The Successful Dilettante
October 5, 2006 Issue 7
Editor: Susan Henderson, coach@susanhenderson.com
Visit our website at: http://www.susanhenderson.com
The Successful Dilettante, published on the 5th and 20th of each month, is sent only to those who have requested it - or was forwarded to you by someone you know. I value your privacy and never share my mailing list with anyone. If a copy has been forwarded to you by a friend or colleague and you wish to Subscribe, please visit my website here.
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Greetings!
A very warm welcome to both old and new subscribers. Thanks for sharing my ezine with your colleagues and friends. We are a growing community here. I appreciate you so much! Past issues of this ezine are archived on my website on the Newsletter page. I am continually adding new content and resources to my site including a bookstore. I invite you to stop by occasionally and see if there is anything interesting and helpful to you. Suggestions are sincerely appreciated.
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"Delicious Autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns." ~ George Eliot
I love autumn! I feel the most alive and connected to the earth at this time of year. I love the cooler temperatures, the yummy golden light, the peppy little winds, the whispery rustling of fallen leaves, the color of natures glorious coat, the laughter of the school children awaiting the bus, and the sense of anticipation in the air.
I am most alive, most alert, and most aware at this time of year. I am open and ready for what this new year brings. Can it be that the excitement of a brand new school year is so deeply ingrained in me from all those fresh beginnings we got in childhood? New clothes, new notebooks, new teachers, new classes, and maybe some new friends. It was also about new chances to get over my shyness, be one of the popular kids, study harder to improve those grades, make the teacher like me, and fit in.
That was years ago, but nothing has changed. This is the beginning of my new and best year ever. Not dark, dreary January. This golden time is when I start new projects, set up new learning for myself, set goals and make detailed plans to achieve them. I am my most attractive and creative self. I laugh more often and take great pleasure in my new clients, abundance, and good health.
I challenge you, and myself, to carry this sense of autumn throughout the year. Like a bird fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns. Just imagine what your life might be like if you did.
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Featured Guest: Shirley Pordominsky
I am very tickled to introduce today's guest. Not only is she is a friend, colleague, and former coaching client (see her testimonial on my site), she is a fascinating woman who has lived a very full, rich and interesting life. Shirley Pordominsky is a talented furniture designer who owns Casa Grande, a furniture design and import business based in Florida. She is also a life coach to women entrepreneurs and professionals, and Forex stock trader. I am so glad she has agreed to share her story here with us.
Q: How did you come to live the life you enjoy today?
It took me a long time. I went through different transitions until I got clear on what I really wanted. I realized that I first needed to define who I am. Then I needed to learn what I wanted and create a plan to get it. Figuring out who you are is a little bit confusing because listening to other people tell you who you are, what you "would, should, could" interferes with getting to know the real you. Once I started defining my top values (freedom, sharing knowledge, respect, spirituality, family, and the love I give and get), I was finally able to define what I wanted in life. I knew I wanted to honor my top value: freedom, which includes financial freedom.
Sharing knowledge is another big value for me. Creativity and beauty are also high on my list of values. When I made sure that all my interests were aligned to my values, I became more productive. I developed plans for each one of my major interests and a whole plan to integrate it all into my everyday life.
When did you recognize you would be happier doing more than one thing?
When I came to be at peace with myself, part of that was acknowledging that I was different from other people. That I had several interests and did not need to be ashamed of not having just one interest in life. It was okay to make each one of the interests profitable. At that point, they really did become profitable. It began when you were coaching me. When I first started coaching, I kept telling my clients to focus, focus, focus, while I myself was unable to focus on just one thing. That has all changed now.
Q: You have had such an interesting life. Would you please share your story?
I was born and raised in Honduras. As a young married woman, I spent a lot of time researching what to buy and where when we were remodeling our house. It turned out so well that my friends started asking me for help and it became a hobby for me. I decided to turn it into a profession when I divorced and had three children to support, but there was no training available. So I searched and found a correspondence school. I was the first interior designer in Honduras and my clients were many including the Honduran President. I opened an interior design studio, but needed to travel with my clients to Europe and New York to find furniture, carpet, window treatments, and accessories because none or these were manufactured in Honduras.
