MANAGING CONTEMPORARY ANASTASSIA

date

Demonstration of:

time

12-08-14

ANASTASSIA PODOLIOUKH

8:30 P.M.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
THE PCDP:
P+C+D+P......................................................................................................................................3 How It All Started.........................................................................................................................4 Career Leader Results.................................................................................................................4-5

LEARNING GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

Coaching Goals......................................................................................................................6 Managing Conflict Goals..............................................................................................7

Up-Close & Personal ...................................................................................................8 Heading Back To The Gym...........................................................................................9

IN- ACTION
SIX STEPS TO COACHING...EFFECTIVELY......................................................................................10

But Mama Told Me I Was Special!.................................................................................11-13

Revolutionary Enthusiasm.....................................................................................................14
Lifting Weights Off Mess Ups...............................................................................................................15 Psychedelic Therapy.........................................................16 SIX STEPS TO MANAGING CONFLICT EFFECTIVELY.............................................17-18 How do you avoid reality?.................................................19-20 Write What I Are. Write Where I Wanna Be. By You..................21 A Scenario.........................22 What is your stance?.......................23

Reections
Coaching................................24 Managing Conflict................................25 BIBLIOGRAPHY.........26 WEEKLY PLAN...............27 Appendix A------WEEKLY COACHING PLAN...................28 Appendix B------LETTER TO SVETLANA............................29 Appendix C------LETTER TO NASTIA......................................30 Appendix D------JOURNEY MAP.................................................31-36 Appendix E------CAFE DE CHICHI..................................................37 Appendix F------STALE RESUME.......................................................38 Appendix G------NEW RESUME..............................................................39 Appendix H------CAREER LEADER RESULTS............................................40 Appendix I-------VIDEO COMPONENT...........................................................41

December 1.2011

ANASTASSIA

P+ C+ D+ P
Why do I need to develop? Am I not smart enough? I got into Schulich!
The Personal Competence Development Plan is the most popular new jargon of the 2015s. It seems to be the central focus of all the most exciting discussion heard traveling through the Schulich halls, because it entails one of the most important self-discovery journeys the students will have an opportunity to take in their rst year of University! It turns out you can not only be could doing youre PCDP....but also be caught in the act of PCDP ing! The enthusiasm from student is contagious!!! No one wants to admit how much it has become a dear part of their lives and in the process has changed them! We have spent weeks and weeks working with this personal business diary of ours, to the point where is almost feels awkward to be giving it to foreign eyes to speculate at. But lets get down to the bottom line here. What were we doing this whole time? What where we trying to accomplish with this project whose emphasis were on personal goals and a reassessment of the nature and habits that internally govern the whereabout and attractions of our external existence? How did I decide what my personal strength was and my personal weakness in the beginning, and how has that changed or stayed the same, at the end of my journey? These are questions of afterthought that I feel have been the underlying currents of emotions and motivators through my whole experience developing this project and realizing it has become a greater part of my life then I initially thought. So buckle up! Life isnt always a smooth ride. But it never fails to amuse even the most talented of3 pessimists and most over complicated life lovin Anastassias!

FASHIONMONTHLY November 12, 2011

HOW IT ALL STARTED

Well.....I graduated high school, got into University, and was put into a class of 20 fantastic students for my MGMT tutorial, where we were assigned our PCDP and BPTPs. The initial reaction of all students were, What is this? with a hint of fear and uncertainty in their eyes. The moment of enthusiasm only started to pick up after we spoke to some upper year students and were informed on how fun it could be! The challenging and exciting aspect always motivates me through all my projects. But rst, I always have to completely understand what that project is. And the rst step to that was to take my Career leader test. Career Leader Results On my rst attempt at the career leader test, if I was to graduate from Schulich at this moment, they ranked my rst option of choice upon my leave to be going into Public Relations and Communications, which did no surprise me at all. Second was Law and forth Management Consulting. But what shocked me most was when Entrepreneurship sitting at eleventh place on my rst attempt, skyrocketed all the way to number 1 ! I think that shows that being at Schulich has made me more innovative and open minded. Always searching for new ideas, and making the old ones work even better. Law on the other hand tipped over to number 4 which isnt that bad, and Management Consulting raised his head to number 2! Overall I am satised with my results and they make sense to me. Now, lets take a closer look at what the Personal Competence Development Plan actually is!

COMPETENCE DEVELOPMENT INVOLVES UPGRADING PERSONAL KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND ATTITUDES (YOUR KSAS) TO IMPROVE PERFORMANCE ENABLING YOU TO MEET PERSONAL GOALS AS WELL AS CONTRIBUTE MEANINGFULLY TO ORGANIZATIONAL GOALS AND UNDERTAKINGS. - PROFESSOR JEAN ADAMS

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CONTINUATION OF P+C+D+P

So we were to:
1) Pick a skill we thought were good at. :)))))) 2) Pick a skill we thought were not so good at. :(((((( 3) Put ourselves in situations we have never been in before. And see how well our perceptions of ourselves ring true. : O

Thinking well is Good Planning well is Better Doing well is Best

The PCDP experience is all about the interactivity between you, your knowledge and your application of this knowledge in the real world! When you take all those guidelines, advice and thoughts you have created through the process of studying your weaknesses and strengths to the moment you nally apply and see with your very eyes, the product of your vision and communications with others. Every action has a consequence. I think we have been over programmed to thing that a consequence is something bad. Is something we all want to avoid. Something we want to be liberated from. When a consequence is really the greatest truth. The value of your actions, and through your actions the person you become. One of the rst epiphanys I had when starting to work on this

International Proverb Society

project was that if something bad comes out of a situation, its because it had already been programmed that way in the beginning, or because someone did not care enough in the beginning for themselves, or others, to catch the error in the rst stages of development and completely eliminate it from the programming of the relationship. Every project is a relationship. Is a bond that forms, is the energy and knowledge that is being kept and given, kept and given, bit by bit people are testing how much is asked of them, and how much they can get away with.

personal need of a human being, is that need of respect. And the hardest lesson you learn is how to Demand It. and Protect it. How do you do this? Well I believe there is no easy way of coming to terms with a situation that has worked out not in your favor. Especially when you were relied on and let your team, your parents, but especially yourself down.

