How well did you learn-

How well did you love-

How well did you learn to let go.” – Anonymous

I am one of those people that has takes on a lot.  I take on my stuff, my friends stuff, family stuff, work stuff, the country’s stuff, the world’s stuff (you get the picture), I can barely watch the news or read the paper because I personalize life so much.  I hold on to the past. I hold on to the present. I hold on to my fears and worries of the future…I hold on to a lot. AND where does all this holding go? Into my body where it multiples, amplifies, eventually creates illness and ultimately affects (I’ve since learned) the quality of my life. 

Last year I actually became so frustrated I called out to the Universe:   “Universe help me get rid of almost 50 years of crap I have stored inside me, help me let go, free myself!” And magically (who knew the Universe actually answers) around April, I received an email to learn about this new coaching method from Belgium -

The Release Coaching Method

This method created by Patryk and Kasia Wezowski, would actually allow me to reprogram my brain and permanently let go of any stress, negativity, or emotional blockages I may have and would replace that with the positive and what I wanted instead.  This supposedly would create new balance and would allow me to face the future objectively and from a place of empowerment.

SERIOUSLY???

I began training and using this method in May and realized –

This method has profoundly changed my life for the better! It really does work! Thank you Universe! (and Patryk and Kasia)

So, I decided since the new message of my personal and professional development practice was:

Know yourself.

Identify your needs.

Uncover your obstacles.

Create your path.

Then…Grow Into More!

it was important to bring this method into my practice and into the United States and Canada.

And now, not only do I use this method with my clients, I train and certify coaches, wellness practitioners, and mental health professionals in the method. 

For this holiday season and start to 2012 my message to you is  taken from that famous song – “Let there be peace on earth and let  it begin with me”, although my take is a little different for you.  It is one of creating more “inner peace” personally and professionally. 

And with the help of the Release Coaching Method my work will continue to focus on helping individuals and organizations:

“Be at peace with what is and learn to let go so that you can continue to Grow Into More!”

 I invite you to “finally let go” and take advantage of my special introductory offers to experience the Release Coaching Method yourself.  The method is measurable, safe, effective, and simple -AND you will get the results you want quickly.  Click here for more information!

Until next time,

Grif    

As some of you know, I had been wanting to incorporate my coaching, visual, and theatre art together for some time and last  Summer while journeying through the Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron, I decided to create a daily practice and would paint one emotion per day. I downloaded a list of over three thousand emotions and feeling words and every day (night) since the first of August I, 2010 have painted an emotion with acrylic paint on a 3″x3″ canvas.

So the year is over!  I completed my last canvas on July 31st, 2011!…The word was “Hopeful” -which I thought was appropriate!

Now for some exciting news!!!

You are invited to two upcoming events featuring “My 3″x3″ Canvas Project.

One:  A selection of 30 canvasses from the year will be featured in the JOURNEYS:  Healing Through Art exhibit

                Edina Art Center

                4701 West 64th Street

                Edina, MN 55435

                952.903.5780

                Open Mon-Thu 9am-9:30pm; Fri 9am-3:30pm; Sat 9am-1pm

                August 12 – September 14

This sampling (April 2011) represents a typical month of my year’s journey and I feel it reflects “the good, the bad, and the ugly of each day.” Life in its truest form.  I have realized that in healing we experience every emotion and intensity on our journey.  This visual art form has given me a tangible and visible means to communicate and personify my emotions.  Allowing me to become a much more well-rounded and dimensional artist and human being.

AND:  All 365 (335 will be “live” and the other 30 still at the Edina Art Center but will be there through technology) will be featured one night only at:

                Mill District City Apartments

                (close to the Guthrie Theatre)

                225 Portland Avenue (corner of Washington/Portland)

                Minneapolis, MN 55401

                Thursday August 18, 2011; stop by anytime from 5:30-8:30pm!

I would love to see you there!

