Thursday Thoughts: Make a Decision to Try

(Photo Source: lifes-a-journal.com via pinterest)

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You made a decision to try, now what? I can help you make a step-by-step map to your goal through one-on-one coaching by phone or email.

Get ready: the next session of 4-week interactive eCourses runs October 18 through November 15. Just think, before Thanksgiving you could learn more about yourself, get completely organized or learn proven methods to reach your goals.

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Do you know a smart, creative, spiritually-minded person who might be interested in this blog post? Please forward it in its entirety, compliments of Dawn Trautman, Urban Nomad. Copyright, 2011.

Tuesday Travel Tip: Make a Local Friend

When I settle into a new neighborhood for more than a few days, I make a local friend. This is generally facilitated by my ever-present need to buy a Diet Coke. The person pictured here is the daytime worker at a bodega where I often bought Diet Coke this summer.

I love having a local person to greet each day. Eventually we recognize each other and make small talk. Sometimes my local person even shares useful information about the neighborhood. Even if we never progress beyond a polite hello, having a person who is there every day grounds me in the local community. In this day and age when we can take our world with us where ever we go (and I love that!), I also like to connect to real humans in real places.
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Learn to make a difference and commit to taking action: I can help you make a map to live out your passions through one-on-one coaching or 4-week interactive eCourses.

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Do you know a smart, creative, spiritually-minded person who might be interested in this blog post? Please forward it in its entirety, compliments of Dawn Trautman, Urban Nomad. Copyright, 2011.

Monday Morning Musing: Moral Traits vs. Performance Traits

Last week on my Facebook page and Twitter feed, I posted this article from the New York Times entitled, "What if the Secret to Success is Failure?" I appreciated that it referred to a list of 24 character strengths developed by Drs. Martin Seligman and Christopher Peterson that are consistent among cultures throughout the world. We use their assessment of strengths in my Personalize eCourse to identify key strengths as part of the process to create a personal mission statement and live a more passionate, fulfilling life. The New York Times article recounts the story of building these character strengths among students two very different New York City private schools.

I found a helpful distinction in the article between moral character traits and performance character traits. Have you ever thought about the difference? I hadn't, but once I thought about it, everything made so much sense. Moral character traits are ethical values like fairness, generosity, honesty and integrity while performance character traits include effort, optimism, social intelligence and perseverance. Both moral and performance character traits are important, and both can be taught. You may have learned many as a child, but you can learn them as an adult as well.

We have all seen examples of people who have developed their performance character traits and find great success, only to be brought down by their lack of moral character traits. Bernie Madoff comes to mind. However, my clients generally have heavily developed moral character traits and slightly less developed performance character traits.

In other words, my coaching clients are good people at the core who want to accomplish more with their lives.

They are exactly the type of people that we want to help have a greater influence on the world around them.

If that sounds like you, let's talk.

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Develop performance character traits through one-on-one coaching by phone or email.

Mark your calendar: the next session of 4-week interactive eCourses runs October 18 through November 15: learn more about yourself, get completely organized or learn proven methods to reach your goals.

Don't want to miss another blog post? Sign up on my website to have them delivered by email or become a fan of Urban Nomad on Facebook to see them in your news feed.

Do you know a smart, creative, spiritually-minded person who might be interested in this blog post? Please forward it in its entirety, compliments of Dawn Trautman, Urban Nomad. Copyright, 2011.

Thursday Thoughts: Choose Joy

(Photo Source: etsy via pinterest)

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Figure out what it means for you to choose joy. I can help you make a map to your own version of joy through one-on-one coaching by phone or email.

Mark your calendar: the next session of 4-week interactive eCourses runs October 18 through November 15: learn more about yourself, get completely organized or learn proven methods to reach your goals.

Don't want to miss another blog post? Sign up on my website to have them delivered by email or become a fan of Urban Nomad on Facebook to see them in your news feed.

Do you know a smart, creative, spiritually-minded person who might be interested in this blog post? Please forward it in its entirety, compliments of Dawn Trautman, Urban Nomad. Copyright, 2011.

