Monday Morning Business Coach, Author at Carpenter Smith Consulting, LLC

Resistance: When You Cannot Get Out of Your Own Way

September 2, 2013

We have recently been reading the book “The WAR of ART: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles“ by Steven Pressfield. We have heard a range of reactions to this book but what spoke to us the most was his exploration of “resistance,” and why most of us struggle to bring our most cherished gifts to life. Pressfield describes the power of resistance to derail our efforts and the increasing power resistance commands when those efforts are…

How Can I Offer My Wisdom without Seeming Arrogant?

August 26, 2013

Monday Morning Business Coach

In the past few years, we have been asked this question by CEO’s, VP’s, Board members, managers, various clients in a wide-range of roles and also clients wondering about how to give input to a partner, child or friend. Offering one’s wisdom is a bit of an art. Most of us have had the experience of someone offering us his or her wisdom and doing so as if it’s The Truth. They are certain of what they know and confident…

Help, I Can’t Keep Up: Self-Management

August 19, 2013

Monday Morning Business Coach

Over the last couple of weeks, we’ve been discussing the challenges of staying focused on your purpose and vision, taking action on your priorities, and keeping what matters to you more central to your decisions. Two weeks ago we gave you tips for getting control over the demands that email makes on your time and energy, and last week we discussed how often people say “yes” to a commitment before thinking through the implications of that yes. Both of…

Help, I Can’t Keep Up: Commitment Management

August 12, 2013

Monday Morning Business Coach

Last week, we focused on changing your relationship with your email so that you are not at the mercy of your Inbox to set your agenda for the day. Today, we want to focus on another area that can challenge your ability to focus on the things that truly matter to you – your commitments to others. Knowing your priorities and spending time on those things that matter to you are important for your health, your energy, your investment…

Help, I Can’t Keep Up: Email Management

August 5, 2013

Monday Morning Business Coach

Whether you are working on your Purpose and Vision or you are working on creating a rich and balanced life, one of the most challenging things clients struggle with in their email inbox. Research suggests that most people open their email in the morning and let the contents set their agenda for at least the next hour and often the whole day. We see that in our lives and we suspect you see it in yours. Moving forward on…

Work a Little Bit on Your Vision Each Day

July 29, 2013

Monday Morning Business Coach

As many of you know, we have asked you to spend time the past few weeks articulating what you believe your Purpose is in this life, and given that Purpose what your Vision is for how your life will look in 3 – 5 years. Then we asked you to identify the 5 – 7 major Obstacles to living your Vision right now so that you could consider some initial Action Steps to getting around those Obstacles and live closer…

Staying True to Your Vision

July 22, 2013

Monday Morning Business Coach

If you have taken the time to articulate your Purpose, create your Vision Statements, identify the 5 – 7 major Obstacles to living your vision and identified some first Action Steps to get around the obstacles and a move toward living your vision – congratulations! We are really impressed with your commitment to creating a life that is good for you! If you haven’t completed all of these steps, we hope you will look back through each of the…

Now What?

July 15, 2013

Monday Morning Business Coach

We hope that you have taken the time to articulate your Purpose, create your Vision Statements, and identify the 5 – 7 major Obstacles to living your vision. If not, take a few minutes to read the past 3 posts and just make some notes. Doing this work does not have to be a big, heavy, time-consuming process. It can be a simple process where you just play with the ideas that come to you as you read what we…

There is a Lot in the Way of My Vision

July 8, 2013

Monday Morning Business Coach

We hope you have taken some time to articulate your Purpose and to create a Vision that excites you. Once you have your list, you will invariably start to think about all the reasons you can’t have your vision. Which is the next step in this process. Today we invite you to think about the things (the big things) that get in the way of you living your vision right now. These are not problems you can just solve –…

Great, I Have My Vision and I’m Going to Do It

July 1, 2013

Monday Morning Business Coach

At this point, if you have been following our posts, you have written your statement of Purpose and even if you don’t believe it’s perfect, you are living with it and playing with it as you explore it’s fit. And, after last week’s post, you have some idea of your Vision for what your life will look like in 3 – 5 years. The goal is not perfection, but rather to get you thinking about what you want to move…