The Oscar’s show was great for a few reasons.

Firstly I love Sandra Bullock and I was thrilled that she one Best Actress and second we have had our first female Director win with Kathryn Bigelow.

How fitting for this week with today being International Women’s Day.

I have blogged and written in the last year about more and more women stepping up to leadership roles and entrepreneurship. As we see more women accomplish never before achievements it increases the possibility for more women to achieve the same.

This week is an opportunity to celebrate the advances women are making and to celebrate the women in our lives.

We are in the heart of the action for the 2010 Olympics and although there are some anti-Olympic sentiments from Vancouverites the mood is mainly optimistic and excited.
Reg and I have our Olympic jackets and our Olympic mittens and can’t wait to mingle with our global visitors.
This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to really celebrate our athletes, our country and the spirit of the Olympics.
Yes the Olympics cost money and yes we could do a better job of dealing with issues like homelessness but there comes a time where we go with the inevitable flow that the Olympics are happening. Hopefully the global attention causes us to get more creative and enterprising as a province as well as have all of us look to long term solutions for homelessness.
I believe there are 3 reasons why celebrating is preferable to commiserating- here they are:

1. The Olympics is the biggest PR opportunity next to Expo 86 that Vancouver and the rest of Canada will ever see.

2. Canadians are known to be friendly, open hearted and welcoming and we get to showcase our attributes to the world. I am proud to be Canadian.

3. Sport is an opportunity to celebrate the efforts of the athletes and brings us together as a global community to cheer on our favorites and honor the hard work and commitment of our athletes.

And as a bonus the Olympics is all about the best in the world- how could we not get caught up in being a part of that?

The 2010 International Coaching Week is February 7–13.

Created in 1999, ICW exists to provide a time to educate the public about the value of working with a professional coach and an opportunity for coaches and their clients to acknowledge the results and progress made through coaching.

Since the inception of coaching there was a time when the concept was hardly known to today where hiring an outside coach has become quite common. There has been tremendous progress in coaching in the last ten years. In fact there is a new trend in coaching that is emerging and taking hold which is team coaching (where two coaches work with a client to provide dual perspectives) and the other is a mastermind that is facilitated by two coaches.

Local Master Certified Coach, Teresia LaRocque a founding director of the International Coaching Federation in British Columbia and Cheryl Cran, Certified Speaking Professional, have teamed up to create the Triple “M” Mastermind – Mind, Money and a Life of Meaning Program.

In support of International Coaching Week, Teresia and Cheryl are offering a complimentary informational call on February 10th at 5:30pm PST/8:30pm EST on the 3 Trends for Women in Business in 2010 and they are launching their Triple “M” Mastermind, six-month program on February 26th.

Please click here to register for the call.

http://www.triplemmastermind.com/

This unique program is specifically for women executives or women entrepreneurs, as research has indicated women’s innate values are collaboration, connection and community. It is these values that women are looking for in their work and in their lives. There is a new way of gaining success where women can leverage their time, let go of the lone ranger mentality and get results with ease and effortlessness.

Canada is the fastest growing country for self employed professional women and it has tripled in the last two decades. British Columbia is the fastest growing province for self employed professionals in Canada. In Canada one in 10 executives is a woman, and in the US one in five executives is a woman.

Teresia and Cheryl have been self-employed professionals for over fourteen years – each a success in their own right and they have worked with many women in their practice who are wanting to mastermind with like minded successful women.

The “Triple M Mastermind” is a model for powerful women to gather in a structured environment with two ‘master coaches/facilitators’ and 8 other highly successful and accomplished women and comes at a time when women are looking for a new way to success. This mastermind format focuses on how to support each other to higher levels of income, new ways of thinking and a deeper sense of connection and meaning.

Partial proceeds from the Triple M Mastermind will be supporting local charities and women in need in the local community. To find out more and schedule an interview with Teresia and Cheryl please contact:

Teresia LaRocque                               Cheryl Cran
http://teresia.com                             http://cherylcran.com
604 473 9824                                       604-682-3100

mastermind@teresia.com                     http://triplemmastermind.com

On Monday January 11th my project partner Teresia LaRocque MCC http://www.teresia.com and I were guests on the Fanny Kiefer show this morning talking about our Triple M Mastermind Program.

We talked about the fact that women are doing more than ever professionally and most are still the main caretaker of the home and family responsibilites. Women account for 80% of all purchasing decisions and soon will be the primary breadwinners. In Canada, 1 out of 10 women are executives and Canada is the fastest growing country for self employed professionals. Women truly are doing it all!

We also talked about how women can leverage and embrace their success in a new more collaborative way: enter the power of the mastermind; the shift from “me” to “we”; letting go of the “lone ranger” mentality and being open to support and collaboration. In a future blog I will post the highlights of our 15 minute segment. Visit www.triplemmastermind.com and get a free audio on “The Power of a Mastermind and How It’s Different Than Coaching.”

In a interesting blog post here is the link: http://blog.taragana.com/n/younger-americans-find-vast-opportunities-in-recession-while-older-generations-struggle-187519/
the author points out that although many baby boomers have lost financial gains the younger generations are the ones who are gaining in many ways.
The house prices have allowed many younger people in to the market and while someone in their 70’s may have lost money in the stock market their plans for retirement have changed.
Many see this recession as being a great equalizer- allowing younger people who previously were up against barriers to prosperity and more seasoned people to re-think their attitudes about making money and when to retire.
It will be interesting to see where it all ends up in the next five years.

In a recent blog post http://upsidetothedownturn.com/?utm_source=Starting+Your+Week+on+the+Upside&utm_campaign=ec8ef52ca9-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email

The authors provide four different types of attitudes towards spending since the recession. It is interesting as they have indicated age groups and attitudes towards money. Take a look and see where you are. It turns out I am more like a Gen Y in my attitude as I am an apathetic materialist.

Regardless of what type of spender you are there are some upsides and opportunities for all of us post- recession. Personally this past year has helped me to re-focus on what my true priorities are and how I want to make a greater impact on the world through my work. In addition it has caused me to look at where I spend my money and to focus on spending it in a way that brings me satisfaction but also provides value to the person or company receiving it.

The upside and the opportunities of this recession are:

• Corporate and individual review of excess spending, frivolous spending and necessary spending
• Increased focus on ‘global abundance’ and how our spending is affecting the global economy
• Greater awareness around ‘impact spending’ by asking questions such as “How will this money make the biggest impact on our company or on me personally and for the company or person receiving it?”
• Laser focus on our company and personal values and asking ourselves the following question, “Is spending this money on this aligned with our/my core values?”

The recession certainly affected us all and the opportunity to learn from it and change our behaviors for greater global prosperity is very exciting.

You’ve probably heard of TED – where the world’s top thought leaders are asked to provide 18 minutes of provocative ideas at this most fascinating conference. This event – which features pioneering thinkers sharing their most passionate dreams and best-practice tips – is described as “Riveting Talks by Remarkable People.” Previous speakers include Tony Robbins, Bill Gates, Jane Goodall, Bill Clinton, Paul Simon, Sir Richard Branson, Sir Ken Robinson and Bono.
TED is expanding their reach around the globe with events being sponsored in dozens of different countries. Vancouver is holding their first ever TEDx event on November 21 of this year, and has asked me- Cheryl Cran to be one of the featured speakers. The theme of TEDX Vancouver is “Forever Young”.
I will be speaking on Zoomers Refuse to Age which is based on Moses Znaimer’s theory that Baby Boomers today are modern, hip and younger behaving than their parents. The event will be videotaped and watch for postings on the site to see this unprecedented event. Find out more at http://tedxvancouver.com/