we never hesitated when Jeff proposed a new adventure/inventure: “Come experience the cultures of Ecuador. Through the next series of articles, join me on the resiliency insights I discovered in this last journey. It began with the flight into Quito, a city perched at 10,000 feet in the Andes. Sprawling below us, lights stretched across the high mountain floor. A driver for Hacienda Jimenita met us in the dark night, taking us on a bumpy road to the gate of what, the next day, we discovered was a 6th generation hacienda. By morning, family members gathered to discuss their plans for the day while two French bull terriers snored on an antique sofa. Lesson: When the world changes, change what you can but keep what you treasure. We all know the saying that experiences are of more value than things. But some “things” keep the memories and the experiences alive. In Hacienda Jimenita, photos abound of the families who lived in this wonderful house. The current residents point to Mama and Poppa, Abuela and Abuelo (grandparents), to baptism pictures and favorite horses. You sense the history and the work that continues to create an eco-resort just outside the bustling city of Quito. Surely, it would have been easier in some respects to quit the ancient land, to give up building, repairing, and building again. It would have been easier to build up a large architectural practice (which at least one of the brother’s has) but then, who protects and safeguards the land?

Drizzling, cold rain kept my drive along Pacific Coast Highway a soggy mess. “Poor cyclists”, I thought as I passed what looked like a race.   Ugh - What a DREARY day for a race! The longer I drove, the more I realized something was DIFFERENT about these cyclists. Sure, some had the lean, hard Lance Armstrong bodies one comes to expect in a bicycle race. But most of these folks were different. A number looked like weekend warriors, puffing as they edged up the hill entering Laguna Beach. Pudgy legs, tummies over the handle bars, and gray hair matted down under blue and white pointed hard plastic helmets. Some were young adolescents, peddling in bravado ahead of the adults.  A couple hundred riders of different ages, sizes, shapes, and colors. “What’s going on?” I thought as I tried to peer through the beat of the windshield wipers. A number of observers stood by the side of the road cheering, waving and holding up posters that looked none-the-worse for the rain. BEAT MS!!! “Oh,” I slowed down, waved, and gave a thumbs-up. It was a ride to raise money for multiple sclerosis—that scourge of a disease that turns life into a complicated, never ending battle to just move. Every week, some 200 people are diagnosed with MS. I passed a team of six wearing identical jerseys “SPOKES people in the fight against MS.”.  Spokes?   I get it: Bicycles!!  I laughed out loud and gave them a thumbs up and a blown kiss as I passed. It became a GREAT day a race—the human race.

“The Earth was small, light blue, and so touchingly alone, our home that must be defended like a holy relic.The Earth was absolutely round. I believe I never knew what the word round meant until I saw the Earth from space. - Aleksei Leanov, Russian Astronaut When we’re overwhelmed and overworked, our energy is scattered. We don’t see the big picture, the potential end result, the success we’ve had, the work we’ve already done.Time out. Rise up. We’ve lost our perspective. Just as an astronaut does not rocket alone to outer space, we need to find someone to travel with us. We need a fellow voyager who can help us look down and see the bigger picture. It might be a colleague, a client, a friend, or a spouse who helps us understand what is really important and what we’ve accomplished to date. I have a colleague who gets terrible upset, de-energized and depressed when she finds herself fixated on an upcoming presentation. I’m her co-pilot, reminding her to look down and remember the risks she took, the differences she made. I hear her sigh of relief over the phone. I have my flight buddies who help me look down.  Who can fly with you? This excerpt is from My Get-Up-and-Go Got Up and Went!. If you’d like your own copy or one for a friend or colleague visit our website here. "This book will revive your spirit from the inside out. Open it anywhere and follow the directions. You’ll be jolted back to life…" — Dr. Marcia Reynolds, Author of "Outsmart Your Brain and Wander Woman: How High-Achieving Women Find Contentment and Direction"