But this is the one hard lesson you learn in coaching which is the weakness I chose. But it was actually my strength, Managing Conict, that pulled me out of confusing thoughts, coaching One of the hardest lessons created, and helped me understand the difference I have learned for anyone between the lightness and the working in this world, is the lesson on not giving someone darkness of thoughts that exists within the parameters the luxury or opportunity to of circumstance. deceive you in any way or form. The most important 5

FASHIONMONTHLY November 12, 2011

Learning Goals and Objectives Wants, Ways, and Becomings

By Trenz Pruca

Coaching Goals
When I rst looked through the list of of strengths and weaknesses, coaching wasnt my weakness as much as it was a territory unexplored to me. The rst question that popped to mind was, Is something that you havent yet explored but always been curious about necessarily, your weakness? When I started doing more of the readings and looking into the art of coaching, I realized a lot of if it is common sense, good will and consideration for others. Which led me to my second question, Is a nice coach the best coach? Many times in life, people are walking around us, and being nice, just for the sake of not causing any discomfort to another, but not really helping them either, when they can clearly see a person can use a hand. A coach is someone who probably has more experience then you in some areas of life, and its their job to guide you through the process of learning. But life is not black and white, divided by personal life and profession. Which lead me to my third question, Is there a boundary of professionalism that a coach neednt cross when dealing with students or is it normal and even human to feel and try to give as much knowledge and understanding to someone regarding all aspect of their life? Another thing that has always been of interest to me is how a someone goes from the transition of being a student to becoming a coach. First of being the the sponge of all this knowledge and now squirting it back at innocent souls. When students are asked to do something they do it, but I feel like the best classes, have always been because of the best teacher.s Which leads me to my fourth question, Do we learn better when we are able to relate with somebody who is not afraid to share themselves with us, inspiring us with their condence and love for their work, instead of somebody who just tries to teach us by the book? I believe being a coach is a very difcult job, even though to any student from the side it might look like their coach is just sitting in the background giving commands. The student teacher bond has always been an interesting one through out history. Which leads me to my nal fth question , How does the coach and the student reach that equilibrium of respect that motivates both partys to continue working towards the same objective in heart, mind, and soul?

My experience in Coaching will be complete if I can manage to answer these ve questions.

FASHIONMONTHLY November 12, 2011

Learning Goals and Objectives Wants, Ways, and Becomings

By Trenz Pruca

Managing Conflict Goals

When I rst looked though the list of choices, I felt that managing conict, was something I was best at, or knew most about. Which led me to my rst question. Is something you know most about, necessarily what youre best at? Over the years I have gotten myself into many favorable and unfavorable situations. I had dealt with many types of personalitys, but always nding my own to be the most difcult and enigmatic. I had other people answers and could tell them off the top of my head. But when I was having a hard day it felt like no one even had a clue, I could use a clue! This grew to my second question, Do people just not care, or do people just not know? Managing conict is all about being able to detect root causes. Those veins that sprawl over the esh of an idea and give it life, and still circulate, weather injected with venom or not. Venom are mistakes that are not caught fast enough, and if dwindle in the body of your project for too long, will weaken its immune system, and attack an organ/ function of the group that is weakest.Which led me to my fth question, Why do people sometimes watch an error occur without xing it, and just let it evolve and backre at them, because they let it happen in the rst place? Managing conict is about intellect as it is about speed, and building a solid image without leaving out with is wrong, in order to be able to deal with it, and explain it to others. Mistakes are our greatest teachers. But wanting to understand them our our purest voices asking for help, and assistance. Which leads me to my third question, Why are people so resilient to speak up sometimes? That is what fascinated me most. That every part of a conict is so interconnected. Its a chain reaction of events, and what most people dont realize is the affect that one positive person, fused with a new batch of fresh energy, can change the everyone elses sets of motivation in a group to start moving towards the same goal again, with the energy infused in the natural process of creation of a new idea! Which lead me to my fourth and nal question, Who are these miracle people that bestow such positivity upon us in the most chaotic moments, and where does this sense of importance, and determination arise, when you know you can take the situation by the reins, without knowing anything at all?

My experience in Managing Conict will be complete if I can answer these ve questions.

FASHIONMONTHLY November 12, 2011

UP-CLOSE
What you might not know about me is that I was a rhythmic gymnast for 10 years of my life, before retiring in 2009 to focus on my education. Even though gymnastics is beautiful and elegant in its own ways, it does not lack the drama, the politics and the hidden agendas of any other sport. Actually the all female aspect quite intensies it. I competed for the National Team of Canada for many years. This took from the glamorousness of Los Angeles, to mystic cities like Cairo, and empirical resort towns like Malaga in the south of Spain. Apart from all the elements, combinations and throws we learn in gymnastics, the most I took out of this sport was watching how people deal with other people, and how people deal with themselves. You cannot come up to a person, without remembering the experiences you have shared and the conversation you have had. In a way, you start off, right where you left of, were the words spoken by my high school Literature Teacher Dr. Ributans (Doc).

The Discovery of Knowing That Who I Was Never Interrupted Who I Was About To Become And then I realized she never left me either.

P E R S O N A L

&
In gymnastics youre always surrounded by a collage of gymnasts for all different levels and walks of life, their parents, coaches, apprentices, judges, fans, teams and preferences. Everybody has a strong opinion of others, and therefore adapt a strong opinion of themselves. This isnt bad. Because it actually builds condence at a young age, and teaches you how to protect what is yours, and ght for your place on the podium and later in life. Its been three years since I left that life, and in this while, fast tracked through high school, and am now in one of the best business school in the world, that has offered me a unique opportunity to experience a part of me that I left behind undiscovered in gymnastics. The coaching part! For my PCDP I decided to go back to the gym, with the gracious help and enthusiasm of my former coach Svetlana Joukova, and take a hit at coaching, and discover the other half of the sport I never had a chance to uncover. This experience is recorded in thorough detail, and I hope you have as much reading it, as I enjoyed living it!

