Diary 4 Life

Self Coaching

Paul Worswick — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 07:00:43 +0000

Life coaching or the many derivatives of it are in great abundance in our world of self improvement or personal development. The list of the various types of coaches we have access to seems to grow by the day, which can be good for the individual but there again there may be a strong argument against this idea. You don’t necessarily need to be reading about personal development or listening to a presentation focused on self development to be aware of the extent life coaching has grown and the range of coaches available; the subject appears without invitation, as if it’s suppose to be there as part of our make-up or even culture. It is of course taken on board by some with greater enthusiasm; whereas others prefer to view more cynically, as a management ploy to find out how to spend your day or raise output without a retrospective increase in salary. Some accept it with all the love, passion and enthusiasm of a new starter in the company. Whatever standpoint we choose to take, whether it’s naivety, scepticism or somewhere in between we choose it for our own reasons and quite rightly so; it’s our own choice whether or not we decide to accept something into our life.

However, that is about life coaching in general; so how does that fit into self coaching. It’s quite simple really, if you have an understanding and the necessary skills to be a life coach there is no reason why you cannot coach yourself.

The thinking behind life coaching is that the coach does not provide or have the answers; if that was the case, they wouldn’t be a life coach they’d be a mentor. The thinking continues with the idea that the client or the coachee has all the answers or within them or at the very least the resources or capacity to go out and find the answers and/or solutions to the issue or goal they are trying to achieve. Which I suppose holds well if you’re working with a qualified and/or experienced coach; this is where great care is required by people who are considering the use of a coach.

NOTE: If you’re thinking of paying out your hard earned cash to a life coach, tread very carefully and leave nothing to chance, make sure you spending it wisely when selecting your coach, you’ll definitely get the right results with the right coach otherwise . . . Be warned!

The main advantage of self coaching, is self explanatory, you won’t have the issue of having to pay a life coach; it’s all free and much more motivating when you realise just what you can achieve on your own. So how does the concept of self coaching ‘fit in’ if you’re not a qualified or experienced life coach? Quite simply you learn how to be a coach by practicing and training with yourself. You do need to be aware of the tools used by a life coach. To help yourself make sure you work a safe secure environment, in terms of the goals and challenges you set. In the first instance, practice by using something you know is achievable, not so easy that it’s like a walk in the park but enough to challenge you and take you out of your comfort zone. More about this later on.

First a little about how a life coach works. Life coaches use a tool known as the GROW model which is an acronym for Goal, Reality, Options and Will or Way forward. This model is tried and tested by many life coaches throughout the world; you may see many derivatives of it that work equally well but the process of life coaching always comes back to this same tool; GROW.

Goal – You may well of heard about goals before, probably quite a lot in the sports arena; the meaning is just the same. What are you trying to achieve? What are you aiming for? However when setting your goal it is important to be very specific about it, that means bring in lots of other thoughts, what it will feel like, what it will look like etc. For instance, in football the goal is simply to put the ball in the net, not just any net. It must be the opponents net. Below are a list of things you could consider when setting your goal.

What will it feel like when you’ve achieved your goal?
What will be different in your life?
What will it taste like?
What will it smell like?
What will you be hearing?
What will you be saying?
Will there be a cost implication?
How much will it change your life?

There are probably many others you could think of, please feel free to add your own and share any you think of.

The goal setting process is by no means a short and easy process, on the whole a great deal of investigation and honest assessment is required.

Reality – This stage is exactly what it sounds like, it looks at the reality of the situation and the issue you have or are trying to solve. It gives consideration to what has already been done in addition what else could be done.

Just because you’ve done something before and it’s not worked, it stills needs to be considered in this stage; with a few fresh thoughts and new ideas it may well work a second time around.

This is also a time to give thought to alternative ideas; by considering them it doesn’t mean they are definitely going to be used. All it means is they are under consideration; thinking about them may well spark off other ideas. Consider the following questions at this stage:

What is the current situation?
What is your greatest concern?
Who else knows about your goal?
Who else is affected?
How much control do you have over the outcome?
What have you done so far?
What has stopped you doing more?
What other resources do you need?

Again there are probably many others you could think of, please feel free to add your own and share any you think of.

Options – This is the stage where to consider the options available to you, the ones that can take you one step further forward towards your overall goal. The options are something you are prepared to make a serious commitment to. Questions you may wish to consider asking in this stage are:

What are the different ways you can deal with this issue?
What would you do if you had more money?
What would you do if you had more time?
What would you do if you could start again?
What are the advantages and disadvantages of each of your option?
Who else could give you an option?
What would . . . . . . . . . . . . . do in this situation? (insert the name of a friend, colleague or family member)
What else could you do?

Again there are probably many others you could think of, please feel free to add your own and share any you think of.

Will or Way forward – This stage identifies the step or steps you are going to take to move you forward to wards your overall goal; it is important to add a commitment to achieving your goal. Consider asking the following questions:

Which option or options are you going to choose?
What other support do you need and from who?
When are you going to start and finish your action or actions?
How will you know when you’ve achieved or completed your actions?
Who else needs to know about your plans?
What could happen that may stop you taking action?
What resistance do you have towards taking action?
What commitment do you have on a scale of 1-10 to taking action? (if it’s less than 8, what will make it 10)

Again there are probably many others you could think of, please feel free to add your own and please share any you do come up with.

So returning to the thinking behind the life coaching theory that the client or coachee has all the answers within them, if you are the both the coach and coachee how does this work? With a little practice, as previously said by initially operating in areas that are not over challenging you can begin to develop your questioning style to elicit from yourself the answers to your issues.

You can benefit from self coaching by adapting and making use of the GROW model whilst still maintaining its principles by designing your own model. Life coaching or self coaching is a journey of self development, there are no hard and fast rules it’s a case of using what is available and modifying it to suit you. Take on board any learning from others and use it where necessary and you’ll be surprised, if not astounded at the results you achieve. Remember the words of wisdom from Confucius.

