In honor of the New Year, I want to share my thinking about the power of each and every one of us to impact the world meaningfully and positively. Most of us either don't give much thought to the power we have to influence those around us, or we truly believe our voice is too small to be make a difference. But the truth is, we are the only ones who can make a difference, and we do every single day, whether we know it or not.

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Announcements:

Along with a wonderful coach named Nancy McCabe, I am leading a workshop we have developed called Midlife Masterpiece. Using Life Coaching tools, the workshop invites women to explore what is different about this chapter of their lives and to get clarity on what they want to do next.

Workshop Philosophy and Purpose: In midlife, we are not the same women we were at twenty or thirty, and holding on to old templates is like squeezing into jeans that are way too tight. Now is the time to get curious-to live on the outer edge of our possibilities, not the inner edge of the safe and known. Midlife is the time to embrace a new vision, a new plan, a new dream to provide the engine for this new chapter of our lives. Midlife Masterpiece was created to provide a forum for this exploration and the action that comes from changes in thinking.

The Dates:

Monday mornings from 9:30am - 12:30pm: January 28, Feb 4, Feb 11, Feb 25,
March 4 or

Tuesday evenings from 6:30pm - 9:30 pm: Jan 29, Feb 5, Feb 12, Feb 19, Feb 26.

Cost: $400. Price includes 3 individual coaching sessions.

Location: Santa Monica

If you would like to know more, please give me a call or drop me an email. I'd love to tell you more about it and pop a brochure to you in the mail.

It's easy to focus on the overwhelming problems besetting our planet and its people, and to ignore the extraordinary power that exists in each and every one of us to create change. Through the 'ripple effect,' each of us influences hundreds- maybe thousands of people every week. It does not matter whether we see our impact—it is there.

We know this must be true. Just take a look at what happens when we engage in loving or hurtful conversations with the people in our lives. Choose to smile, you create joy and it spreads. Come from hate, and you pass that right along too. Sow a seed of doubt and you incubate insecurity, anxiety and sadness—and that gets transmitted down the path as well. Beyond the first ripple it can be hard to follow the path of joy or tears as it ripples out. But the tree falling in a forest still crashes with a bang whether or not you are within hearing vicinity!

You don't have to be an elected official to make a difference! Powerful people are powerful influences, and our power lies in understanding and taking responsibility for the impact of our words and actions. When we get our own lives in order we earn self-respect and can operate in the world from a place of confidence, generosity, compassion and strength. The ripples we send out infect others with our courage, energy and enthusiasm. When our lives are not working—when we are stuck, frustrated, disappointed and scared—we cannot hope to be a powerful influence on the world. We are in the muck and no matter how we try to spread our wings, we cannot fly.

In The Dao of Leadership, John Heider does the math very simply.

"If your life works, you influence your family.
If your family works, your family influences the community.
If your community works, your community influences the nation.
If your nation works, your nation influences the world."

Coaches help individuals create lives that work. Empowered people change the world one person at a time.

Early one morning a man was walking along the beach. There had been a powerful storm the night before, and he saw a most unusual sight. The beach was littered with thousands and thousands of starfish that had been washed up on shore and were dying in the sun. In the distance he could see a young woman picking up starfish and throwing them back in the ocean, one at a time.

"She must be nuts!" the man thought to himself. For why would anyone take on a task so overwhelming and ludicrous. When he was close enough to her to be heard above the crash of the waves, the man said, "You're wasting your time. There are thousands of starfish here. You can't possibly make any difference."

The young woman did not even pause to look the man in the eye. She reached down, picked up a starfish, and threw it as far as she could, back into the sea.

"Well, I guess I made a difference to that one," she said, and she reached down to pick up another.

About My Coaching:
As a personal, professional and executive coach, it is my goal to bring dynamic leadership, a compassionate heart, and powerful insight to the lives of my coaching clients. I work to help clients identify and pursue what is deeply meaningful in their lives, and collaborate with them to transform vague yearnings or explicit goals into realities.

You can count on me to challenge you, inspire you and support you. I will be a relentless advocate of your dreams and ambitions and help you take bold steps with your life.

My Background:
I am an optimist with a penchant for finding solutions to complex problems in unexpected places. The daily opportunity to use my pragmatism, smarts, humor and heart to help people create lives they truly love gives me tremendous joy.

After graduating from Princeton University, I spent almost 20 years as a feature film, video and CD ROM producer guiding projects to success. By the late 1990's, I decided to channel my action-oriented approach to life into coaching, with the express goal of helping people live lives by design and not default. I completed my professional training at The Coaches Training Institute in San Rafael, California.

Call me at (310) 393-8082 for a free 1/2-hour coaching session to explore how coaching may benefit you.

Contact Information:
Dina Silver
361 21st Street
Santa Monica, CA 90402
Phone: 310.393.8082
Fax: 310.395.7999
dinasil@earthlink.net