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Heading Back To The Gym.... Where you belong!

Is how my former coach Svetlana Joukova likes to put it.
I have trained with Svetlana for a good portion of my life, but most importantly those years that are the rst time you become self aware of yourself. She took me at the ripe age of ten into her sports club. It was a completely new experience for me, because for once in my life, I was surrounded by so many other girls, just like me or a year older. All very talented, hard working, and feisty!

your back leg, when your sitting in mid air, squirming and stretching between two chairs. Its during competitions like these that I realized how unique each situation is, and even more impressive that each gymnast has designed an approach that works for her to deal with it. The stress gets overwhelming. We are left to decide on our own weather to protect ourselves, or let ourselves slowly feel the pain of failure and someone else voice or opinion of us subtracting from our self esteem.

Thats why you need a coach who knows you. Who understand you, and who is willing to love you She trained me to become the enough and make you suffer best! After only a year with her, I competition carpet and behind made enough for you to understand this beat all the girls a year older than me lesson. Suffering is not what you see in the same category, and made it on me realize that every single gymnast has a different and unique in movies, with someone wincing in the National Team of Canada; the relationship with her coaches. All pain and bleeding out. Many times Top 8 Position! coaches have their own mentality and suffering is severe contemplation over what to do with yourself, based on a After this we began traveling the approach to their profession. Some coaches dont mind yelling at you in bad feeling you get of how someone world. We went to L.A to twice where front of all of your friends and treated you, and how to x in a sly I came back a gold medalist, against strangers after a bad routine behind way, in order to get the respect back girls from Australia, Belarus, Czech the curtains, while others dont mind you know you deserve! Republic and everyone in the mix. casually asking about your love life, Its not a simple game. But I went Watching all of these girls on the while doing their nails and sitting on back to the gym to learn how to play!

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SIX STEPS TO COACHING ...EFFECTIVELY

Step One:
Building Trust & Partnership
partnership. I not only needed to ask their permission to work with their kids one day out of the week before the competition season when Identify & Explore Key every day counts! But to also lm Issues them as a video component, which is Determine areas of focus something the kids were more with an open and thorough excited about. dialogue of the individual's I of course also notied the girls issues. Your role is to prompt discussion, probe for and sent them some examples of understanding, and facilitate things I wanted to accomplish over identification of coaching the course of my trainings with priorities. --Prof. Jean Adams them.

Step Two:

When rst approaching my coach about this project I have to admit she was a little scared but so was I. I did not know weather I had the ability to motivate a whole new group of girls, and accomplish the exercises successfully that I have imagined with them. My coach had to leave for the Pan American Championships the next day with her group who qualied for the Olympics next year. Everyone had a two week break at the gym, so she told me to develop the idea, and she would have time to think about her answer. When she got back she was invested with a whole new energy and enthusiasm for my project, and was actually the one who motivated me to come to the gym and work with the girls for a bit on my own. She assured me that if I needed any help or had any questions I could always come to her, and should never feel like I was bothering her. And of course that she would always be watching over me. She had my trust from the very beginning, but I knew I would slowly have to earn hers. One thing we both agreed on is that I needed to speak to the parents of the girls to let them know exactly what I was up to. The rst step to effective coaching is..... Building trust, rapport and

What I learned is that building trust within all levels of the club is extremely important, and if done correctly, can bring an overwhelming wave of enthusiasm from both sides, resulting in a progressive state of being.

APPLIED
One of the rst exercises I did with some of the younger girls was called The Circle of Life. And because gymnastics is their life, they were really excited. The objective of this welcoming activity was for everyone to feel a sense of interconnectedness amongst each other and realize that gymnastics is more than a sport, that the amount of time they spend together, is not just time, it builds the future interactions between them and others. Realizing why they love gymnastics so much is the rst step!

One of the hardest lessons I had to learn in the following weeks is how not to instruct with showing what I am doing always. Lets face it. I cant do half the things these kids are doing anymore! But to help to instruct them with words. It takes any student time to get used to their new coaches approach to teaching, but surprisingly the girls picked my techniques up very quickly and our weeks followed with an open relationship.

APPLIED

One problem I felt in the gym that I need to address was the attention of time each girl was given not to only practices her whole routine but more importantly the individual elements that constitute it. When I approached my coach about this, she handed over the responsibility to me, and we started spending half an hour before going through their routines with music, We all sat in something called a gymnastics circle, meaning in Middle focusing solely on individual elements that were challenging to Spilt with our toes are connected to another others, introduced ourselves, them. When introduced muscle awareness to their body when and said one thing we love most working with different elements, they about the sport. The activity went exceptionally well, and I was glad to really got it! At the end of the day my coach looked at me, and I knew I see the girls nervousness about me 10 had successfully completed my dissipate a little after the rst day. unexpected good deed of the day!

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But Mama Told Me I Was Special! Creating the K in Unique

CONTD

Step Two:

and you have to put physical and emotional stress on your foot.

Identify & Explore Key Issues

Something else that I found not so odd about the girls was that gymnastics was their main form of expression. But at the same time, their least discovered one. When I asked many girls what they thought of it, they didnt really know how to put it into words, they just kinda did it. I was the same way once, but it helped me the rst time I realized who I am, and how this sport models me after itself. They were a little confused. That information took a lot of time to process but after a few weeks it appeared in the form of a greater sense of self that I felt growing within them in the way the spoke, and walked Next I asked her how much the element was and acted. They werent just there. They were worth. in gymnastics it can be anywhere from there! 0.1 to 1.2 points. Then I went into the books and gured out another element that she could There was one particular girl Maria, who substitute in her level that actually looked more was an interesting case for me, because she attractive then the one she was doing now. wasnt doing the best, even though she had the During her routine, when the element did not most talent for the sport out of any other girl. work for the third time, I told Svetlana who was But she lacked the inner motivation that helped sitting beside me that maybe it was just not her her shine. I asked her what was wrong, and she element. There were 2 options for her to change told me there was a particular element that hurts it to. I didnt want it to seem like it was my her hip, and messes her up in the middle of suggestion. So we let Maria do Svetlanas option, every routine. Aha! I thought, that is a root and then my option. For some reason, she nailed cause! mine on the rst try, she loved it, we kept it, and I asked her why she hadnt spoken to substituted it into every composition of hers. Svetlana and told someone about her Now the girl is prancing like a gazelle discomfort. She just shrugged, and couldnt throughout her routine without worrying about understand where I was coming from. I let her the anticipation of doing something that causes know that there are over 200 elements in her discomfort, when it can easily be substituted gymnastics. Just because one doesnt work out, for something for something makes her look doesnt mean every single day has to go to hell, beautiful.

