I've been tagged!

My friend, Suzanne Falter-Barns started a game of tag on her fabulous blog all around the "5 Things People Don't Know About You".

This fits perfectly into my theme this year around "Lightness of Being". How fun!

So here goes:

1. When I was going to college in NH, I went to a Red Sox game at Fenway with my roommate. I got hit by the ball. I remember hearing a statistic once that the odds of this happening are like 1 in 3 million or something like that. I guess I had the Law of Attraction working even then and I didn't even know it! (And no, I didn't end up with a concussion like Drew Barrymore in the hilarious movie Fever Pitch -- just a sore shoulder. And no, I'm not even a baseball fan -- shocking, I know!)

4. I'm crazy about great guitar players. A few of you may know this -- I've written about it a little here on the blog. I've seen Eric Clapton 17 times. Here's my top list of "gotta' have" music:

Derek Trucks
Carlos Santana
Buddy Guy
Stevie Ray Vaughn
Freddie King
BB King
E.C. (of course)
Robert Randolph
Joe Satriani

Upcoming shows I'm going to:

Robert Randolph, WebsterTheater, Hartford CT 2/15
Eric Clapton, Phoenix, AZ, 3/11
Derek Trucks Band, Warner Theater, Torrington CT 5/17

3. I talk to trees. Ok, this one may be a bit woo-woo for some of you. I've always had a spiritual connection to trees. To me, the greatest sound in the world is the wind through the trees. Trees are powerful metaphors for life in so many ways - strength, vision, groundedness, beauty, wonder.

Favorite tree quote - "The mightiest oak tree was once just a nut who stood his ground."

Favorite kind of tree - the American elm.

Favorite tree hero -- Julia Butterfly Hill (who is interviewed in my book)

I wrote the first grant for the Friends of Springfield Trees to provide funding for their website and tree plantings in my home town. I've even created a Lens all about trees at Squidoo. Check it out here.

4. When I was in high school, I worked at the deli up at the top of Squaw Valley ski resort in California. Every day i took the tram up the mountain, something like 4,000 feet. I remember one time it got really windy and the tram had to stop midway - just happened to be over the largest drop on the whole ride - and the tram swayed from side to side. We were suspended like that for at least an hour. It made me think of that scene in the James Bond flick, MoonRaker, when Roger Moore was fighting with Jaws on the tram. And yeah, I'm afraid of heights!

5. I love guinea pigs. My secret ambition has been to open a guinea pig rescue when I retire some day. Guinea pigs are some of the most underrated animals in the world. They all have unique personalities. They are loving and affectionate, creative and loyal. When I worked in long term care, I used to bring my guinea pigs in to visit the residents.

Don't forget to visit Suzanne's blog to discover her 5 things, and links to a whole bunch of other fabulous people and their previously unknowns.

Now post a comment and share something we didn't know about you!

Posted by Kim George at 11:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

New to Abundance Intelligence® - Abundance Intelligence?  Here's a quick synopsis for you:

Abundance Intelligence is a form of intelligence that is made up of aptitudes, conscious patterns and beliefs that enable us to do what we CAN do consistently and authentically.

Your Abundance Intelligence® is measured by identifying your Abundance Quotient - the prevalence of Abundance Aptitudes in your life.  Your SQ - Scarcity Quotient - is measured by the prevalence of the Illusions in your life.  Illusions are sources of scarcity thinking.

For every Illusion there is an equal and opposing Abundance Aptitude:

Self-Worth:  you are complete, you have more than enouch exactly as you are; conscious patterns: capacity, greatfulness, catalyst

Empathy:  compassionate internal awareness -- the degree to which an individual consciously directs his or her awareness inward; conscious patterns: internal drivers, discernment, effectiveness

Self-Expression:  the ability to consistently give voice to who you are; conscious patterns: receiving, simplicity, flow

Actualization:  consistent and authentic action; conscious patterns: stepping back, curiosity, perseverance

Significance:  knowing who you are and living into that greatness every day, shifting from external expectation to internal realization; conscious patterns: engagement, decisiveness, inquisitiveness

Surrender:  the willingness to let go, allowing life to unfold through us so that we can remember who we are; conscious patterns: personal responsibility, intention, vulnerability

Inquiry: the ability to question your answers consistently; conscious patterns:  willingness, strategic thinking, adventuristic

Posted by Kim George at 10:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

New to the Illusions of Scarcity?  Here's your handy, dandy quick reference guide.

An Illusion is a layer of conditioning that provides evidence we are living in scarcity.  Each of the 7 Illusions is made up of conditioned patterns and beliefs.  All of the Illusions keep us from doing what we CAN do.

The Illusion of Not Enough: where the belief that you can't trust who you are results in feeling incomplete; conditioned patterns: more, scriptwriting, contingency

The Illusion of Comparisons:  consistently comparing ourselves to the external world to validate our belief of who we are; conditioned patterns: external drivers, personalization, busyness

The Illusion of Struggle:  the cycle of resistance, striving, and complexity that keeps people from doing what they can do; conditioned patterns: resistance, striving, complexity

The Illusion of Time:  focusing on what you don't have instead of what you do have; conditioned patterns:  rushing, attachment, distractibility

The Illusion of Hope:  waiting for other people or events to solve our uneasiness of who we are; conditioned patterns:  expectation, powerlessness, assumption

The Illusion of Control: when a person's happiness depends on re-arranging the world to fit their idea of how things should be; conditioned patterns:  care-taking, role-playing, self-defense

The Illusion of Certainty:  when the need to know an outcome keeps you from acting, making authentic decisions, and doing what you CAN do; conditioned patterns: complacency, tactical thinking, perfectionism

Posted by Kim George at 09:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Due to the increasing volume of visitors to this blog, I created a category to help folks quickly get up to speed on the Living Into Greatness concepts, my upcoming book Coaching Into Greatness, and my emerging body of work on Abundance Intelligence.

Here's your cheat sheet:

Coaching Into Greatness: 4 Steps to Success in Business and Life will be released by Wiley & Sons in late April. The book explores the REAL reasons people get stuck and don't do what they CAN do by outlining a new way of looking at abundance and scarcity mentality in individuals. 

Big ideas of CIG:

• How you show up in business is directly related to how you show up in life
• True abundance is being who you are
• The ultimate scarcity is resisting who you are
• There is a tipping point where patterns in our lives become a source of scarcity thinking
• Becoming something or someone is a load of crap -- there is nothing to "become" -- when you realize you are already great you can begin to live into your greatness
• Struggle is strictly overrated
• There are 7 Illusions of scarcity thinking
• There are 7 Aptitudes of abundant thinking

Abundance Intelligence (Abundance Intelligence® ) is a pioneering system of aptitudes, conscious patterns, and beliefs that enable a person to do what they CAN do.  A person with a high Abundance Intelligence® demonstrates an authentic, abundant response to life.  In other words, they consistently utilize the abundance aptitudes to be who they are in the world, when it matters most.  This blog regularly features people with high Abundance Intelligence® in the "Abundance Intelligence® in Action" category. 

The Living Into Greatness process is the 4 step process that moves individuals and organizations from scarcity to abundance.  The 4 steps are:

• Awareness
• Acceptance
• Consistent Action
• Authenticity

In summary:

Positive thinkers see the cup as half full.
People in scarcity see the cup as half empty.
People in abundance see the cup as overflowing.
But people living into their greatness ARE the cup.

Posted by Kim George at 10:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)