Tuesday Travel Tip: Get Set Up Right Away

Current housing, all set up and ready to go

When I arrive in a new place, I unpack and set everything up right away. I find that if I don't do it in my first day or two, I don't ever really settle in. I also establish certain habits that I maintain throughout my time there. For example, if I don't do yoga on my first or second morning in a place, I struggle to do yoga the entire time I am there. Apparently this is the same with other behaviors among college students as they arrive for the freshman year. A recent article in the Washington Post reported on research around why college students attend (or don't attend) church during their years on campus. "Whether they also find time for church during their first two weeks on campus will set the mold for the rest of their college years, according to new research."

When you change locations or make another change is the best time to integrate a new habit in your life. It occurs to me that when you start a habit without another major change, you actually have to unlearn whatever you are accustomed to doing at that time of day or in that place. College students may get very attached to Sunday morning brunch and feel like they are missing something if they go to church, instead of finding a way to do both. People who want to exercise may need to give up on a TV show, something that wouldn't feel like a sacrifice if they had never gotten invested in the first place.

Starting a new habit without a change certainly isn't impossible. It's just good to be aware of the forces that are working for you and against you.

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It all starts with getting more organized, and from there you can change your world. Live within your passions and make a difference. Learn how through one-on-one coaching by phone or email or 4-week interactive eCourses that start Tuesday, October 11.


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Do you know a smart, creative, spiritually-minded person who might be interested in this blog post? Please forward it in its entirety, compliments of Dawn Trautman, Urban Nomad. Copyright, 2011.

Monday Morning Musing: Excellence vs. Perfection

{Photo found at http://www.connectedprincipals.com}

I have discussions all the time with clients, friends and eCourse participants around the topic of excellence vs. perfection. In fact, we were discussing it this weekend in my online eCourse, Organize. Often, we allow our quest for perfection to cause us to not take action at all. if it's not going to be perfect, it's not worth doing. The thing is, some things actually are worth doing and we need to be OK with achieving something less than perfection for the sake of getting it done. Aspire to excellence, not perfection.

In the things you do, or need to do, or aspire to do someday, what does it mean to be perfect and what does it mean to be excellent? Because doing nothing just so that you don't have to find out that you're not perfect is not a great choice. In this article from the New York Times, the author found that "in the end, unless you negotiate peace with the demon of perfectionism, you’re left with the ruins of a dream and a painful testament to personal shortcomings." The important thing was not that the author's project was perfect. The important things was that he finished.

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How to you start to take action toward excellence instead of letting a quest for perfection hold you back? Let's talk about it and remove that barrier in a session of The Great Barrier Relief or any other of my one-on-one coaching options, available by telephone, email or a combination of both.

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Do you know a smart, creative, spiritually-minded person who might be interested in this blog post? Please forward it in its entirety, compliments of Dawn Trautman, Urban Nomad. Copyright, 2011.

Thursday Thoughts: Things that Matter Most

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What's in the way of spending more of your time and energy on things that matter most? Let's talk about it and remove that barrier in a session of The Great Barrier Relief or any other of my one-on-one coaching options, available by telephone, email or a combination of both.

Don't want to miss another blog post? Sign up on my website to have them delivered by email or become a fan of Urban Nomad on Facebook to see them in your news feed.

Do you know a smart, creative, spiritually-minded person who might be interested in this blog post? Please forward it in it's entirety, compliments of Dawn Trautman, Urban Nomad. Copyright, 2011.

Tuesday Travel Tip: Don't Plan Anything for the Last Day

{Image by photographer Mark Shaw 

for LIFE Magazine in 1957 via Paris Hotel Boutique}

I always try to keep my schedule as open as possible on my last day in a particular location whether I have been there for months, weeks or only a few days. I run my errands, see the most important people and places, and eat all my favorite meals before the last day. I even have a general idea of what I need to pack before the last day.

When I am at a multi-day event and I run into people who say "we should grab coffee while we're here" I schedule it right away, but not for the last day.