Later when I moved to Columbia, I again realized that I didn’t have the furniture and accessories available that I really wanted for my interior design business. To protect the economy, Columbia did not allow imports and I wasn't happy with the quality of furniture available. So I became a manufacturer. I wanted to give my clients something very creative with a fine integration of function and design – different than what they were used to in the market. I started exploring exotic finishes like animal bones, animal horn, coconut shells, sea shells, and exotic tree leaves. I developed combinations of woods and finishes that only I offered. I then attracted the export business and started exporting to Europe – mainly to France. Because of articles that came out in the French magazines, people from the U.S. started contacting me and so I developed a market in the U.S. After growing this market for 22 years, I needed a change in my life. I had gone from being a creative designer to being an administrator spending more time managing then creating. I was very bored, frustrated, and exhausted so decided to close the factory and move to the U.S.
After I moved to the U.S. I was in a period of transition and was thinking of doing something else. At that time I was trying to find peace and regain my health, which was not all that good after the stress of the manufacturing and exporting business, the recession, and the lack of cash flow. I took a few months off for myself. Then because I kept being contacted by people who knew my work, I slowly started up again in the furniture design business. And because at the same time I had begun my self-discovery search, I knew I needed to make some changes and that there was another way to have a life… a simple life that would bring me good health and be free of stress.
I enrolled in some NLP (Neurolinguistic Programming) training to empower myself and that was the turning point. When I finished that training, somebody mentioned coaching. NLP was giving me the tools to assist other people to make the changes that they wanted. I didn’t want to go into therapy. Then someone else mentioned coaching and then a third person said: “Oh, now that you have the NLP training are you planning on doing coaching? You could be very good at that.” When three people send me a message, I think I need to pay attention. So I went to the internet and starting looking for coaching schools and I found Coach U. I knew right away it was what I wanted and I enrolled immediately.
During the training I decided that I needed to have a coach myself and I found Susan Henderson. Susan helped me tremendously in making my decision to add coaching to my portfolio of careers. She didn’t try to force me to focus on or choose just one career. Not immediately, but in time I came to see that I could do both coaching and the furniture design/import business at the same time. Then with my interest in the global economy, world affairs and finances, I decided to learn about the Foreign Exchange market and so added a third business–I trade the Forex market.
Q: How do you manage your time? Do you have a plan?
I have a different structure for each one of my businesses. The furniture business deals only with high-end custom designed furniture. I sell only to designers, which simplifies my business because they understand the product that I have. I am available to give them my full service, which includes designing, or doing the drawing for their designs, or giving them assistance with assessing the finishes that are exclusive to my company. That is what makes the product unique.
In my coaching business, I set aside two days a week just for coaching. I coach a limited number of people so that I know I can give them my full attention and my full assistance. I have defined my ideal client, as I have with my furniture business clients. I am clear about who I serve - who can receive the best service possible, be empowered by the coaching process, and have the breakthroughs that result in their self-growth.
In trading in the Forex market I have specific hours and days that I meet with other traders and trade the Forex market. We analyze the market, share the information we have, and decide what we are going to be trading or not.
I have a planner that allows me to see the whole month. I travel quite a bit to Columbia for the furniture business, and I coach by phone from wherever I am at the time. My coaching clients live in different countries. It all works quite well.
I am also very conscious of my health and well-being. I take time to meditate and balance my thoughts. I am not a big exerciser, but I do take time to do a variety of exercises every day. Because of who I am, I need variety and creativity.
Q: What advice, tips or encouragement would you give the readers?
You have to go through an empowerment process. Clarifying who you are and then accepting yourself empowers you. Then knowing you are empowered allows you to find what you really want in your life aligned with your values. And then you make the plan. In that order. The longest part of this process can be defining and clarifying who you are and what your values are. This simply described process of defining who you are, what you want, and how you get it can be some of your hardest work. So if you need a coach, get one. If you need a book, read one. You can have the life you so richly deserve.
Shirley Pordominsky lives in Florida and is a life coach for women entrepreneurs or professionals who are looking for balance in their life while they make more money. She is fluent in English, but coaches an international cliental in Spanish. Spanish speakers may visit her website at: http://www.shirleypordominsky.com. She can be contacted in English or Spanish by email at: focusfocus@aol.com.
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If you would like to learn more about if and how Susan Henderson Coaching might be able to help you achieve your desired results, please contact me to set up a time to talk. We will start with a complimentary phone conversation where I can learn more about your current situation and goals. I will also answer any questions you may have about me, how I work with clients, and the coaching process. If we both feel the coaching relationship is a good fit, we will move on from there. Click here for contact information.
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© 2006 Susan Henderson, All rights reserved.
Susan Henderson Coaching
102 Bloomington Ave.
Bremerton, WA 98312
