Delighted to announce the people- and potion-winners of our contest!

[*Drum roll please!* Picture Shannon and Heidi, in fanciest of fancy Potion-Oscar gowns... Shannon hands Heidi the envelope:]

The Grand Prize goes to:
Karencita

Great Prize One goes to:
Bridget (@intuitivebridge)

Great Prize Too goes to:
Elizabeth B

[When clapping dies down, Heidi hands Shannon another white envelope, this one with the Potion winners... Shannon is opening the envelope... Her eyes widen in surprise...]

“Oh. My! It’s a 3-way tie! And the winners are:”

Night Queen
(to develop your confident passion)

Losing It
(to calm the heck down in moments of overwhelm and fear)

Sassypants
(to help you live what’s true for you, without worrying about the world’s approval)

Wow! Yay! Cheers all around.

* * *

We had loads of fun reading all your votes, tweets and blog entries and send big kisses to everyone who participated and cheered us on.

Contest winners: We'll be contacting you shortly to get your mailing information. Your potions will be mailed out in the next week, and your audio downloads will be available on Wednesday, July 28. Congratulations!

Because we'd love everyone to win in some way, and because we're super excited to start selling these creations now, we are offering a Pre-Release Sale to anyone and everyone who would like to get in on the Audio+Potion Magics:

Order now, and get all 3 Potions &
accompanying Audios for the special price of:

$56 (plus shipping)
(after July 28th, the price will be $80)

Like contest winners, your potions will be mailed out within in the next week, and your audio downloads will be available on Wednesday, July 28.

What will I get?

1/2 oz. of 3 Aardvark Essentials Potions
(artfully blended essential oils in a silky handmade lotion)

+

3 MP3 Inspiration-igniting and fear-taming hypnosis-y meditation audios
(to invite the potion’s intention at the deepest unconscious level)

Read more about the Audio+Potion Alchemy Package.

(statistics from 2008 survey by Opinion Corporation of Princeton, NJ)

If you fall in that big middle group (or have drifted into the no resolutions group due to disappointment) this could be the year for something different.

Janine Adams and I teamed up again (we co-created the Declutter Happy Hour course) to teach this teleclass.  We share with you the reasons resolutions don't work, and more importantly what to do instead. We give you tips and strategies, and guide you through helpful exercises so you can experience a new way of approaching your resolutions and goals.

Perhaps you'd like to declutter and get organized this year, or maybe you want to make changes for your health, creativity or finances. Our approach is terrific for whatever set your sights on.

This year is going to be different.

Why Resolutions Don't Work

(and How To Get What You Want Anyway)

The teleclass is over, but you can still get the immensely helpful recording.  It's great to listen to any time you want to re-vamp a resolution that isn't working, create a new habit or establish a goal that really works for you.

Details:

• We talk for about an hour and then open it up for questions.

• During the call we talk about the common reasons that setting resolutions doesn't work, and we explain and guide you through exercises that help you get what you want.

• This is for anyone who has been frustrated by resolutions or goals, and wants to learn a new way to approach it.

• The cost? Just 19 bucks.

• Special bonus. Everyone who signs up will get a coupon for $20 off any product or service offered by me or Janine.

Are you in? Yes? Just click the "Add to Cart" button:

You'll get a link to the recording in moments.

Here's to getting what you really want!

This is going to be quick.

It seems with all the novel writing and the hanging out in the Tuscan Villa that is my email and the finishing up of a new product, Boring Change, I have overtaxed my hands and wrists and have major pain from carpal tunnel and tendinitis. My days now consist of ice baths for my arms, ugly wrist braces, and long, frustrating chats with my new friend Bixby, the speech recognition software program.  At least that's what he said his name was when I tried to get him to type MacSpeech for me.

While I have to severely limit the use of my hands and wrists over the next two weeks, there's no reason I can't talk on the phone.

That's good news for you!

Normally I only have a few hours a week available for telephone coaching, but suddenly, all the time I had allotted to finish up that product is now wide open. So, I'm having a carpal tunnel coaching special!

If you ever wanted to try coaching but didn't want to make a big commitment, now's your chance. Between now and Friday, December 4, I'm going to be doing single coaching sessions (an hour-long) for just $99 each.  That's practically half my normal session fee.

Usually, we'd exchange emails, chat for 10 minutes or so, then schedule a session.  To try and limit the amount of typing required, I've put an add to cart button below. Once you buy a session you'll get an automatic e-mail to schedule it. Since this bypasses the normal get to know you process, if during the first 15 minutes of the session either of us decides this isn't the right thing, I'll cheerfully refund your money immediately.

Sound good?

And remember, you're not just getting a coaching session for a really great price, you'll also help me stay sane while I'm healing my hands and wrists.  And that's a good thing.

I'm in! (Click the "add to cart" button below)

Sorry, this extra-special offer has expired.
Learn how we can work together here.

For the last six years I've fully embraced the working at a distance mode. Working with clients over the phone and with email allows so much flexibility with scheduling, location, travel, clothing and personal grooming. But a few weeks ago, while I was enjoying dinner with the lovely Hiro Boga I had an epiphany. She was asking me about my business, and as we were talking it struck me, I want to work with people in-person.

Big wow for me. I didn't realize how much I'd been wanting to do it, and pretending like I didn't because of the whole work over the phone and from home thing I mentioned before.

I found some convenient office space that's comfortable and doesn't cause me to amp up my overhead expenses too much, and started working with clients face-to-face. I love it! It's so fun to get to see people in-person, actually watch their amazing transformations. And the totally awesome surprise? It has enlivened my phone coaching too.

