I had a chance to speak with the young star carrying a voice bigger than life and a humbling spirit, Ms. Coco McMillan. I was so elated by her poised, graceful presence as we spoke candidly about her life. Coco is an inspiration for anyone trying to find the hidden answers within to who you really are.
Coco has been singing for many years which started at a young age. She shares about her young years singing in a group formed by her grandmother.
Later in life Coco found herself singing in the background of legendary Gerald Levert after he discovered her and two other friends while in Raleigh, NC. During her stint with Gerald she describes her experiences of meeting the likes of Michael Jackson and Patti Labelle.
It would seem that a dream of being on tour and meeting these incredible performers would be the highlight of her vision and dream, but Coco shares with us the moment she found her truest voice, her truest self; a new vision.
How often are we faced with a big decision; one that affects every aspect of our lives? How often does the question arise, do I keep going in the direction that is most comfortable, most lucrative, most self fulfilling or do I follow my inner voice, the truest essence of who I really am?
Coco McMillan is Stellar Music Award Nominee New Artist of the Year, singing for a new audience. How did she make the leap?
Listen on our my candid interview with the rising star Coco McMillan.
Find out more about Coco at http://www.CocoMcMillan.com
Making New Year resolutions is an age long tradition adopted by many people across all races and religious beliefs. In the past many people have made New Year resolutions that they never kept. Year after year they earnestly resolve to undertake a project, reform a habit or change their lifestyle in some way but they either never got to start it or they abandon the commitment most likely a few weeks into the New Year.
A recent research quoted in Wikipedia supports this. The findings from the research showed that only 12% of participants in a resolution study actually achieved their goals even though 52% were confident that they will achieve their goal.
My chief 2009 New Year resolution is to embrace excellence everyday and make it a lifestyle. Like many people my resolve to embrace excellence everyday in the coming year is born out of the desire to change, to improve and become a better person. Though no one is or can be absolutely perfect, excellence is something we should reach for and attain in many areas of our lives. To attain it, first of all it must be desired since it doesn’t come naturally. Secondly an excellence attitude must be learned. Finally perseverance in maintaining the attitude of excellence in the face of trials will result to a lifestyle of excellence .
I probably made my first New Year resolutions about 15 years ago. However, along the way I stopped the tradition because I had personally failed to keep many of my New Year resolutions in the past. I started again when I found out that there is a right way and a wrong way to make New Year resolution. To make a New Year resolution that is achievable, it has to be something more than just a wish.
The bigger challenge about New Year resolution is clearly not in making them but in keeping them. I have therefore outlined 5 practical ways to keep my biggest resolution for the year 2009 which might be of interest and may be beneficial to you.
1. Make reminders for my resolution
In many ways my failure to keep my past New Year resolutions was due to the fact that I quickly forgot them. I had nothing or nobody to remind me from time to time about my resolutions so that in the course of time, somehow absorbed by the events of the New Year, I return to my former lifestyle or abandon the commitment forgetting completely that I had made a New Year resolution.
The first practical step to keeping my New Year resolution therefore is to write it out and post it in many places as possible to serve as reminder. I will post it by my bedside, by my office/work desk, on the kitchen wall, as a screensaver on my computer, etc.
2. Create activities and set deadlines
If a goal/resolution is not broken down into smaller day to day activities, it would appear unachievable when an attempt is made to achieve it.
Activities and deadline that I will create to help me achieve this goal include, share my resolution to five (5) people within the first week of January, read and digest one book or article on excellence every other week, listen to one tape/attend a seminar on excellence every month. The main purpose of these activities is to inculcate an excellence attitude.
3. Create a sense of accountability
A sense of accountability is required to motivate and also create the urgency to carry out the goals/activities and to meet the deadlines.
In order to create a sense of accountability, three (3) of the five (5) people I share my resolution with will be people I respect like my wife, my pastor and my immediate boss. I will also share my daily, weekly or monthly activities and goals with them and ask them to follow up on me to make sure that I have carried them out. In this way, knowing that I have to report back to people I respect, I will be motivate to carryout the activities and meet my goals.
