In the December 2005 Newsletter
  Thank You / Back to the Core
Fueling Your Own Flame / Events / The Gift

Thank you for the important work you are doing. I appreciate being connected to you — it’s your gift to me. I extend to you and yours a Merry Christmas, Chanukah, Kwanzaa, New Year, Solstice, and Season’s Best. May the year 2006 bring health, peace, prosperity, and progress in pursuing passionate purpose.

In lieu of business holiday gifts this year, we have made a donation to those less fortunate.

Back to the Core

How can we help you soar? What pressing challenges keep you up at night? The core work of Technology and Management Solutions is to help organizations and people produce extraordinary results.

We provide resources in strategic planning, marketing, and organization development. We enable companies and organizations to take a fresh look at their operations, gain market share, launch new initiatives, and increase revenues. Here are a few examples of recent work:

	STRATEGIC PLANNING. We just facilitated a two-day strategic assessment and planning session to help an organization map its course for the future.
	MARKET RESEARCH. We have been engaged to conduct primary and secondary research on a new biosciences business concept. In this study, we are assessing the size of the market, profile of the optimal prospective customers, nature of the competition, and refinement of the product/service offering to meet market needs.
	BUSINESS PLANNING. In the role of a business coach, we are helping an entrepreneur determine the feasibility of a new financial service he envisions that will reduce the threat of identity theft.

Fueling Your Own Flame

This is a Spiritual season. As the days grow dark, your Spirit or inner flame needs to burn even more brightly. Your life force and energy are strengthened through deeper connections with self, others, and Spirit. Are your life and work feeding your soul? If yes, keep it up! If no, consider changing a few things:

	PAUSE. Slow down and take a deep relaxing breath.
	NOTICE Spirit in action around you. Feel the Life Force as it lifts your chest in inhalation, hear the wind rustle through the trees, really taste your next meal, smell an evergreen or flower, see the brilliant colors of the sunrise, dance (or just sway) to the music, and sing a song. Have hope that your Spirit is there, perhaps just buried deep.
	PUT a smile on your face and appreciate yourself. This intentional act is good for your face muscles and well being. Recognize one of your worthwhile traits, the progress you have made, and how you are making a difference in some small (or big) ways.
	APPRECIATE and really connect with someone else. Surprise someone by saying, “Thank you, I am grateful for your friendship and support.” Rather than communicating surface level niceties like “I’m fine,” get real and risk sharing a genuine, perhaps vulnerable, part of you.
	PRIORITIZE based on your values. What really is important now? Drop some things off your to-do list so you can spend your most precious time being connected and contributing in worthwhile ways.
	FOCUS and say No. You need to say No to many things in order to say Yes to your passionate purpose! As you focus, more energy is directed toward fewer, more important goals and it is easier to appreciate progress.
	UNPACK. What is holding you back, slowing you down, bogging your down, or dousing your flame? It’s time to shed the load and let your spirits soar.
	PONDER the polarities. Realize that the seasons naturally move between darkness and light, winter and summer, cold and warmth. This is also the case with all of life. Rather than desire one pole, embrace and appreciate both sides.

Selected Upcoming Events

Thursday, January 12, 2006. Keynote address on “Kick Start 2006 with Pursuit of Passionate Purpose.” Join the Business and Professional Women of Golden, CO at the Table Mountain Inn. 6:00 PM – 8:30 PM MST. For information, contact Pat Holland at phollandco@comcast.net.

Wednesday, February 1, 2006. “Extraordinary e-learning Customer Programs: Building Customers into Passionate Pursuers.” ASTD TecKnowledge 2006 Conference. 4:00 – 5:30 PM MST in Denver, CO. Information at www.astd.org/astd/Conferences/TK06.

Friday, February 10, 2006. “Grow Your Business as Pursuit of Passionate Purpose.” The Women Council of Realtors. 8:00 – 10:00 AM MST in Fort Collins, CO. Call 970-443-2122 to register.

Saturday, February 11, 2006. “Pursuit of Passionate Purpose” one-day workshop. Denver Center for Spiritual Renewal. 8:30 AM – 4:30 PM MST at First Unitarian Church in Denver, CO. Open to the public. Low price includes workbook. Call 303-759-2770, x35 to register now.

Give the Gift of Passionate Purpose

There’s still time. Give Pursuit of Passionate Purpose or stock up for your 2006 gift giving. Right now, CEO-READ is offering a 35% discount and free USA shipping. That’s a bottom-line price of only $16.22! Just call Meg at 800-CEO-READ (800-236-7323) or 414-274-6406 if you’re out of the US. When prompted, enter “3”.

You can, of course, also buy at Amazon (www.amazon.com/passionate) or my website (www.PursuitofPassionatePurpose.com). If you buy from my website, I will send you the new Pursuit of Passionate Purpose e-book discussion guide as a bonus.

Also, if you order the book either from CEO-READ, Amazon, or my website, you can receive free bonus gifts in the form of posters, booklets and newsletters — all based on the teachings of Pursuit of Passionate Purpose. Visit www.pursuitofpassionatepurpose.com/promotion/formHoliday1205.html after you’ve made your book purchase.

TAKE ACTION!

Don’t Just Wish for a Prosperous Year. Let Technology and Management Solutions be the catalyst to help you and your organization thrive in these challenging times.

Thrive in 2005,
Theresa M. Szczurek, Ph.D.
CEO, Entrepreneur, Consultant, Speaker, and Author

P.S. Pass it on. Feel free to share this newsletter with your colleagues.