Do You Digest Reality?

I am dashing about to meetings...and eating some pretty cruddy grub along the way. My digestion has been a long standing challenge. (This is dating back to my childhood where I felt powerless. I held on tight as a way to demonstrate my power.)

One thing that I am enjoying digesting is the new found interest in the body-mind connection. I use it in all my programs. Yesterday, I did a simple exercise (that you and I have probably been doing for 20 years) to demonstrate the 'funky' effect that negative thinking has on the body. This was for big honking execs at a big honking production company owned by big honking stars...

Whether I am in front of an audience in the health care industry or Hollywood executives the reaction is the same. Awe!

I am deeply encouraged that our society seems to be opening to the ancient wisdom that our inner life affects our body. Here are a few links for more on negative thinking and it's effects.
1. Physical Health Conditions
2. How Negative Thinking Can Hurt You


Stay Positive! Eli

Tips To Lower Stress!

Do you feel stressed out? Are you on the road to becoming "burnt out"?

Todays the day to get out of the way and let your dreams have their say! Here are some patented "Turnaround Techniques" to use to get you motivated and a few questions to ask yourself about becoming burnt out!

Watch the video here

Take The Elevator to Fabulousness

Are you ready to take charge of your business and career?

Well what are you waiting for, it's as easy as getting off one elevator and opening a door to a new one! Start today and take charge of the direction your life is heading in...go from Funky To Fabulous! Watch the video here

Yes, You Can! Lessons From A 91 Year Old Drummer On An Oxygen Tank

As an executive coach in Santa Monica and speaker I am blessed to meet with so many amazing women and men. In these very interesting times I’m seeing a trend of people giving up on themselves. Do you have dreams that are still unfulfilled? Do they sit in the dusty, dark corner of the utility closet of your life?

Why does this happen?
Because of what you are telling yourself. Don’t believe me?

Do you find yourself telling yourself any of the following?
I can’t. I don’t have the training.
I can’t. I am too old.
I can’t. I might fail.

Each of us (myself included) pile that utility closet of our mind so full of negative garbage that it is no wonder that we never get to our dreams.

You already know that what you focus on grows. Here are some videos to give you the motivation to throw out your excuses instead of your dreams.

Funky or Fabulous...Yes You Can!
No Training…Yes You Can!

Ovecoming Impossible Odds

As an executive coach in Los Angeles, I am seeing how possible it is to overcome what seem to be impossible odds. Surviving and thriving in the current economy demands that you overcome obstacles, seek out opportunity, and uncover creative solutions.

Click here to learn more!

I am so glad to be teaching a class tomorrow called Ovecoming Impossible Odds. This high energy, interactive presentation gives you trademark Turnaround Techniques.

This powerful step by step system was developed over four years to utilize the latest in brain research. Learn how to use Inner and Outer marketing to get the results you want. This system gives you the tools to overcome self sabotage, take successful action, and have the "It" factor that helps you to WIN! Stop wasting your time. Life is too short. You deserve to create the life you savor. These tools are so powerful that they are used by Emmy, Grammy and Golden Globe winners.

Discover how to ignite your potential, insight, innovation, and to reinvent your life.

This class is particularly helpful for small business owners or those that want to start a business.

"Four Season Harvest"

Thank you for your wonderful post Eli.

Locally, with the help of techniques we learned from Eliot Coleman's work ("Four Season Harvest") we are successfully growing crops year round by choosing the right crops for the right seasons, and using inexpensive homemade mini-green houses to extend the season year round.

And more globally, we are inspired by the work of John Jeavons www.bountifulgardens.org

Bountiful gardens is a non-profit group working globally to help people grow a healthy, organic, sustainable, complete vegetarian diet on very small areas of land with few external resources.

With these techniques, we are now easily producing most of our own fruits and vegetables with plenty to share with neighbors and those who need them.

It's great food, great exercise, great educational opportunities for the children, and a great way to bring together the community. There is no down-side to living closer to the Earth and working with rather than against the natural seasons.

I look forward to more of your posts in the future. Keep up the great work.

Shalom Friend


John Jeavons www.bountifulgardens.org can help us live a more sustainable and healthy life.

I know the satisfaction of eating food we have grown.

"It's great food, great exercise, great educational opportunities for the children, and a great way to bring together the community. There is no down-side to living closer to the Earth and working with rather than against the natural seasons."

Bless you!
Eli

Can We Help Harvest A Better World?

Minus the machinery, life on the Bucyrus Kansas farm I grew up on was much like life has been around the globe for thousands of years. Transfixed by the events in Iran, it is clear that each of us is a global citizen. At our core of us is a farmer. Each of us is responsible to cultivate the world we live in.