4. Seek, identify and obtain better ways of achieving excellence
By this I mean being on the look out to identify what I must do or get to make excellence easily achievable in whatever I do. These could be to buy the latest system/software, identify and adopt a better time management method, relocate to or create a more conducive environment, adopt new and better methods of doing things, make new arrangements or new relationships that are beneficial towards attaining my goal of excellence.
5. Appreciate and reward my efforts/achievements
Finally, I will personally track my efforts and my achievements in order to appreciate and reward myself. Everybody needs encouragement and we all can do with some reward from time to time as incentive to give more of our best.
January has been designated as Get Organized Month . January is the time for new beginnings, making resolutions and setting goals. Adding organization to that mix increases your chances of success.
Regardless of what your goals are, everything will run a little smoother with a little organization. Clearing clutter alone could eliminate 40% of household chores - freeing up valuable time that you could use to exercise, write that novel you’ve been thinking about, or spend some extra quality time with the family.
A little organization can go a long way to helping you eliminate extra stress. If your mornings run smoother, you will be setting a positive tone that can follow you through the day. Less stress can be a boon for you as well, if your goals include weight loss or smoking cessation.
Here are a few of the organization tips that have helped me the most.
A Proper Place or Space : Find a convenient and logical place for items you frequently misplace like keys, glasses and cell phones. I purchased a small stand with a single drawer that fits perfectly by my door. In it, I place my keys and the dog’s leash. It’s convenient because it’s right by the door and it’s easy to just throw my keys in it or on top of it.
List It : Before leaving work, take a minute or two to jot down everything you need to take care of tomorrow. This way you won’t leave with that nagging feeling that you’ve forgotten something. If you do think of something on the drive home, simply call your work voicemail and leave yourself a message! I also do a more general list at the end of the day for personal issues.
Hangers and Hampers : In the morning, when I dress, I hang my hangers on the closet door or place them on top of my hamper. In the evening, I get dressed standing in front of the hamper. Dirty clothes go in immediately. Since my hangers are easy to find, anything I can wear again gets hung up immediately too.
5 Night Time Minutes : I take five to ten minutes at the end of the day to prepare for the next day (lay out clothes, fix lunch, etc.). Just a few minutes at night can save valuable time and stress in the morning.
If you are interested in getting rid of clutter and getting a little more organized, I have an e-book called Get It Together Girl: A 28-Day Program for Practical NOT Perfect Home Organization . Each weekday features a 15-minute organization assignment. Weekends are optional. At the end of each week; I also give some tips on how to stay organized. Tips so simple that even husbands can do them!
The program includes the e-book, daily motivational audio tracks and access to the Get It Together Girl message board and community. The program usually costs $19.95. However, as a P3 Power Boost reader, you can get the program for just $14.95. Click here to take advantage of that offer.
There I was trapped in many dark nights of the soul. Everything in my life felt like purgatory. The only color I saw was gray. All the vivid color of my life was gone. I felt no joy, no peace and laughter was something I only remembered. I was just getting through my days and endless nights of no sleep.
Damn, the driver of that car that changed everything in my life in the blink of an eye. It had been over a year. Sherry, my best friend of many years came to pick me up to go on one of our many lunch and shopping excursions. It was a Saturday and the weekend was ahead of me to do whatever I wanted to do. I was flying high from another successful week at my new job. I had become a shining star in just five months at this new position.
I could do no wrong. I had found my niche in sales. I had earned a big new office with a mahogany desk and a very plush chair. I even had a view. I was feeling pretty satisfied with myself and my life. I was fearless in my approach in sales and all my talents were serving me well. I guess you could say I had become very cocky. I had it all…a good job…a nice house…nice car…I was young and I had my health. According to what I had been taught, I should be content but I felt empty many late nights wondering what was keeping me up. I felt like I was longing for something I couldn’t put my finger on. It was an itch I couldn’t scratch no matter what I did to try and fill the void. I had talked to God many times about this and asked for an answer. I talked to God in conversational tones because to me praying had seemed uncomfortable. I never really felt that God heard me. I was about to discover that I was heard every time. I was always complaining to God and never talked to God when things were going great.
