legal nurse consultants

As this holiday season comes into full bloom, with only four days left until Christmas and the inevitable aftermath of torn wrapping paper and dirty dinner dishes, I’d like to take a moment to discuss the best Christmas “present” you can give yourself. That present is being present – present in the moment with full attention and intention, not living with an eye on the past or looking to the future. It means living fully in the current moment – whether that moment is with your family, friends, legal nurse consulting business or attorney-clients.

As many of you already know, I have a morning tradition of waking up to two cups of healthy green tea. With the first cup, I take time to enrich my soul, set my intention for the day and, more importantly, give myself the present of starting the day by being present. This practice helps to prepare me for the upcoming frenzy and, while it doesn’t guarantee my day will be stress-free, it does guarantee that I’m better equipped to deal with the madness.

So buy yourself or your loved ones a Christmas gift – the present of being present. Here are three different resources that can help give you, or your loved ones, the present of being present.

The first is A Course In Miracles by Dr. Helen Schucman, a text that has the power to change your daily practices of living, learning, loving and meditating through a series of lessons and exercises. It’s not an easy read and is one of the most challenging books I have ever read, but if your mind is open it can transform all your relationships, whether spiritual or physical.

Second is Five Good Minutes: 100 Morning Practices to Help You Stay Calm and Focused All Day Long by Jeffrey Brantley and Wendy Millstone. What I love about this resource is that while everyone may not be willing to get up early enough to have two cups of tea, anyone can find five minutes in their morning. This is a quick and easy way to train yourself to become present and start your day with calm.

My final recommendation is Start Where You Are: A Guide to Compassionate Living by Pema Chodron. I must admit I was first attracted to this book by the title, and being familiar with Pema’s other works, I didn’t hesitate to pick it up. It’s a great way to learn how to use meditation as a way of life, not just a practice.

Life is challenging enough without taking time for ourselves. Reading any one of these books won’t change your life immediately – think of them as seeds that will help you grow into all that you are meant to be. Give yourself the present of being present this Christmas and in the New Year.

Success Is Inside!

Unless you’re an OB nurse, you probably don’t have many cord management skills. If you’re like me, the backside of your desk is a mess – of cables that is. One thing’s for sure, no matter who you are, the more gadgets you have, the more cables you have.

On the desk at my home office, I have a flat-bed photo scanner, a UPS/Surge Protector, the dock for my laptop, the 60” HD flat screen monitor (just kidding), the ScanSnap document scanner (indispensible) with all of their associated power charger and connector cables plus all the various cables for my computer, mouse, keyboard, Ethernet and my devices – the iPhone^® cable, the female-USB extension cable for my thumb-drives, charger for my Bluetooth headset and the little plug for my various digital cameras. It kind of looks like Medusa’s hair back there (and is just as scary).

On my desk at Vickie Milazzo Institute, it’s even worse because there are attached printers and power cables for my USB hubs on top of all the other cables I’ve listed above plus the dual monitors with their cables and my USB Plasma Ball (I’m not allowed to have a Tesla Coil due to some obscure safety regulation).

In January, Vickie got a new computer after her old one quit. Her desk is a paradigm of cable management neatness, despite the Dragon Naturally Speaking headset, speakers and iPhone and headset cables. All her cables are nicely managed because I did a fresh installation. That’s what happens when you start over. (Note to self: build new garage!)

So, how does a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant regain control of her office from the plethora of cables, connectors and other cords that accumulate in the open space behind her desk?  Even more important, why would she want to?

Well my CLNC^® amigos, the answer is simple. Eventually you’ll need to replace a device, power supply or whatever. After spending half the day unplugging and replugging different cables, you’ll get to the one you want. (Want to know why the one you want is always the last cable you unplug? It’s because you stop once you’ve found the cable you’re looking for.)

Instead of blindly unplugging and replugging, I recommend that once a year you power down your entire desk and then take a few moments to untangle the mess by completely unplugging all the cables (one at a time) and coiling them on top of, or next to, the device to which they belong. Then pull out your trusty label-maker, and label each cord with the name of its device (ScanSnap power cable, USB roller-mouse, etc.).