If you can’t make it , view them here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/52905797@N07/

And of course the project continues…beginning this August 1, 2011 I began year two!…This time I am still selecting an emotion from the list but this time I am choosing the word early in the day and then saving something I would have typically thrown away that day or something I find in my travels and then I incorporate the object into the canvas. It has been really fun so far and challenging and more of a collage style which I love to do.  Be the first to get a sneak peak here:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/66242495@N07/

Sign up to receive updates and special offers on Grif’s 3″x3″ Canvas Projects!

I am also available to custom paint any emotion, theme, include any personal object or recycleable, or even your create your personal essence.  Choose theme and size.  Makes a unique and individualized gift or special addition to your home or office! Contact me and let’s discuss your ideas!  763.458.1672 grif@growintomore.com

Grif

PS – Thanks to all of you who followed my journey, supporting  and encouraging me throughout!  It was very much appreciated!

So then I decided to “amp it up”‘ a bit and last weekend I attended an intensive acting for the camera workshop.  Now if auditioning for a play was a toe in the water this was a cannonball off the highest high dive for me.  Acting for the camera pushes all my buttons, plays on my insecurities, competitiveness and my “not enough” place and I make up it’s going to feel very uncomfortable and risky…AND the class turned out to be challenging for sure.  There were times I actually felt paralyzed even in the highly supportive environment with one of the best instructors around.

What I learned after the weekend and a day of “beating myself up” was I had a choice – to retreat back into my small self or continue to play big and stay in the uncomfortable and take the next step whatever that was.  I decided to pull my “big boy pants on” and stay and see what’s possible and what’s next.  I learned I don’t want to miss another opportunity, seriously if not now, when?… and I realized I can always stop, or pause, or continue and I get to decide the pace.  The truth is, I can make up a lot of things about an experience before it happens but until I actually do it I will never know the actual outcome. 

Uncomfortable and failing for me means learning, growing, and changing.  And as someone who values risk, change, variety, and new experiences I know I have to push myself into areas that are uncharted. I have to continue to work on becoming more open, adaptable and aware but most importantly continue to challenge and advocate for myself to go after what truly makes me happy.  

I understand signing up with a coach for some can be like getting out of a comfort zone.  Many people may feel something is wrong with them, or that it isn’t the perfect time, or it may be hard to ask for help.  I invite you to step out of your comfort zone and contact me to have a conversation and see.  Change doesn’t have to be large when small change is doable and durable.  “Very often a shift to a larger perspective can come from the smallest of changes in our routines” -The Artist’s Way at Work by Bryan, Cameron, and Allen

Whether it is time for a toe in the water or a cannonball of the high dive, I would love to have a conversation around how coaching with me this year might support you in moving out of your comfort zones into more action and fulfillment.

Until our next time together,

Grif

New on this page is the opportunity to contact me with questions and to sign up to receive my RSS feed.

So in Matthew’s words, age 6:

1. Shaer

2. do not hert people

3. Be nase 

4. Don’t be mena

5. Caer for every won

6. Be good

7. Have good maners

8. 1st time asckst

(I didn’t quite get this one at first  – my boss said “it means  first time asked, when someone asks you to do something you do it on the first time you’re asked”)

9. Be theckful

10. Do’t wine

©Sadow, Grif  2006

And, Matthew’s list inspired me to create my holiday top-ten wish list for you!   

1. May you be who you want to be regardless of what other people think, no longer having the need to be liked.

2. May you find or strengthen a relationship that gives you THE deepest connection and intimacy you desire.

3. May you find the courage to break through those barriers that keep you stuck once and for all!

4. May you stay in the present moment more often without worrying about the past or future.

5. May you reconnect with your inner child, play more, have fun more, and create more!

6. May you have the support system you need with those who see you, get you , and love you.

7. May you have the confidence to embrace change, take risk, venture out, and try something new!

8. May you feel internally and externally stronger, healthier and more resilient.

9. May you do those things you’ve always wanted to do but have put off.

10. May you leave your world better than you found it.

 I invite you to create your own top-ten wish list for 2011!  Have a wonderful finish to the Holiday Season and great start to 2011!