If I remove the last day as a possible day to do things, I move the urgency earlier and actually do all sorts of things earlier. Doing "last day things" when I know it's not really the last day is also great, because I know that if something doesn't go quite right, I actually have one more day.

Keeping my last day free allows me to spend a little more time on anything that has held meaning for me in that place. On my last days in various locations I have had time to talk for hours with a close friend without worrying about travel plans, sit outside the Sydney Opera House and watch the sun set, take advantage of unexpected opportunities because I know that things are all set for my impending departure.

Planning ahead actually gives you more opportunity to be flexible and have a meaningful experience before your departure.

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The next round of 4-week interactive eCourses starts TODAY! There is still room for you, so find out more and reserve your spot to create your personal mission statement, organize your time and space, or learn to reach goals once and for all.

Don't want to miss another blog post? Sign up on my website to have them delivered by email or become a fan of Urban Nomad on Facebook to see them in your news feed.

Is it time make a creative and lasting impact on your personal life or organization? I can help you make a map to your goal through one-on-one coaching by phone or email.

Do you know a smart, creative, spiritually-minded person who might be interested in this blog post? Please forward it in it's entirety, compliments of Dawn Trautman, Urban Nomad. Copyright, 2011.

Monday Morning Musing: Lifelong Learner

{Poster Art by Mitch Markovitz}

Whether or not you are still involved in education, doesn't the fall always make you think back to school?

When I attended Valparaiso University for my undergraduate degree, I was part of the honors college, a smaller group within the larger university with its own building, faculty and courses in the humanities. Although we declared our own major, our courses at the honors college fulfilled almost all of our general education requirements with an interdisciplinary approach. Instead of taking separate classes in, say, history, theology and art appreciation, we learned about all three interacted throughout the centuries. We also integrated ourselves together as a freshmen class during our first semester when we had to write, produce and perform a musical that embodied the themes of what we learned.

One of my favorite parts of our education was symposium. Every Thursday night, the entire honors college including all four years of students plus the faculty, gathered together for one hour to learn and discuss one topic. I love the way in which the symposium gave us all something common to think about even though we were all at different parts of our academic path. Everyone had something unique to contribute to the discussion because we were all approached the topic from a different angle.

The brilliance was that at the same time drew us together toward one set of ideas, symposium also provided a diversity of idea. Over the course of a semester, each individual would spend time at the symposium thinking about topics well outside his or her main interests because the topics were so diverse. For example, fall 2011 includes "Sex, Lies and Bad Romance: The Hunt for the Real Lady Gaga" lead by a musicologist, "Stewarding Creation: Why Christians Should Care about the Environment" lead by a biblical theologian, and "Sacred Space/Middle East" lead by an architectural historian. By considering a wide variety of topics, people made unique connections in their main area of study.

Liberal arts colleges around the world specialize in exposing their students to new ideas. If you are not attending school this fall, what are you doing to learn, grow and integrate new ideas into your life and work?

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If it's time to learn about yourself and make extraordinary progress toward major goals in your personal or professional life, I can help. My 4-week Interactive eCourses start TOMORROW, September 13 or one-on-one coaching by phone or email starts any time!

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Do you know a smart, creative, spiritually-minded person who might be interested in this blog post? Please forward it in it's entirety, compliments of Dawn Trautman, Urban Nomad. Copyright, 2011.

Fear (and what to do about it)

{Photo found on Pinterest}

I meet people on a semi-regular basis who say they would love to work with me as a life coach, but they are afraid.

I find it rather brave that they would tell me they are afraid. It tells me that they are only afraid of certain things, not everything. After a brief conversation, I discover that they are not actually afraid of me as a person (wheh!) but rather what they might discover they need to do as a result of our coaching conversations.

Anything can be frightening until you have more information, but sometimes you can't get all the information you need without actually doing the thing that frightens you.

So you can be stuck or you can face the fear.

I can tell you that I have done many things that started out very, very scary: move across the country by myself, buy and sell a condo, and leave a full time job with benefits in order to follow my passions. I have also not yet done many things that frighten me, but I'm working on it slowly.