My previous post began with the destruction of La Casa de Maria and the Center for Spiritual Renewal. For twenty years, I have made a self-pilgrimage to the top of El Cielo. It's a 4.3 mile hike from the Center to the ridge line (8.6 mile round trip) above Montecito. Now, it’ a fine of $5,000 for anyone who even enters the trail after the destruction. However, that didn’t mean I couldn’t pull out old journals and discover what that climb taught me. In 1996 I started the hike because I was terrified to do it. Later years, I climbed it to prove to myself that I still could! Each year, it offered new challenges. The first hour was beside San Ysidro creek, the path staying pretty wide and the walk uphill had few boulders. But it was cool under the shelter of coastal oaks. However, turn away from the creek and the trail narrowed into steep switchbacks. The journal entry I read reported this: “This has to be the hottest January on record. A blazing sun sears my jeans and jean shirt. I yearn for shorts and a lighter weight top. My legs feel heavier with each step. My head pounds. What lessons will the mountain offer today? I come away with three: To reach any goal, it always takes longer than you think it should. I swear each year they move the mountain top. My pace is better than in early years but my legs ache. But I am determined to reach the top. Just like I am determined to write the next book, to create new programs, to clean my office. You know the drill. I must build in extra time because it will always take longer. Most people turn back when the "heat" is on. I realize that the only people I encounter are stopped at the upper most waterfall that because of a pitiful rainy season, is nothing more than a trickle. They miss the panorama of a Pacific ocean, flat and glassy, the Santa Barbara skyline and Ventura to the South. I was not prepared for the heat. There's a lesson right there! Keep your eye on the right mountain. I almost turn back. I am so hot and aching. The ridge line seems so far away. Two more switchbacks and I realize I have been staring at the wrong peak. Might be someone else's goal but it is not mine. Wow. Where am I trying to climb someone else's mountain and not mine? So now, showered and tired, I will allow myself the luxury of a nap. A reward. What will you do to reward yourself this year when you climb your mountain?” The end of that journal entry. The lessons will resonate.

This past January would have marked the 21st year to go La Casa de Maria and The Center for Spiritual Renewal, a blessed retreat house that for decades has offered silence and reflection—plus meals from their garden. Each year I go away to be quiet and in the quiet. I think, pray, write, and hike. The center crouches at the base of a mountain range towering over Montecito, CA and offers views of the distant Channel Islands. However, 2018 saw horrid fires and mudslides that literally turned homes into graveyards, roads into impassable mud rivers, and destroyed lives plus businesses. La Casa was not spared. The cottages, the chapel, the bookstore, the gardens, and more were literally crushed and /or swept away. Evacuations took place. The men and women who worked here have been let go. The few who remain must now turn their attention to question of rebuilding and major fundraising. It will take literally take millions to bring open this place of solace and spirit. This will not happen overnight But that event—as personal as it was to me—was a mere foreshadowing of other disasters: fires that raged in Northern California, destroying lives and livelihood; a relentless water-drenched hurricane that destroyed lives and livelihoods in the Carolina's; the worst droughts on record that have forced water rationing in Cape Town South Africa. And I started to write this, a 7.5-magnitude earthquake hit near Sulawesi, Indonesia. Shortly after, a tsunami with waves of up to 18 feet (5.5 meters) devastated the coast, leaving at least 1,200 people dead and dozens missing. Devastation. Disruption. Disaster. Horrific. Horrible. Heartbreaking. IS RECOVERY EVEN POSSIBLE? Such a hard question bears no fast answers. As your mind reels with the disasters, here are initial thoughts. Do something. Action is the antidote for anxiety. If you are so moved by any of the events that seem to circle our globe, consider these actions: Donate to reputable, boots-on-the-ground, organizations. CARE International has had a presence in Indonesia since 1967. You can see their efforts here.  World Vision is on the ground and this link relates exactly what immediate actions are being taken. Save the Children and its local partner are frantically trying to protect and provide for so any children who have lost their parents. All three of these are global organizations committed to action. Become aware and educated about potential causes of these disasters. While the Indonesia tragedy stems from its location on the “ring of fire”, the other disasters are made worse by accelerating climate change. Science Daily offers the most up to date global research on how these changes are impacting our economy and global stability. Consider what positive insights can be drawn from these disasters. This is surely not to undercut the intense emotional and physical anguish but rather to say “what might we learn?” La Case de Maria has discovered an outpouring of support they never knew they had. Ready hands are shoveling, cleaning, building, and praying. Site planning for construction now knows to take into account San Ysidiro Creek. Warning systems for everything from fire to floods to earthquakes are getting closer examination with innovations and better practices under discussion. Sustainability through corporate activism has replaced the vacuum of climate-denying governments. Fortune’s 2018 Change the World Issue highlighted such companies. Supermarket chain Kroger is simultaneously working to eliminate food waste and feed the hungry. Bank of America is helping to finance earth-friendly, low carbon business though green bonds. Adidas is recovering plastic from the oceans and converting it into shoes. In short, after the US withdrew from the Paris agreement on climate change, more than 900 businesses publicly pledged to fight global warming, including Fortune 500 companies from many industries. Be grateful and recall your lessons from other seeming “disasters”. As I prepare to travel to Dublin to be one of the keynoters at Simmons International Conference, it’s humbling to be in the presence of others who have gone through so much and discovered strength and purpose. I know I will learn from Nobel Laureates like Malala Yousafzai and Leymah Gbowee to journalists Mariane Pearl and Lara Logan. They took a long view of events and have become models of resiliency and global significance. I will share what I discover from these remarkable women.

