Perspective

We all have the ability to make a difference. Try tackling small tasks today that have an impact on the lives of others. Find this an other inspiration in our motivational tweets, found here in video form. Keep looking for them everyday on Twitter!

Animation: Marie Hankinson

In 1999, Georgette Blau (left) launched On Location Tours, a company that tours locations featured in TV shows and movies. “I started On Location Tours because of my passion for TV shows, especially classic TV shows from the 70's and 80's,” Georgette says. “I loved the idea of walking in the steps of the characters, feeling as if you were part of the TV show. It was a great, off the beaten path way of seeing New York.”

When she first launched her company, it was one of three of its kind in the world. “Now, we're one of over 100! This growing tourism phenomenon prompted me to start the ATTAM [the Association for TV and Movie Tours].”

Georgette runs tours in New York and Boston, visiting sites that have been featured in TV shows such as “Sex and the City,” “Friends,” “Gossip Girl,” “Cheers,” and “Boston Legal.” The tours visit sites from movies including the Devil Wears Prada, Moonstruck, When Harry Met Sally, The Departed, and Good Will Hunting.

We asked Georgette a few questions about her business and inspiration, here’s what she shared with us:

Where do you think the drive to start your own business came from?  

I had always wanted to own a business, probably from the age of 8 or so. I love seeing something develop and grow from just a seed, and the freedom of wearing so many hats. It never gets boring! I double majored in college, however, in two very different things: English with a concentration in Creative Writing and Architectural Preservation. I wish I had studied business and entrepreneurship...I had to learn the tough way, via "on the job" training. I see entrepreneurship as the new American dream.

Who is someone that inspires you?

I am inspired by Saranne Rothberg; she launched a non profit company called Comedy Cures several years ago, after battling Stage 4 breast cancer. She's an extremely positive person, despite having survived so many obstacles in her life, and her company is not only wonderful in that it helps other cancer survivors, but has garnered great press and recognition over the years.

What advice can you give young entrepreneurs? Or women thinking about becoming entrepreneurs?

One piece of advice I always like to give to entrepreneurs starting out — especially those who are low on capital or have financial challenges — is to hire interns. Interns love being in a start-up environment and love getting credit for great experience, and are normally very passionate about their work.

For information on On Location Tours, visit www.screentours.com.

A group on a Boston tour outside the original Cheers

Photos courtesy of On Location Tours

If you focus your actions with an "I can do this" attitude, you'll accomplish more and better things. Find this and more motivation in our tweets, compiled here in video form. Keep looking for them everyday on Twitter.

Animation: Marie Hankinson

Walking into my power means bringing all of me in the door; my good parts, my bad parts and those parts I don’t want to claim. Because when I bring all of me in the door, I am grounded. I can use my gifts and I can dance with my demons, which means I can make a difference in the world.

—Ella L. J. Edmondson Bell, associate professor, Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth University (left)

This quote is featured at the top of the third chapter of Helene's book, In Her Power. That part of the book is about owning all of yourself, not only your strengths, but also your weaknesses. The book is now in bookstores, and you can also buy it on Amazon, BarnesandNoble.com and Powell's.

Jenna Goudreau from Forbes Woman interviewed Helene about the nine ways women self-sabotage. Check out the story here.

Watch a clip from one of our shows, "Make it Happen: Mentors, Dreams, Success," where Ursula Burns, now CEO and Chairman of Xerox, discusses growing up on the Lower East Side of Manhattan and her mother's positive influence on her.

I am so excited, my new book In Her Power: Reclaiming Your Authentic Self will be in bookstores next Tuesday. It took me two years to write and I received a lot of support along with the way from some dynamic women.  It is about the nine facets of a woman’s power and the most common self-sabotaging behaviors — what I call veils — that hold us back from each.

Some of the facets of power are: recognizing your unique destiny; accepting the discomfort of change, acting with confidence, expressing yourself genuinely, cultivating intimacy, and building a Power Web. I had to confront some things about myself that I would rather have left unsaid. I found myself revealing more than I usually do in business circles because I realized that in writing down my own story I could really help others.

