Thursday Thoughts: Thankful People are Happy

(Photo source: piccsy.com)

Today and always, start by giving thanks. Happy Thanksgiving to my United States readers!

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Get a jump start on your next goal or your 2012 resolution with the all-new Super Strategic Map Making Session - live in person or via webcam! It's the structure, strategy and momentum that you need to get started.

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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: Just Be

(My room in the cast house, adjacent to a screen-in porch)

Before embarking on my three city tour of in-person coaching that I'm calling Super Strategic Map Making, I spent 11 weeks in Florida. As someone who has always lived north of the Mason Dixon line and only visited the south for a week or two at a time, it was fascinating for me to experience the change of seasons in a warmer climate. The weather went from way too hot to pleasantly warm during the day and cool at night. Previously, Florida always felt like summer to me with no discernible change of seasons, but being here for a longer stretch helped me see how there are changes. Even though it didn't get cold the way I have always experienced, it still felt like fall especially after daylight savings time when it started to get dark early. I'd always known that Florida weather was great, and now I was experiencing it.

At the beginning of my last week in Florida, I realized that I only had a week left in this almost-perfect weather before jumping right into winter. I suddenly worried that I wasn't doing everything that I should to take advantage of the great weather. Then I realized all I needed to "do" was to "be." As long as I could be outside, I could do anything and be satisfied. In fact, other than sleeping and doing the show, I was outside all the time. It helped that I had a screened-in porch right off of my room. I worked, read, talked to friends, coached, walked and enjoyed every minute of fresh air that I could.

While I am often a big advocate of taking action, there are times that it is more important to just be, and let your actions be secondary to the experience. I fully embraced my last week in Florida because I remembered to just be.
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Examine what you need to be and what you need to do in order to reach your next goal with the all-new Super Strategic Map Making Session - live in person or via webcam! It's the structure, strategy and momentum that you need to get started or keep going.

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.

Monday Musings: Communication is the Key

(A failure to communicate? Source: Pinterest)

I know many freelancers. Some are artists, a few are writers, a number are consultants or life coaches. One of these freelancers is highly skilled at what she does. I am consistently impressed with her expertise and knowledge. However, she has the least work lined up out of all of us. Because of this, she started to doubt herself. Why don't people want to hire her? Isn't it enough to be great at what she does?

It turns out, her lack of work had nothing to do with her skills or knowledge. It had to do with one (seemingly unrelated) thing: communication. She was notoriously bad at returning emails, phone calls and other forms of communication. She also didn't actively follow up with potential job leads or seek ways to make contact with new clients.

Sometimes, when a project, goal or career isn't working, it isn't about the quality of your work. Look at other areas of your life. Everything must be working well, moving in the same direction, and supporting all areas of your life in order for you to reach big goals. What areas do you need to work on? Take a look around, or just start where this freelancer started: learn to communicate.
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Get everything in your life in order and working toward your next goal with the all-new Super Strategic Map Making Session - join me this week in Denver, or later on in Minnesota or New York, or via webcam worldwide! It's the structure, strategy and momentum that you need to get started.

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: Leave a Trail

Be intentional about the path you are on and the trail that you leave. Make a plan for your next goal or your 2012 resolution with the all-new Super Strategic Map Making Session - live in person or via webcam! It's the structure, strategy and momentum that you need to get started.

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.

The completion of my goal and how to reach yours

(Source: http://www.momsbookshelf.com)

Please allow me a bit of celebration in the blog today: this is my 100th post of 2011! Woo hoo! Why does it matter? Well, 100 is always a fun number to celebrate. It's also a great milestone on which to celebrate one of my 2011 goals. You see, in 2010 I posted 45 times the entire year, so I set a goal to post twice as often in 2011. I've more than accomplished that, with six weeks to spare. I also love that I did this while also writing 75 separate, high-content blog posts for my e-courses, which I launched earlier this year (another goal checked off the list, which included the opportunity to e-coach lots of new people).

So what's next? Well, you may have noticed my little announcement yesterday on Facebook, Twitter and in the footer of this blog. I'm taking Urban Nomad Life Coaching on the road with Super Strategic Map Making! So far, I'm setting up live, in-person sessions in Denver, Minneapolis, and New York City with more places to come. I've designed a 1-2 hour session to really jump start your goals or give you a head start on your 2012 New Year's Resolution. In this individual coaching session we'll define your goal, create strategies to overcome potential barriers, create ways to help you stay motivated, and make a step-by-step "map" to your "destination." Don't worry if you're not in one of the cities where I'm offering this: I'm also offering it via webcam worldwide. I can't wait to get started next week in Denver!