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Step Three:

Establish Specific Goals & Clear Contract

After the accomplishment with Maria, Svetlana and I noticed a radical change in her performance, and in her level of energy through out training. Nobody is going to be happy to The greatest underlying cause work through pain, but why didnt of grief I found from previous she speak up? I later told Svetlana experiences in their lives when privately that her hip had been being coached was discrimination, hurting. And all she could say was and not being heard. Either Why didnt she tell? I told her I because of their skin color, their dont know. But imagine if body type, or their natural lack of everyone was hiding something as talent. simple and as re-do-able as that! Svetlana told me that she is in the I found the biggest problem position of authority, and maybe students found with coaches- and I some of the younger girls have not can say the same for teachers- is caught up to the humor in her when they apply one technique to necessary force of words and will I brought my Mac with me all students. When they dont sometimes. She asked me to keep one day to gymnastics and showed realize that each student is a an eye on them, and work with the girls a video of the most recent unique challenge, and there are them individually where I could. World Championships to many ways to solve a problem or Lets face it...one person cannot demonstrate my point on the work around difcult barriers of run the whole circus! necessity of self-expression. Then rules that cannot be specically I asked the girls who is their lifted for the student. favorite gymnast and why, and what is their favorite gymnasts Try to kill two birds with one signature move that makes her stone by identifying activities unique. I realized this made them that achieve more than one goal.- PJA think a little bit ahead of themselves. Not about the present Another idea that came to me moment, but what they could after elaborating on my make become of it. experience with Maria is that So next I asked them if there is every gymnast has a Signature an element that describes them, Move! This is an obsession in which one would it be? Does it gymnastics because we all want to exist yet? What does it look like. leave unforgotten when we walk What kind of movement or away from the sport forever. Most emotion does it try to personify? of the best ideas are brewed 12 hidden in the Russian Rhythmic

APPLIED I was thinking about Maria on my way to Schulich one day, with a camera in my purse I decided to interview some of my fellow Schulichers about their experience being a coach, or their experience being coached.

Gymnastics Olympic Centre in Novogorsk in the Suburbs of Moscow, where the Olympic Champions train. But no matter where which country you go to in the world, every country, not gymnast even has their own are!

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Contd

Step Three:

Establish Specific Goals & Clear Contract

Once they chose one cool move that they liked most, I told them that the rst step to getting what you want, is knowing what you want. Each girl was to write down one realistic element that they could incorporate into their routines, and practice it only 50 times a day. Knowing they had that limit provided I promised Ide ask Svetlana to leave us another 15 during training, to gather all the girls, and work on just that one element. They made that decision and made it their rst realistic goal! Point the individual in the right direction by collaboratively identifying the target at which to aim. Dene clear, concrete, achievable goals with realistic time frames and strike a contract that will ensure success.- PJA Then I asked the girls to think about one element that that they love the most in gymnastics. Surprisingly most where jumps and rotating balances. I was impressed. And asked if I get them on camera for that. These girls already had a pretty good idea of which element suits them, in the sport that denes them.

By the third week the girls are already comfortable around me and we have establish specic goals, and have already accomplished some amazing things along the way. I have learned that coaching with an open mind everyday is more than I could ever learn from a textbook. And this is only the beginning!

drive. Its speed. Its complex. When our only job is to make it look simple. The girls who do the best are actually the ones who are not afraid to bend the rules to their advantage. To speak up. To put their best foot forward. And never let anyone doubt their ability to succeed and be the best. These girls know who they are, and they know they expect only the best of themselves. Nothing less. This was my coaching plan from the very beginning. To develop this mentality in the young girls. To make them more self aware of themselves, and what theyre ghting for in this life. I feel it is the most important thing I took out of gymnastics, and when I Be kind to your behind....to your past- Anastassia got the chance, I came back this time to the gym, to introduce this concept to them. I never gave them speeches. I never gave them orders. I never told them how to think, or what to do. I told them stories, that helped them reect on their own lives. I nd this to be the most un- intrusive and universal form of education. When the individual curiosity is sparked and that re that is born inside them, takes the time to cook up new ideas in their minds, that will forever grow into more and more complex entities of the imagination and one day become a product of real life.

Step Four:

Develop Coaching Plan

The training process before competition season is gruesome and stressful. The kids experience lots of ups and downs in physical strength, and highs and lows in emotional levels.....But So Do Coaches!

A skill is best acquired by actually performing the skill and receiving feedback on performance.- PJA A gymnastics coach is not just someone who sits there and presses play and pause on the sound player. A gymnastics coach is someone who needs get up on her feet, pick up the apparatus and show how to readjust the gymnasts routine whenever she sees it t, and this can be almost everyday. This puts an enormous stress on the gymnast to always be at the top of her game, but also on the coach to push the gymnast to her highest potential and ultimate success. We dont have deadlines in gymnastics. Gymnastics is an extension of elegance with a drop of sports venom. It is a

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Revolutionary Enthusiasm The Nature of HaHaHa!

Contd

Step Four:
Applied

Develop Coaching Plan

Each day I was there I had enhance the student-teacher experience on the spot. Most of the time it was a complete inspiration, insight, or necessity of the moment. I remember the girls coming in to the gym one by one on a gloomy rainy day, a sitting on the carpet in front of me, and looking like the last thing they wanted to do, was start warm-up.