“A journey of a thousand miles begin with a single step”, Confucius

Like any other journey, whether it’s a family holiday, a development project at work or buying a house, it starts with the first step and continues to follow a plan through to the end. Any successful project has a clear strategy of how it will achieve the intended outcome.

Take a look at the following ten point check list, if you’re considering self coaching:

1. A need to make a change

In any situation where you are consider your personal development there has to be a clear recognition and acceptance that a change needs to take place. Also that you are responsible for that change; in a position and able to influence that change. Once you have achieved this you are in a position to move forward; if this is something you are struggling with I suggest you spend more time at this stage until you are ready to move forward. If may mean you have to readdress your motives for the change and whether or not they are really your!

2. Make a plan

For any project to be a success it is important to know what you are doing before you proceed; this means identifying all the necessary steps, what they look like, what are their effects etc. Refer back to the goal setting process of the GROW model earlier for further ideas with this stage. Failure to plan simple means you are planning to fail. Get your plan right and you stand a great chance of achieving the success you are aiming for.

3. Aims and objectives

This is such a powerful stage in the process; identification of what you are aiming for; how you are going to achieve it and what will it mean in the ‘bigger picture’. If you don’t know where you are going or what you are aiming for how will you know when you got there or achieved it?

Metaphorically speaking, if you don’t know what mode of transport you are using how do you know where to wait for it?

4. Take a reality check

Facing up to reality is something that more of would benefit from if done more often. Having said that being realistic is not always that easy if you’re not sure how to do it. It entails a good dose of honest and facing up to some hard to accept truths; ones we may not like too much.

Also, is what you’re trying to achieve really possible or just how practical is it. Some times we have to face up to reality. This doesn’t mean you have to give up at the first opportunity or failing; there is a fine line between facing up to reality and lacking the drive and determination need to achieve the results you are seeking.

5. Courage and bravery

Courage and bravery are two traits most needed when making changes; the process of your personal development will take you to places where you’ve probably never been before. Moving out of your comfort zone into your stretch zone will help you make those changes, however do be careful about over stretching and moving into your panic zone. This will only introduce fear into your personal development and cause you to lock yourself back into your comfort zone.

This is another reason for practicing your coaching skills in a safe and secure environment; use challenging but achievable targets initially.

6. Make sure you’ve got everything covered

As you develop your plan including your aims and objectives make sure you’ve left ‘nothing to chance’. If your not too sure seek the help and guidance of a trusted friend or somebody you know has already achieved what you are working towards (see no. 10 Mastermind team for more about this)

It will be very demotivating as you move towards your goal and you suddenly realise you’ve left something out or forgotten to include something; something that is crucial to the outcome.

7. Don’t forget you’re in charge

This project belongs to you so don’t forget you’re in charge; keep reminding yourself about this because in the final analysis it’s you that has to make all the decisions. However, there are things you need to be aware of and face up to; because it’s your project all the decision making is down to you which makes you accountable and responsible for the eventual outcome. How powerful and motivational is that? The thought that when you’ve achieved your success you can sit back and shower yourself with ‘self plaudits’.

8. Accept you can do it

Stepping out of your comfort zone is never an easy thing to do, no matter how many times you’ve tried it; even if you’ve achieved success in the past. For every new project that you step outside of your comfort zone it brings a set of new experiences in a different setting ready to challenge your emotional response. Being ready to deal with them, no matter what form they take, will decide whether you are going to be successful or not.

Accepting that you have the skills, resources and ability to achieve that success will help motivate you to continue when times are difficult. Develop a strong belief in your abilities!

9. Timescale

Timescales are very important in any project; without allocating time slots to your project you’re in danger of providing yourself with nothing more than a leisure activity. Get serious with your personal development and allocate realistic but challenging time frames to your projects. If you need to alter those time frames as your projects progress that’s okay; don’t forget we live in a real world that is forever changing and evolving. As your skills and confidence develop your ability in setting more accurate time frames will improve.

10. Mastermind team

Building a mastermind team is such a great way to increase the quality and accessibility of resources. Identify a number of people (any number the more the merrier) who you feel are able to help you. These literally, can be anybody! Celebrities, captains of industry and commerce, friends, family and peers. You don’t necessarily have to be in contact with them. Read an earlier post, create a mastermind team.

The key to people being in your mastermind team, is that they have achieved success in the area you want to or perhaps they know how to do something you want to. If you have personal access to your team members and you can speak to them, that’s great, go ahead and ask them. If not, maybe because they are a celebrity, then you find out by reading about how they’ve achieved their success; possibly through a biography or autobiography.

Thanks for reading the post, whether you choose to follow these steps or not, do remember self coaching is relatively simple and straight forward; with a little practice you can begin to achieve the success you want to. Good luck.

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photo credit: Melody Campbell

Learning through work

Paul Worswick — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 07:00:16 +0000

Learning through work is something you may know more commonly as ‘on the job training’; quite simply a way of learning by undertaking the activities you want to learn. This of course is as opposed to learning the process through a more academic study in a classroom or training venue. Both ways of learning are of course acceptable to the different types of learning; after all we all have our own learning styles. What’s more there are more than these two types of learning, however recent training I am undertaking has driven me to discuss these two styles.

The training I am experiencing, for one day each week and for approximately twenty two weeks is being delivered through a rather mundane ‘sit and listen’ style; this is all very well for people who enjoy this delivery and can adopt to this style. Unfortunately, it does nothing for me, whilst I understand the content, my really learning comes when I have the opportunity to practice and use my skills in the working environment. ‘Learning by doing’ is a phrase often used in the teaching and learning situations, something I adopt with my students and to great success.

Learning is meant to be fun; this can be much easier when it is presented in a way that fits in with our own style. How often do you hear from young people that they think school is boring? We all have our own stories to tell about our school or learning experiences, some of those will have been enjoyable, fun and worth remembering; whilst others will have been nightmares from hell at worst or just plain boring at best. What are your experiences? What is your learning style? How do you like to learning?