Once they’re all labeled, you can plug them back in, one at a time. After you’ve plugged in a cable, find someplace to hide it where you can’t easily see it and coil the cable around your fist. Next, grab some Velcro^® cable ties in various colors and tie it up to keep it neat. I like to match colors by device, which makes it easier than looking for the label. If you don’t want to spring for Velcro ties just get some plastic zip ties from your local hardware store and fix them in place. However, I don’t like zip-tying cables together with other cables because as soon as you do, one will fail. Instead, I recommend you buy a flexible cable cover to hide the obvious cable runs. I even have some flat ones that run along the wall and hide my Ethernet and power cables.

By taking a few minutes, you can turn that messy desk into a work of art. When you’re done organizing the cables on your desk, feel free to stop by and do mine!

Keep on techin’,

Tom

Gina D’Angelo, RN, BSN, MBA, NHA, CLNC shares how, after getting in front of 60 attorneys at a medical-malpractice conference, her CLNC^® business has grown so much she’s now using CLNC^® subcontractors to keep up!

Watch and learn her secrets to CLNC^® success.

Congratulations, Gina!

Success Is Inside!

Carol Ann McLawhorn, RN, BSN, CLNC shares a story about an unorthodox interviewing style she accidentally used with an attorney-prospect. While this is definitely NOT one of the interview styles we teach at Vickie Milazzo Institute, she did land a new attorney-client.

Watch Carol Ann as she bares all in this unrated video:

Congratulations, Carol Ann!

Success Is Inside!

One of our vendors Matthew (the name has been changed to protect the guilty) recently dropped the ball. Because he has a great track record all he really needed to do was acknowledge it and we would have gotten quickly back on track. But instead of owning his mistake, he chose to ignore it, apparently just wishing it would all disappear.

So a week later when we met, he brought a companion – what I call the “elephant in the room.” The elephant in the room is the shame and discomfort that comes with knowing one is wrong, but not having the guts to own it. There we all sat around the table, Matthew, me, a couple of staffers and a very large elephant.

At first, Matthew’s interactions were so strained it was almost laughable. The elephant just kept growing until it seemed to be taking up half the conference room. My staffers were giving him no quarter.

Finally, someone looked at him and said, “Matt, just own it.” At that moment he looked almost relieved and said, “I’m sorry I let everyone down. It won’t happen again.” We all looked at him, said “thanks” and went on with our meeting. The elephant left the building as fast as it arrived because Matthew summoned the courage to finally acknowledge that it was there.

In your CLNC^® business, have you ever brought an elephant into a meeting with an attorney-client? You may have dropped the ball and, like Matthew, need to own up to it but can’t seem to summon the courage to do so. Even if the attorney doesn’t mention it, the elephant won’t go away on its own, and the pain it causes you will be much greater than the pain of acknowledging you made a mistake. Plus, every second that the elephant is in the room without acknowledgment is a strain on your professional relationship.

I could write a book on just the mistakes I’ve made. The person who makes no mistakes usually makes nothing at all. I can pretty much guarantee that at some point in your career as a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant you’ll walk into a meeting with an attorney-client followed by a large, relentless elephant. You’ll have a choice: fess up or let the elephant take up all the space. You decide!

Success Is Inside (but the elephant shouldn’t be)!

I’m heading to the airport to board our flight home from the 2011 NACLNC^® Conference Cruise. This morning I had my healthy green tea, but what I really needed was a steaming hot cup of coffee with two added shots of espresso. If I didn’t have to be in the office tomorrow I’d probably take a couple of days off to rest up! As far as I know no one made a family member walk the plank so we’re all going home tanned, renewed and ready for another year of CLNC^® success.

I’m sure that some of the True Hollywood Stories you’ll hear about this year’s Conference Cruise will be much funnier (or scarier) than they really were. Tom’s still talking about my experience on the rock-climbing wall and if the hilarious video of him boogie boarding on the FlowRider^® makes it to YouTube — well let’s just say it wasn’t me!

Stay tuned to LegalNurse.com for information on the next NACLNC^® Conference Cruise. See you there! This year’s will be hard to beat. It was a blast – I loved each and every moment!