The book is filled with exercises and reflections to take you deeper and look at what blocks you from fully accessing your power. It is my hope that women, after reading this book, will step into their power my fully.  There is no time to waste — the world is in a crazy place, and more women leaders are needed.

Heart disease is the leading cause of death for women in America. Which is why organizations like WomenHeart: The National Coalition for Women with Heart Disease are so important.

WomenHeart has partnered with the Million Hearts Initiative, the first national public health initiative aimed at preventing one million heart attacks and strokes over the next five years.

Led by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevents and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Serivces, Million Hearts aims to improve prevention of heart disease and stroke by focusing on the “ABCS”: Aspirin therapy, Blood pressure control, Cholesterol control and Smoking cessation.

“If we successfully focus on and improve the statistics in these four areas, women will benefit, because women have particular needs in these areas,” affirms Lisa Tate, CEO of WomenHeart (left). “That’s why we’re behind the Million Hearts Initiative.”

Right now, there’s more women can do. The statistics are a bit shocking. According to a report by the CDC, less than half of people at risk of cardiovascular disease are taking aspirin, less than half of people with hypertention have adequately controlled blood pressure, less than half of people with high cholesterol have adequately controlled hyperlipidemia (fats in the blood), and only 23 percent of people who want to quit smoking get some kind of help.

“The goal of this campaign is to actually change those numbers,” Lisa asserts.

So WomenHeart will be spreading the word through its website, network of over 35,000 members, and volunteers. “One of the unique things WomenHeart does is train patients, volunteers we call WomenHeart Champions, to go out and speak to other women,” says Lisa. These Champions will deliver the Million Hearts message.

“Women should urge their friends and family members to make an appointment with a doctor, find out if they’re at risk,” Lisa urges. “There are so many things you can do to prevent heart disease if you know you’re at risk… Make sure you’re getting the right blood work done. Too often people wait to get those things checked out until they’re middle aged or older and they may have been at risk for a long time.”

By Sarah Tobol, Editor

Check out our Lifesyle feature this month: Be Smart About Heart Health!

Flowers are always a beautiful gift to give a special someone for Valentine's Day. Meet floral designer Rachel Cho, who from her studio in Manhattan and store in the Bronx puts together some beautiful displays. Watch how she mixes colors and textures — even lines a vase with leaves — so you can get inspiration to maybe do it yourself this year.

Video Editor: Victoria Ng

We visited Kee's Chocolates, a chocolate shop owned by Kee Ling Tong, who opened it in 2002 after leaving her job in the corporate world to pursue a dream. Take a look at our video below and watch Kee make passion fruit chocolate truffles in the shape of hearts — perfect for Valentine's Day.

Video Editor: Victoria Ng

Navigating work/life is a constant hot topic. In this clip from one of our shows, "Mothers and Sons: Raising Compassionate Men," Shelly Lazarus, Chairman of Ogilvy & Mather, and Soledad O'Brien, the anchor of CNN's morning news program "Starting Point," talk about how the love they have for their children has been the most important to them. Shelly's children are now in their 20s and 30s, while Soledad's twin sons are now seven (she also has two older daughters). But how cute are these two boys in this video? Take a look.

Speaking in front of others is something many of us have to do at some point, formally or informally, and sometimes it can be difficult. Diane Seymour is a founding member of the TAI Group. She helps clients deliver their full presence and personality for speeches and presentations. We asked her for some advice for those of us who have a hard time getting the guts to speak up.

How can you act more confidently if you’re a nervous speaker?

As you think about delivering your thoughts and perspective to the audience– take a breath. Breathing gives the audience space to better digest the message and helps them feel more confident and relaxed with you as the leader. Also, when you feel physical tension, put your attention on them (the audience). Make your connection to them much, much more important the than the physical nerves you feel. Imagine two balloons – one that inflates and grows (your focus and interest on the audience) and another one that shrinks and diminishes (your nerves). Watch one balloon get larger as the one other one disappears.