There is so much missing from learning environments (this is somewhat of a generalisation, however still a very common complaint) which prevent it from becoming the enlightening, fun filled and challenging experience that would enhance to value of it in terms of learning. Teachers, trainers and tutors have recently had their creative streak strangled by the ever increasing demand of administration duties brought about by the requirements of inspection, quality and audit requirements.

So what is the answer to maintaining the fine balance between a value laden learning experience and a confident reassurance that the quality coupled with the effective general use of public funds? Is it merely a case of mistrust between the many stakeholders? Do the funders lack faith and trust in the providers, so much so that they want to know everything they do and how they are doing it?

Thank you for reading this post. While you’re here please take the time to sign up for the newsletter or alternatively you may prefer to subscribe for regular updates in your favourite reader or by email.

photo credit: matthewcornell

Seven Coaching MegaTrends Every Coach Should Be Aware Of

Guest Writer — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 07:00:58 +0000

What is the future for the coaching industry?

The coaching market is changing and it’s changing rapidly. There are a number of powerful trends sweeping through the market, and every coach should be aware of them. These are the Seven Coaching MegaTrends, and they are set to change the coaching market forever.

They will affect your coaching practice, the way you reach your clients, how you interact with them, what you offer and ultimately whether you will continue to get coaching business. You’d best be aware of them – so read on to discover what they are.

Coaching MegaTrend 1: Increased Supply of Coaches

We are seeing a vast increase in the number of coaches qualifying from the rapidly-growing numbers of coach training establishments. And the number of coaches qualifying each year is accelerating. Recent estimates indicate that there are now between 30,000 to 50,000 active coaches worldwide.

As well as far more choice of coach training, there are far more good books, seminars and other support materials both on coaching and on managing your coaching practice.

This means far more competition for both newly qualified and established coaches alike, and these coaches are learning both coaching skills and practice management skills at a rapid rate.

Coaching MegaTrend 2: Increased Demand for Coaching

Marketers distinguish between four different stages of a market: Introduction, Growth, Maturity and Decline. We see the coaching market as a whole as still being in its Growth stage, where the expansion of coaching significantly exceeds the growth of the economies in which it operates.

The characteristics of the Growth Stage of a market are increasing customer interest, with rapidly increasing sales and the equally rapid emergence of more coaches as competitors.

So there is an increased demand for coaching – but at the same time the coaching market is expanding, the competition from other coaches is also increasing significantly.

In this stage, to attract new clients, the marketing activities of coaches become more and more important. On the plus side, several clients typically engage in repeat purchase behaviour patterns.

Coaching MegaTrend 3: Increasing Maturity in the Coaching Market

The Wild West days of coaching are over. A significant percentage of coaches have now been coaching for more than five years, many for ten – and they have a maturity of approach & experience.

There is an associated increasing maturity in the coaching market itself, with clients having an increasing awareness about coaching and its benefits. Purchasers of coaching services have changed from Innovators in the early days of coaching through Early Adopters, and now firmly into the Early Majority.

What this means is that there is a much bigger market out there – 34% of any market are seen as Early Majority, with innovators making up 2.5% and early adopters 13.5%.

The Early Majority are more cautious purchasers and need more reasons to buy. They are deliberate, not impulsive decision-makers. They have many informal social contacts that they rely on to know whether they should decide to do something. They adopt innovations – like coaching – just before the average member of the market. They seldom lead, are not the first, and not the last to do something.

This means that we need to take a different approach to presenting and marketing coaching services to the Early Majority.

Coaching MegaTrend 4: Niches & Differentiation

The need to differentiate oneself from the ocean of other competing coaches is more vital than ever. As competition in the generic life coaching market intensifies, more coaches will need to specialise to differentiate themselves.

There is more and more focus on niches – weight-loss coaching, presentation skills coaching, marketing coaching, career coaching, coaching for lawyers, dentists, executive coaching, relationship coaching…

Yes, these options have been available via life coaches for a while, but niche coaches focus on one specialisation, and therefore bring more experience and knowledge of what’s required in that niche to their clients.

The coaching market is already showing signs of fragmenting, with specialist coaching sub-markets continuing to develop rapidly. These coaching niches are growing faster than the rest of the market, with executive coaching, relationship coaching, career coaching and weight loss coaching growing particularly rapidly.

This is good news for coaches who can exploit these profitable niches, and is bad news for the undifferentiated life coach.

Coaching MegaTrend 5: Coaching Products

Coaches are increasingly using online products – both their own products and those of others – to achieve different marketing objectives. These products can be ebooks, articles, short courses delivered by autoresponders, teleclasses, downloadable mp3s, CDs, home study courses and combinations of the above.

Some coaches are using products to augment their coaching offerings, to appeal to different segments of their market. Others use them as a promotion device, to attract new prospects to their marketing funnel. Yet others are using products to leverage their time with clients – so that the client gets the maximum benefit while minimising costly 1:1 coaching time.

Coaches are finding that products can achieve multiple objectives – they can bring in revenue while building client loyalty and gently guiding prospects to the coach’s higher-value coaching services.

This means that with coaching products coaches can increase their revenue, leverage their time with clients, build their prospect list and increase their exposure in the market all at the same time.

Coaching MegaTrend 6: Coaching Programmes

We are seeing the growth of the specialist coach, who blends coaching with instruction and training, and sometimes adds consultancy. Coaching programmes have an overall aim, and a set duration and have specific content that is communicated in addition to the coaching.

They typically offer a programme – often between six and eight weeks – designed to build knowledge and skills in a particular area. Examples of this are CJ Hayden’s Get Clients Now! programme which typically blends training and coaching.

This trend is leading to the coaching market fragmenting somewhat – and becoming less homogeneous. It’s not enough to just be a coach, it’s what sort of coach are you, dealing with what sort of clients to achieve what?

Taken together with MegaTrend 4 – niches and differentiation and MegaTrend 3 – the increasing maturity of the coaching market, we are seeing coaches profiting from providing coaching programmes to specific market niches.