Summer Is Harvest Time and with every bite you take from an cucumber (or from any food for that matter) you have participated in a miracle that depends on the delicate balance of the elements. An unexpected heavy rain, and early frost, and infestation of insects can damage or destroy a crop. A farmer's living depends on the whims of the weather. This makes them humble, wise and altruistic. Each one of these qualities is our authentic nature.

As a farmer you know that your survival depends on working together with your neighbors to bring in the bounty of your harvest. Farmers know that you can't go it alone. Neither can you or I.

What are you planting, nurturing and harvesting?

Make A Personal Icon

Dearest Eli,

While you typically write helpful, humorous and inspiring posts, this one is, I believe, the best I have read in months. It is both so introspective and sensitive that it reaches deeply into the inner recesses of our souls (with yours as the vulnerable example) and aptly describes the torment we all endure as we attempt to value ourselves throughout our lives. Yes, we all have our "Inner Michael", our Inner Child, that "brilliant and wounded" tender being we need to nurture and care for. It is just how lovingly how each of us does that, that makes the difference in the adult we are.

Who of us is not harsher and crueler with our selves than we are with others? How overwhelmingly does that discourage our inner light from shining up from deep within our soul, through our eyes ,into the world? Your suggestion of making a personal icon to help protect and grow that tender shoot of self esteem and self value is so caring and thoughtful. I am sure it will inspire many of us to reach back and strenghten our resolve to grow that vulnerable, innocent spirit inside each of us into a strong, loving human being.

Thank you again,
Ron Mirenda

Dear Ron,
I am so very blessed to have the great honor of sharing in profound connection with you. I certainly aim to "attempt to value ourselves throughout our lives. Yes, we all have our "Inner Michael", our Inner Child, that "brilliant and wounded" tender being we need to nurture and care for. It is just how lovingly how each of us does that, that makes the difference in the adult we are."

You are a shining example of a a person with a deep commitment to " resolve to grow that vulnerable, innocent spirit inside each of us into a strong, loving human being."

Thank YOU!!!
Eli Davidson

Read the full article at the Huffington Post!

Your Reflection In Your Mirror

For all of Michael Jacksons fame and wealth, he didn't get a chance to live the life he wanted. He was a shy and very sensitive person. The loudness and brashness of his job must have been very tough on those tender nerves. I believe that many of us are using him to mourn not getting to live the life we wanted. Each of us has a Michael Jackson inside. Each of us is both brilliant and wounded. If you dive deep enough into those areas of freaky-crazy-darkness you will find that at their core they are an expression of love as well.

As an Executive Life coach, I am continually in awe of the human spirit and what it can create. There is incredible preciousness inside each of us. We get so distracted by the tornado of circumstances in our lives that we forget to focus on that gleaming beauty inside. Tina Brown brought up a super point in an interview on NPR on Tuesday. She spoke about how Michael Jackson's death liberated him from the sleaze and allows us to celebrate his soaring talent. That comment brought me back to the symbolism of the icon.

How can I rise above my limitations ? How can I more clearly live my life as a demonstration of the shining preciousness of my core? Can you claim more of the deep value inside?

Plastic Surgery or Accept Yourself?

There are stories about Jackson feeling so ugly as a child that he wanted to wear a mask on stage, and numerous accounts of his father taunting him and calling him "Fat Nose." In her wonderful post, Judith Rich exposed Michael Jackson's pain: "Michael Jackson: It Hurts To Be Me." Like the rest of us, he used a complex array of destructive behaviors to dull his inner aching. As a symbol of Americans' distaste for their appearances, he expressed his internal pain through war with his body. (Researcher J.J. Brumberg found that 53% of 13-year-old girls were dissatisfied with their appearance. That figure jumps to 73% for 17-year-olds. Instead of dealing with his internal demons, he focused on fixing his outsides.

Jackson had the funds to 'fix his face.' Here is Michael's face morphing. Reports say that he had so many nose jobs that his surgeons dared not risk another one. His surgeon stated that he began to fake surgeries, persuading Jackson that they had done further surgery when they had not. This need to fix his outsides was a call for the longing to heal his insides.

Like most Americans, Jackson was under the persistent pressure to perform. I see my own crazy schedule and realize that I often put my work before my own nurturing. What about you? Michael Jackson had stadiums of adoring fans screaming his name. It appears that external adoration couldn't heal the desperate pain he felt inside. As I look at myself, I see that I have judged a sudden eruption of fat around my stomach. Since it is bikini season, I am constantly aware of this unwelcome addition to my body.

Could I accept myself more? How about you?

Longing for acceptance..Can we stop self criticism?

