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LifeRhyme Notes
May 2007
By Rochelle Melander, Coach
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In This Issue
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1. Welcome
2. The Genius Sabbatical
3. Announcing The Genius Sabbatical Mastermind Group
4. Announcing the Write Now! Virtual Writing Retreat
5. Quality of Life Therapy and Coaching Academy

Welcome
~~~~~~~~
Happy May from Milwaukee! This edition of LifeRhyme
Notes is packed with great information, ideas, and
resources to help you get going on that project you've
been dreaming about. Scroll down to find opportunities
for a summer coaching group and retreat. And, keep
your eye out for next months Notes--it's the annual
book review issue with some additional good stuff to
rock your world!


The Genius Sabbatical
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
but girl don't let your dreams be dreams
you know this living is not so hard as it seems
dont let your
dreams be dreams
—Jack Johnson, Dreams Be Dreams

In early May, I spent several days in San Diego.
My purpose for the trip was to connect with a friend,
write my book proposal, and walk by the ocean. I
was able to accomplish it all. But the greatest gift of
the trip was an unexpected one: physical and emotional
space. For six days I had no e-mail, client commitments,
or community service. My phone time was limited to brief
family calls. The result? During my walks I was flooded
with ideas for my business, writing, and life. Limiting
thoughts and defeatist ideas disappeared. Creativity
bloomed. It occurred to me that if I could find this kind
of space weekly, I could finish my book.

When I speak with clients and groups about getting the
big projects done, I emphasize the value of creating space.
My Write Now! writing retreats are a vehicle to support
writers in doing this. But most of us need more time
than the occasional weekend away. We need to find
this space in our workaday lives.

And we can! We can take a genius sabbatical. Sabbaticals
are prolonged breaks from one's regular working life to
do research, get more training, or travel. The genius
sabbatical is break that we create in the midst of our daily
lives to work on our genius project--the big thing we were
put on this earth to accomplish. Our genius project might
be writing a book, creating a business, doing art -- you
name it.

Here's how to create a genius sabbatical:

1. Choose a worthy project. This project needs to be something
you have a burning passion for. Ask yourself:

• What keeps me up at night or gets me up in the morning?
• What do I daydream about doing?
• What would I do if I had only one year to live?
• What has been my persistent life dream since I was a child?

2. Free up your time. Choose to let go of time-consuming
commitments, relationships, or habits for a season. Fiction
writers across the country set aside November, National
Novel Writing Month, to write a novel. Think about your life.
What commitments drain your time and energy? What could
you let go of for a month or for the summer? Would this give
you enough time to get your big project done? Here are some
thoughts about what you might give up:

• Volunteer work (e.g., church work, neighborhood association)
• Social group (e.g., book group, play group)
• Work commitments (e.g., Can you delay new projects?)
• Life Maintenance (e.g., Can you hire a cleaning service?)
• Relationships (e.g., Can you take a break from a weekly coffee?
  Could you avoid e-mail contact for two days each week?)
• Habits (e.g., Do you spend a lot of time shopping or reading?
  Could you give this up for a season and spend the time on
  your project?)

3. Make a plan. You have a vision, you have time--now you
need to figure out how to get where you are going in the time
you have! Good thing you're a genius! Ask yourself:

• What do I intend to accomplish by the end of my genius
  sabbatical? Be specific.
• What steps will support me in getting there?
• What tools do I need to do this work?

4. Create space. Once you have the time, you'll need the space.
Research on priming suggests that our environments prime us
for certain behaviors. If a student walks into his fraternity and
sees his friends tossing back shots, he's primed to do the same.
If he walks into his fraternity and sees his friends studying, he is
primed to study. In order for you to do your genus work, you will
need to set aside space that primes you to get it done. This space
needs to be filled with cues for you to do your genius work. It also needs to be free of cues to do other things like: answer the phone,
read e-mail, do laundry, cook, eat, take care of other people.
Ask yourself:

• What cues distract me from getting to my genius work?
• What sort of environment do I need to get my genius work done?
