Get some clarity and direction for the new year by answering three simple questions!
Answer the following questions to give yourself some focus and direction for 2009. If 2009 seems like too much to think about all at once, just focus on January through April. But don't just think it: Ink it!

Then, take this list and post it on your desk, on your fridge or on your mirror to remind you where you want your vision and focus to be in 2009.

What are three things you want LESS of in 2009?

1.

2.

3.

What are three things you want MORE of in 2009?

1.

2.

3.

What do you most want to achieve in your EAP/EAL business in 2009?

1.

2.

3.

When you feel unfocused or like you are chasing chickens, check in with these answers again. They are sure to help guide you!

Shannon
Horse Sense of the Carolinas, Inc.

Hey Everyone!

I just love this time of year. The invitation is in the air for quiet time, rest and reflection. I usually find that the rush of the holiday season prevents me from getting in serious quiet time before January, but not this year! As I reflect, I realize it's time again to practice the three R's: Recognize, Respond and Reorganize.

1. Recognize: or, as  good friend once put it, awareness precedes action. If we don't know there's a problem (or a success!), then we can't either begin to correct it (or figure out how to create more of it in our lives). One of my earliest articles about Equine Assisted Psychotherapy was called "Pattern Recognition"; that's the kind of thing we can look for as we review the past year. What are the dominant patterns that show up for you from the vantage point of the year's end?

2. Respond: Now that we have awareness of patterns, what do we do with them? What might they mean, in terms of the past year? In terms of the past 10 years? In terms of our entire life? And, what needs to happen (if any more does need to happen) to get the "gem" hidden inside the patterns? And what do those gems call for us to do in response? These are the questions I tend to ask as we're poised on the edge of the new year.

3. Reorganize: Once I've got a sense of what the patterns are and what they might mean, and I've responded to the questions they raise, I'm ready to reorganize. What action do I need to take to move forward? What do I need to alter in my life to create more of who I want to be and to let go of what I'm turning away from? I apply these questions at both a personal and professional level, although because my work is my passion the personal and professional are so often intertwined.

As you step into 2009, I invite you to consider the Three R's. I look forward to hearing from you if you'd like to share your awarenesses. Enjoy the hope that a fresh, new year brings, so eloquently expressed in the following snippet:

And now let us welcome the
new year, full of things that have
never been.

  —Rainer Maria Rilke

Happy New Year!
--Shannon
Horse Sense of the Carolinas, Inc
www.HorseSenseOtc.com

Another fundamental business issue that entrepeneurs face often doesn’t relate to their work at all. It relates to their personal lives. Who they are. Who they are being.

You’ve got to have a strong personal foundation to build a successful business. Here are some areas to look at in your personal life and see how it’s impacting your business.

1. Energy Drains: What are you tolerating? What are you putting up with? What’s draining your energy? Make a list of 20 things and start eliminating them one by one. You’ll immediately free up extra energy and time.
2. Environmental Assessment: How does your environment support you? Do you love your home? Do you need to paint some rooms? Do you sleep in a comfy bed under the best sheets you can buy? Inventory all aspects of your personal environment – your home, your car, your work – and see what you can clean up.
3. Extreme Self Care/Daily Habits: How do you take care of yourself physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually? What activities do you engage in to care for your health in all aspects? Do you have any bad habits that you need to quit? How you care for yourself is often a reflection of how you care for others and ultimately how you will care for your business. 
4. Your support team: I couldn’t agree more what The Riding Writer Brenda said, it’s all about relationships! Consider who is on your personal team – your family, your partner, your friends, your spiritual community. Note who is on your professional team – people in your profession, entrepreneurs in your community, colleagues in complementary fields that can support you. Actively seek to build and maintain these relationships and they will celebrate with you when business is great and support you when the road gets tough.
   

Hey Everyone!

Happy New Year! I hope each and every one of you had a great holiday, and a safe new year. My holiday was a little less restful, as there was a death in the family that took me to south Florida just days before the holiday. Then, as is often the case when a long holiday week presents itself to me, I caught the flu! :-(

While nursing my flu, I had a lot of time to think about priorities. And resolutions. It's the time of year for those, and I've always felt that setting New Year's Resolutions right after such an enormously busy time (either physically or emotionally, or both) is a bad plan. One year, a group of friends and I had "New Year's" in February, and we lit candles while stating our intentions for that year. That delay from the holidays until February gave me lots more "lick and chew" time than usual, and it just so happens that's the year Horse Sense was incorporated!

This year, I heard of another wonderful option instead of new year's resolutions. Although I'd read in lots of places the idea of "theme-ing" your upcoming year, I was even more impressed when someone suggested having a phrase or a slogan for the new year. I immediately knew my phrase would be the Serenity Prayer.

Grant me the serenity
To accept the things I cannot change
The courage to change the things I can
And the wisdom to know the difference

I've always felt comforted by the wisdom in the words, and the fact that it's not a quick, cheap answer to either the simple questions or to life's most difficult problems. When in doubt, I go back to the beginning. And for me the beginning is in the Serenity Prayer.

So let's hear it. What's your phrase or quote?

Wishing you all the best in this new year, and with gratitude for you in my life,

Shannon