I recently found this article which I wrote eight years ago. It struck me that the insights are timeless. Enjoy! One hour north of Ely, MN, off a gravel road called Echo Trail, Little Indian Sioux River meanders through lily-pad waters and past beaver houses to meet Loon Lake.  It’s but a tiny part of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, a vast chain of lakes and rivers that divide Canada and the United States. It was our fourth season to canoe for a week, testing our ability to paddle against wind gusts of 35-mph, fight mosquitoes and stinging flies, drag our boat over beaver dams, portage up and down slippery trails and sleep most nights under the stars. A prior trip resulted in a leadership article. Seems nature can offer insights on many aspects of life. This trip was no exception: Necessity IS the mother of creativity.  A small piece of yellow rubber tubing from an exercise band replaced the lost shower head on our solar shower water bag. I teased our friend, Tom, when he threw the band into his Duluth pack.  Boy, was I wrong.  What can you look at—with different eyes—that might solve a problem? If the wind is at your back, make the most of it. On the few occasions the fierce wind shifted, I discovered that a raised paddle blade, turned to catch wind, acted as a mini sail, driving us more quickly across the open water. Yes, it was also necessity!If you have momentum, how can you make more of it. Expended energy demands refueling to keep going.  Ziplock bags of nuts, fruit and M&Ms became essential when we’d slow down.  Even the birds in these waters are constantly looking to refuel. During breeding season, a pair of loons can consume 2,000 pounds of fish. That might also explain why I never caught any!  Do you stop and refuel when your body needs it? Everything works better when the team is in synch. Our friends in the other canoe often seemed to move more quickly than we did.  Then I realized: their paddle strokes were in synch.  Plus, Tom sat in the bow and his stronger paddling made up for the times when Pam stopped paddling to steer the boat.  Ummm—now that’s not only synchronization of action but also a synchronization of talent.  Are you in synch with your team and playing to your strengths? You can only leave “home” if a champion stays behind. This trip would not have happened without my sister Susan, a champion of great ability and strength.  She moved into our house to oversee the care of Mom, thus allowing us to journey into the wilderness.  Who tends your home or work place so you can venture forth into new territory? Postscript We are venturing into new territory for the month of September. My champion, my ever-stalwart operations manager, Bonnie Davis, will monitor the office. Actually, she’ll be monitoring it from a trip to Scotland while we explore Milan, Lake Como, Budapest, Prague and the Danube.  Technology does allow connections. Be warned though, my goal is to stay as untethered as possible so I can find new lessons without the ping of email.

If you are like the majority of humans (myself included), you might have looked at the answers you wrote to the aforementioned Recalculating Questions and proceeded to tell yourself things like: There’s no way this will work. So-and-so will be against it. It costs too much money. There’s not enough time.It really isn’t THAT broken. I don’t have the skill. Why bother? Things will change again—sometime. I’m just destined for a hard life. I’ve never done this before. Bad things come in threes—there’s more around the bend. You know the drill. Our monkey mind just chatters away, producing what researchers say is approximately 60,000 thoughts per day!It’s that internal, infernal chatter that can so easy to build up a resistance wall. Amazingly, scientists also tell us that 95% of those thoughts are the same as yesterday! How many times have you found yourself ruminating over an issue—thoughts that play in circular fashion across your mind—particularly when you are trying to sleep? Here’s the kicker: 80% of those thoughts are negative! Now before you jump off a cliff in despair, consider this—it makes sense that our primitive brain would always be looking out for what could go wrong: wild animals, natural disaster, an enemy. Additionally we are THE ONLY species on the planet capable of projecting negative thoughts on a current or future event.No rosebush opened up and thought, Darn, it’s raining. I’m going to get mildew.No dog ran up to its master thinking, I sure hope he pets me because I have had a really bad day! No Monarch butterfly shed its cocoon thinking, I only have two weeks to live! No wonder resiliency is hard work. We need help filling the black hole of negativity. This excerpt is from Your Resiliency GPS: A Guide for Growing through Life and Work. If you’d like your own copy or one for a friend or colleague visit our website here. If you purchase 250 books Eileen will conduct a free 30-minute webinar for your audience! To take advantage of this offer please call our office at 949-496-8640.