So I thought to myself What a perfect opportunity I have been given with this difcult day to cultivate positivity and conjure laughter even from the deepest frown.

How did I do this? Of course, I started with the worst joke I could think of off the top of my head! At rst I got only three meek smiles. The rest were still staring into the far off distance, in the space of their thoughts, or picking lint of their toes. The second joke was so bad, that I actually grabbed the attention of the lint pickers! The third joke was a blond joke, I remember everyone at school was and I nally got the attention of the space on edge that day to. There was just some negativity in the air, that made everyone travelers and all the laughter from the brunettes at the one blonde Teija, who wanna get under the covers and just sleep was just zapped back into reality, and through it. But I had been reading, The blushed from embarrassment, not sure Art of Power by my favorite Vietnamese where all the attention was coming for. Buddhist and Zen master, poet, scholar and peace activist, Thich Nhat Hanh, I could feel the mood was picking up, and I realized we dont have to put up and at the moment the nal girl stepped with this individual suffering instead we into the gym and briskly ran to an empty convert the overwhelming negative spot on the carpet. She was already energy that was eating us up, into a wave looking at us curiously with a smile, thats of overwhelming positive and happy how I knew the energy in the room had energy that will bond us together, and get already changed from a negative to a us through the day. positive with me just making three bad jokes that conjured laughter in three One exercise Ive actually had in mind, but could never nd the excuse to sullen souls! But that was not enough. I knew we needed a lot more to last a 3 use ....was a contagious laughing circle! I hour training, so I ordered everyone to lie had seen this on television how this new down, relax, and think of The Ultimate phenomena is sweeping across the nation Most Funniest Moment Of Their Lives! called Laughter Yoga in Churches, where people just get together and laugh. I have Not ve silence second went by before Teija burst out laughing, then Michelle also read about many accounts of peoples bodys healing them of their cancer after followed for no apparent reason. Rolling on their sides, with tears running down two months of watching something comic their cheeks possessed by the nature of that makes them laugh and brings them contagious enigmatic LAUGHTER! joy, every day for only two hours!

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Lifting Weights Off Mess Ups The Cure of BaRaPaPa! Step Five:
Verify Progress & Adjust If Necessary
This phase is time is all about the acknowledgment of success and celebration of accomplishments! I can tell you that there is a sense of emptiness in your days, after you completely leave the sport, when you feel that you arent making any progress, and that youre life is going nowhere. Sound familiar? Let me elaborate on that. In gymnastics we have routines. These routines are made of elements such as pirouettes, balances, jumps, throws, dance combinations, and speed. We need speed because we only have a minute thirty to complete each routine, and complete the required combinations of elements packed into them. A gymnast can be practicing one apparatus either (hoop, rope, ribbon, ball or clubs, but one at a time) for hours on end. But only get to go through a routine with music 5 to 10 times depending on how many girls in the gym. Now prepare yourself for this realization. Every time you catch a throw, or nail a turn, or throw the hoop in the rst jump, do another jump underneath a ying object and catch in the third jump, you feel an amazing sense of gratication and pride! You are doing good! But you dont consciously EVER tell yourself that! You just know because youve done it. Image this feeling of accomplishment coming with every step you take. In other words, every step taken correctly, received every day. Truly a gift to the mind, the body and soul. many years, that they dont know how to function without it.

It is no pretty story, and an inevitable fact that one must face in life, after the completion of an old cycle and the uncertainty of the beginning of a new one. I lived through it. I know. But there is the other side to this coin I didnt realize, until I came back this time to work with the kids and wiped the other side of the same coin, to nd that as much praise as you get when youre doing a lot of good, you brew up just as much anger when youre not having the best day and one mistake turns into too many to count.

So you see, gymnasts live between two extremes of being. After this realization, I got the idea for a fun activity that can be done in order to erase the weight of feeling you get when you mess up, and keep on going as if nothing occurred. Because you have to! Time doesnt stop! Life walks on! You can x the mistake on your own time. But dont let it take a toll on your whole existence. Dont let positivity be extinguished by one weak gust of sloppy tension.

Applied

The exercise I had in mind, was a skipping activity that involved improvisation and dance to Hard Core European Techno Music. It was all about screwing up, but numbing the feeling of shame by always continuing and just having fun in the moment and not stopping before the song ends! I decided to approach my friends from way back when I was still training, and who are not going to the Olympics next year for this exercise. At rst they thought it was usual Anastasia You dont get that sort of test of self an up to her crazy ideas, but when I explained the concept behind it, they seemed to be immediate feedback in life. That is why 15 excited. But it was when I turned on the many athletes fall into depression after music, and led my intuitive example that leaving the sport that dened them for so we really started to have fun!

Julia Dream: Queen of All My Dreams Psychedelic Therapy

Step Six: Develop Exit Strategy
An exit strategy must be created in order for my students to avoid dependence on me! I dont even know where to start already speaking about the end! There were so many smaller every day occurrences that just got me thinking, Wow, why cant I just become a part time coach? My group of girls have taught me more can they ever imagine, about myself, and about this amazing sport. I nally got to experience what it feels like to be on the other side of the fence and I like it. What I didnt know at the beginning of my journey was that my weakness, coaching...was to become my strength!

Top: Psychedelic Animation. Middle: original Sketch for Idea Bottom: Actual exercise to induc the awareness of interconnectedness of mind, body, soul, and thoughts.

Looking back at the journey, I think the most important thing that worked in my favor was that I was not sitting in front of them on my chair telling them what to do, but I was constantly moving within their eye reference. I could better here their whispers and their concerns, what worked for them, and what Dreaming is not merely an act of communication, it is also an aesthetic activity, a game of the didnt but they were hiding. This is something that the head coach cannot imagination. a game that is a value in itself. Our always do, because her line of work is a little bit different. dream prove that to imagine- to dream about Svetlana was very thankful to to me coming in and making minor adjustments things that have not happened- is among that time has showed works. Marias hip hasnt started hurting since we took mankinds deepest needs. that element out, the girls still have 15 minutes a day to focus on practicing a Milan Kundera new element 50 times a day. A for the half an hour of muscle training, unfortunately the competition season is coming up and they have to focus on their routines, but they have taken away so much from the sessions that we did have a chance to have, that both me and Svetlana and our ballet instructor Olga, have noticed a drastic change in the girls technique to the better. They have become much stronger, self aware and in the process more condant and beautiful rhythmic gymnasts. I expected nothing less of them. And need not ask for nothing more!

