As we begin the New Year, I’m guessing that you have also spent some time in reflection about this past year – What a ride it has been! Have you thought about how far you have come? What is the same or different about your work-life and company? What are the lessons learned that you will carry into 2012?

This year I will continue to be in service of my calling and extend my reach to the number of people that I serve through team building, coaching and leadership development. One of the most important daily practices that I do and coach is gratitude and appreciation. The more we are grateful, the more things TO BE appreciative and grateful for flow into our lives. That being said, I would like to say THANK YOU for supporting me and Vida Aventura over the past 5 years.

As a token of appreciation, I would like to extend a gift to you. To receive a free eBook on Experience Based Team Building click here and write “Team Building” in the subject line. If you are curious how team building activities would help to build teamwork within your team, check out the video below

Wishing you the best days of your life in 2012!
Deseri
LinkedIN – Twitter – Facebook

Are you living a life of abundance?

How large or small is your abundance quotient?

What area of your life would you like to create abundance? — Your health? Relationships? Career? Family time? Finances?

Last summer a friend of mine shared a powerful tiny green book with me called The Abundance Book. In the book author John Randolph Price shares the principles of abundance and how to incorporate them into your life. Being a coach and life-long learner I was curious. So, I put the principles into practice for 40 days. What happened for me over the next few weeks was nothing short of amazing. I had a greater sense of abundance in all areas of my life … my health, relationships, time with my family and my work. My business has never been the same since completing that journey. In 2010 my company, Vida Aventura, had a record sales year.

I could hardly wait to share the book and the principles with my coaching clients and friends. We put the practices into place as a team and their lives and businesses prospered in amazing ways. One client landed a six figure job, another lost over 10 pounds and another re-branded her business and became more focused.

In short the abundance journey is a 40 consecutive day process that involves focusing, praying or meditating on an abundance principle daily for 15 minutes and journaling.

To give back I would like to share the experience with those of you who are interested. You are invited to join my coaching clients and me during the next 40 days on the abundance journey.

There is no cost.

You’ll simply have to commit to 4 simple steps:

1. Send me your name and email address. Click –> here (please include “abundance process” in the subject line)
2. Purchase The Abundance Book by John Randolph Price
3. Read through to part II in the book
4. The process: 20 minutes a day for 40 consecutive days (15 minutes of focus and 5 minutes of journaling)

What happens next?

1. I’ll email you details for the process including call times
2. We’ll begin the journey on November 21st – the last 40 days of 2011
3. You will have access to coaching calls where you can share your experiences with a dynamic team of individuals

What’s in it for you?

1. Everything to gain!
2. Weekly coaching calls
3. Daily accountability
4. A team of rock stars to share the journey

Imagine what it will be like to wrap up the year with renewed momentum. Give yourself a present for the holidays that no one else can give and be a part of this exciting process.

Join us by clicking here. Be sure to include your name and email address for additional information including call times.

To Your Abundance!

Deseri
Vida Aventura – Twitter – Facebook

Thomas Edison said: “Genius is one percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration.” Inspiration is that passion and determination which makes you want to get out of bed in the morning, smile through the tears, and work through any dilemma. So, how do cultivate inspiration? Where does it come from?

Inspiration is what gets us all going and keeps us going through the hard work, determination, and perspiration of achievement. I believe inspiration comes from being clear about our purpose. When we know why we want to do, be or have something nothing can stop us.

I watched the movie Rudy for the fourth or fifth time this weekend. Rudy was a dynamo. He grew up in a steel mill town where most people ended up working in a factory for the rest of their lives. But he wanted to play football at Notre Dame. He had a few problems though; his grades were low, he didn’t have the best athletic skills and he was half the size of the other players. But he had the spirit, the drive and the inspiration of 5 players and he set his sights on joining the team. Why? Because he was passionate about Notre Dame Football and he was determine to make his father proud.

When Rudy got hit he always got up, and, granted, sometimes he got up more slowly than others, but he always got up. As he rose up, he shook his head, dusted himself off, and re-joined the team line-up to do it all again. He got knocked down to the ground several times a day in practice yet he always bounced right back up, ready for more action – without a hint of complaint or any tears.