Success is Inside!

This is it — the final day. It’s hard to believe the 2011 NACLNC^® Conference Cruise is almost over! The past 6 days went by so fast it feels like we just got onboard! Luckily we’ve got another full day of great sessions from the CLNC^® Pros to look forward to before it all ends. I’ve heard nothing but great comments about yesterday’s sessions and can’t wait to edit the audio recordings. I get to hear every speaker in their entirety and bask in their hard-earned success. These speakers work so hard all year long to deliver to you and they sure did! My deepest gratitude goes out to each and every one of you.

After the sessions end, I’m sure everyone will be packing to disembark in Port Canaveral tomorrow.

But before we start thinking about heading home, we get to celebrate the last six days of fun and adventure at our Farewell Reception. We’ll all meet in Studio B at 7:15 and I’m sure there will be some fun, lots of laughter and even a few tears as everyone wishes bon voyage to their newest, oldest friends and CLNC^® colleagues.

Success is Inside!

Today is the big day, although they’ve all been pretty big so far with all the fun things to do. This is our first official classroom day. Now that everyone has turned a nice shade of tan (or bright red) we’ll move the fun into the air conditioning and crank up the PowerPoint^®.

First, I’ve got my opening speech in the Arcadia Theatre, followed by our great sessions from the first group of CLNC^® Pros in the Freedom’s Conference Center. We’ve got two tracks of great topics this year and this is only Day 1! I’ve worked all year long with the speakers and I guarantee you are going to love them.

This evening it’s back to the Arcadia Theatre for CLNC^® Night followed by our networking dinner. I hope everyone gets energized by the day’s classes because tonight’s our final Formal Night — we’ll all be dressed for CLNC^® success! Dancing, casino and who knows what afterwards?

More tomorrow!

I’ve almost lost track of the days. Eat, sleep, have fun and cruise. I could get used to this lifestyle. Of course, I’d have to buy a whole new wardrobe with expandable clothing. There’s more food and opportunities to eat on a cruise ship than should be legal. Tomorrow we’ll all start dieting… NOT!

Today is port day in Philipsburg, the capital of Dutch St. Maarten. The town has lots of traditional West Indian architecture and lots of pastel-color homes. Tom wants to check out the historic forts; I’m just interested in getting in a good walk around the island and then spending the afternoon having a cool tropical drink in a shady café listening to a steel-drum band.

I’m sure the CLNC^® consultants will find plenty to do with shopping, touring and great excursions. For those of you back in the States, happy Saint Patrick’s Day! Please have a green beer for Tom and a glass of healthy red wine for me.

More tomorrow!

Today we’re docked in Charlotte Amalie on St. Thomas. I’m in search of real pirates under the guise of checking out the local architecture. All that research I did on pirates for my opening speech got into my head and now I’m seeing them everywhere.

I’m sure I’ll be seeing CLNC^® consultants all over St. Thomas today. I can already tell which ones are feeling the technology deprivation. They’re the ones who at dinner last night were reminding everyone to make sure their cell phones are charged for today. More than a few Certified Legal Nurse Consultants were bugging the ship’s purser about the locations of Internet cafes so they could get caught up on email and Facebook. Speaking of Facebook, I’ll try to post some photos from the first couple of days of the Cruise and will post the rest after we get back next week. That is if I don’t take a nap!

Courtesy of Tom, here are a couple of interesting historical notes: a number of the streets here in Charlotte Amalie are made from bricks that were brought from Denmark as ballast in the holds of the merchant ships. They made a one-way trip and someone finally figured out what to do with them. The town itself has a natural deep-water port which made it very popular with merchants, pirates and today cruise ships. My biggest surprise – Camille Pissarro, one of the fathers of French Impressionism, was born here.

After the tour and history lesson I’m thinking of going back and spending the day in the ship’s spa! I’ll have to check with the local authorities before we sail to see if any CLNC^® consultants need me to help them make bail or carry their duty-free purchases onboard.

Tonight all that’s on is the NACLNC^® Networking Dinner so I might find time to lay low and spend time with my opening speech. Arrgghh!

More tomorrow!