Coaching MegaTrend 7: Availability of Web-based Technologies

We are in the midst of an explosion in the availability of affordable, easy to use web-based technologies. And savvy coaches are beginning to realise what benefits this can have to their coaching practices.

A coach’s website is taken for granted these days, as is a their newsletter. If you look at several coaches’ websites you’ll see a remarkable consistency. They no longer differentiate. The area in which to compete has moved on.

Audio and even video are creeping into coaches’ websites. But the coaches who will succeed are those offering something that their market want – their content must be relevant and valuable to their target market.

Those coaches who utilise teleseminars, autoresponders and increasingly blogs that meet a client need will prosper. The next big technology trend is likely to be coaches’ podcasts. And the same dynamic will apply – the content must be relevant and valuable to the client.

We’re seeing far more use of internet automation – for keeping in touch with prospects via autoresponders and newsletters, online surveys, membership sites… …the list is long and growing.

The winners in the use of the web-based technologies will be those unafraid to experiment, who use technology for the benefits it can bring to them and their clients, rather than for its own sake.

Summary – The Coaching MegaTrends

So these are the Seven Coaching MegaTrends:

1. Increased Supply of Coaches

2. Increased Demand for Coaching

3. Increasing Maturity in the Coaching Market

4. Increased need for Niches & Differentiation

5. Growth in Coaching Products

6. Growth in Coaching Programmes

7. Growth in availability of Web-based Technologies

The Seven Coaching MegaTrends are affecting the coaching market now, and their power will increase over the coming months. You may already be seeing their effects.

The question is, what are you going to do about them? Are you going to nod sagely, or take immediate action on them? If you’re up for taking action, what are the three things that you can do this week to enable you to deal more effectively with these trends? Set a date for completion of those actions and track your progress!

Alun Richards helps coaches find and reach their coaching niche. Discover yours with the free mini-course, Discover Your Coaching Niche, available from http://www.brandingyou.org/ecoursesales.html

Author: Alun Richards
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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photo credit: Gabriel Fehr

Dealing with difficult people

Paul Worswick — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 07:00:59 +0000

I’m sure you’ve met somebody who has tried your patience, on more than one occasion. In fact, I’m probably on safe ground suggesting you’ve met numerous; just like many other people you’ll be fairly experienced at having to deal with them. Having to deal with these people as often as you have to would give you the impression that you would manage to do the job with a cinch; how far from the truth is that? So why is it so difficult, despite all the practice and experience we have? Perhaps we’re not really learning from our experiences or maybe we are burying our head in the sand hoping that the problem won’t come back. On the other hand it may be that we are kidding ourselves that we are dealing with them appropriately and we are accepting the outcome, whatever it is!

So is that we aren’t learning from previous experiences or is it that each situation provides us with a different challenge? Whatever the reason the challenge is still there and dealing with them can, if you’re not careful, affect your whole day, to the extent of putting a dampener on things. Like many other day to day challenges, perhaps a simple strategy is the solution us all.

So how do you deal with your difficult people? How do you react or respond to them? Does it make any difference if you know them or they are a family member? Please let me know what your strategies are in the comments below?

photo credit: Jeff Keen

A new beginning

Jayne Sherwood — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 07:00:15 +0000

At last life begins to make sense,
At first it didn’t,
The sky has been dark for a while,
The path we’ve walked down has been hard to see,
Life will not move forward,
It cannot be a positive, fulfilling future,
If we let things control our minds, bodies and soul,
Giving up is not an option,
Today is a new day,
Fight the battle and win,
Life may not always be what we want it to be,
The road we lead may have u-turns involved,
Do not fear,
For change can be good,
Follow the path that was laid out for us,
The sun is now shining,
We can now see the new path
There is a plan, a destiny that awaits us,
Focus on the positive
Achieve your goal

By Jayne for Paul

It’s your choice!

The poem above was written by myself during a very difficult period in my life, what I am pleased to say is because I believed in myself and took on board the words within the poem, I was able to move forward out of that time and now my choices are informed by my own experiences and decisions to set goals and go for them.

We have to remember that life’s greatest gift is the freedom to make choices and select the one we feel is most beneficial to us. We chose one action from a set of options and set the goal we want to achieve the most.

So why is having the ability to chose so good, it’s what makes us who we are as humans, “Choice is nothing but the chisel we use to sculpt our life” Michelangelo. However, we also need to know that with choice, comes acceptance and responsibility, but as long as we can accept, making the right choices can only send us reward and then happiness.

Our life is a continued journey and with every choice we make our life’s goals become closer and more achievable. As we travel the road to our goals we have to remember to ask questions along the way, keeping us motivated and strong. Ask yourself the following questions as you make your choice and work towards it:

Am I moving closer to my goal?
What action do I need to take next?
How can I measure my achievement?

When you make your choices, they have to be part of your inner self, the very heart of your life and they have to be yours! Your creativity is your door to the life you choose and it is so powerful.

Each day we make decisions and life becomes so convenient and comfortable, but what happens when we find our self faced with a decision that challenge us. Do we step aside and let someone else sort out the problem for us, or do we have to face it head on and take the learning from it? By making choices to help us achieve our life’s goals, we begin to take on board challenges more actively and work towards lowering our defenses. Living in our comfort zone will only leave us where we are today, by facing those challenges head on and stretching ourselves, we can achieve so much.

Be proactive in your life, make some choices and begin to move forward into the life you want. Like the poem at the front of the post suggests, start your new beginning, life may not always be what we want it to be, but if we follow the path we lay for ourselves and be positive we can have the life we chose.

photo credit: namestartswithj89

First Impression

Paul Worswick — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 07:00:13 +0000

Having to create a good first impression is a challenge we are faced with when we are asked to achieve something extra or include something new in our lives. What does creating a first impression mean? What is required? I know in its simplest form creating a good first impression is fairly straight forward but what are the underlying psychologies that are involved. Who are we trying to impress and for what reason?

