We can all be grade A!

My newsletter this month celebrates the wisdom of Benjamin Zander and his work on 'possibility'. See http://www.ambitioncoach.com/62652/93328.html for my recommendation to watch him on web-based videos, talking about improving the world using ideas such as making everyone a grade A!

Avaaz.org message to Obama

Message from Avaaz.org:-
After 8 long years of Bush - a fresh start. The world is seizing this historic and hopeful moment to send a flood of global messages to Obama. Our message and the number of signers, as well as the personal messages sent, are being displayed on a large wall in the centre of Washington DC. (see pictures at right) Over the last 24 hours, the wall has been featured on the front pages of the Washington Post and USA Today (two of the largest newspapers in the US) and on CNN, BBC, Al Jazeera and many other press outlets.A massive global response is making this a major moment of unity and reconciliation between the US and the world -- let's get to a million!

I just joined this great campaign to send a global message to Obama and thought you might be interested -- here's the email about it below --
_____
Dear friends,
After 8 long years of Bush – a fresh start!
Entrenched interests stand in the way, but Obama's victory brings a chance for the US to finally join with the world community to take on pressing challenges on climate change, human rights, and peace.
After years, even decades of distrust, let's seize this moment of unity, reconciliation and hope to send a message of warm congratulations and invitation to work together to the new President and the American people.
We've built a huge wall near the White House in Washington DC where the number of signatures on our message and personal messages from around the world will grow over the next several hours. We've also asked Obama to personally receive our petition from a group of Avaaz members. Let's get to 1 million signers and messages to Obama! Sign on at the link below and forward this email to others:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/million_messages_to_obama/98.php/?CLICK_TF_TRACK
This is a time for celebration of democracy, but already the sharks are circling – oil companies, war contractors, conservative lobbyists, and the powerful neo-con clique that brought us the war in Iraq are furiously lobbying to dim the prospects for change. Obama has promised national unity, and these interests will ask a high price for that unity.
Let's act quickly to make sure the people of the world are heard as Obama makes crucial choices in the coming days on how to live up to his campaign promises to secure a strong global treaty on climate change, ban torture and close Guantanamo prison, withdraw carefully from Iraq, and double aid to make global poverty history. Rarely has a US President been more likely to listen to us.
We'll make the point that on most of the pressing issues faced by Obama and the American people – from the financial crisis to climate change -- we need to work together as one world to achieve change. Sign below and forward this message on:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/million_messages_to_obama/98.php/?CLICK_TF_TRACK
With hope,
Ricken, Brett, Alice, Iain, Paula, Paul, Graziela, Pascal, Milena, Graziela and the whole Avaaz team.
PS – Send us a picture of yourself for our wall - email it to obamawall@avaaz.org
PPS – Here's a link to a report on Avaaz's past campaigning – http://www.avaaz.org/en/report_back_2/
PPS - And here's a list of 10 of Obama's campaign promises that concern the world – you can find his full platform here http://www.barackobama.com/issues/:
· Reduce the US's carbon emissions 80% by 2050 and play a strong positive role in negotiating a binding global treaty to replace the expiring Kyoto Protocol.· Withdraw all combat troops from Iraq within 16 months and keep no permanent bases in the country.· Establish a clear goal of eliminating all nuclear weapons across the globe· Close the Guantanamo Bay detention center· Double US aid to cut extreme poverty in half by 2015 and accelerate the fight against HIV/AIDS, tuberculoses and Malaria· Open diplomatic talks with countries like Iran and Syria, to pursue peaceful resolution of tensions· De-politicize military intelligence to avoid ever repeating the kind of manipulation that led the US into Iraq· Launch a major diplomatic effort to stop the killings in Darfur· Only negotiate new trade agreements that contain labor and environmental protections· Invest $150 billion over ten years to support renewable energy and get 1 million plug-in electric cars on the road by 2015
--------------------------------------

A great shift in the world - great news about Obama!

I am so pleased with the USA election results. As a passion of mine has long been diversity, this is a wonderful shift towards a better balance in the world.