Think about what life would be like if you pursued your passions in the same way Rudy pursued his? How would it be different for you? How different could your life and your work be if you lived it with as much passion and perseverance for life as Rudy did for football?

Deseri
Vida Aventura

Collaboration: To work jointly with others or together especially in an intellectual endeavor.

It is safe to say that most jobs involve collaborating with peers. I have a friend that works in a national sports organization managing their partnerships. Her job consists of collaborating with all departments in the organization to fulfill the contractual obligations of the partnerships. Without the ability to collaborate with team members, she would fail and the company would lose all of its partners. Needless to say, she practices such skills on a regular basis and is reliant on her peers to do the same.

One of the common themes to my coaching and team building events is helping my clients fine-tune their collaboration skills and give them the tools they need to be intentional and purposeful when doing so. It is easy to see the power of team work when the group comes together in a team building activity; the same holds true in the workplace.

That begs the question: when it comes to collaboration, where do you begin?

1. SHIFT – shift your team’s mindset. A way to cultivate a mindset directed toward collaboration and continuous improvement is to simply ask, “How can I make this better?” When a company truly collaborates and provides the best product or service by improving the processes that produce them, they create efficiencies in producing the desired end result and organizations are more effective.

2. OWN IT – own your stake in the project and overall goal. Don’t rely on others to change the process; start the process and always seek opportunities to improve it. It is a team effort and by encouraging people to collaborate, efficiencies are created for the group and all involved can work smarter, harder, and have better results. Take ownership and know that your contribution has an effect on the bottom line.

“Being in a band is always a compromise. Provided that the balance is good, what you lose in compromise, you gain by collaboration” – Mike Rutherford

Happy collaborating!

Deseri Garcia
Vida Aventura

We’re all familiar with the power of positive thinking to get things accomplished and goals achieved. The basic premise behind positive thinking is that if you can think of something, you can do it. Everything that ever was or ever will be is a thought first. There are many different ways to use positive thinking to improve your life. One of the most effective is to use affirmations.

One of my favorite authors, Cheryl Richardson says, “Affirmations + Action = Miracles.” This doesn’t mean that we all have to say “I’m man enough, I’m good enough, and doggonit people like me.” To truly use affirmations powerfully, they must be thoughtful, targeted and lead to your positive vision of success – “I am” statements are especially powerful.

For example, if you are a smoker who would like to kick the habit, the wrong way to use affirmations is to state: “I’m not going to smoke anymore.” Psychologically, this will make you crave smoking as you’re making it seem out of reach or denying yourself something. A better affirmation would be: “Now I am smoke-free.” Or, “I breathe clean, refreshing air and I have much more positive energy.” Stating your affirmation positively versus negatively is significant. Another example could be if you want to create prosperity in your life . You may say, “I am debt free.” Debt has a negative connotation. Better wording would be – “I am financially free.” Or “Money is flowing to me from both expected and unexpected sources.” By crafting your affirmations in a positive light, you can more easily achieve your goals.

Using affirmations is another way to get out of your comfort zone and into positive growth. Here is a simple exercise to try. Write down ten positive affirmations. Read them out loud at least 3 times per day/night for a week. Observe how you feel, the way you approach things and the changes doing affirmations provides.

After a week check back in and share your experience in the comment section below. I would love to hear your feedback!

Deseri Garcia
Vida Aventura

We’ve all heard the tried and true expression of “there is no ‘I’ in team.” When there are team members in an organization who do not appreciate or understand the contribution, importance and value of their work and their colleagues work, there can be disconnect with the team. When there is disconnect with a team, the entire effectiveness of the business suffers.

There is more to being a good team member than wearing a corporate logo, stamping it on a t-shirt, or putting up posters about success and teamwork. When a team works well together there is a shared understanding of and commitment to, the goals of the organization. So, how do you get the team members to work together and connect their team dots in a meaningful, productive way?

Keep communicating!

One way to encourage a shared team focus at all levels of an organization is by making sure that the goals and the vision of the company are clear and reiterated frequently. Assuming that your team knows is a big mistake.

Two; make sure that each individual knows HOW what they do fits into the goals of the organization. When polled, most employees can’t answer how what they do impacts the vision of the company. If employees don’t know their impact or how they are being measured it’s difficult to hold them accountable to results.