I was about to learn that change is a constant. You cannot avoid it. This is one of the absolute truths of life. I was also about to learn that the answer I prayed for was on its way just not in the way I expected. If anyone had told me that I would look back on this catastrophic event and see the blessing of it, I would have told them they were crazy.
There is an old saying in order to get a mule to move you have to get its attention and in my case a two by four was needed. I guess you could say my life would soon resemble a jigsaw puzzle that had been dropped on the floor.
The driver ran a stop sign and her car hit the (yup, you guessed it) passenger side of the car. Did I say ouch? Sherry drove a very small car and if you want to guess again…it was a Triumph Spitfire. Oh joy of joys. I was in a tin can of a car and Bam! I had always driven big cars of substance because they always fared better in accidents or so I had been told. This time I didn’t have a choice in the matter. I had a second to react and I braced my right arm and right leg against the dash and the floor simultaneously. It was a real big mistake number one.
She was from Vietnam and looked to be about thirteen years old and there was a baby crying in the car loudly! She kept saying “I’m sorry”, over and over again and I told her to check on the child who was by this time screaming. The child was fine and she asked us not to call the police as she (yup, you guessed it) didn’t have a drivers license. The old beat up Buick she was driving looked like it had seen better days. It was a pitiful sight to behold.
She said her name was Hi or something like that. Her accent was strong and it was hard to understand her. There is one more thing. The car had (yup, you guessed it) no insurance. Along came the police car and an ambulance as both of us were messed up. I couldn’t walk. I kept falling down. Shall I go into the joys of the emergency room and the doctors and nurses who were noticeably absent? It was the weekend and they were short staffed.
Why is it that all the bad stuff happens on the weekend? Your dog gets sick on Saturday night or the air-conditioning breaks down on Saturday morning on a very hot weekend. Well as one Doctor put it “the good news is you are not going to die and the bad news is you are not going to die.” I guess he thought he was a regular comedian because he chuckled when he said it. I could tell by the nurse who rolled her eyes at his comment that this was something that he said all the time. I was not impressed.
The final word on everything was when I braced myself on impact I had really screwed everything up. I had some vertebra that had moved from their original positions and my right shoulder was frozen and some tendons were torn and my hips had torqued and twisted out of position to one side. Can you say OUCH?
After all the tests were done and a few days in the hospital they sent me home with pain killers and talk of surgery when all the swelling went down. I could walk with great difficulty and now my new job was gone. The doctors told me it would be a few months before I could return to work. A few months my sweet patootie! The painkillers made me groggy and cranky. In the following months the rounds of tests and office visits had taken its toll. I had no libido, no energy and a bad attitude. I was in pain all the time and my home became as messy as my thoughts.
My husband took off saying he couldn’t take it and I was alone with two dogs I couldn’t walk or play with.My poor babies were starved for attention but faithful companions. They were by my side every moment. They were patient with me and loving. I had no life. What I was about to find out was spiritually before the accident I had no life either. I just thought I did.
The year had passed slowly as time often does for those who are in any kind of pain physical, mental or spiritual and I was experiencing all three. A day to me seemed like a week. I was becoming bitter and it was becoming embedded in my voice and personality. I was wearing my victim stripes proudly. I blamed everyone and everything for my state of affairs. People didn’t like to be around me for long. When you throw a pity party, no one wants to come.
One of those dark panic-filed days wondering what was going to happen to me, I decided to go to one of those huge chain bookstores. You know, the kind that serves you over-priced fancy coffees and has bargain bin books to lure you into spending your cash.
