New Toastmasters Club Formation & More

Hello friends,

Well, after 6 agonizing weeks of limping around in a walking cast I have finally had the thing taken off yesterday. WHOOPEE! Unfortunately, my ankle is still a bit painful and hideous looking. The orthopedic specialist told me that my x-rays are quite unusual. This is most likely due to a pretty bad break on the same ankle when I was 11 years old. He also said that it looks like a small fragment of bone is missing from the back of my ankle. Please keep me in your thoughts and prayers as I continue to recover from my slip and fall. I also pray that each of you stay safe on the ice.

Guess what? I have finally done it! After a whole year of toying around with the idea and various meetings with potential venues and my partner in success, I have finally founded a new Toastmasters Club. I had been very frustrated with the lack of a club within my immediate area. Those clubs that were near me were either at least a twenty minute drive or located on some hard to access side street. The new Toastmasters Club, in line with my "success" theme for 2008, is called the Success Seekers Club.

The kickoff meeting will be held on Saturday, February 9, 2008 from 10AM to 12PM in the 2nd floor Community Room of the Housing Resource Center located at 4429 N Clifton Avenue, Chicago, IL 60640. This is in the Uptown neighborhood just off of Montrose and Broadway, behind Truman College and Aldi's parking lots. Guest attendance is FREE and open to the general public ages 18 and over. Toastmasters International is a wonderful 501(c)3 organization that develops leadership, presentation, communication and public speaking skills. Members have the opportunity to be trained on how to be more effective communicators through various group and independent activities including presenting structured speeches to the club.

Effective communication and presentation skills are a great asset for anyone who wants to make a powerful impact in both their business and personal lives. Practice makes perfect! Come on out and join us for our kickoff meeting. Attend as a guest as often as you like but guests don't get the opportunity to practice public speaking in front of the group. Find out more about all of the benefits paid membership has to offer by attending a meeting or send your inquiries to TMCLUBSuccessSeekers@gmail.com. Subsequequent meetings will be held every 2nd and 4th Saturday of each month from 10AM to 12PM. Watch for further updates as we receive our club charter and attain a website.

I look forward to meeting you at the Success Seekers Club of Toastmasters International!

To your success and happy living!

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Happy New Year,

"A good goal is like a strenuous exercise -- it makes you stretch." ~Mary Kay Ash "Man is a goal seeking animal. His life only has meaning if he isreaching out and striving for his goals." ~Aristotle

I only have one question for you....

Will you make 2008 your Best year yet?

"People with goals succeed because they know where they're going." ~Earl Nightingale

"Our self image and our habits tend to go together.
Change one and you will automatically change the other."
~Dr. Maxwell Maltz

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Now that the New Year is here it is time to think about resolutions. Have you made any resolutions yet?To lose weight? Make more money? Have better relationships? Get a better job? So, how are you doing on them? Hmmm...... Why do you think that is? I know the answer.
Lack of willpower? Lack of follow through? Lack of knowledge and skills? Nope! Lack of a SYSTEM and lack of ACCOUNTABILITY have been your downfall. So, what can you do?You can lose weight. You can escape debt. You can make 2008 your best year yet!

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Is 2008 going to be the best year of your life?

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Happy New Year!

I have been absent for the entire month of December in preparation to get some things cranking in the New Year. I want to make 2008 my year to be great and encourage you to do the same. It is time to stop putting my dreams, hopes and aspirations on the backburner. It is time to move mountains and grasp hold of want I want to do. The time to work is NOW!

So here's an update:
December brought a lot of changes for me. I will try to inform you of as much as I can here. First, I completed training with New Life Coach Inc. and am now certified as a Christian Life Coach. And guess what? The coaching certification and training did not cost me thousands of dollars. New Life Coach Inc. is a wonderful non-profit organization that offers free coaching to low income individuals. The organization is based in Chicago and run by a wonderful Christian woman named Bridget Burns. Bridget welcomed me as a volunteer coach and walked with me in my journey to complete my certification. I feel highly blessed by her presence in my life. After excelling in my training and making such a positive impression on Bridget, I was appointed as Director of Services for the organization. I am very excited about this new journey.