• How can I create this?

5. Communicate boundaries. Getting out of town creates immediate
and obvious boundaries. If you're doing your genius sabbatical in town, you will need to tell people about it. Create a short, ambiguous speech about your plans such as, "I am setting aside time this summer to finish a project."

• If you are taking a break from an external commitment, like a volunteer position, tell the people you work with. You can also tell them when you will be available again.
• *Tell the people you communicate with daily about your plans. This will prepare them for your unavailability by phone or e-mail.
• *Prepare your family! If you plan to do your genius work at home, get a do-not-disturb sign and talk to people about what this means.

6. Get support. Habits are powerful. If you've spent the last ten years doing the neighborhood watch every Friday night, it will be hard to give it up. If you spend hours on the phone each day, it will feel strange to stop! Find a coach or an accountability partner who will kick your butt if you do not take your genius sabbatical. Or, sign up for my genius sabbatical mastermind group (see below)--I'd be happy to kick your butt!

One of my clients has a great saying. When faced with a new project or challenge, she says: "How hard can it be?" I've adopted her words for my own life. Yes, your genius work is a challenge. But really--how hard can it be?????? Now get going!

Coach Rochelle


Announcing The Genius Sabbatical Mastermind Group

What: The Genius Sabbatical Mastermind Group provides
the essential tools and support to get your project done now.
The group will be led by coach Rochelle Melander, the author
of nine books and an expert at accomplishing big things in the
midst of a crazy busy life.

When: June 13, July 11, August 8 at 1:00 PM Central Daylight
Time for one hour.

Where: The classes are held on a telephone bridge line and class participants will have access to the podcasts of the class.

Fee: You can be a part of this group for $90.00 -- that's just
$30.00/session.

For more information and a registration form,
contact Rochelle Melander at:
rochelle@LifeRhymeCoaching.com
Put GENIUS in your subject line.
414-963-1222

For more information about Rochelle's coaching, visit:
http://www.LifeRhymeCoaching.com

Announcing the Write Now! Virtual Writing Retreat:
August 9-12, 2007

Now writers can choose between attending the in-person writing retreat and a virtual retreat. Virtual retreat attendees get everything that the in-person retreat offers-- and the opportunity to retreat in the setting YOU CHOOSE! Plus, virtual retreat goers will have free access to the podcasts of the weekend workshop sessions!

The WRITE NOW! Weekend Retreat package will give you:

• A pre-retreat coaching conversation to set weekend goals and create a plan to achieve them!
• FOUR!!! writing seminars during the retreat:
• Getting Started. This seminar will give you the tools to organize
  your weekend writing time and overcome writer's block
  and procrastination.
• The Writing Habit. This seminar will give you the practical tips and tools that successful working writers use to get writing done.
• The Secrets of Getting Published. This seminar will give you Rochelle's top ten tips for getting your work into print.
• Celebrating Success and Setting Goals. This seminar will give you an opportunity to celebrate your weekend achievements and teach you how to set and KEEP writing goals at home.
• A 30-minute coaching conversation during the retreat to support you in writing now.
• The opportunity to connect with other writers.
• 20-plus hours of writing time.
• A 30-minute coaching conversation after the retreat to keep you accountable to your writing goals.
• An opportunity to participate in an ongoing writing coaching group at a discounted rate.

Retreat Details:
The Virtual Retreat
August 9-12, 2007
Workshops and Coaching sessions will be held by telephone. Registration deadline: August 1, 2007

The Fall Retreat:
November 8-11, 2007
The Residence Inn
Milwaukee, WI
Registration Deadline: October 8, 2007

Registration Fee
The cost of the retreat, separate
from hotel, meals, and travel, is:
$500.00 check, cash, or credit card

For more information and a registration form,
contact Rochelle Melander at:
rochelle@LifeRhymeCoaching.com
414-963-1222
For more information about Rochelle's coaching, visit:
http://www.LifeRhymeCoaching.com

Meet the Write Now! retreat leader, Rochelle Melander:
I've written nine published books, a master's thesis, and more than
one hundred articles. I've been editing books and articles since 1994. And I have coached many writers through their own writing projects since 2000. At the same time, I've been busy having a life--working,
maintaining relationships, and parenting children. People often ask me, "How do you do it?" They mean, "How do you manage to write and have a life?"