Applied
For my nal exist I decided to leave everyone with a piece of music, that is very dear to me. A Syd Barrett original, Julia Dream. I am an advent fan of Pink Floyd, but when I ask other fanatics, almost no one has heard of it! For this last exercise me and the rest of the girls lay in the formation of a star, with all of our hair and thoughts streaming towards the centre of our being. The inspiration was a rough sketch I made a while back.We listened to the song, and enveloped ourselves with inner silence. 16 Once the song was over and we opened our eyes. I posed the question...what is one thing you cannot live without? For this one question, there was one answer, and we all agreed it was...... love.

Coaching is not an end in itself but rather a means for improving performance and achieving results.- PJA

FASHIONMONTHLY November 12, 2011

SIX STEPS TO MANAGING CONFLICT EFFECTIVELY...

I dont nd this an effective way of dealing with people Example Understand the sources from my own experiences, but of conflict For example, Megan did not I believe that creativity is based want to tell me right away why on some internal tension that In order to manage conict that element wasnt working, excites a person and brings effectively you have to understand the root causes. even though we could both see them to a higher level of being, when they are on the verge a Otherwise, you'll spend a lot it. It was only when she told me her hip was hurting that we momentous creation! Many of of time and energy dealing knew the root cause of the with supercial symptoms these moments lead to great situation was pain, not an and will never nd break throughs in the glass of inability to learn. satisfactory solutions. It's progressive spectrum through important to stay in inquiry which the persons life shines!

Step One:

mode when conict is present and avoid jumping to quick conclusions. The most common conicts typically arise because of the personalities and motivations of the people involved, because of difculties stemming from the broader organizational or group context, or because of mis-communication.Prof. Adams

Step Two:

Learn to Distinguish Between Constructive and Destructive Conflict

Conflict can also provide a powerful source of innovation, growth and development - the tension and creative energy that drives effective change. -PJA

Example A great example would be my BPTP group trying to settle on a topic that all of us thought was realistic and manageable. We thought it was going to be nearly impossible, because we have such a diverse group of individuals our our team. We all had different perspective even on something as simple as what was asked of us to complete the project, we had to clashing two clashing macho personalitys that couldnt understand the concept of a team. Me and Sunny, the only two girls on the team had to put an end to all this confusing information that was getting us nowhere. So on Facebook created a little bit of necessary creative tension, so get the boys to put their best foot forward, and make their ideas as appealing as they could for the girls! It worked so well, we had 17 the nalist by midnight!

We see many times on reality TV how conict is created for the purpose of keeping people What I have learned from the on the edge of their seats an entertained. Humans by nature reading and from my dont like to leave actions or a experience coaching all adolescent and adult gymnasts piece of knowledge unresolved. Well from my MGMT is that all conicts arise from readings, I have also learned root causes. And usually the that in the real world, many rst time you hear someone speak up about something they managers will play all sorts of mind games, sometimes even are unhappy about, it is not going to extremes of creating a about they thing they are stressful work environment like speaking of necessarily, but by purposely giving 2 teams something that happened before hand, that has brought that are competing with one other two sets of different out this confusion in the information and have them present. gure out what is going on.

FASHIONMONTHLY November 12, 2011

Step 3 & 4:

Think About Your Situation & The Stance To Apply Ken Thomas suggests there are several way of dealing with conict. Everyone has their own almost habit to the way they react to a certain tone, face or situation. But he thinks the key difference in approach depend on a) How far are you willing to go to impose your view on someone, in other words your level of assertiveness, and b) Your willingness to recognize the value of cooperation and having everyones mind set working towards a common goal. Ken Thomas also points out that there are 5 main ways people deal with conict based on the personalitys and stances in life they are most comfortable taking. Competing: Is a stance popular in Win-Lose mentalitys that doesnt always turn out well, when taken out of the context of sport, and also pursued to the extreme. People who believe life is a win die competition tend to be very hard on themselves and very aggressive towards other, becoming an unwanted member in any work

environment, especially one where you need to work together. But on the other hand, competition can be a healthy tension if monitored and not taken to the extreme, that can provide an evident way to prove yourself to your boss. Accommodating: Is a stance popular in people that feel harmony is above all else important to preserve in the organization even if it leads to the absence of the necessary creative tension needed to progress development and

innovative approaches adopted that could lead the company in a completely new and exciting direction. These people like to sit back, and watch the situation unfold before their eyes, but dont like to get their hands dirty and this concludes to them ultimately taken advantage of more assertive individuals, who do! But on the other hand, people who take the accommodating approach can also be great listeners, and hear above the bickering voice of a work force falling apart, and when the time is right, they can step in and save the day! Avoiding: Is a stance people take when they just cannot deal with a situation at the moment, and decide its better to let the drama created, and creating it be cooled down rst before the situation can be reevaluated. But in extreme cases these people try to avoid avoid the conict, hoping it will go away or their name that was attached to the project will peal away with time. This stance one takes, is the one that doesnt realizes the greatest mistakes made are the greatest lessons learned. So it is alright to let a situation cool, and let time distance people emotionally from the failure, 18 but it is unhealthy for anyone

FASHIONMONTHLY November 12, 2011

Compromising: Is a stance taken by people who are always negotiating for the bigger piece of pie, sometimes no matter the consequence. They are not going to push boundaries or challenge opinions. But try to minimize the pain and effort needed to spring forwards creative tension in order to challenge the best, and eventually become the best. These people avoid drama at all costs, and have their own interest at mind. As long as everyone splits even in an ofce of Pro Compromise everyone is Okay but never the Best! Collaborating:When you hear the word collaborate coming from the words of someone who has just offered you to work with them, you know youre going to be

working with a passionate person! When someone asks to collaborate with you, they ask you to put everything on the table. All your ideas are wanted, and will be challenged. All your natural talents and resources will nd a place, time and project to be projected onto a broader picture of a better world.