Being in a position where we have to create that first good impression happens to all of us on numerous occasions each day of our lives. For instance you may have to attend a job interview, meet somebody new on a first date or even meet your new neighbours for the first time. All of these require you to be on your best behaviour.

So when we are applying all our skills to create this good first impression, just who is it we are trying to be. Surely if we are trying help people understand who we are, then the best thing we could do was to just be ourselves; but no that doesn’t appear to be the case, instead we choose to create another person who we want to be like. Strange but true!

We’re not on our own when we undertake this type of behaviour; our celebrity friends are past masters at it, that’s why they are so successful. Have you ever thought what the real person is like that hides behind that celebrity figure, we see on our television screens or splashed across the newspapers. It’s certainly not the one you see in the media. They all have an alter ego.

Do you think the Tom Cruise you see on your screens or in the media is the same one you would see at home or the Cameron Diaz lives the same life at home that she does on the screen; I don’t think it’s the case with either of them. However I’m not here to criticize Hollywood actors or actresses for the different images they provide, after all it’s their job. The purpose of highlighting them is merely to stress the point of how they have used their acting skills to produce a great performance and create an impression to their benefit. After all, we do exactly the same when we attend an interview for a new job or promotion at work. Interviews are only situations where we act out the part to the best of our ability to achieve a particular outcome.

The difference with the Hollywood actors is that they are very good at it and their financial gain, on the whole, is great than the one you or I make when we are successful at interview. However, if we are prepared to develop our skills in creating a first good impression we could benefit more than we do presently, not only financially but by improving our success rate at interviews, giving us more opportunities.

So take a lesson or two from your favourite actor and improve your success and eventual financial gain.

photo credit: Paul Wicks

Was that your best performance?

What in the World is Life Coaching?

Guest Writer — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 07:00:50 +0000

In my speaking engagements I have often compared coaching today to psychotherapy in the 1920s. The level of public understanding of coaching, outside of people in a certain socio-demographic category, is still in its infancy. We are all so saturated with the language of psychoanalysis – it’s difficult to read a book or watch a movie that isn’t premised on this shared language – that we probably don’t consider there was once a time when practitioners were asked:

“Now, you do what, exactly?”

“And I would tell you my dream because it would reveal what?”

“So there’s this free association thing, which apparently still costs something, and I give you the first thing that comes to mind because there are these subconscious drives I have?”

To the not-yet-initiated, coaching can sound like this. What is it and why would I want to do it?

Coaching, whether for career or business, existential questions or relationships, begins with alignment.
Coaches get you, your actions and thoughts, and your very lifestyle aligned with who you say you are, or want to be.

That is, we will get the way you live, think, act, and work integrated with the core values and goals you say you have. If you don’t know what your ultimate values and goals are, then that’s coachable too.

It’s not by magic that coaches help clients achieve their goals. From the practical and action-oriented to the great questions, coaches draw from the best of management consulting, best business practices, motivational and cognitive psychology, sports performance, ethics and spirituality, the Socratic dialogue and philosophy.

Most fundamentally, coaches help clients get out of their own way.

COACHING BRIEFLY DEFINED

Here is one definition of coaching, per the International Coach Federation:

“Professional Coaching is a professional partnership between a qualified coach and an individual or team that supports the achievement of extraordinary results, based on goals set by the individual or team. Through the process of coaching, individuals focus on the skills and actions needed to successfully produce their personally relevant results.”

“The individual or team chooses the focus of conversation, while the coach listens and contributes observations and questions as well as concepts and principles which can assist in generating possibilities and identifying actions. . . . Coaching accelerates the individual’s or team’s progress by providing greater focus and awareness of possibilities leading to more effective choices. . . . . [R]esults are a matter of the individual’s or team’s intentions, choices and actions, supported by the coach’s efforts and application of coaching skills, approaches and methods.”

If your definition of a coach is borrowed from high school or college athletics, where the athlete is beneath the coach and can even be dismissed by him, then the term “coaching” may be a bit misleading to you. A personal or executive coach is more like the coach of a pro track star or tennis player: in these professional relationships, the coach and the client are two co-equals and partners, and it’s actually the client who decides how long the coach stays on the team.

THE PROCESS

A coach begins, from a place of generosity of will and spirit, by getting to know you as a person and formally identifying your goals and values, using a variety of in-house or standardized assessments. Then the coach looks at the gap between where you are and where you want to be.

A coach will then work with you to close that gap by eradicating your self-limiting thinking, reducing your stress and enhancing your efficiency, and getting you to stretch and try new things and ways of being. A coach will help you implement strategies to reach your goals, tactical steps to carry out your strategy, and day to day accountability to keep you focused on the tactics, the strategy, the goal — all while explicitly remaining true to your values.

Coaching is at its root about expanding your awareness and making you accountable to yourself. Coaches expand clients’ awareness about themselves and then help them to be accountable to what they have learned. It can be a sophisticated form of teaching, mentoring, and partnering in an enterprise with a single focus: your personal, professional, and even spiritual development. Coaches show you ways to find clarity, guide you to awareness of your true situations (including how you get in your own way), and show you how to take action based on what you know.

To be coached, then, is to get experienced, committed, and insightful help in (1) finding clarity about subjects big and small, (2) deepening your understanding about what holds you back, and, crucially, (3) being guided toward acting on your knowledge to make desired and lasting change in your life.

WHO GETS COACHED?

Coaching clients are clear that they want something — virtually anything — sooner and with more certainty of getting it than they could manage alone. It could be learning, career advancement, satisfaction, higher performance, better relationships, or quality of life. Clients are not attempting, through coaching, to address emotional pain or psychological disorders. This is one of the key differences between coaching and counseling. See more at http://www.ferocecoaching.com/coaching-and-counseling.html.

Coachable clients are functioning well and able to take action in the direction of their goals. Coaches look to the present and the future; they discuss the past primarily in order to clarify where the client is today. Critically, coaching need not resolve issues of the past in order to move forward.