#120 Mesmerized -painted 11/28/10

 August 1, 2010 I began my  “Daily Canvas Project”, painting one 3″x3″ canvasses based on an emotion/feeling word each day.  I am close to completing my fifth month and just painted canvas #140!    

Here is a link to the updated pictures of my canvasses: 

“It is fascinating:  in the West, you have bigger homes, yet smaller families; you have endless conveniences, yet you never seem to have any time.  You can travel anywhere in the world, yet you don’t bother to cross the road to meet your neighbor.  I don’t think people have become more selfish, but their lives have become easier and that has spoiled them.  They have less resilience, they expect more, they constantly compare themselves to others and they have too much choice, which brings them no real freedom.” – The Dalai Lama

I believe what The Dalai Lama speaks to is our quest for internal fitness.  Our search for what gives us true and sustained joy, peace, and fulfillment.  What would our lives be like with even deeper personal connection, more resilience, more freedom, more self-love and acceptance?  Where does it come from for you now?  What are you thankful for this holiday season? What is your true abundance?  How do you get it?  How do you sustain it?  What are you working toward as we near 2011?

I hope as you reflect and celebrate Thanksgiving, you connect and reconnect with what’s truly important to you.  Pay special attention to those things that make you “sit up a little straighter”.  

“Abundance is not something we acquire. It is something we tune into.” – Wayne Dyer

#49 Admiration -painted 9/18/10 (Reminded me of turkey feathers!)

PS:  Last month I blogged about my  “Daily Canvas Project” -I have since completed over 100 -  3″x3″ canvasses based on an emotion/feeling word each day.    

Here is a link to updated pictures of my canvasses: 

 #50 Cathartic 91910

People inspire me!…one of those is Amy Egenberger, CPCC who has created dolls and paint colors one for each day over an entire year. What inspires me is the commitment to and practice of a daily artful expression. She too had been inspired by others who have created daily practice around their art. Another artist you may have heard of is the Minnesota photographer Jim Brandenburg who went into the woods and only took one photograph per day for 90 days . 

Chased by the Light:  A 90-day journey – Jim Brandenburg

I have been wanting to incorporate my coaching, visual, and theatre art together for some time and while taking the Artist’s Way Series from Amy this Summer, I decided I would paint one emotion per day. I downloaded a list of over three thousand emotions and feeling words and every day (night) since the first of August I have painted an emotion with acrylic paint on a 3″x3″ canvas.

I like to paint at night and I have a ritual for choosing the emotion for the day. I take the stack of 80 pages of listed emotions and shuffle them three times, then randomly choose a page in the pile, and glance over the list of words until one pops out as THE one to me. Then, I connect to that emotion and express it through painting.

I am learning that an important part of creating more internal fitness for myself is developing awareness for the many emotions I feel and recognizing the actual emotion and its intensity. Typically I go around life saying and hearing “I’m good” when asked “How are you?” which when you think about it is not always that accurate (24/7).  Think about how much richer life can be when you acknowledge feeling lucky, mirthful, unaware, bombastic, etc. What are the unique differences between feeling sad, pouty, and crestfallen?  

This exercise has reinforced my belief that expressing emotions as fully as possible leads to better health and resiliency. I realize that it’s the combination of the arts and coaching that have prevented me from keeping emotions bottled up inside. It’s that awareness and expression that gives me confidence to live my life fully present. 

Here is a link to pictures of my canvasses: 

I hope you will continue to check in to see the newest creation each day! AND, if you would like me to paint one of your favorite emotion(s) please contact me for further details.