Yes, yes, yes, I'm still phone coaching, and that will continue to be the primary way that I work with clients. However, I have created space to work with a very limited number of clients in person.

And to help kick off this new opportunity I'm offering a very special introductory package for the two spots I have available: Six Sessions for $837 (That's 25% off of the price you'd pay for single sessions!)

There are a couple of things you need to do to get this bargain price:
1. Pay for the package in advance.
2. Use all the sessions by January 31, 2010.
3. Be able to attend sessions in NE or N Portland between the hours of 9 and 3pm Monday through Thursday.
4. Be ready to work through your stuck stuff and have some fun while you're at it.

Interested? Fill out the form here on my Services page.

1. Finish newsletter. There's still time to sign up before this issue goes out.

2. Make granola. My favorite is based off of this recipe. But I've tweaked it a bit. Way more nuts (whole almonds, walnuts, pecans!), vanilla, cinnamon and salt (coarse ground sea salt!). I'd be happy to share specifics.

3. Put finishing touches on the Declutter Happy Hour e-course. The class goes live on Thursday, June 18th. Until then use the code HappyHour and get $40 bucks off. After that regular prices for the decluttering magic that is the Happy Hour.

4. Listen to finches singing. You can listen too with this short audio clip of the music outside my window. Singing Birds

We have climbed mountains. Literally! I finally reached the summit of Mt. Hood. I've been trying to blog about it, but it was just such an amazing experience, it's hard to put it into words. So here are pictures!. At 1,000 words a pop X 18 pictures, that's practically a novella! I'm sure I'll come up with some actual words though.

To follow that up, we climbed Mt. Saint Helens again. Nothing like staring into the crater of a volcano to create a sense of awe!

Here's a little video to give you a taste:

I bought a new microphone! Which means fun times coming up making recordings. That is if my neighbor ever stops playing that one damn riff he learned on the electric guitar last summer. Seriously. It's not even a song. It's awful. And he, I assume it's a he, but that could be bad gender bias on my part, anyway the awful guitarist, plays this same riff over, and over, and over. For hours at a time. I have been known to exaggerate, but this is not an exaggeration. Yesterday from 1pm until 6pm.

And finally, my wonderful co-teacher Janine Adams and I turned Declutter Happy Hour into an e-course. I'm very excited about this, because it opens the doors for anyone to take it anytime. Take a look at the info page and let me know what you think. Also, if it's something you're interested in, remember to use the Pre-Launch discount code HappyHour to get your special price.

In case you're wondering what I'm doing helping people declutter, check out my guest post on IttyBiz if you missed it when Naomi first published it.

When you want to do your thing, or even just spend some time figuring it out, does other stuff get in the way? Sometimes it's "stuff" (picture big finger quotes) like a crammed schedule, tight finances or family responsibilities. Other times, it's actual stuff, as in physical clutter.

It can show up in different ways. Maybe you'd love to get started on an artsy-craftsy thing, but the spare bedroom, which would make a perfect studio, is full. Or you'd like to sit at your desk and write, but the stacks of papers threaten to fall in on you. Maybe you really want to experiment in the kitchen more, but finding the utensils you need is a nightmare.

Not only does clutter create these physical barriers, it can be physically draining. It can suck your energy until you don't have any extra left to fan that small spark of creativity you're protecting inside you.

Clutter Is Surprisingly Complex

Professional Organizer Janine Adams and I have been talking a lot about clutter lately. It seems like it shouldn't be such a big deal. Pick up the stuff, put it away or get rid of it.

But it's often not that easy.

Janine works with people and their clutter every day and for most of the people she works with, there's a lot more going on. It's not unusual for there to be tears shed in her decluttering sessions. Why should decluttering make someone cry?

Janine explains it like this: The emotions behind the clutter are what that make things so complicated. For many chronically disorganized people, their stuff represents so much more than just stuff. Hanging on to things (or acquiring things) can have emotional roots. It might stem from what they were told when they
were brought up. Or maybe they got in trouble as a child for throwing something valuable away. It might be a finely honed sense of responsibility that prevents them from discarding something. Or it might be what the items in question represent to them. There are many emotional sources of clutter.

Practice

When you think about the stuff that is preventing you from embracing your thing, is clutter on the list? If it is, try these steps to help you understand clutter and gently ease it from your life.

1. Ask yourself, how does clutter block you from your thing.

2. What would you be able to do if you didn't have this clutter?

3. Choose a physical area where you'd like to focus your attention; it should be large/important enough that you'll see a difference, but not so big as to become overwhelming.

4. Start with one thing. Ask yourself if you want to keep it or discard it. If the answer's discard, move on to the next item. If it's keep, then continue with the questions.

5. If you want to keep it, does it have a home? If it does, put it away. If it doesn't, yep, that's right stick with the questions.

6. What's important to you about this particular thing, what does it represent?

7. Knowing that, is it still important to keep it?

8. Remind yourself of #2 above as often as you need to.

I'd love it if you'd try this and let me know how it goes, or share your favorite way to take care of clutter.

If you'd like more help with decluttering, take a look at this new teleclass that starts March 31, Declutter Happy Hour. The early bird discount ends March 21!

What's that? You haven't subscribed yet? Well, click here and sign up now!

Here's a snippet from the first article:

Have You Caught the Fix-It-All-Now Flu?

Recently a woman emailed me because she wanted to make the jump from a job she hated to self-employment in a field she loved, but she was scared. She wasn't sure how to go about it, so she started with reading books to try and fix her fears.

Rather than helping her, they were making her fears worse. Read more.

Tell me about a time you succumbed to the Fix-It-All-Now Flu. Did you give the practice steps a shot? How well did it go for you?

Let me know!