THE RELATIONSHIP, IN A NUTSHELL

The coaching relationship is the key to its success. Coach and client are partners. Mutual appreciation and respect are not just a by-product of the time they spend together but the engine of coaching’s success. A rarity in relationships, coach and client are collaborators in a joint enterprise: the client. At my coaching firm, our philosophy is that clients already have many of the answers within them, and to the extent that’s the case, it’s the coach’s job to draw them out.

Coaches don’t often hold themselves out as expert or authority on subject matter so much as on process. The client and her coach jointly choose the topics of their work together, the format, and the outcomes the client desires. Coaches are for the emotionally mature. Those who imagine that a coach can turn their lives around are not yet coachable under most coaches’ ethics. A coach is someone you retain only when you are ready. To take with you that next, elusive step.

FUNDAMENTAL SKILLS, NOT SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTISE

There is rarely such a thing as a “type” or “field” of coaching, wherein life coaches could be considered somehow different from relationship coaches.

The reason there is usually no difference between, say, life or personal coaching on the one hand and executive

coaching on the other, is that these titles describe only the client, not the coaching itself. That is, the words describe the buyer of the services and perhaps even how that client perceives himself.

But the techniques and methods of coaching are very similar, because all coaching comes down to the process of guiding human beings through the discovery of their full humanity, their insight, and greater accountability to themselves. Even if you are an executive who wants “executive” coaching, you know there is no such thing as skills, attitudes, and behaviors that are used in, and useful in, only the boardroom or office. You are on a mission to enhance your effective personhood, not your, shall we say, executiveness.

What is the consequence of coaching being the same no matter who the client is? Well, it means that subject matter expertise is often irrelevant. To be a career coach, it may help to have some knowledge of career resources, of course. The same is true for specialty aspects of business coaching, entrepreneurship coaching, or leadership coaching. But in general, you should opt for a coach with superb coaching skills and chemistry over a coach with subject matter expertise.

Cameron Powell, a writer and coach, is also a professional ally and strategic partner who, as a life coach, when his clients most need it, will kick their butts into action now and then. To learn more about how he gets people unstuck and moving forward in their lives and careers as a Life Coach, visit his site.

Author: Cameron Powell
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Anti-angiogenic Food

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A new way of thinking

Paul Worswick — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 07:00:14 +0000

If you’re a follower of the many personal development theories that are available in great numbers, both on and offline, it won’t have missed your attention that to achieve the outcomes or goals you are seeking, it is important to adopt a new way of thinking. A different way of thinking than the one you are using to maintain your status quo. The following are two quotes from famous people that highlight the need for different thinking are:

From Albert Einstein, “We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.”

Or from Mark Twain, “If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you always got.”

We don’t have to go too far back into history to see how it is littered with famous people. These people have either become famous or more famous because of their new thinking. The following are just a few:

Henry Ford – his introduction of the Model T automobile revolutionised transportation and American industry. (this information comes courtesy of Wikipedia)

John Nash – his theories are used in market economics, computing, evolutionary biology, artificial intelligence, accounting , politics and military theory. (this information comes courtesy of Wikipedia)

Elvis Presley – a cultural icon is regarded as one of the most important figures of 20th-century popular culture. (this information comes courtesy of Wikipedia)

Sir Richard Branson – has been tagged as a “transformational leader” in the management lexicon, with his maverick strategies. (this information comes courtesy of Wikipedia)

There are many other people both celebrity and non-celebrity, who have created changes not just in their own life but those of others too. This by merely deciding to think differently; on a different level, or for those who prefer the cliches, ‘out of the box’. Who could you add to the list?

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What’s the opportunity?

Jayne Sherwood — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 07:00:04 +0000

What opportunities are facing you at the moment? We know that when life is going smoothly and we’re full of confidence and self esteem, none of us mind one bit trying a new opportunity that is lying there in front of us. On the other side of the coin, however, when things are slugging along and we feel that the world isn’t on our side, that old negative self talk creeps up onto our shoulder and we just can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel!

There are always opportunities for us and just because we feel ‘out of sorts’, the opportunities are still out there for the taking, all we have to do is remember that.

When we hit that wall, it is more important than ever to look for those possibilities, to help move the energy and give our self that up-liftment. We can create a new pattern of thinking and begin to make informed choices to help the stick become unstuck! The challenges we face are the most wonderful opportunities for personal growth. When our buttons are being pushed and shoved, we can choose to bat it back, we can push, shove, blame or even resent! However, we also have the choice to ask ourselves, “How can I begin to learn from this situation, what are the opportunities I can take?”

Check out your own self perspective, think to yourself, am I giving myself a chance to set boundaries, end an unhealthy relationship or practice forgiveness. If we choose a more truthful path and hold onto our integrity we can only feel better about what we do. After all, this can only give you a win-win scenario. Living like this will bring a sudden change and empower our state and then before you know it, more and more opportunities will open up and things will just continue to happen.

Give yourself an insightful overall

Give the various parts of you life, such as work, relationships, your career, finances and your health and home, check and see if there are any opportunities waiting for you just around the corner
Investigate where the majority of opportunities are available to you and where are the least? Have a look if anything is affecting your thoughts and what , if anything, can be done about it.
When was the last time you found an opportunity and really took advantage of it, when you did, what were the results?

What’s your inspiration?

Give yourself time to reflect over your life, give time to all the different areas, where would you like to make a change? Write yourself a list of any opportunities available, choose at least 2 from the list and make sure you follow them through.
Now think about an area in your life where you have had some challenges, where you’re feeling frustrated. How would you like this to change, what do you want to happen. Are you sitting round waiting for someone else to change something or to offer you that most fantastic opportunity?
Now look at your day, look at all the opportunities that are out there waiting for you and start congratulate yourself for finding them. Any obstacles you hit, immediately ask yourself what opportunities are there within this situation and take them

Life itself is just a great opportunity, so enjoy everyone you get and whatever they are, a success or a challenge, remember to take them and learn from them, you can only improve after all!

photo credit: {Guerrilla Futures | Jason Tester}

Rest and Recuperation

Paul Worswick — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 07:00:49 +0000

There are many phrases or cliches you’ve probably heard about rest and recuperation or other similar restful activities that people feel as though you should adhere to. All too often you will be presented with the advice of another, about how much you need a rest, or you should take a holiday or even it’s time for you to have a change. Whether you like to hear this or not, I’m inclined to agree with this freely available and zero cost advice. It’s probably some of the best advice you’ll receive unless of course you prefer to continue headlong in to burn-out.