Three; invest in training and development. A sports team is really only as good as each individual. That’s why training and development is crucial. When organizations use effective training and development techniques, then connecting the dots in a more productive, effective way is easy.

Business owners and managers need to make sure that their team members understand the goals of the company; are clear about how they personally contribute and impact the results; and invest in training and development of their people. These three simple steps will make employees feel more respected and valued for their contributions.

Deseri Garcia
Vida Aventura

Do you think about the words that you speak? Our words have power and magic in them. No, not Harry Potter kind of magic, but everyday magic.

Did you know that the literal meaning of the word ‘encourage’ is to facilitate the process to find your inner strength and courage. The root word of ‘encourage’ is ‘courage.’ The end result of encouragement is to facilitate courage.

To discourage is the opposite of encourage. Which means that the end result of discouragement is timidity; not courage … Interesting, huh?

A wise person once told me that “encouragement if free, it doesn’t take much to encourage people.” That really is true. Yet, encouraging ourselves and others is often an activity we forget to do. Encouragement is as simple as believing in one another. Profound, yet easy.

When we are facing difficulties or challenges, one of the biggest things we need is for someone to tell us that we can do it; we can succeed. When you do this for others, you will find yourself feeling more courage or become encouraged yourself. It really does ‘pay it forward’ exponentially. This simple act of kindness is free, so why not use it?

Deseri Garcia
www.vidaaventura.net

Most people tend to forget that the most important team member on any team is themselves. When you commit to a plan of personal growth and development for yourself – you are benefiting everyone. Here are five things you can do as an individual which will make your team even stronger.

1. Find out what everyone’s vision, including your own, is for the team.
2. Measure team effectiveness.
3. Use good communication.
4. Work to make a good plan.
5. Stand up for each other!

When you “begin with the end in mind,” you are all using your imagination to create the best, most successful, productive, cohesive and innovative team you desire! Some components to consider are what the team’s priorities, values, and desired results are, how does your organization’s values, priorities and desired results work with these concepts, and how will you determine your productivity towards these goals? All of these considerations give value to your work as a team.

When you and your team set measurable, obtainable goals; it’s easy to see where and why you are being successful. Some of the most effective ways to check achievement of team goals is with personal, individual interviews, simple measurements (i.e. “on a scale of 1 to 10, how effective is this team?”), and using unbiased assessment tools such as surveys.

By using good communication with your team and knowing yourself well enough to know what you want to communicate, you can all collaborate better. Remember that we all receive information differently and have different styles of understanding new ideas – some people need to see it, some need to hear it, etc. If you bear in mind that what works for you may not necessarily work for all of your team members, your team communication will be effective.

When your team has a plan for turning its vision into reality, then you know you’re all on the right path. By creating goals which support everyone in going to the next level – goals which work with everyone’s individual strengths – then, your team will easily be able to measure and obtain the desired outcomes.

And, finally, stand up for each other. Remind each other of the vision you are attempting to reach and whether you see yourself as “the leader” of the entire team or “a leader in the team” you can contribute and take a stand for team improvement. It can be as simple as boosting rapport by going to lunch together or engaging in a fun “out of the box” activity or even having a formal team-building event.

The whole is truly greater than the sum of its parts – so the parts need to be their best. When you invest energy, time and financial resources in improving yourself as a team member – the whole team benefits.

Deseri Garcia
www.vidaaventura.net

2011 will end in less than 120 days. Around every 30 to 60 days I encourage my coaching clients to take out their goal sheets, check in and reflect on/ask how they are doing.

Like many, I have discovered how powerful it is to actually write down my goals. If you are not familiar with the Harvard study that exemplified how crucial it is to have written goals AND an action plan to achieve them, check out the facts here.

When I founded Vida Aventura one of my goals was to work throughout the world. This year I had the opportunity to expand into Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates to do leadership development work. It has been a business and life enriching experience that transpired, in part, because I set it as a goal.

In addition to writing out my goals I also spend time visualizing the outcomes of what I would like to achieve. In the attached video, I have outlined steps on visualization. If you apply the steps I am confident that you will find them helpful in achieving your goals.

Please share: How have you used the power of visualization to achieve your goals?