As a symbol of American consumer spending, Michael Jackson died in debt. According to The Wall Street Journal, Michael died about $500 million in debt. (Americans carry $2.56 trillion in consumer debt, up 22 percent since 2000 alone, according to the Federal Reserve Board.)

I am still scratching my head about Jackson's finances. How could a person amass that much debt? Then I remember watching a BBC special about Jackson back in 2003. Jackson was filmed spending $6 million on a shopping excursion in Las Vegas. He gathered up antiques the way you or I toss carrots in a grocery cart. Like many Americans, Jackson used compulsive shopping as a way to dull the pain of open wounds from his childhood. As I reflect on my Inner Michael, I see my own longing for acceptance. I certainly have used buying a new pair of shoes or several pair if they were on sale to calm my jangled nerves.


How can I offer the kindness instead of criticism to those parts of myself I find ugly and unacceptable? What about you?

Michael Jackson: Your Man In Your Mirror

Hi Nerakami,

Thank you so much for for looking at the lessons each of us can learn from Michael Jackson's life. You bring up such a great point about balance. It is such a profound lesson! I so appreciate your sharing it.



We as a culture are not living in the beauty of balance and moderation, so Jackson is another perfect symbol. Americans have lived lives of great excess- just look at our national debt, our sleep debt and our health debt (growing obesity) as examples.



In my own life I see a great opportunity for living in greater balance, and honored to share this intention with you!
About Michael Jackson
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Starting Your Own Business...Ready..Set..Or Not?

Now it's time to see how you did.

If you answered yes to 15 or more statements, it's time to make your break.

If you said yes to 10-14, be cautious. Talk to people who own a small business to see if you have what it takes.

If you said yes to 9 or fewer statements, you're probably better off working for someone else.

It is very important to honor your work style, and do what is authentic to your nature. As a coach I observe that the clients that zoom forward in manifesting their goals have the common thread of being both authentic and honest.

Take A Quiz: Are You Ready To Start Your Own Business

Los Angeles has been hard hit by the recession. As a coach I am observing that many of my clients are looking at starting their own business. I believe that entrepreneurship is part of the paradigm shift that is shaking our economy. Owning your own business is not for everyone.

Take the quiz to see if starting a business is the right move for you.
Answer each statement as YES or NO.


1. I am persistent.
2. I need less sleep when I'm interested in a project.
3. When I want something, I keep my goals clearly in mind.
4. I examine mistakes and learn from them.
5. I have new and different ideas.
6. I am adaptable.
7. I see problems as challenges.
8. I'll gamble on a good idea even if it isn't a sure thing.
9. I am intuitive.
10. I can recover from emotional setbacks.
11. I am curious.
12. I’m a positive person.
13. I like to learn new things and explore unfamiliar subjects.
14. I'm willing to make sacrifices to achieve long-term rewards.
15. I tend to rebel against authority.
16. I often enjoy being alone.
17. I have a reputation for being stubborn.
18. I like to be in control.
19. I experiment with new ways to do things.

We will give you the answer to the quiz tomorrow.

Get Inspired in 10 Minutes

Watch this video of Eli Davidson on Brave Heart Women TV!

Yes You Can!!!

Why is Allee Willis’s new video “Hey, Jerrie” one of the fastest growing videos on YouTube? Because it’s what I call The Anthem of the “YES YOU CAN” Movement.

As a coach and speaker I am blessed to meet with so many amazing women and men. In these very interesting times I am seeing a trend of people giving up on themselves. Do you have dreams that are still unfurled? Do they sit in the dusty, dark corner of the utility closet of your life?

There is so much to learn from the amazing Allee Willis that proves every one of your “No, I Can’t” theories wrong. A few months ago, Allee and I sat down and chatted about process. It was remarkable how similar her creative process and the coaching process were. Here is some behind the scenes moments captured on my humble Flip camera. If you want to see how an artist is fully engaged in the creative process study what Allee is saying.

Every minute is a battle between two four letter words. See for yourself!

So…What is this moment going to be? Anyone can go from Funky To Fabulous!!

Gratitude: How To Excercize Your Joy

Gratitude has the ability to open our eyes to new opportunities. In my coaching practice, I find that clients who actively cultivate gratitude are more likely to find creative solutions more quickly. In the current economy, using this internal muscle is key. Another key component of gratitude is the joyous feeling that accompanies it. When working with business owners, I find that many of them don't take time to get out and enjoy life beyond their business. (I am guilty of this myself.)

If you are in Los Angeles, stop by LACMA. The Los Angeles County Museum of Art has an incredible out door instillation. As you can see here, it is a world made of every day plastic items in the most gleeful of colors.

Yep...that little speck of a person in the waterfall of plastic is me. Hope you go and play! It was a blast!

It is free...and it is FUN!