If you were to be really honest with yourself about how much time and effort to apply to the things you do each day, whether this is at work or in the home; would you say you are over-committing yourself and running the risk of detracting from your performance. There comes a point when you have to make a decision about how much your performance is being affected by your tiredness. Are you being fair to yourself and your family for that matter?

When you are in the flow, enjoying your work and producing the required results it’s very easy to get lost in the euphoria of the success and not realise how it is affect you and future performances; ultimately your results.

One famous cliche is, “a change is as good as a rest”; so it may only mean you have a change in the way you do something or a slight change in your job role. This is a great way to refresh your outlook and break away from the rigours of the monotonous routine you are used to.

So the next time somebody tells you you are looking a little tired or jaded, take note of their words and look for ways to make changes either in your job role or tasks you are doing. Or may be reduce your workload by sharing with another person; if the timescale is flexible perhaps you could slow down and take more time. If somebody says you look like you need a rest or a holiday; take them up on their advice and book yourself time off work and get yourself away for a few days or even a week or two.

The changes you will feel, not only in your general motivation and attitude but also your performance and results. This can only be good, especially if your trying to impress your boss or even your partner. Give it a try and let me know how you go on. If you have another other strategies for maintaining your top performances, please share them with other readers; I’m sure I speak for others when I say we would love to know them.

photo credit: sanchom

Successful Implementation of Company Wide Coaching Programmes

Allan Mackintosh — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 07:00:55 +0000

Ten years ago I was fortunate enough to be heavily involved in the implementation of a company wide coaching programme, both as an employee who was to receive coaching but also as a manager and coach who was expected to regular coach my reports and my peers to enable them to achieve their objectives. I say, fortunate enough, because I found that when I was coached effectively I became really motivated and focused, and when I finally became a proficient coach, I again found it motivational in that I was able to support and enable my direct reports to achieve more.

There were though many pitfalls along the way to achieving total acceptance of coaching as a skill that not only motivated but also enabled employees to become more capable and productive. In this short article I will outline the necessary steps I feel an organisation must take in order to ensure that they implement a coaching programme effectively. Ten years ago I feel that although we made great progress we also made some mistakes which I would encourage organisations to be aware of when deciding to go down the ‘coaching’ route.

1. Ensure coaching starts at the top and is supported by the ‘top’!

Many organisations are recognising that coaching is a skill that all managers of people and teams must possess. However, many organisations only concentrate on ensuring that 1st and perhaps 2nd line managers are trained in the skill. Suddenly middle or junior managers become skilled in coaching but never experience the power of coaching from their own senior management. In relation to ensuring that everyone who will be involved in the coaching programme ‘buys -in’ to the coaching philosophy they need to hear that the ‘top’ executives are committed to coaching both in terms of promoting the skill but also to be seen to utilise the skill themselves in that they are coached and that they coach their own direct reports. In other words everybody has to ‘walk the talk’.

In my last organisation before going self-employed this was not the case. A few senior members of the Board and a couple of key HR personnel promoted the skill of coaching well and ‘practiced what they preached’. Unfortunately some very senior managers did not and continued to use very directive behaviours towards their staff whilst communicating that coaching was a ‘fad’ that would soon pass! This caused confusion at middle management levels with the result that a number of managers did not take their coaching training very seriously. Fortunately other managers did and their teams eventually experienced the benefit.

2. Will everybody understand what coaching is and what it can do them?

This was one of the first hurdles that we had to overcome. Simply, people did not understand why the organisation was implementing such a programme and also people did not fully understand what coaching was exactly. Some believed it was training and that all it meant was that you told people what to do and showed them how to do it. After all that was what their sports coach did! Others thought it was more about counselling and you only used coaching when there was a deep problem causing under-performance. All in all not everyone had a good understanding of what coaching was and how it differed from the likes of training, mentoring and counselling. Also many people because they had not been exposed to effective coaching had no experience or idea of why coaching could be a benefit for them; either as the coach or as someone being coached. Before employees can move on and take part in a coaching programme they must be 1005 aware of what the skill of coaching entails and what it can do for them.

3. Those who are going to act as coaches must be trained effectively.

Most companies will take on the services of a training provider or consultant to support them to implement the coaching programme. Beware. Make sure you do your homework! There are numerous coaching schools, training companies and consultancies who now offer ‘coach training’. Some will be excellent; some not so hot. We had some major problems with the group that we used in that not all their trainers/coaches had the necessary skill and experience with the result that not everyone in the organisation received the same quality of training and coaching. I was extremely lucky in that I had an excellent coach who was also a fantastic trainer.

What should you look for when selecting a coaching training company or consultancy?

The most important thing to look for in selecting a provider company is to ensure that you are comfortable that you can form a powerful and productive partnership with them. There are a number of questions you should be asking in order to ascertain this.