Sometimes fear is a useful reaction that helps you avoid some sort of actual danger. Other times fear is something that you must acknowledge, assess, and then act anyway. What kind of fear are you experiencing? Talk about it, gather information, and find people to support you.

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As a coach, I help people sort out which fears are worth listening to and which fears to manage and take action in spite of them. No matter which it turns out to be, I provide support and encouragement through the entire process, and help people live lives of passion and purpose. Check out one-on-one coaching by telephone or email and 4-week interactive eCourses that start this Tuesday, September 13.

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Do you know a smart, creative, spiritually-minded person who might be interested in this blog post? Please forward it in it's entirety, compliments of Dawn Trautman, Urban Nomad. Copyright, 2011.

Thursday Thoughts: Extraordinary

(Photo source: amazon.com via pinterest)

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What will you do to make today extraordinary? If you believe it is possible and just don't know how, learn to make a solid plan for extraordinary days in my 4-week Interactive eCourses that start September 13.

Is it time make a creative and lasting impact on your personal life or organization? I can help you make a map to your goal through one-on-one coaching by phone or email.


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Do you know a smart, creative, spiritually-minded person who might be interested in this blog post? Please forward it in it's entirety, compliments of Dawn Trautman, Urban Nomad. Copyright, 2011.

Tuesday Travel Tip: Look in Unexpected Places

This is an alley between two upper middle class apartment buildings on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.

I passed it many times while cat sitting in a nearby apartment without really looking down the alley.

Why would I look at the garbage waiting to be picked up?

I'm glad that I looked because I might have missed this:
Someone was throwing away a larger-than-life statue of the Incredible Hulk, masked only slightly by a tarp.

It was almost as though the Hulk was real, and trying to escape undetected after being held hostage by whoever his enemy is in the comic book series, and purposely standing very still until the garbage man came along and opened the gate that imprisoned him so that he could spring to action and make a surprise escape.

Or maybe my imagination is just a bit active, but I would have missed all the fun if I had hurried past instead of looking around.

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The next round of 4-week interactive eCourses start in only a week! Registrations are rolling in, so find out more and reserve your spot to create your personal mission statement, organize your time and space, or learn to reach goals once and for all.

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Is it time make a creative and lasting impact on your personal life or organization? I can help you make a map to your goal through one-on-one coaching by phone or email.

Do you know a smart, creative, spiritually-minded person who might be interested in this blog post? Please forward it in it's entirety, compliments of Dawn Trautman, Urban Nomad. Copyright, 2011.

Thursday Thoughts

(Photo Source: etsy.com via Pinterest)

"Turn your can'ts into cans and your dreams into plans."

Brilliant.

And totally possible.

Find out how at tonight's webinar, Thursday, September 1 at 6pm PDT/9pm EDT. Sign up now.

Smooth Travels: 

10 Essentials You Must Pack 

for the Journey to your Next Big Goal.

It's part project managment, part psychology, part leadership lab.

It's full of stories, practical tips, exercises, and entirely new ways to think about your goals.

And did I mention that it's free? And that everyone who registers will be offered a discount on my coaching packages? It's all true.

Reserve your spot if you plan to complete a goal of any kind in the next 6-12 months.*

* Examples of goals may include, but are not limited to: train for a marathon, knit a scarf, change jobs, start an 80s rock cover band, clean out the produce drawer of your fridge, become vegetarian, start a club, join a club, move to a new home, become a croquet champion, make all of your holiday gifts, get married and/or learn the fine art of taxidermy.

Talk to you later on the webinar.

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Is it time to pursue your life-long goal or to make a creative and lasting impact on your organization? I can help you make a map to your goal through one-on-one coaching by phone or email and interactive eCourses.

Do you know a smart, creative, spiritually-minded person who might be interested in this blog post or my coaching giveaway? Please forward it in it's entirety, compliments of Dawn Trautman, Urban Nomad. Copyright, 2011.