I've been doing it for a long time. I wrote my master's thesis in one year, while doing the graduate coursework, teaching, babysitting, cleaning houses, and trying to have a life. Nearly every book I wrote with my husband was completed in less than three months, often in as little time as six weeks. In the fall of 2004, my friend Sue Lang and I wrote a book in nine days. This past year, I wrote my first solo book--a 500-pager--in just over five months.

In this weekend retreat and the coaching sessions that come with it, I'll be teaching you the tools I have used for more than 15 years to
envision, structure, and complete writing projects. Listen to what
participants and clients say about my work:
 

Rochelle Melander is not only a gifted writer developing her own ideas, she is also someone with skill to help other writers find their voice. As a University faculty member with a Ph.D, I have learned that I need someone who can understand the spirit and content of what I want to write about in my particular field. Rochelle’s coaching style and skills attended to my voice and ideas and worked to clarify and develop these ideas. The retreat also offered practical steps in overcoming some of the roadblocks that keep me from writing.
—Jan Ewing, PhD
http://www.ctcsd.org/ 

[The retreat] gave me inspiration in several forms: this included you, Rochelle, reminding us that if we write three pages a day, at the end of year, we'll have a book! That was the kind of "bite-able bite" that I needed to hear. It put perspective on my feeling of hopelessness that I would EVER get a book done. That it seems "do-able" is a great mental leap for me, and I thank you for pointing that out. —Ingrid Huebner, Fall 2006 Write Now! Participant

5. Quality of Life Therapy and Coaching Academy

I am pleased to announce this amazing opportunity from my colleague and fellow mastermind group member, coach Caroline Miller:
The QOLTC Academy teaches positive psychology practice from start to finish in an easy-to-learn, step-by-step fashion, and moves it forward scientifically with documented outcome via the Quality of Life Inventory. The Academy will be instructed by the QOLTC founder, Dr. Michael B. Frisch and his partner Caroline Adams Miller, an accredited professional coach and one of the first graduates of the Masters in Applied Positive Psychology Program at the University of Pennsylvania.

Coaching, mental health, business, healthcare, educational, HR, religious and legal professionals would all benefit from this class. Anyone who wants a more fulfilling work or family life using the science of positive psychology will also want to take this class. Mental health professionals can gain 15 hours of approved CEUs, including three hours’ credit of Ethics training.

The QOLTC Academy will be offered on fifteen consecutive Mondays on a telephone bridge line for an hour apiece, beginning on June 11th at 12 pm EDT. The cost of participation in the QOLTC Academy is $800, payable before the start of the class. To receive certificates for CEUs, another $50 fee will be assessed. You must obtain a copy of the book, "Quality of Life Therapy" (Frisch, 2006), because it is the required text. To sign up for this extraordinary learning opportunity, visit the Web site, http://www.qoltc.com/


Inspired?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Are you inspired by what you read here?
Then pass it on!

Interested in connecting around the important issues of life?
Give me a call at 414-963-1222 or send me an e-mail
(rochelle@liferhymecoaching.com)
to set up a free coaching consultation!


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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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LIFERHYME NOTES 2007 is a free monthly e-mail newsletter designed to consider how we can integrate spirituality and creativity into our daily lives. It is written and produced by Rochelle Melander, personal and professional coach. If you have any questions or comments, please send them to:
rochelle@liferhymecoaching.com.
I would love to hear from you.

Feel free to forward your copy of LIFERHYME NOTES to anyone you think might enjoy it. I do request that you keep the entire newsletter intact, including my contact and copyright information.

This newsletter is COPYRIGHT 2007
by ROCHELLE MELANDER,
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Do not quote without the
written permission of the author.