What's New with Opening Eyes, LLC  View the latest Newsletter, and Archives  Access Dana's articles on effective strategies for personal and professional growth and change: ezine.com Articles.   What's New in Coaching  Courses Current Teleclass/Workshop Courses August 26, 12pm 7 Keys to Living a Passion-Fueled Life El Cerrito Rotary Club (open event) Mira Vista Golf and Country Club 900 Cutting Boulevard El Cerrito, CA Wednesdays, September 8, 15, 22, 29; 12-1pm What I Want To/Will Do Before I Die! WHAT: What do you really care about? What impact do you want to make on the world? In this four-session workshop you will: identify key life goals, develop ways of being and strategies to reach them, unearth and transform barriers, begin implementing your plan, receive support from other participants, and receive one personal coaching session with Dana. WHERE: Lunchtime Conference Call INVESTMENT: $200 for the series—$175 for those who sign up by Wednesday, September 1st SIGN UP: Email Dana at dewhitaker@openingeyes.net *you will receive workshop details once you have enrolled  Personal/Professional Events: National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) Check out a chapter near you for monthly networking, professional development meetings, dynamic speakers, new colleagues and friends. For information: www.nawbo.org/  Resources: Dana's Book Picks Unfortunately, our bodies and our weight are intricately tied to our self-image. Anyone not on a (perpetual) diet is seen as odd and envied by the majority of people who are. Author, Geneen Roth, who professes to have gained and lost 1000 pounds in her life, has turned her one-time obsession with food, feasting and fasting into a gift to herself and to all who attend her workshops and read her books. Her latest, Women Food and God (Scribner 2010), explores the real reasons we diet and the expense we pay for using food to hide who we are, want to and can be. She gives us a way to say 'No' to The Voice that keeps us barricaded from what our bodies really want, and 'Yes' to ourselves, body, mind and spirit so that we never have to be on a diet or deprive ourselves again. Suzanne Scurlock-Durana's book, Full Body Presence, shows us via clear, compelling descriptions and exercises how, by activating five principles, we may live fully in the present. These include: Trust in the existence of Life's nurturing energy; Feel our natural connection to Life's energy, thus enabling us to claim our internal wisdom; Integrate this energy in order to develop healthy, flexible, strong boundaries; Expand our perceptual lens to see possibilities rather than be stuck in limiting expectations, and; Choose, moment by moment, to connect to life-giving resources. (Healing from the Core Media 2008). According to A Whole New Mind, Why Right-Brainers will Rule the Future author Daniel H. Pink, the glory days of Western Civilization's left-brain linear, logical, knowledge-based biz whizzes are over. That's because for every new ingeneous product introduced by these whizzes, within months, a deluge of copycat products are developed and brought to market by other 'I can do it better and cheaper' biz whizzes, many of whom live and work (more cheaply) overseas. (Bye-bye USA jobs, and the market edge) As, if not more important, it's no longer the 'whats' one can devise and sell that defines success for a business or an individual. In fact, says Pink, our material abundance (of originals and copycats) is breeding nonmaterial desires that no product alone can satisfy. Indeed, the once revered giants of the Information Age are only going to thrive, not to mention survive, if they move into the quickly emerging Conceptual Age. Once seen as frivolous, and touchy-feely, zeroing in on the right-brain of the Conceptual Age is the answer to professional success and personal satisfaction. Within the pages of A Whole New Mind (Riverhead Books, March 2006), Pink compellingly outlines—for children to adults—the essential 'six senses' or aptitudes required to satisfy both one's personal longings and professional competitiveness. These include: design, story, symphony, empathy, play and meaning. Beginning a career search can be daunting, scary and complicated. Twenty years ago I devoted myself to following the steps in Richard Bolles', What Color is Your Parachute, and it's as inspiring and clear today as it was then. I am using Bolles' revised 2009 version to help my coaching clients better understand their preferred transferable skills and key values so that their next career is not just a paycheck at the end of each month (though that is certainly important!), but one that provides deep satisfaction. Is it possible to do less and live a richer, fuller life? Explore the whys and hows of living from passion and intention, rather than being dictated by the clock. Opening Eyes, LLC recommends: Marc Lessor. Less. New World Library, 2009. HOW we do what we do has the most significant impact on our well-being, our ability to connect with others, and to produce desired shifts in the personal and professional arenas of our lives. What are the winning HOWs in today's transparent, ever-changing, competitive business climate? Opening Eyes, LLC recommends: Dov Siedman. HOW. Why HOW We Do Anything Means Everything... in Business (and in Life). John Wiley & Sons, 2007. We do have control of our happiness quotient despite life's inevitable bumpy roads. Opening Eyes, LLC recommends: Marci Shimoff. Happy for No Reason: 7 Steps to Being Happy from the Inside Out. Free Press, 2008.   What's New in Microfinance  Attend a current Transforming Lives $40 at a Time Book Event: You're invited! PLEASE JOIN Dana for a Tour and Talk at the IMOW Photography Awards Exhibit Picturing Power & Potential The cover photo from Dana's book, Transforming Lives $40 at a Time, Women + Microfinance: Upending the Status Quo was selected by the International Museum of Women (IMOW) and the San Francisco Arts Commission Gallery to participate in IMOW's exhibition, Picturing Power & Potential at San Francisco City Hall and on the IMOW website: June 15th - August 27th. Over 150 artists submitted work to this competition, and after a rigorous review process, 54 images by twenty artists from across the globe were chosen. WHEN: Tuesday, August 10th, 5:30-8:00 WHERE: Tour: San Francisco City Hall, lower level 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place (VanNess/Grove/Mcallister) Talk/Reception: SFAC Gallery, 401 Van Ness RSVP: Click here Take a sneak peek of Dana's winning photo.  Resources: CGAP.org CGAP.org, the website for the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor, is an essential site to visit if you want to expand your knowledge of microfinance, read current findings from the field, hear from experts, learn about technology and social impacts, and gain access to publications on a range of topics. Women Advancing Microfinance (WAM) Would you like to meet and learn with and from women involved in microfinance, both domestic and international? Check out www.waminternational.org for a chapter near you. WORLD PULSE Experience the world exclusively through the eyes of women. Visit online to hear the latest from every corner of the world. Voice your opinion, share your stories at: www.worldpulse.com.