It happens all the time: A full-page ad is placed in a major monthly publication. The ad touts the service excellence of their product. Catchy phrases. Great promises. Major dollars are spent to create an implied image in the mind of the consumer. And it can vanish in a heartbeat if promises made are not promises kept—if the derived image cancels out the implied image! Perhaps this has been your experience: You have been standing in line at the bank looking at a sign hanging on the wall that says, “Our Customers Are Our #1 Priority” while the customer in front of you is yelled at by a teller for not having the proper forms needed for the transaction. Or perhaps you’ve had the interaction with a clerk who rolls her eyes when you ask one too many questions about the product. The point is: we will all talk about the derived image—not the glossy ad. Couple this “talk” with chat on the Internet and you’ve exponentially reached thousands. Why should you care what your customers are saying? It costs 6 to 8 times more to get a new customer than to keep an old one. There is a 12% higher profit margin with your existing customers. Companies that keep their existing customers enjoy a 9% higher growth rate than ones who don’t. When each customer leaves they tell at least ten people they know and with e-mail and Internet they may potentially tell thousands or millions. Just look at the power of City Search and Yelp! to make or break a company. It doesn’t take much to make a negative impression. Here are some of the most common customer complaints: unprofessional staff; disinterested staff; bad attitudes matched with a sense of boredom; more enthusiasm for chatting with co-workers than with the customer and a lack of an ability to solve problems. Your employees have probably had customer service training but perhaps you are still seeing customers leave. Why is this you ask? It’s because leadership didn’t take the time to find out how the customer service “rules” affect the actual customer. Here are ten tips to take your customer service from drab to fab: The single most important thing you can do to increase customer satisfaction is to treat your employees well. One disgruntled employee can easily alienate dozens of customers. Find out what is wrong and fix it. Keep employees in the loop so that they are in the know and FEEL like valued insiders. With the power of the Internet your employees can find out corporate news before you do. Don’t let this happen to your company. Talk to employees often and in-person. Teach employees to think of themselves as business consultants rather than employees. Empower them to make customer-pleasing decisions without having to call a supervisor. Ask employees to change their viewpoint. Have them look at all customers as multi-million-dollar businesses and treat them accordingly. Embrace new ideas and reward innovation. Seek and act on advice from your frontline because most of the time they are the only contact a customer has with your company. Recognize and reward each other. Think in 360 directions. A manager needs praise from a subordinate a much as from her boss. Encourage peer-to-peer recognition for helping each other resolve customer issues. Constantly seek innovation. Ask everyone to study the competition and find out what they do that makes them better. The frontline will see what a higher-level manager will not. Seek and act on customer feedback. Don’t bother with customer surveys. Assign an employee or employees to scour the Internet for both positive and negative conversations about your company. Make your current customers feel important. Offer them price cuts or coupons, make every transaction with them pleasant, communicate transparently and have a live person answer your phones, thanking the customer for his business. Seek and reward referrals from current customers. One local chiropractor provides a free adjustment to any patient who refers someone else. She gets dozens of referrals every week and her practice thrives even during economic turmoil. Don’t just pay lip service to improving customer service. Good customer service is the linchpin to survival at any time but especially during difficult times. Start by treating your employees well, keeping them in the loop, and releasing them to do what it takes to send each customer away happy. And your business will be resilient - growing through challenge and opportunity.

Stressed out? Overwhelmed? Too little sleep? Concerned about the “optics” of taking time off?” The list could go on and on with the excuses we make about not taking vacations. Think about it. When was the last time you REALLY took a vacation? A real vacation and not just two days? When was the last time you unplugged from the digital world, spent time doing what you wanted to do, enjoyed family and friends and perhaps had an adventure other than trying to locate a matching lamp shade at Wal Mart? Why don’t we take time off? We (and I put myself in that category) have a work martyr syndrome. If I don’t do the work, who will? How much will be piled up and waiting if I take time off? OK, I am a sole proprietor. But similar thinking exists in organizations. The work martyr syndrome combined with a culture of silence in the workplace is keeping workers at their desks instead of using their time off. The top barriers for employees include: Return to a mountain of work, 37% No one else can do the job, 30% I cannot financially afford a vacation, 30% Taking time off is harder as you grow in the company, 28% Want to show complete dedication, 22% And there is a cost beside the wear and tear on one’s mental and physical energy resources. Although vacation usage is the highest in seven years, 52% are still leaving vacation time on the table. In a report prepared by Project Time Off, the projected economic impact of unused vacation is $255 Billion. The stockpile of unused paid leave is contributing to worker burnout and even larger balance sheet liabilities that directly affect a company’s bottom line. Here are the top four things organizations and individuals can do to break this cycle: Managers: help employees PLAN to take time off. Find out what fears stop people from stepping away from the office. Check the reality of workload. Individuals: remember and repeat: The only person who ever had their work done by Friday was Robinson Crusoe. Itemize activities (or non-activities) that help you re-energize, refocus and renew. Chances are, these are not high ticket items. The goal of a vacation is to recharge and renew. Select a date and stick to it. Let all who are impacted by your work know when you will be away. Shut whatever door you have… mentally or physically. As for me, I have marked out the calendar. In mid-summer, it looks like a potential backpacking trek into the High Sierras. And then for three weeks (gasp!) in September, we’ll explore parts of Europe we have never seen: Milan, Lake Como, Budapest, Prague and down the Danube. I’ll come back like the “energizer bunny” with insights and ideas. What are your plans? I’d love to know.

