I use these terms not in any rigid way, but from my experience of where people often start. The three most common starting points are a) inviting and building the vision of where you’re trying to get to and b) taking an inventory of your strengths and resources at the point you’re starting from, and c) planning immediate steps to move you toward a clear goal. Start anywhere but start.
          4. Get support. Find someone you trust to report to about what you’re doing. Formally or informally is fine. You might move into coaching each other using one of the books below. However you do it, find support. And it doesn’t have to have that 12-step group feel; find someone you like to hang out with anyway and enjoy the time together.
          These are the basics. The books below can help with the inner wiring of coaching, and there are more in archived issues of this newsletter www.dianereardon.com/nlarch.htm). Even if your self-coaching sessions initially have limited effect (cleaning out the trunk of your car?), any progress will improve your day and lift your spirits.
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II. Energy Management: Translations from the Psych Research Lab, the Board Room and the Shrink’s Couch  
Self-Actualization for the Season. Working visual artists have probably been in some form of self-coaching all along. And they are probably self-actualizing, at least in this sphere of their lives. Ah, but what happens to any self-guidance system when the holidays fill your life with relatives, travel, and extra helpings of sugar? You, like some of my clients, may be asking, what happens to making art in my life?
          Abraham Maslow, who developed a hierarchy of needs in the ‘50’s, studied self actualizing people and described them as autonomous, living by their own values rather than by social customs.* They used their own values to decide which social customs to honor and include and which to detach from. You might want to revisit Maslow’s ideas as you face the holiday season and all its customs. Remember your basic loyalty to creating art and plan for what you will do to protect or adapt your regular artmaking routines.
          You may, of course, specifically decide to put all your art on hold until after New Year. If that fits the overall balance of your life and it’s your decision, not just following social custom, enjoy every minute of the season. If, however, you want to keep your creative juices bubbling throughout December, decide how to respond to the traditions and customs around you based on your own thoughtful choices. Check out what’s on your calendar and create some special ways to stay connected to your creative work. Here’s some ideas:
   Üorganize others to make decorations exploring a new product in your medium
   Ücancel one expected appearance at a gathering and enjoy the time in your studio
   Üshepherd all visiting relative to an art museum outing
   Üjournal about family traditions to capture their visual motifs
          I’m sure you can come up with more to fit your life and art and deepen your experience of this holiday time. Season’s best to you all.       
*Abraham Maslow. Motivation & Personality. 1970.
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III. Friends in Print: When you feel like reading

Grant, Tony and Greene, Jane. Coach Yourself: Make Real Change in Your Life. 2003.
One of the clearest overviews of how to make changes through coaching. Authors are psychology professor types and have also researched the results of their coaching methods to come up with a streamlined overview so we can include the elements that work. Especially useful for the diagrams of what steps go where so you can envision how you are making changes.

Blanchard, Scott and Homan, Madeleine. Leverage Your Best and Ditch the Rest. 2004.
Touted as “the coaching secrets top executives depend on”, this self-help book organizes the typical areas of coaching in a clear way accessible to those outside the corporate world. Especially useful for artists with day jobs or making art in collaboration, since much of the material is about getting along with others. Senior author is the son of Ken Blanchard, author of “The One Minute Manager” and he uses case studies that we all can relate to.

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IV. Creative Links.
www.leverageyourbest.com This site offers truly free resources once you have their book in hand to give you the members’ user name and password. One enlightening tool is “the scrubdown”, their questionnaire for assessing where you can improve
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V. Newsletter Info
E-mail changes. To change your e-mail address, subscribe, or unsubscribe please e-mail connect@dianereardon.com. If you use a spam filter, please add this e-mail address to your list of approved senders. This material is included on the breakTHROUGH Creativity Coaching website (www.dianereardon.com). All material is copyrighted ©, 30 November 2004, Diane Reardon. All rights reserved. Visit the website for back issues and details on scheduling a complimentary one-hour coaching session.
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