I wrote about this a bit in my most recent newsletter, which also talks about how the global financial crisis may have hidden benefits for many of us. See 'Bad news can be good news'.

Silver linings

My November newsletter was all about finding the silver linings in the black clouds around us, now and always. Bad news can usually be good news, if we seek to learn. See http://www.ambitioncoach.com/62652/93328.html.

Shocking statistics

It is odd how often one can read something which is really surprising. As an example: I read today that over 1000 Mexicans have died attempting to illegally enter the USA, compared to approx 300 who died attempting to cross the Berlin Wall during its 28 years of existence. Remarkable! And thought-provoking...

Death of a parent... my book

This is probably still some way off but I have decided to definitely proceed with the book that I have had on the go now, since my mother died: "Diary of a death". At the time, nearly three years ago, it was a lonely process and I wished I could read more about what I was going through. I also wished that I could have planned better for this inevitable life milestone. But, like many, or most, I had ignored the possibility of her dying and this increased the pain. Death is quite a taboo, until you get close experience of it. After that, it becomes easier to understand and to talk about. I would like to get people talking about it more so that we all deal with it better.

Please do get in touch if you wish to talk to me about this - about my book or about your experience, now or in the past...

Pondering the economic climate and sundry lessons...

My newsletter is once again topical - see http://www.ambitioncoach.com/62652/93328.html. I explored what can be learnt from the recent fiasco when the US Congress voted No instead of the Yes that the government wanted. Going for the win:win and putting oneself in another's shoes is crucial when trying to persuade someone to take your side.

Pondering Olympics, politicians and what we can learn from them

Watching the Olympics was wonderful and it started me thinking about how varied human reactions are to success, limited success and to failure. Then, watching the US Democratic Party convention gave me more food for thought. Read my thoughts here: http://www.ambitioncoach.com/62652/93328.html.

The power of words

My newsletter this month is all about a quote by Rudyard Kipling:

"Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind."

Words can be used as a force for good or for evil. The same applies to our thoughts. We have a choice as to whether we use self-talk in a positive way or a negative way. More details at http://www.ambitioncoach.com/62652/93328.html.

Beating procrastination!

If you procrastinate - and apparently 95% of us do this - then take a look at my newsletter on beating it at http://www.ambitioncoach.com/62652/93328.html.

Listening to the Dalai Lama

I was lucky enough to see the Dalai Lama speaking at Nottingham recently. I have summarised a tiny bit of his message at http://www.ambitioncoach.com/62652/93328.html. He was discussing how we can bring meaning to our lives. What a wise and peaceful man he is - it was a privilege to hear him.

The value of appreciation

Last month's newsletter talked about tolerance being a key requirement for long-term friendships to work well. I had great feedback from readers about this (many thanks!). This month, I wrote about the value we can give to others by showing them our appreciation in some way. It costs us nothing, brings us many benefits and makes the recipient feel great. I can vouch for this, because of how I know I feel when I get positive feedback for my writing!

See my newsletter here http://www.ambitioncoach.com/62652/93328.html.

You need friends for happiness

I remember a BBC series on happiness concluding that money did not bring happiness, and that one of the most powerful influences in our level of happiness is our sense of belonging to a community, our communications with friends and loved ones etc. I was reminded of this when I read this little story of a lottery millionaire missing his friends at McDonalds - see http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30400-1310532,00.html.

Making relationships last forever

I just published my April newsletter at http://www.ambitioncoach.com/62652/93328.html. If you are wondering: what is the magic ingredient in making a long-term relationship problem-proof, you might be surprised when I say 'tolerance'. Read the newsletter to discover why this is so important.

Giving - a story

I just read a story at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/glasgow_and_west/7311933.stm about someone who has won £1.2m at Bingo and is sharing it with her neighbour "because we always share our wins". It turns out she has also been a great neighbour helping out during illness etc.

I love to read stories like this. In a world seemingly full of greed and 'self', it is good to be reminded that real people are still generous at heart. This story has no prominence on the BBC website and I had to search for it. I wonder why 'nice' news stories are not considered newsworthy?