What are the key elements of commanding greater presence when you walk into a room?

Again, breathe! Imagine you have a string leading from the third button of your shirt (from the center of your sternum) gently pulling you forward as you walk up to take your place. When you arrive in front of the room, start in a “neutral” position — a relaxed stance with your feet balanced and grounded in one spot and your arms free. Starting from neutral allows the audience to focus on you and your message, rather than on any distracting body language. It also allows you to focus on making the connection with individual audience members the most important thing.

How can you create the greatest impact?

In every culture, one of the most important ways human beings influence each other is through story-telling. Stories deliver principles and emotions through metaphor and images that stick in someone’s mind. Metaphors help us see the world in new ways, and can guide us to a deeper understanding of larger organizational initiatives. Stories capture the imagination and help the audience personalize their own experience within the frame of the speaker’s content, which has a huge effect on our ability to process the speaker’s content. Stories and metaphors are ultimately about “journeys” and as an audience we appreciate being led definitively in one direction.

What is the most important principle you can share with someone who is preparing for an important presentation?

Practice makes permanent!

Visit www.thetaigroup.com for more information on Diane’s work and an upcoming program, Communicating with Power and Presence. Sponsored post.

February is Heart Health Month — learn more about heart disease prevention, and remember to wear red on February 3 to support the fight in the disease against women! Here's a clip from one of our shows, "Heartbeat to Heartbeat: Women and Heart Disease," featuring Lucy Lawless (remember "Xena: Warrior Princess"?) in which she discusses how important it is as women that we put our health first. Take a look.

Are you having trouble getting into the swing of things this morning? Take inspiration from the following quotes from some great thinkers. You'll be sure to get back on track.

Whatever you can do
or dream you can do
begin it.
Boldness has genius and power
and magic in it.
Begin it now!

                             — Goethe

There is a vitality, a life force, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique. If you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is; nor how valuable it is; nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours, clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. ...

                             — Martha Graham

... I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community and as long as I live, it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can.

I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work, the more I live. I rejoice in life for its own sake. Life is no "Brief candle" to me. It is a sort of spendid torch which I have got hold of for the moment and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations.

                             — George Bernard Shaw

I've been absolutely terrified every moment of my life and I've never let it keep me from doing a single thing that I've wanted to do.

                             — Georgia O'Keefe

Until one is committed, there is hesitancy,
the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness.
Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation)
there is one leementary truth, the ignorance of which
kills countless ideas and spendid plans:
the moment one definitely commits oneself, the providence moves too.
All sorts of things occur to help that never otherwise would have occurred.
A whole stream of events issues from the decision raising in one's favor
all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance
which no man could have dreamed would come his way.

                             — W.H. Murray

Engaging women and girls in science and technology is important for women already in the field. Here's a clip from one of our public television specials, “Bold Visions: Women in Science and Technology,” featuring Anne Carpenter, director of the Imaging Platform at the Broad Institute; Duy-Loan Le, the first woman and the first Asian-American to be elected TI Senior Fellow in Texas Instruments; Melina Kanakaredes, formerly of “CSI: NY.”

In the clip you’ll see them talk about the need to educate children on the importance of STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) careers. Melina tells a sweet story of her science fair project in seventh grade that was encouraged by a teacher. Take a look.

Gossip. It’s irresistible, and often it can get us into trouble. So why does this article on CNN suggest that it might not be such a bad thing?

A series of studies in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology concluded that gossip maintains social order. That when there’s gossip or the threat of gossip in any situation, people work together better.

In my opinion, regardless of the results of this study, gossip gets a bad rap because it should. It’s counterproductive. Via email or in person, what does talking about others accomplish? Sure, you get the satisfaction of knowing something someone else doesn’t for a short while, but then don’t you feel regret for spreading a rumor? For being malicious?