Secondly, I am currently in negotiations and collaborations with another great company run by Allan Goldin, former president of the Evelyn Wood speedreading company. Allan now has his own company called Kinetic Advanced Learning. I have always been an advocate of life long learning. We are looking to take personal and professional development to a whole new level.

Other wonderful things that happened in December, well I broke my ankle. I know you are probably wondering how that can be wonderful. Laws of attraction. Apparently I needed to sit down so I am looking at this injury as an opportunity for me to catch up on some things that I have been neglecting. I am spending more time with my children and getting some writing done. This brings me to the next great thing... I published another eBook. This one is a 50-page practical guide to time and project management. It is not just for business folks either. It is for anyone who has a goal and needs to accomplish it. This is especially important at this time of year - the beginning - when everyone is attempting to make a fresh start. In fact, I have developed a whole success system for the New Year. It includes the time management eBook as well as a one-year membership to the Success Seekers Mastermind group and special one-on-one coaching sessions for you and a family member or friend. You can find more information at http://www.niquenyafulbright.com/successsystem.htm.

My New Year's promises to myself:
To be more diligent in taking care of me
To continue my journey for knowledge
To grow in my spiritual walk with God
To find a church home
To give fully in my relationships

Stay powerfully blessed and keep thinking your dreams out loud.

Staying the Path

Sometimes we can get discouraged when things aren't happening as fast as we would like them to. It can be difficult to let go and let God when the only thing you can see is what you need here in the right now. When you open your eyes wider to let in the vision of the future the road becomes a little less rocky. Allow yourself to glide across the smooth pavement on the wings of His everlasting love. Remember, faith without works is dead so get moving and stay the path.

My action plan for the last two months has lead me to the blessings of:

*2 Chicago Tribune news articles featuring my "expert" opinions
*1 Red Eye news article pending
*1 speaking engagement for a major beverage corporation
*1 speaking engagement for a chamber of commerce association pending
*6 new coaching clients
*2 mediation requests
*1 consulting project
*an offer as a member of the Board of Directors for a great non-profit org

Think positive and let your light shine.

Happy Living!

On This Day of Thanks

A cornucopia of prayers, blessings and well wishes will be extended to the heavens today. People who don't ordinarily take pause to reflect in appreciation of life's simple pleasures will offer powerful words of praise and thanksgiving. Why do we leave mountains of thanks to be expressed on just this one day? To live a balanced life we must feed our mind, body and spirit continually. Humility breeds faithfulness and the faithful are divinely inspired by grace. You should be thankful in all things because all that you have and every trial you go through is a blessing. You may have a horrendous job with a terrible boss but the fact of the matter is that without the blessing of that job, you may not have the financial means to take care of your responsibilities. Remember to give thanks in all things each and every day. Happy Thanksgiving for today, tomorrow and every day yet to come!


Verses for Meditation:
Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing: thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness; To the end that my glory may sing praise to thee, and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks unto thee for ever. Psalms 30:11-12

In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. 1st Thessalonians 5:18

Holiday Shopping - Time Management Tip

This was an article that I contributed to last year.

From: How can I use the Web to streamline gift buying?(Business of Life) by Bianchi, Laura

Source: Crain's Chicago Business, December 11, 2006.

Via: HighBeam™ Research

COPYRIGHT 2006 Crain Communications, Inc.

I've been quoted in the Chicago Tribune again!

You can find the article in the Good Eating Section of the October 31, 2007's Chicago Tribune. You may also access it online at http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/chi-mxa1031eatcoverpizzaoct31,1,2729881.story. Your comments are welcome.

Happy Living!

I'm mentioned in the Chicago Tribune!

In an article called "DEFINING IDENTITY" by Sue Ellen Christian published in the Chicago Tribune on Sunday, October 28, 2007, there is a nice 3-4 paragraph piece in which she interviewed me regarding code-switching. Read the article here: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-code_thinkoct28,0,1105143.story

Taking Pause

I wrote an article a while ago about "Purposeful Meditation" and why it is important. This morning, as I sit here reflecting quietly on the many blessings that have been recently bestowed upon me, I couldn't resist revisiting the subject. Meditative activities are so important to weave into our lives that I wanted to provide an even easier way to incorporate it.

