This past Thursday I did the best speech I have ever done! So what? Well, looking back to understand what made that speech exceptional, I realized that it wasn’t just the preparation I did, or the positive self-talk I used. My speech was a success because I was in a room with good feng shui and at an event that had good feng shui. 

The room was a comfortable yellow, small enough to feel intimate, but large enough that people were comfortable. It was well lit with incandescent lighting and lots of natural light initially. The food was a mix of Asian dishes that smelled so good, and platters of healthy fruits and vegetables. There were fresh flowers and polished stones for touches of good energy. The guests were wonderful women from many different walks of life. And, the event was so thoughtfully planned out by a group of lovely women at Virginia Asset Management that the whole evening proceeded without a hitch and with much elegance and grace. What an honor it was for me to part of that evening!

Good feng shui definitely leads to good times and good speeches!

“Debbie, “I’m sick.” Those words from my mother stopped me cold one Wednesday morning during a mastermind group meeting.  “I need you.”  Three more words propelled me into action and an immediate reorienting of my priorities.

You see, my mother is one of those independent depression-era survivors who HATE to let you know that they are struggling, much less need help. There was no question about whether I would cancel clients and go to her.

Life is like that. You may have the best laid plans for your time and your productivity, and everything can change in an instant. Just three words plus a lifetime of love can turn you onto a completely different path, one you couldn’t have anticipated. 

That’s where I found myself. I really needed the income from the clients I had scheduled, and I’d be lying if I didn’t admit to feeling some anxiety about how I’d manage financially because of this turn off the path I had chosen. 

Fortunately there was another, stronger part of me that knew that there are no accidents, that I would be taken care of. I was called to be with my mother and step-father for important reasons, not all of which were initially clear to me. My challenge was to be fully present with Mom and John, not worrying about my future. 

Within two days I got my answer. I had helped Mom get back on her feet with supplements, homemade chocolate chip cookies and some TLC, the kind only a daughter can deliver. As I was mentally planning to return home to my life with Bob and my furry children, Mom called me from her bedroom. “Debbie, come here. John is acting strange. I think he may have had a stroke.”

In fact John had had a neurological event that was later diagnosed as Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus. Getting him to the doctor’s office, the hospital and back home was no small feat. Digesting the information that John had enlarged ventricles and would need brain surgery to drain spinal fluid from his brain was even more challenging. 

I thought I was being called to help my mother recover from a virus, but in fact I was really called to help Mom handle one of the scariest events of her life. 

The next time you get called off your path and are wondering what the heck is going on, pay attention. Guidance comes in many forms, and could be as simple as three little words.  

Feng shui teaches that everything is alive with chi, energy.  The quality of the chi, however, varies from object to object, person to person, environment to environment.  Some things have chi that is so alive and vibrant, whereas other things have chi that seems lifeless or negative.  Think of a beautiful rose at the peak of its beauty.  It’s aliveness is palpable.  Now, think of that same rose a week later as the head of the flower droops and the petals become paper dry.  The chi of the rose is now quite dead.  We can tell it’s dead because we feel sad or uncomfortable when we look at it.

As I help clients sort through their belongings I am always assessing the aliveness of the items we are touching.  If I am uncertain about the aliveness of the chi of an item I say, “Tell me about this.  What’s its story?”  I can tell by the tone of their voice whether an item is alive, dead or negative.  I don’t even need to hear the content of their words.  When things are truly alive with chi, the tone of their voice is warm, enthusiastic, sometimes joyful.  I can hear the excitement and pleasure in their voice.  When clients respond with a flat tone and making a decision about whether to keep the item seems like a real effort, I know the chi is at least negative, possibly dead.

Check out the chi of the things that surround you in your home or office. Pay attention to how you feel inside. Notice your thoughts as well. You’ll probably find that some things are alive with “Yes!” energy, good associations, good chi. Those are things you wouldn’t dream of parting with.

Other things will bug you, make you feel uncomfortable, perhaps even irritable. Those are signs of negative or dead chi. Figure out what’s causing the discomfort, and if it can be fixed, fix it. If it can’t be fixed, consider tossing it and freeing yourself from the negative effects of its energy.

Still other things will evoke no particular feelings at all. Is there anything you can do with them to enhance their chi, like moving them to a different location or cleaning them up? I consider no chi, dead energy, to be the same as negative chi. It’s not a good thing to have around because it affects your energy. You wouldn’t consider keeping dead mice, bugs or rats around. Why keep dead things?

We can’t directly control many things that happen in our world, like the state of the economy or the behavior of significant others, but we can make sure we surround ourselves with good chi. Make choosing good chi and letting go of dead or negative chi a new habit. Then watch your life evolve in ways you’ve never imagined. 

My husband convinced me to listen to the CD version of 1776, an historical novel by David McCullough chronicling the Revolutionary War.  I had been reluctant to listen to that book because I had been traumatized by the enormous number of facts I had had to memorize in history classes in high school and college, and I tend to shut down when confronted with lots of names, dates and  facts.  However, I love stories.  I was pleasantly surprised to find that this book is a beautifully written true story constructed from factual information.  

As I listened to the tale of Revolutionary soldiers chasing the better equipped, better trained British soldiers out of Boston in the first major battle of the war, I was particularly impressed by the fact that it wasn’t their skill, their numbers, or their munitions that led them to victory.  They achieved their goal with a good strategy and a common belief in their ability to be successful.  It was a powerful demonstration of the power of positive beliefs.  

Had the Americans lost that first battle at Boston, it’s very possible that the British would have won the war.  We could be citizens of a colony of England!  Fortunately that first victory created a momentum that encouraged Revolutionary soldiers to continue the fight for freedom. 

Just imagine what you could accomplish by silencing fears and believing in your success!

It’s so easy to get buried under the press of paper, most of which is just not important! All you have to do is ignore incoming paper for a week or two and you’re sunk. 

For years I have been working to figure out the best way to deal with the influx of paper into my home. I’m one of the lucky ones who does not have the school paper nightmare that comes with having children. But, running a business from home can feel like having a very big child!

I’ve gotten good about doing an initial daily sort in the kitchen, which usually results in a chunk of papers being recycled and the majority of them making their way to the in-box of my desk. There they are corralled until the weekend when I have time to seriously consider their importance and take action.

I once had the intention of taking action on paper every day, like filing those pages that I really might reference some day. But, as life would have it, I just got too busy to file every day. I was lucky if I responded to email once a day, much less did something as exciting as filing papers. Now all that paper waits until Sunday when I can sit down, assess my reality, sort, pitch, file and make plans for the next week.

I’ve found that a weekly review of everything on my desk and in my in-box, which is actually a clean up, throw out, prioritize and planning session, really serves me very well. The amount of paper that gathers in that six day period is still manageable and processing it helps me get clear about my priorities for the next week. Out of that stack of papers come new to-do items that I add to my running list, papers to be filed, and papers to recycle. By the end of my clean up and review session I know just what I must do that day, what errands I need to run during the week, and where I stand on larger projects. I feel grounded and ready to take action.

If you hate paper and continually find yourself buried in a mess of papers of your own making, try the weekly sort, pitch and prioritize method. Make a commitment to bite the paper bullet once a week and watch your paper misery ease and your feeling of empowerment soar. It takes much less time to do than you think it will. No longer will you be the victim of paper insanity. You’ll be in charge of paper, and people who control their paper are better able to control every other aspect of their lives.