You certainly don’t want to become identified as the “office gossip.” Because then your coworkers may deem you untrustworthy. That might not only affect how your colleagues interact with you on a personal level but also on a professional level.

So what do you think about gossiping?

— Sarah Tobol, Editor

Happiness is something we all strive for. Writer Gretchen Rubin made it her mission when undertaking her Happiness Project — a year of making small changes and keeping resolutions to with the goal to be happier — that generated a book and blog.

She made resolutions like, “Don’t Expect Praise or Appreciation,” “Keep a Gratitude Notebook,” and “Be Generous.” Since her book came out she has tried to keep all of her resolutions and has been largely successful.

This year, Gretchen will release a new book, Happier at Home, with new resolutions on happiness that focus around the home, time, possessions and the body.

So what are ways to increase happiness? Gretchen focuses on four questions:

• How can you increase the “feeling good” in your life? What are things that make you feel excited and enthusiastic? Bring more of these things into your life.

• How can you get rid of things that make you feel bad? What are sources of guilt, anger, resentment, boredom, anxiety? Eliminating these things is an important part of happiness.

• Do you feel that your life reflects your values? It’s hard to be happy if it doesn’t.

• Is there an atmosphere of growth in your life? Growth is important as an engine of happiness.

“There are little things you can do as part of an ordinary routine that can make you happier,” Gretchen affirms. In her home, she focuses on what she enjoys and loves and has carved out spaces for those things, calling them areas of “super engagement.”

“I really love children’s literature and I want my home to reflect this too. So I have an area for children’s literature. I cleared off bookshelves and put all my books there,” she explained. “Now when I’m in that area it feels different, more alive than it did when they were all spread out.”

In your own home, Gretchen says, “think, where do I put myself into a mode to get excited about something? How can I carve out that space?”

For a quick happiness boost, jump up and down, Gretchen says. “If you jump up and down a few times, you cheer yourself up. It’s energetic, goofy, childlike and playful.”

A drain on happiness seems to be clutter, Gretchen observes. Here are techniques to combat it:

• The one minute rule: “Anything I can do in less than a minute I have to do without delay.”

• Take 10 minutes every night before you go to bed to tidy up.

• Go “shelf by shelf.” When you have some free time, look at whatever’s in front of you — a shelf, drawer, cabinet — and organize it. Clear out what doesn’t belong.

• Be careful about what you let in. “When we own things we value them more… So if you accept that free coffee cup from the bank, once it’s in your house it’s hard to get it out.”

What Gretchen has discovered is, “It’s possible to make yourself happier within the confines of your ordinary day. You don’t need to wait for the day when you can do a two week meditation retreat or quit your job and have a totally new life.”

Find ways to create your own Happiness Project on Gretchen's blog.

By Sarah Tobol, Editor

Helene advises you to take more calculated risks in the sixth installment of her smart risk-taking plan. Keep at it. Watch steps one, two, three, four and five if you’re in need of a refresher or more encouragement.

Courtesy of State Farm

I took my own advice and just got back from a nine-day retreat, renewal spa trip. It was amazing. I walked and exercised everyday, and met some dynamic women.

Each day I took a mile walk at 6 a.m. and found a majestic oak tree—the tree represented to me strength, resilience, and the ability to embrace my surroundings with open arms.

I wish a similar experience for all of you—the hope that you would take the time out of your busy lives to retreat, regroup and replenish at whatever destination would provide that for you.

To a prosperous, successful and healthy, New Year!

So you’ve taken a smart risk and you’ve met with success. Now’s the time to claim it. Watch Helene’s fifth installment of her smart risk-taking series, where she discusses how to do just that. Take a look at steps one, two, three and four, as well, if you’re just beginning to think about taking a risk.

Courtesy of State Farm

When taking a smart risk, it’s important to watch out for perfectionism, second guessing yourself and procrastination. Helene has advice on how to do this in the fourth installment of her risk taking series. Be sure to check out steps one, two and three as well.

Courtesy of State Farm