A BIG dream that could impact +3 million people!

Posted by Mitch Matthews

Okay... I have to tell you that I'm out of my head excited about this BIG dream.

Why? 

Well... it involves my home state of Iowa.  My home city of Des Moines.  AND it's going to impact the world.  (Can you tell I'm proud of my people?!?)

Here it is... this BIG dream is called "Meals for the Heartland."

It's a group of people that have gotten together to organize a HUGE effort to prepare over 3 million meals for the world's hungry (and help the hungry in Iowa while they're at it!)  And they are wanting to do it in one week's time!

Here are some of the specifics...

When: September 1-9, 2008

Where: Hy-Vee Hall, in downtown Des Moines (This space was donated after the Iowa Events Center heard about the mission and scope of this BIG dream!)

How: Organizers say that thousands of volunteers are needed to help to accomplish this!  You can sign up to bring your family, people from work, your kid's school, your church, your book club... heck... your coin collecting group.  And... just about any age person can help!

As you come, You (and/or your group) will have fun as you participate in various assembly lines to put all the food together.

You can just sign up for a couple of hours... or for longer if you want to!

I won't go into all the specifics, but you can click here to go to their website to find out more.  More specifically, if you'd like to find out how to volunteer, you can click here.

I know I'll be there with some friends and I can't wait to see you there!

Think about it? 

How often do you get a chance to pitch in and have an impact on the world... actually helping out by pitching in for just a few hours?

Yup... this is a HUGE dream.  And It's going to take a lot of people to make it happen.  But when it does... it'll be a curiosity to the world!

Oh... and if you can't be there yourself, you can still help out.  Click here to find out how.

Keep dreaming BIG... keep connecting... and keep having an impact on the world!

Photo credit and kudos to: Mr Kris

Coach thyself!

As a coach, one of the things that I talk about as a goal with my clients is to get them to begin to coach themselves.

I've found that if my peeps start coaching themselves throughout the week they can go so much further with their time.

Okay you might be saying, "So how does this work?"  Or "Give me an example."

Glad to.

One of my clients is working on time management.  You know, maximizing his time, productivity and job satisfaction.

A part of that has been to develop a daily schedule that allows him to do the things he needs to do as well as plan for the next day. 

For example he'll shut down everything between 4:00 and 4:30 each day and plan for the next day.  That's just a good system and one that he's continuing to perfect.

Now the self-coaching comes in two to three times a week when he adds a little time to his half-hour planning session.

He simply sets aside an additional 15 minutes to ask himself two questions:

• What's working well with my planning system this week?
• What's something that I need to tweak with the system this week?

Yes these are questions a coach would ask.  (Yup.  I ask 'em.)  But he's asking them of himself.  More importantly he's coming up with some good answers and he's implementing them.

He doesn't have to wait for his coach.  He can incorporate a change.  Experiment with something new.  Do more of something that's working.  Throw something out that isn't.

It's pretty simple.

It's also pretty powerful.

What if you tried this out this week?  Just once? 

What if you set aside 15 minutes to ask yourself what's working and what isn't? 

What if you tried one new thing because of it?

Hey, coach thyself and see what happens. 

Then come back and let us know how it went!  Just click "comments" and join in the conversation.

If you want some additional ideas... check out lifehack's ideas on the subject by clicking here.

Photo credit to: Noah Pippen

BIG dream gathering podcast: Interview with BIG dreamer Chris Koll

Okay... so... have you ever had one of those ideas? 

You know... you are doing something in your garage... or cleaning your house... or walking around in your favorite store... and it hits you... "Oh, somebody should invent something like ___________."

Well... this week, I got to interview someone who got hit with an idea like that... but he actually did something with it!

Listen in as I talk with Chris Koll about his idea... how he got started... and where's he's at in the process of bringing this product to the market.

You can find out more about Lawn Bag Buddy by checking out their website at www.LawnBagBuddy.com.

Also... the BIG dream gatherings have taught us that we're not supposed to go after BIG dreams alone.  Right?

So, if you have some ideas... some encouraging words or some connections for Chris, let him know.

Either leave a comment here or e-mail him directly at Chris@lawnbagbuddy.com.  He's wanting to get these into more and more stores before fall. 

So think about it... and let him know if you can help him out with that!

Thanks for checking in... thanks for connecting... and as always... thanks for dreaming BIG!

Coach's corner: E-mail 101

I have been traveling quite a bit lately and I have to admit that it's tougher to keep up with e-mail when I'm on the road.  Can you identify?

There are some days when I feel so behind that I'd like to chuck the whole system and just go back to pens and paper... or maybe even smoke signals. 

Again... can you relate?

Plus, I know that many of you are going after your BIG dreams, but at this point, you are having to do it "on the side." 

It's not your main gig yet.  You are having to do it early in the morning, late at night or on weekends.

So, it's even MORE important that you manage your time wisely. 

Well, even though I get frustrated from time to time... I love to hear about how people manage things like their e-mail. 

I love to hear about systems that work.

For example, I was working with a coaching client recently. 

I know that she is very effective at managing her daily tasks so I asked her about her "system." 

She says that she follows a modified "Getting Things Done" system.  She says that she spends 1 to 2 hours each morning, clipping through her daily e-mails and to-do lists.  She swears by the system and says that everyone who e-mails her hears back within 24 hours and her in-box is always empty at the end of the morning session.

Read how the Brazen Careerist followed some of the same strategies to take her in-box to zero.

Sounding good?

Need more stories and specifics?  Click here to read one more example... just to keep you motivated.

So, how do you do it? 

Do you struggle too?

Do you have a system that works?

Share your successes or your challenges.

And... remember... we're in this together!

Click comments and join in the conversation.

Photo credit: Zniper 02