It became my refuge. I spent hours there, drinking coffee and blazing through the books. I was drawn to the new age, metaphysical and spiritual books. One book recommended keeping a journal as a way of recording the spiritual journey. That is when I realized I was on a journey and it sure seemed spiritual to me. I purchased a good notebook and a fancy pen. Then I started meditation and the 180 degree turn had commenced. I had never learned how to be still and quiet the mind. It was intoxicating. I took less and less of the pain killers and told the doctors no surgeries.
The transformation was intense and beautiful. The color was coming back into my life. I had always been an artist but had never done anything with it. I started painting and drawing again and it was my best work ever thus far. I had always written when I was a young girl to escape the pain of a horrible dysfunctional childhood. I started writing more and more and felt such joy in it. I knew it was one of the gifts my creator had given me. I felt more whole than I had ever felt.
Then one rainy night like something out of a Gothic novel, the wind was tearing up the landscape. The rain was coming down in sideways sheets. The zigzag bolts of light were filling up the sky and caused my dogs to hide under the bed. I decided to put on a cd of violin concertos. I was standing at a big window looking outside and the music was so haunting beautiful that I started to weep.
I was very moved. I mouthed the words, “Thank You.” That’s when I heard it. The words were startling clear. “You’re welcome!” I was overwhelmed because I knew instantly without any doubts that the voice I heard was God. It was thousands of voices yet one voice soft and firm with a message for me. This force…this power was speaking to me. So this is what real happiness and joy feels like, I thought. I had never felt it before. Later on I knew that it was my sincere expression of gratitude that brought this experience to me.
What had happened to me is the incredible blessing of direct contact with my creator. The accident changed my life and I am now dedicated to teaching others how to change their perceptions of their lives and how to understand and know God.
I study quantum mechanics, theology, cellular biology, philosophy, other spiritual teachers and their work. I became ordained and I am now a published writer, author and accomplished artist. I am a public speaker and a workshop facilitator. I am also a life coach and I am living my purpose and my path.
Who would have ever thought that a car accident could propel all this? Gods’ voice is soft yet strong. You can hear God in so many ways. Are you listening? Yes, God has a sense of humor. He made a silk purse of a sow’s ear but first he had to get my attention. I had asked for more meaning in my life and wanted to know what my purpose was and I got the answers. God used the two by four that was necessary to get my attention. I asked and I received and I have learned to listen for God’s guidance. It had been there all along.
I keep going back to gratitude and how it changed my life and my path so profoundly. I know the energy of the practice of gratitude can turn anything around. It is a daily practice with me.
I now see the blessing of the accident that changed my life and put me firmly on my spiritual path. I now understand that when you practice gratitude you become a living breathing prayer in action. What I am attracting into my life now is amazing and nothing short of a miracle. This is just something to think about.
By the time you read this it’ll be 2010 and every time New Year’s Eve rolls around, I sit down with a notebook, write a letter to God or I pray, and reflect on the past year. My first year out of college has been an absolute roller coaster and I’m still in one piece. Every year I get a little stronger and wiser, but then I realize I have such a long way to go. It seems like I have lessons on life that could be stretched out into a lifetime. In actuality I’ve been through the typical things, nothing detrimental or tragic, just normal.
I’ve come to realize that just about everyone on that subway to work has been where I’ve been or experiencing something with me at the same time. Readers, I’m not having a unique experience, but what I do have is the ability to share it with you and anyone else who can relate. This is my outlet for coping with pretty average things, but it seems like the end of the world (it’s only the beginning).
As I ring in 2010, I will remember 2009 and move forward humbled my past. I also will let marinate the fact that I don’t know everything (even though I think I do) and really shut up and listen. No one in this world owes me anything; I haven’t found a cure for AIDS or even made a dent in this world (I’m hoping to start here).
I do apologize to you all for producing such a somber installment, but I think it’s called for.
But wait…
Here’s the uplift and challenge I’ll present to each of you. For New Year’s Eve no matter where you are or what you’re doing take a minute and reflect. I also want you to have high hopes for the New Year without the resolutions. My resolution for every year is to do my very best, take care of myself, be happy, and grow.