To an emotionally-rich Fall season,

Grif

SPECIAL FALL OFFERING!“Fall from the Heart” -Individually hand-painted 3″X3″ mini-canvas in acrylic by Grif.  Each canvas is unique and based on the above design and seasonal colors!  Available for limited purchase now through November 30, 2010.  Newsletter members receive a 30% discount and a free wooden easel for displaying your canvass!  Cost: $50 (GIM Newsletter members price $35) plus postage and handling.  To order email grif@growintomore.com or call 763.458.1672 and you will recieve an invoice through PayPal.  Be sure to include your contact information, billing and shipping address.

 Today I am pushing back on all of us who believe, “Oh I can’t start (fill in the blank) right now!”

We all have” reasons” for not doing things…(here are some of my favorites)

• “I have too much on my plate to think about it right now”
• “I can’t afford it.”
• “Next month I’ll be in a better place.”
• “I need to think about it.”
• “I have to have all my ducks in a row first.”
• “I don’t have time for this.”

Sound familiar?  So, what are we waiting for???…If not now, when?  and if not us, who???

The truth is…life is always going to be coming at us…there is always going to be someTHING, made-up or real,  whether we like it or not, standing in our way.  

What I am learning regarding change:

• Self-induced change doesn’t have to be all or nothing…you get to try change out
• Change does not have to be grandiose and all at once…once you commit to change, you can choose to take baby steps and move at your own pace
• Change is not always final…you get to “change the change” that isn’t working
• Some change we can control, some we cannot 
• Change can be scary, painful and take work, or not
• You have everything inside you to make a change
• We can make up stories around acting on the change we seek
• We have no guarantees on tomorrow
• We need more internal fitness and confidence to embrace change effectively

How are you with embracing change?  What would you try if you knew you could not fail?  Coaching with me will call you forth safely and courageously into the change(s) you seek with your best interest in mind.   

Have a great start to the Fall season!  Make it yours!!! 

All the best,

Grif

grif@growintomore.com

“It’s not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.” – Charles Darwin

So what are we not doing as coaches and as an industry to communicate to the public why everyone needs and deserves a coach?  I make up that people think coaches are for people who are not capable of figuring out their own life, or that they are weak if they have a coach, or that people are just not comfortable asking for help, whatever the reason(s) I am frankly tired of getting that look and the question ” You’re a what? – coach?  what is that?”…it’s not as bad as “You’re in theatre? Oh, that must be fun!”  Anyway, I know coaching has only been around 15 years but it’s feeling to me like the Rodney Dangerfield of professions out there.

So instead of continually whining and doing nothing, I have been on a quest for several months to bring the amazing work of coaching into my neighborhood community.  I thought maybe people just need more awareness and better access.  So I emailed various coffee shops and Jason at Java J’s and Scott at Corner Coffee in Minneapolis graciously  allowed me to come into their establishments once a week and set up my signs and offer free drop-in coaching.  They and their staff have been so supportive, almost at times apologetic for the response.  (and my hope was I would bring more business to them!)

We have tried everything to get people to stop by, sit down and chat 0r make an appointment.  We even have drawings for free beverages to get people engaged.  And every week it’s the same …I sit there in what I call the “sphere of fear”…I’ve smiled, bathed, sat in different places but the feeling is palpable…this is weird!

Now I know I’m a stranger, people are in a hurry, and coaching’s a new concept, etc. but I believe that if I was a physician, lawyer, mechanic offering free help people would be lining up.

So for the record…

Coaching is not therapy. (AND there is nothing bad or wrong with therapy if/when you need it -go for it too!)  We work with healthy individuals that we see as naturally, creative, resourceful, and whole.  We do not see our clients as broken or need to be fixed.  We are not experts telling you what to do and very rarely do we deal with the past.  We concern ourselves with helping our clients look at where they are now and where they want to be.  We are not trained to diagnose or treat illness.