Which one am I?

I would say I am all these people on any given day. But I cant hide the fact that I am a very passionate person, almost to the point where I have to realize that I cant be both human & re. I like speed, laughter, and enthusiasm. I love to see the rst light shine ------------------------------------through the eyes of a person inspired by a vision evoked by Working with a team of the tone of my resonate word. people and even one Everyone wants to work individual who understand the concept of collaborating and with intelligent and driven its innite wealth of benets people. They almost set it as a for enchanting each individual goal in life to do so, living with the love for their job, will see himself as a lucky man for blind to the opportunity of the it is one of the most enriching present moment. experiences a person can be granted in this life. Feeling a The radical shift in part of something greater then consciousness comes when you themselves. Something that realize everyone is great. Just has the potential to change not everyone comes across the lives and fuel desire for life, through the hard work and right person to strike that rst collaborative efforts of match for them. Let that be assertive individuals. you! 19

Step 5:
FASHIONMONTHLY November 12, 2011
The

The Pros and Cons

way you manage conflict can have a major impact on the quality of interpersonal relations and the overall culture of your team and organization. Hence, in addition to resolving the substantial issues of concern, it's important to think about the short and long-term implications of your actions.- Prof.Jean Adams Conict has the potential to building up a relationship with full on force through creative progress, just as much as it has the ability to diminish it to ashes! Gone With The Wind!

direct person steps in, and provides everyone with a succinct and persuasive account of what needs to happen, for the project not to take the wrong turn in the near future. Here its thinking about long terms goals, and building strong relationships with people that can sustain that!

actually arises from not knowing. So the best way, is to educate and show by example.

Awareness:

Direction:

There are times when a person with a strong assertive approach in communication practices is needed. This time when a project needs to come to a conclusion but no one can decide on the nal go or stay where we are, this is when the

Stay informed! The third criteria is to realize that some cases have been buried and and dug back out so many times, that you might not be the luckiest one who gets it the Balance: tenth time around. This may be Believe it or not companys a legal dispute that has a deep can suffer from too much political dimension that is very agreement, just as much as they difcult and unclear to see can suffer from too much through and be able to handle. conict. A company is never It such cases. Keep protecting allowed to get comfortable it is yourself and be smart. If you wants to succeed in this fast dont want to deal with it, and paced and innovative world. dont think its worth it. Youre The best way to ensure this probably right! But even if you balance is to reward people get that slightest spark of who are stepping up to the interest, or recognition of a plate, and are not afraid to possible success in something speak up and change things that has failed to be completed around. These individuals must or resolved so many be put in front of companys as times...maybe its always just role models, letting other been approached the wrong employees know such behavior way, and this could is not strictly forbidden by unexpectedly turn into the actually encouraged. The biggest break of your career! biggest source of conict

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Conversation between me and my Grade 11 Literature Teacher, Doc

Me- Doc I dont like your poetry. Doc- Why dont you like it? Me- Its too simple for me Doc- You just have very high expectations for yourself Anastasia
*The next day he introduced me to Jorge Luis Borges. I was asked to read his first poem... I was never the same

Write What I Are. Write Where I Wanna Be. By You

So what do I really do? I am a gymnast who dropped out to pursue her studies. But all that creativity I was generating non stop from 10 years of my life, suddenly became logged up. The massive outlet had disappeared. I was unplugged. I lost myself. I didnt understand how much gymnastics had inuenced me until I began looking for different forms of expression again. The obvious one was dance. I found myself a nice dance studio in Downtown and continued taking ballet classes. But that wasnt enough. I went to the gym, that wasnt enough. I started playing the piano, that also wasnt enough. I read a lot, shopped a lot, partied a lot, studied different languages a lot, traveled a lot, listened to music a lot....but nothing was enough! Whats happening? I was thinking to myself. Is my life over? That is when I discovered...a completely untouched, precious....Im a writer and dont have the ability to describe how quietly, how gently, and how discreetly and not invasively this creature crept upon me. This creature, this love, this gift.....was the ability to write! I didnt know it right away, I didnt feel it right away. But it became the focus, the cove of my existence. The cove where I brought my daily treasures to at the end of the day. Where I collected precious memories, adventures, and gems of thoughts. Filling up notebook with poems, longer poems, longer longer poems, eventually short stories, longer stories, all kinds of dreams and fantasies that amplied the beauty of my reality. When I reached the point of craving feedback, I opened up my own Blog under the pseudonym Roxalana, called Cafe de ChiChi. There I started recording some of my oddest works, letting my closest friends and furthest relatives read it. One thing that I found is when you start working with one talent like writing, you are creating and energy bubble of creativity and many other art forms come to your attention. Just of recently Ive also become interested in voice recordings, and nally edited my rst hypersonic video from scratch! Being a human being is all about managing conict. External conict starts with internal conict not being diagnosed at the sight of its rst symptoms. If we could all nd something that heals and helps us be more happy positive knowing people, and think writing can be that one thing for everyone. I decided to include it as part of my PCDP for managing conict. What I didnt know was that October was not going to be a good month for me. And the harder I tried the harder it became. So 21 I let go, and it turns out thats exactly what I need at the moment. Once November rolled around. My ngers were typing away again, and I felt the force of sense behind my life return to me once more.

A Scenario In Which Anastasia Managed Conflict

Typical Study Group Session at Schulich. Marko, Kris, Anastasia and Anna are get along very well. Anna and Anastasia set aside to engage in girl talk when all of a sudden Marko reaches over, and tries to steal Kriss calculator without permission!!

Kris becomes anxious and tries to win his calculator back. Anastasia and Anna are awestruck by the behavior they see. All of a sudden a whole ght breaks. out, it turns out Marko was jealous of Kriss ability to charm Anna!!!

