Life Coaches Central: Where Coaching Insiders Blog About Real Issues

Since when is it okay to ignore drinking and driving laws? Apparently when some drivers ignore their binge drinking and alcohol abuse, the law enforcement doesn't mind, and in fact, they ignore it too. Yes, yes, you've heard by now. I'm referring to Lindsey Lohan's two DUIs and 84 minutes of jail time. What was the point of the 84 minutes? They might as well condone celebrity drinking and driving!! Binge drinking and alcohol abuse are not health problems that should be overlooked or treated lightly. Driving when your perception is altered -- whether sleepy, or blinded by the sun, or piss drunk, puts you, your car and others on the road at risk. Asking someone to be a designated driver can be a pain, but when lives are at risk, it's worth the hassle. And there's always public transportation or a cab -- something celebs like Lindsay Lohan can certainly afford.

Like many of you in the workforce, I'm constrained to a cubicle for the duration of my day. Getting out of the office and stretching my legs is absolutely necessary mid-day. So I grab lunch. What to do with the next 45 minutes? Not one to sit on my break, essentially taking a break from sitting, I usually stroll. But if you, like me, work in midtown-NYC or any other high traffic area in a big city, you may often find yourself wandering into stores and foolishly claim to do some 'harmless window shopping'...

Yea right. I've done more credit card damage in 30-minute time slots than teenager with access to daddy's Visa. Saks Fifth Avenue, Bergdorf Goodman, Sephora - (let me interrupt here to add a shameful anecdote. I get so happy when I walk into Sephora. Yes, a euphoric wave of happiness comes over me. All the colors! And endless perfumes to smell. And do you know you can get a free sample of ANYTHING? Smart little suckers, those people at Sephora. I've ended up buying the full-sized version of almost every "free" sample I've taken home. It's so bad that a sales lady there actually told me to just darn buy the perfume I had asked for a sample of, knowing my return would be inevitable. Oh the shame.) - All of these retailers within walking distance, teasing you with little pick-me-ups that guarantee, with no fail, to always make even my dullest days so much better.

But for every pick-me-up I acquire, there's a bit of pull-me-down going on, financially speaking. It's emotional spending gone rampant. I've actually rationalized buying one item in the next store I visited because I didn't buy a pricier item in the last. Does this even make sense? Somehow I convinced myself I was saving money, getting a 'deal'! And if I return something - which I often have to because of the foolishness mentioned above - something will catch my eye on the way out, or more commonly on the way in before I even make it to the return counter, and I've heard myself in head saying "Well, you're not really spending any more money..." Oh goodness gracious.

Does anyone else have this problem? Are they no other time-efficient shoppers out there? It might be time to consider hiding the plastic, before it melts from all the heavy-friction usage...

Last week must have been my lucky week, or something. How often do you get to say you saw a presidential candidate (Barack Obama), a venerable rockstar (Bruce Springsteen), a songwriting global activist (Bono), a stand up comic (Chris Rock), a passionate pianist (Alicia Keys), the current IT songstress (Shakira) and a former U.S. President (Bill Clinton) – all within the span of three days?

I know, let me say it again, last week was my lucky week.

Though I may get a little star struck at times, one of the real reasons I felt so lucky to have seen these household names is because I got to observe each of them at a moment of pure passion for their career and for their life's work.

I recently took a college debt survey by Lynnette Khalfani on AOL Coaches. After taking it, I began to think how grateful I am not to have to carry around that burden. I have several friends that have over $75K of debt to pay. Those that have finished their graduate programs are paying between $500 -- $1,000 a month to pay down their debt -- many making less than $40K a year and living in New York City. I know some of you are asking, "Why are they living in such an expensive city?" For most, their chosen profession requires them to live in New York City to develop contacts and be in an environment that fosters their talent. Several work as waiters (don't forget to tip), while others are in jobs that don't take advantage of their amazing talent or sheer intelligence.

Why I am writing about college debt? This subject has always been an annoyance to me since finding out that the Finnish government would send a check to one of my friends to help pay for her college tuition -- this was on top of what her parents gave her. I just can't understand how a country as wealthy and capable as the good 'ol USA would foster an environment that burdened their students with so much debt. Would it not be a more efficient use of money to pay for our education so that we could focus on making better widgets? All I hear from our current Congress is how China is doing this and that unfairly, when in reality we rely on each other in very complex and beneficial ways. I would like to know when our students (our country's future) are going to be in the top 5 of anything beside sports. I would like that to be one of our main points of focus. What do you think?

Everyone's got them – someone you work with who is either all over the place and completely disorganized, or someone who is downright toxic and rude. Either way, its people who are difficult to work with that often prevent you from being able to get your job done properly. This issue is especially annoying and frustrating for people like me, who are buttoned-up, organized and overly-conscious of deadlines -- otherwise know as ANAL J. In addition, I do my best to treat everyone at work the way I like to be treated -- with kindness, courtesy, and respect...regardless of how frustrated or pissed off I may be.

A friend of mine works at a large media company. She moved to a new company several years ago and was laid off. She ended up returning to the first company on the rebound. The company started treating her like a vengeful lover, mad over the rejection. (Like when you return to a relationship you know shouldn't. )They made her prove how wrong she was for leaving (paying her less money and giving her the worst hours). But even more than this, they seemed devalue the important contribution that she makes on a daily basis. So she's frustrated and is planning her getaway again by developing a career more in line with her life's love -- art. To move in that direction, she joined a professional group related to her new interests. The group mentioned her in a newsletter, and lo and behold, people were offering to purchase her professional art services. So my friend was surprised and unprepared for the response. What did she do? Nothing. I reminded her that she could have called me -- a member of her "personal board of advisers" so she could have reasoned out how to handle the possibilities.

I've talked to a number of people who have such a personal "board," usually a group of friends who have a variety of professional experiences and who can help decipher all the workplace "astrological signs" over drinks or dinner or in hushed emergency phone calls from work on the cell phone. We ended up talking about her options and how she could salvage some of the solicitations and better prepare for a successful career relaunch.

Anybody else have a "personal board?" Let me know how yours works.