There’s no reason why only the trees and flowers should sprout new growth this time of year.  But how often do we feel more ripe and rotten rather than green and growing? Chances are you started the year with some fresh ideas, only to become caught in the same-old rat race that defeats any feeling of newness and adventure. SO stop!  It’s time to plug into something that YOU chose—something that can renew your batteries and refresh your interest in work AND life.  Unlike the bobble-headed figures that nod “yes” at every touch, you DO get to declare “time out” and place yourself first. Cleaning Tip #1: Nurture your nature.  Bulbs get to nestle in the soil before bursting forth with vigor.  We’re no different. Create at least two days in which your focus is simply on removing yourself from the computer, the phone, the newspaper, the TV and anything else that takes your attention away from yourself.  The challenge: we think the world will end if we don’t respond immediately.  It won’t.Let folks around you know that you are involved in a very serious project and will attend to their needs in two days.(It IS a serious project. It’s your life! Have your spouse take care of the children or if you’re a single parent, look for someone who will trade-off time.  They help you and you’ll return the favor for them. If you can’t take two full days, try and carve at least some time for hunkering down by yourself. Now—with the warm blanket of time cushioning you - spend time thinking just what you’d like to bring NEW into spring time.  Is it a new skill? A new or improved relationship?A remodel of your surroundings? A project that excites you? What will help you feel green and growing. Cleaning Tip #2:  Clean out your mental closet.  To nurture our nature, we also have to discard all the old notions and the negative beliefs that keep us from springing forth.  Write positive affirmations that counter such beliefs and post such statements at places where you’ll see them often.  Don’t worry if you don’t yet truly believe such statements.  Action often precedes belief.Identify what activity you will discard because it feels too tight and constraining.  After all, you’re getting ready to grow.  You need some room to grow. Cleaning Tip #3:  Throw out what you no longer need. This is a physical tossing away everything from clothes that only serve to make you feel dowdy to projects you KNOW you’ll never complete or books you’ll never read. How can you bring in something fresh if there’s no room! Cleaning Tip #4:  Find a great housekeeper. Once you know what new YOU is bursting forth this Spring, find someone who will serve as your advocate and accountability partner. Ask them to help you keep your new “house”, this budding “garden”, in order. Ask them to let you know when you’ve cluttered your life with emotional, mental, or physical junk. And now—SPRING forth.  Regardless of whatever you might have wintered, inside you is, as Camus wrote, “an invincible Spring.

“What kind of flower are you?”  The question took me aback when I read it. Could the writer be suggesting that the kind of flower we surround ourselves with offers testimony to our view on life? The more I thought of it, I realized there was a great truism here. Nature offers her treasures as subtle metaphors for so many of life’s lessons.  Here was my mine: In my work as a professional speaker and consultant, I had found myself sometimes overwhelmed with the amount of work and travel on my plate.  At other times, I heard myself beginning to panic with the scarcity. “It’s either pheasant or feathers”, I’d grumble.  Some colleagues had told me that I worked too hard on material, constantly editing, adding, pruning, and arranging. “But it makes what I do more timely and current,” I’d respond and silently wonder if they were right. And then I read this question. “But of course,” I thought. “ROSES!” In our small strip of California garden, I have planted rose bushes.  In season, they bloom profusely, coming back in abundance the more I tend them, weed, fertilize, AND give them away.  Out of season, their bare stems look forlorn and without potential.  Yet I know that in due time, the nourishment received from this time of rest will bring them back in abundance. It is the course of their life. It is the pattern of my work. When viewed in this manner, I now understand that my work pattern reflects the natural world of roses.  It’s not right for everyone.  But it is right for me.  Guess I’ll just bloom when and where I am planted!