Back to the Drawing Board
Published October 20, 2010 | 
In recent days I’ve gone back to the drawing board on this whole excellent adventure thing.
Y’know how it is – there’s something you want to do different in your life – and you want it right this moment. And the more your life is entrenched in being a certain way – the more of a struggle it is to unwind years of building and do something different. It’s like turning an ocean liner around. It takes a Herculean effort to make it happen.
It took me four years to write my book, “Testosterone-Free Marketing.” I thought I wanted to build a seminar empire like I worked for with Robert Allen. I watched and learned. I invested a lot in them – and in myself. And I enjoy speaking. It’s a blast. But the job of filling seats with attendees is 90% and speaking is the other 10% of the business. I finally came to the conclusion even though I’ve sold out the workshops I’ve done – I have no interest in spending 90 percent of my time worrying about how to fill seats.
I want to focus on writing. That’s what I’ve known God put me on the planet for since I was a girl of eight years old.
Excellent Adventure Get-together was Informative
Published August 2, 2010 | The positive energy, laughter, spirit of fun and adventure 
was alive Monday afternoon at a Starbucks in Las Vegas. I believe today’s get-together was the most amazing ever. People were happy to be there, happy to share and really take their dreams and adventures seriously. I had a blast.
It was the largest get-together so far. In fact, six of the people in attendance were there for the first time. We’re almost getting too big for Starbucks – I think we used all but two chairs.
In the morning I got a call from a friend who said, “Uh, Denise, there might be an issue with this Starbucks.”
Mark is on the Road to Re-designing his Life
Published July 21, 2010 | Every morning we wake up and get a fresh new start to make our lives into whatever we want.
However, the longer we’ve been doing a career, a business, parenting, caregiving or any other activity that fills up our days, weeks, months and years – the deeper our “brain grooves” become. The deeper our “life grooves” become, too. We make commitments to others. We take on mortgages, children, business partners and more. We dig ourselves in. It’s more difficult to make a big life change. As we pass ages 40 and 50 it can seem almost impossible to re-design our lives.
Meet my buddy, Mark Michael. He’s 50 and has attended all four Excellent Adventure
meetings I’ve conducted. At the first meeting what he wanted to do was vague, to say the least. It was about marketing seminars and the whole thing was filled with twists and turns. Plus it was an industry he had no experience in. As a marketing mentor I said, “Geez, you like a challenge don’t you? This is a difficult business model and nothing built in for repeat business.”
If someone fights for their dream and their passion I’ll back off and say, “If its REALLY what you want – let’s make some shifts to make it happen.” Mark didn’t fight.
At the next Excellent Adventure meeting he had a huge picture book under one arm. Not just a coffee table book – this book could be an entire coffee table. It was filled gorgeous pictures of the US National Parks. From the primeval forests of Washington to the sandy Florida Keys. I knew he had something great in the works.
Mark said, “I’ve been thinking. I want to take an RV and travel to every National Park. It’s always seemed like an impossible dream. THAT would be my excellent adventure.”
I said, “That’s great. Don’t be attached to it having to look a certain way. Be open to creative ways to manifest what you want.” Mark agreed and every day started looking at his book with the beautiful photographs. He started talking with people, too.
Yesterday Mark came to my get-together at Starbucks. He was brimming with excitement. When it was his turn to speak, he said he’d met someone with an RV who wants to do the same thing but is looking for a traveling companion. He still needs to work out some financial things – but it seems like he’s getting his ducks in a row quickly. Kudos to you, Mark! You are making it happen.
Another Excellent Adventure Get-together at Starbucks
Published July 20, 2010 | Yesterday I met at Starbucks with another group of aspiring adventurers. Boy, did we have fun! The purpose of these get-togethers is providing support for people ready to re-design their lives. Its about making big shifts and creating new life grooves.
We met at the Starbucks in the Chinatown area of Las Vegas. Believe it or not, Vegas has it’s own Chinatown area. I wanted to meet there because going to China and walking The Great Wall is on my “bucket list.”
We pulled a couple tables together and got our beverages. This time of year it’s too hot to drink anything other than an iced Passion Tea, for me anyway. Although there was an Iced Chai in the group, and, Ernie got a Vivanno smoothie.
We talked about our excellent adventures. We talked about the shifts we needed to make it happen. When you have commitments and a certain way of doing things it takes conscious effort to change. We also discussed creative ways to make it happen faster: from house-sharing to sleeping on trains (my husband’s favorite) to finding work along the way to provide funds.
What always amazes me is the sense of ebullient hope people show at these events. Everyone around the table yesterday has struggled with the economy the last couple years. From job layoffs, to down-sizing homes, to a recent divorce and a woman who gets around town by bus because she doesn’t own a car. Yet, I didn’t hear a single complaint. Not one moan about the recession. 
Instead, the conversation was about using the unexpected changes in our lives as a catalyst for positive growth. Turn lemons into lemonade. Rising from who you are now and gradually be, do, have something different. Totally different. It’s about your willingness to get out of your comfort zone. From an insurance agent who wants to be a life coach to a psychic who wants to write a book and travel the world.
I was proud of my group yesterday. Everyone who came is looking the right direction so they can thrive anew.
Are we a little crazy? Sure. We may drink the same iced coffee or Frappucino as the folks in suits rushing off to their jobs. But that’s where the similarity ends. We’re making happiness our aim. We’re redefining it in ways that happiness isn’t about the stuff you own. It’s about the experiences you have and the ways you share.
Join me at the next Excellent Adventure get-together coming soon.
All the best,
Denise Michaels
Author, ‘Testosterone-Free Marketing’
PS: Next month, I’m planning to put together a small tour of Starbucks in Southern California. I’ll be doing Excellent Adventure get-togethers. Want to meet and enjoy a get-together at a Starbucks near you? Can you gather a nice group of people looking to re-design their life? Let me know. I may put your city on my “tour.”
Welcome!
Dedicated to every 40+ person still kickin' it. If you have dreams and adventures you refuse to abandon - follow me on the journey. Life is one big adventure! Make yours excellent.
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