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Set up your appointment to get a jump start on your next goal or your 2012 resolution with the all-new Super Strategic Map Making Session - live in person or via webcam! It's the structure, strategy and momentum that you need to get started.

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: Make a Video

How do you remember your travels? Sometimes I make my own travel videos, some of which you can view here. My latest travels have taken me across the country and back in time to St. Louis in 1903, by way of Florida. I know, it makes no sense geographically, but I'm playing Mrs. Anna Smith in a production of "Meet Me in St. Louis" at a dinner theater in Florida. Watch the video to meet some of the other characters, see the beautiful costumes, hear one of our suggested rewrites for the script, and even get a back stage glimpse of the "snow."(If you have trouble making the player work here, just click the link below the video to view it on Vimeo).


Backstage at Meet me in St. Louis from Dawn Trautman on Vimeo.

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Get a jump start on your next goal or your 2012 resolution with the all-new Super Strategic Map Making Session - live in person or via webcam! It's the structure, strategy and momentum that you need to get started.

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.

Monday Musings: Food vs. Technology

(Source: www.webdesignworlds.com/website-designing)

One of my recent Facebook posts was

"When you live in a house where the microwave makes the internet go out, it really makes you think twice about how hungry you are."

Besides the frightening possibilities of what this particular microwave might be doing to our bodies, it also leads to a frightening realization: sometimes I want internet more than I want hot food. Seriously? Something that was invented during my lifetime is trumping basic human survival? Well, yes, for short periods of time.

But perhaps there is something else going on: the microwave was meant to make our lives easier. However, if there is a higher "price" to using it (the temporary loss of the internet for everyone in the house) then the microwave is no longer the easiest option. It's actually easier to use the stove or the oven. It might even be easier to build a fire out back. Just don't take away our internet.

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Make a personalized, step-by-step map to your next goal through one-on-one coaching by phone or email.

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: Imagination

(From sisterspock.tumblr.com )

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Where is your imagination taking you? Let's talk about it, and make a personalized, step-by-step map  through one-on-one coaching by phone or email.

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: Surround Yourself

(Walking with the runners)

I am not a runner. Not at all. I even leave early whenever I need to go somewhere so that I don't have to rush, because rushing feels too close to running. I always say that I'll run if something is chasing me, which really doesn't happen very often.

Last week I walked along a promenade among runners. And I almost wanted to run.

This weekend I read a lot of updates from people who ran the New York City marathon. And I almot wanted to run.

I will continue to get my exercise in other ways, but while I was surrounded by runners I wanted to run.

If you have trouble motivating yourself to go somewhere new, surround yourself with people who are going where you are going. Simply being near them will help.

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Get where you need to got through one-on-one coaching by phone or email.

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.

Monday Musing: What's Your Story?

(Photo from bebestilo.com)

I am fascinated with the stories that people tell themselves about things that happen in their lives. They generally don't just recount a series of events in their life, they also give a short commentary on those events. In fact, they become so invested in the commentary that sometimes they cannot separate it from the facts.

On some level, what actually happened doesn't matter as much as the story you tell yourself (and others) about what happened. 

For example, what was the toughest challenge you faced this weekend? Take a moment to think of something. Do you have an event or an interaction in mind? Great. Now consider what it taught you about  the world around you. You may find that you had a big challenge and use it as evidence that you are weak, or that the world is a tough place to be, or that you are a victim in some way. In other words, the world is big and scary and out to get you.

However, this weekend's toughest challenge may have been an opportunity to resolve something, learn something or grow in another way. Without even realizing it, this weekend's toughest challenge taught you that you are able to handle certain situations and can move forward toward a healthy life even when faced with challenges.

What story are you telling yourself about who you are in the world and how the world treats you?

I know that some of you are saying, "You have no idea how bad my weekend was." You're right, I don't, but if you're reading this you must be alive so right there you have something you can be thankful for. You have survived at least to the level that you have the free time and the resources to be reading this blog post.

We want to think that first the world is one way, and then we form our story as a response to the world. However, I find that we often have built a story and then look for the world to support that story.

If you don't like what you are seeing in your life, change your story. You'll find evidence to support your new, more helpful story.
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 Need help with your story? Learn more about yourself and how you interact with the world through one-on-one coaching by phone or email.

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: Passionately Curious

How do you explore your curiosities? Learn more about yourself and how you interact with the world through one-on-one coaching by phone or email.

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.