Anastasia catches the conict because of emotional UNIntelligence right away, and uses her new managing conict skills to retrieve the book, and get the boys to face their issues verbally, and not with sharp objects and excuses. Afterwards, Anna initializes a mediation session, so we can all come down, and continue pursuing our educational studies.

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FASHIONMONTHLY November 12, 2011

The Beauty Of Creation What is your stance?

By Trenz Pruca

In terms of stances in life, Its not about choosing one, or combing one for me. Life is about giving life a chance when it is knocking on your door of opportunity. Welcome it with a smile, and be kind, but be weary. Listen intently and take note of what is really being said, and how you are treated from the very beginning. Never give someone the luxury of having the thought of disrespecting you, and nding a way around your rule. Make yourself clear, and well heard. Everyone takes condence as a sign of knowledge and strength. Own it. And dont let anyone take from you, what is rightfully yours. Neither youre ideas, nor your position. Be passionate and eccentric. Make changes when they are needed, and know what already works well.

LISTEN OBSERVE FEEL SMELL

& never loose

YOURTASTE FOR LIFE!

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November 12, 2011

Reections ~COACHING

Is something that you havent yet explored but always been curious about necessarily your weakness? Absolutely not! You might start being not the best at it. But those are the most exciting moments, when youre searching though all of yourself to gure it out. Is a nice coach the best coach? Haha The truth? No not always. You nd a balance. Is there a boundary of professionalism that a coach neednt cross when dealing with students or is it normal and even human to feel and try to give as much knowledge and

understanding to someone regarding all aspect of their life? I nd the easiest information to absorb is in the form of a story. The kids are all ears when youre talking about your own mistakes. Because to them you become more human and they are able to relate to you on a new level. Do we learn better when we are able to relate with somebody who is not afraid to share themselves with us, inspiring us with their condence and love for their work, instead of somebody who just tries to teach us by the book?

Yes, a teacher who takes inspiration from her own life, and is not afraid to communicate based on fear of misjudgment with earn the respect of her students. How does the coach and the student reach that equilibrium of respect that motivates both partys to continue working towards the same objective in heart, mind, and soul? You reach that equilibrium by knowing you want to reach it. If thats your intention, you will see it and feel it from within. That there is a positive interaction of energy and communication24 leads to that exponential progress.

November 12, 2011

Reections ~ CONFLICT

Is something you know most about, necessarily what youre best at?
When I was choosing my topics, I thought managing conict was something I was great at, because I seemed to be surrounded by opposing perspectives all throughout my life, that I have managed to handle, and at times even survive! But by the end of the PCDP journey, I felt like I was actually a better coach, then conict manager. Managing conict requires you not to react, but act. This took a lot of practice, because Im innately a very open, creative, and emotional person. But I realized the value of this skill very much in business, where you learn to accept diversity of thought!

or opinion) verbally. Stating their point, and talking through their perspective, whereas regular bouts of conict usually involve the expression of the body, hand movements, and raising of the tone. Almost as if the person is trying to expand their aura of light to be seen, by unknowingly trying to stretch it out.

Sometimes not understand what is going on, is the worst thing that goes on, and inevitably makes things go wrong, from your point of view of course.

Why do people sometimes watch an error occur without xing it, and just let it evolve and backre at them, because they let it happen in the rst place?
Sometimes the error happens in their favor, and other times they think its so obvious that someone else will see it and x it, or they just hope it will go away.

Who are these miracle people that bestow such positivity upon us in the most chaotic moments, and where does this sense of importance, and determination arise, when you know you can take the situation by the reins, without knowing anything at all?

Do people just not care, or do people just not know?

When starting conict? Sometimes a little bit off both. I feel like conict is never logical, it is mostly emotional. Because people respond the logical conict ( interest

Why are people so resilient to speak up sometimes?

Mostly fear, another popular emotion. Speaking up, signies the condence to state something that makes sense in mind.

The people who put enough effort into nding the underlying cause. Who can read faces, expressions, impressions and understand, coming to a clear conclusion, about what needs to happen next and now! Those are the people that make decisions and make 25 or break relationships that give the world its dynamisms self !

APPENDIX E
SUN AY AUGU CafeDDe ,ChiChi S T
Burnin---' S.u.n. f.l.o.w.e.R

2 8 , 2 0 1 1 CHI CHI NESS

ocean of shifting symmetries. butter y by me parallel realities, scorching desert sands, infested by collapsing rains that sprout that rose of truth among all those grains of sands lost in time lost where I was, with you all those pages weve written for one another...... are quickly tucked underneath our covers. excited we forget, sink into blue waters of yellow dreams, and by the morning our childish desires renewed with a fresh steam. I keep the ame of writing alive, by feeding the re my work, for the passion to exist and burn within the dark eyes of night. Where it goes after ashes blend with sand....i do not know. But what I know is they always return. these pages, stories me and you blush upon, eye's widen, and all matter of heart suddenly becomes serious.shall we tango, to the song we have written and forgot to sing? The walk we have stripped of pride and ego we emasculated with a smile, spinning all into a glorious dance of laughter and forgetting. unanswered by the strangest stranger of all things strange. arrange my steps. trapeze down paved paths we call streets by names mispronounced, on lonely continents....their plates shifting, hands of lands intertwining, beneath the surface of off things that seem. Twin to my soul. You walk not to far behind. I am not always aware youre there....its the BLOG ARCHIVE credit you are teaching me to take, without doubting whats mine, is already yours. She snuggles into my shoulder, and releases all passions, left victims of their own burning ame of power, resting like yellow seeds, against the black petals ......of a 1 2011 (18) gloriously.....burning .......sun-ower. 1 November (6)
2 3 September (4) August (5)

Face.Your.Dream.Self Burnin---' S.u.n. f.l.o.w.e.R S.P.L.I.T S "It is death sweetly bluish, like non-being. Becau... 4 2 July (3) 2010 (13)

Posted b
1 comments:

RoXalana at 8:01 PM

RoXalana Alexander said... Interjections are merged together to nd unity in the bipolar minds of surrounding gray shadows. ..................good readings, thank you for your existence! Toronto, Canada View my complete prole

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