We are not a licensed profession…somewhere along the line founding coaches said we don’t want the government involved in our business, but now anyone can say they are a coach…literally anyone.  Most coaches like myself are trained and certified by an accredited institution (that’s the CPCC behind my name) and/or the International Coach Federation (that’s the PCC behind the CPCC).  Insurance doesn’t typically recognize or cover our services, which can make coaching financially challenging for some.  Know that there are a variety of coaches with different styles, price points, training, areas of expertise.  Do your research and pick a qualified/trained coach that suits you.

The best thing about a coach, I believe, is that we hold the agenda(s) for your life.  Yes, there are many people in one’s life (family/friends/colleagues) all who can support us -BUT they have their own underlying agenda in doing so…a coach does not.  We are there 100% for you. -that is a relationship everyone needs and once you experience this type of relationship – I guarantee you will understand the importance of coaching and how it can benefit you.  

For me life is about having the confidence to take chances and go for what you want in life.  I want that for people…I want that for you!

Here’s the good news…despite the “sphere of fear” in my coffee shop sessions, I have had a couple of courageous people follow through on the sample sessions they won.  They have since signed up for coaching, supporting my belief that once you’ve experienced coaching you see the value and are hooked!  Although I am no longer at the coffee shops, I am still trying to find new ways of connecting coaching to the public.

I have a few requests:

• Will you seek to create more internal fitness and confidence for yourself?
• Will you ask for help and hire a coach? ( If not me , look to me as the “Matchmaker of Coaches and Clients”)
• If you have been coached will you speak openly and without fear of your experiences and connect others to coaching?
• If you find yourself in Downtown Minneapolis, stop in at Java Js and/or Corner Coffee!
• And if you have ideas on how to create more acceptance and connect coaching with the mainstream, will you contact me?  I’d love to hear from you:  grif@growintomore.com 

Bottom-line:  Let’s get coaches and clients connected so that coaches can continue their amazing work and clients can start living even “more internally fit, confident, and happy”!

Until our next blog moment together,

Grif

However I do see the importance and purpose of this blog as and opportunity to impart my needed expertise and wisdom on you and the world, I can feel the clamoring of your strained little ears living for the moment of my next blog edition, waiting anxiously for each added syllable I write …uh,  not really.

Really I am hoping this blog will allow me to do the following…

1. keep me connected with those I no longer get to see or get time to chat with,

2. to work on my procrastination “issues” and really follow through on an ongoing posting, (“EACH MONTH!???”)

3. to increase my familiarization with technology….

and most importantly,

4. to be “HIP and HAPPENIN”!  (or whatever they are saying these days?)  In fact, I can just imagine me saying “Hey Dude, check out my blog!”…and they respond, “Dude,  you have a blog? Cool!” and I respond “Yeah, it’s sooooooooo cool”…

Seriously, one of my most important stakes in life is full self-expression.  And, I do think there are many of us in our 40s, 50s, 60s and beyond with a lot more to contribute – thoughts, wisdoms, backgrounds, experiences, gifts, skills… and if we don’t continue to grow and connect with change (technology being one of those) we will no longer remain purposeful and will become old and die prematurely on the vine, unexpressed.

There is something here about playing to your strengths , leaning in here,  asking for help, and continuing to put yourself out there.  This blog section of my website, and the website in general, is my attempt at that.  My many MANY thanks to Mr. Jesse Ross who created my website and logo and answered my call for help and in a really major way brought me back into reconnecting myself to the world through his knowledge and mastery of art and technology.

One last thing… I am concerned about the “all or nothing” in life (my personal growing edge) -the use of technology is a perfect example… A. afraid,  ignorant, and unable to embrace technology or B. “plugged into” technology approximately 80% of our day. (like our young people today)  Somewhere there is a balance possible that I continue to work toward and my hope the world will aspire to as well.

Acknowledging that I am getting there step by step…for today I wrote my first blog “plugged into technology”  AND I got to go outside “plug into” nature and enjoy this glorious first day of Spring in Minneapolis!

Thanks for reading…I look forward to connecting with you through many seasonal, personal, and professional “Firsts”, “Ah Has”, and Ta Das”!