A Boy Called Alex

I finally watched a documentary that I had taped, called A Boy Called Alex. What an inspirational young man - huge musical talent and battling daily with the challenges of cycstic fibrosis. See here http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/education/article3166508.ece to understand more of this amazing 17 year-old!

Meditation benefits

Just read a great article about the proven benefits of meditating. See http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/article3554215.ece.

Chiara Lubich

I just read of the death of Chiara Lubich, founder of the Focolare Movement. This is a global movement dedicated to unity - bringing together people of all faiths and people of no faith, to build a more united world. This is so close to my own heart that I am astonished I had not heard of her and this movement before.

I just read a speach she made (at http://www.focolare.org.uk/ArcImagine.htm), in which she talks of love, of peace and quotes Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr.:-

“The golden rule,” said Mahatma Gandhi, “is to be friends of the world and to consider the whole human family as ‘one’.”(See Note 5)

And Martin Luther King: “I have a dream that one day…” all people will realize that they were created to live together as brothers and sisters and that fraternity will become the order of the day for businesspersons and the password for statesmen and women.

What a wonderful woman and what a loss for the world.

Eyelid twitching!

This is hilarious. A friend mentioned last week that her eyelid kept twitching. I thought no more about this until a few days ago when mine did the same! Since then I have had a few short bursts of my right upper eyelid twitching, so out of curiousity, I looked this up in Google. I guess I should not have been surprised to see that it is everywhere! Popular causes seems to be stress and lack of sleep. I am not stressed and I get enough sleep, so I suspect mine is a 'sympathy twitch' for my friend! :-)

Doing nothing...

I have just spent a wonderful 2 weeks in Florida - warm, relaxing and fun. Read a little more about what I learned from this in my March newsletter at http://www.ambitioncoach.com/62652/93328.html.

One extra degree - tips for taking action

My February newsletter is all about how to take action more effectively. See http://www.ambitioncoach.com/62652/93328.html.

I also draw attention to two great online videos:
See http://www.nc212movie.com - this is one of the best! What will you do to 'turn up the heat?'

Another stunning video here... If you ever think that something is difficult, remember this video of Chinese dancers - her with only one arm and him with only one leg. Their story is interesting (http://www.52best.com/ballet.asp) and the video of them dancing (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnLVRQCjh8c) is almost unbelievable.

Announcing Interactive Coaching!

For most of the past year, I have been involved with the testing and launch of a brand new concept: online interactive coaching. This is available at 'CoachingInteractive' - a new website which enables people to experience coaching anytime, anywhere, at low cost, since it does not require as much intensive time from a life coach.

To read about self-coaching and interactive coaching, see details on my website at http://www.ambitioncoach.com/92960.html. To explore it straight away, go to http://jackypratt.coachinginteractive.com and click the large orange 'Join now' button. This will lead you to a free taster session of the self-coaching - just a tiny introduction to whet your appetite. After that, you can choose to go no further, or you can buy a programme of your choice, from as little as £25 for a month. And if you pay £65, you will get me responding to you every week via email within the system, helping you to build momentum towards changing whatever you wish to change.

Alternatively, email me (jacky@ambitioncoach.com) and ask for a new free ebook called "So What Is Interactive Coaching?". This has been written by people (such as myself) who have been involved in this new venture. It is a PDF and I can email it to you with no obligation to go any further.

Freerice.com - a success story!

In my newsletter on 4 December 2007, I mentioned a new website, www.freerice.com, which had resulted in 6 billion grains of rice being donated towards ending world hunger, since the website started on 7 October 2007.

Now in January 2008, I can see that the total is standing at 16 billion and growing! What a success story for word of mouth/email/social networking referral!

Today, USAToday has reported the story. Apparently the total so far would feed 700,000 people each for a day. This is not insignificant and if it continues to grow this fast, must make a difference!

New Year Reflections

As we start 2008, my newsletter features reflections... on gratitude, appreciation, kindness and also details of a shift of focus in my marketing of my coaching. Although I continue to be a life coach and career coach, my passion is greatest when helping people to better understand their relationships with others. This is all human relationships - with family and partners, with friends and colleagues. So, I will market myself as a relationship coach. Please read my newsletter or website for more details.