Meditation doesn't take long hours of classes or workshops to learn how to do. It is a practice which means the more you do it the better you will become and the more benefits you can reap from it. To meditate, all you have to know how to do is to breathe, relax and think. Meditation is continuous and profound concentration on a single subject. It is to give something your complete, undivided attention. You don't need a quiet room or a special place to perform meditation. You don't need to be a student of Eastern Philosphy. You don't need to have an half hour of time devoted to it. You simply need to breathe, relax and think.

With breathe, relax and think as your criteria in mind, what activities do you enjoy that will allow you to incorporate these three elements? Almost anything! That is the great thing about meditation. There is no specified time or place. This means you can do it at work. You can do it at home. You can do it in the gym. It doesn't matter. Any time, any place and in any way you choose, you can breathe, relax and think.

Breathing is important because it is your life force. It is the way oxygen enters your body to be used by your blood cells for energy. When your blood cells don't have enough oxygen, they move sluggishly. If your cells are sluggish, they are slow to bring food to the many different areas of your body. If your body doesn't have enough nutrition, it can't work properly. The end result is that you feel fatigued, stressed, sick and often can't think straight. How many times have you felt that you can't concentrate until you get some food into your stomach? You have to breathe.

Relaxing involves allowing your body to calm itself down. It puts your mind, body and spirit at rest. Relaxing removes stress and allows your muscles to repair themselves. In this day and age, with so much hustle and bustle, we hardly ever give ourselves the permission to rest. Even after a grueling exercise regimen, experts suggest that you take off one day for every three to five to allow yourelf time to recuperate. We stretch and tear our muscles during activity. This is why so many people are suffering from Restless Leg Syndrome (RLS). We never take the time to just sit and relax. So relax and let your mind, body and spirit heal itself.

Thinking invites clarity and focus. We can solve problems, make decisions and hear what our bodies are telling us. We can concentrate on specific issues that may be plaguing us in the form of worries. That dedicated time yields resolutions because you are relaxed. Your mind is quieted from all other noise and distraction. Your complete attention is devoted to the problem at hand. You can be more creative and inspired to determine a solution.

Meditation does not have to be difficult. It does not have to be an intensive task. You can do it in as little as five minutes. Its purpose is to bring clarity, improve health and achieve balance. To this end, you should find it much easier to incorporate meditation into your life. Simply breathe, relax and think.

Happy Living!

Life Coach Support Network

As coaches, we need to have a forum where we can not only get the personal and professional development tools we need to flourish into great coaches but we also need a place where we can inexpensively showcase our practices. Most of the online forums for coaches have astronomical charges for membership. I have seen prices start at $250 for just the first month and $75 to $199 for each month thereafter. Lifetime memberships start at $600 and go up from there. Because of this, I decided to create my own inexpensive location where coaches can come together, share ideas, best business practices, give prospective clients a taste of our expertise and showcase our business profiles.

The Life Coach Support Network does just that. It is free to join the message boards which is the meat and potatoes of the site. To include your coaching practice in the directory is just $250 for a lifetime listing. Just $250! Membership includes the ability to add a bio or description of your coaching practice, a photo or your business logo, the ability to add your events or classes to the public Calendar and a subscription to the LCSN monthly newsletter that will include great tips, tools and techniques for coaches to use in their practice. All members, both free and paid, will also have the opportunity to submit their articles to the site.
Because this site is in its infancy stages, I have a special offer for the first 50 coaches to sign up. Lifetime membership is only $50 to the first 50 coaches. I already have 10 so hurry up as these slots are going fast. Once I reach 50 coaches, the membership fee will be $250, still a great bargain.

Another great resource for coaches, COMPLETELY FREE, is the Tools for Life forum. This is a great personal development site created by another coach. It is also in its Beta form so membership is completely free for a limited time. If you have ever struggled with getting a mentor coach then this may be just what you need to get going. Join today and add me as a friend. You can find my profile under coachniquenya.

Coaches need all the love and support we can get so take advantage of these great resources today.

Happy Living!

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