What is their experience of supporting coaching programmes? (Years of experience, types of situations, companies worked with, references)
What is the experience of the individual consultants? Business backgrounds? Coaching experience? Coaching Qualifications? Any experts within the ranks? (There are a lot of ‘life coaches’ now offering corporate manager-coach training and many do not come from a corporate background. Although this does not mean they won’t be good coaches, it may mean that their credibility in the eyes of the trainees/coachees might not be all it could be, and this could present problems)
What coaching models does the provider use? Do they stick to one model or are they able to utilise a number of coaching models which they can fit to the purchasing company?
How flexible is the provider? It is all very well putting together a coaching programme to satisfy an initial proposal but are they able to flex this programme as befits the needs of the organisation as they go through the programme? Flexibility is key in any coaching programme as not everything will go to plan and not everybody will progress at the same pace!
Does the provider offer variety of interventions within the programme? A good provider will ensure that the programme is varied with it being a mix of classroom theory, role-play and other experiential practices together with assignments, action plans, review days not forgetting 1:1, group and telephone coaching support.
Are they prepared to ensure that they measure their success and agree with you what exactly success looks like? If they are not then forget them!
Are they affordable? Some companies and consultancies charge very high rates and deliver excellence and are value for money. Some are the opposite and some charge very reasonable rates and are also excellent. The main point is that you should also do your sums and make sure you can afford the programme because it could last a fairly long time, particularly if you are a large organisation.

Coach training takes time and although there are some very good two -three day courses available the real secret to establishing and reinforcing coaching skills is to ensure that once the basic theory is learned, these skills are immediately put into practice. A good coach training provider will always offer follow up support either in the form of review days, 1:1 coaching, group coaching (action learning sets) and telephone coaching support. Having said all this in many instances it will depend on the budget available but whatever the situation please ensure that you do your homework on the outfits that you have singled out in your tendering process. If your managers and coaches do not get the required and proper training then the whole coaching programme could collapse before your very eyes.

4. Ensure that those who are doing the coaching have some form of measure.

Firstly it was my experience that although everyone went through the coach training not everyone was prepared to go away and start coaching! Reasons for this were varied. Some cited too much pressure of work and not enough time; others simply outlined that they didn’t believe coaching would work for their reports; some stated that they were already coaching, whilst others decided that they needed to coach more because they now believed that this was the way to motivated and up skill their staff. The end result was that although some managers had a strong motivator to coach, others did not. How did we get round this challenge? Well we got half way there, in that in every manager’s measures of performance there was an objective around how much time would have to be spent on a one to one basis with individuals in their teams. This at least got people to make sure they put time in their diaries in order for this to happen. However this was only half the battle as it was no guarantee that within this dedicated time, the manager would actually do any coaching! What I believe should have happened (and what I now believe is happening) is that the manager on a regular basis now asks for feedback on their coaching skills from the people they are coaching. Each coachee will have a list of the competencies and behaviours that an excellent coach should exhibit and every so often the manager will ask the coachee for feedback on these. Only by taking both the objectives and feedback approach will you ensure that coaching is taken seriously.

5. Regularly review progress against agreed measurement and success criteria.

Finally the success of the coaching programme overall should be measured. As with any training intervention it is not always that easy to measure how successful the intervention has been. Sure, the feedback following the course was great and the trainer/coach was superb, but did any lasting change happen and did this result in improved behaviours and subsequent improvement in productivity?

Organisations should look to both qualitative and quantitative measures where possible. Qualitative measures include written feedback about how the coachee or employee feels about the coaching – do they feel more focused, more motivated, has morale improved, do they look forward to their coaching sessions etc. Qualitative measures though do not always satisfy senior management who, in many respects, do not respect ‘happy sheet’ feedback. What they want is hard evidence based on data and results. If they do not get this then suspicion about how effective the interventions often occurs and future investment in such ‘soft skill’ ventures can be difficult to access.

Where possible if you are looking to demonstrate a return on the investment then you should look to measuring outputs such as sales or production; look at sickness rates, employee retention rates together with improvements in individual competency ratings where possible. We were constantly being pressured and challenged to prove a return on the huge investment that the company had made and although we struggled in the early days to prove that coaching worked we eventually gathered together enough quantitative data to prove our case.

In Summary, in order to support your organisation to successfully implement a coaching programme at all levels the do the following:

1. Get ‘Buy-In’ from the top and ensure they are committed to the skill of coaching and that they lead by example. Others will follow.

2. Make sure everyone involved understands why coaching is being implemented, what coaching is and how they as individuals will benefit’ not only as a coach but as someone being coached.

3. Choose your coach training providers very carefully. Are they experienced coaches? Can they train effectively? Do they have a list of satisfied clients? Do they provide ongoing follow-up support?

4. Are there enough motivators in place for managers to coach? Is coaching part of their specific objectives and are they being measured on these objectives? Are they asking for feedback on their skills?

5. Make sure you put both qualitative and quantitative measures in place and that you review these regularly, always remembering to communicate these to senior stakeholders.

Another important point is that all this takes time. If you think you can implement a coaching programme in a matter of weeks then think again. You will need time to get the support of senior management; time to put a training plan together and then time to implement that training plan. Then there should be a re-inforcement and sustainability period when the newly found skills are being implemented and developed through feedback. Time should also be put aside to ensure feedback is collected and measurement against the success criteria is monitored and communicated. Give at least six months to a year for your implementation and then be prepared to continually assess and develop the skills on an ongoing basis.

Coaching programmes are lengthy and can be exhausting given the continual training, monitoring and influencing of stakeholders, but ultimately they are very worthwhile as the organisation and its people grow as a result.

About the submitter:

Allan Mackintosh is a Performance Management Coach with team development specialists, Reivers Development. He is an accomplished speaker and author of The Successful Coaching Manager (Troubador Press). He is also the creator of the coaching models OUTCOMES and CARERS.

He can be contacted at 01292 318152 or e-mail: allan@reivers-dev.com He has his own personal website at http://www.pmcscotland.com

Author: Allan Mackintosh
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Benefits of electric pressure cooker

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Surprise, surprise it’s happened

Paul Worswick — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 07:00:08 +0000

Have you ever been surprised or taken aback when something you wanted to happen, happened; even though you thought it had little chance of happening. Somethings happen in life for what seems like unaccountable reasons; there seems no obvious or logical reason, they just happen. The things I’m referring to are those that happen to benefit you. Just when you wanted a phone call from a friend they call you with an item of good news, something you’d been waiting to hear and didn’t in the least expect it.

What is behind these events taking place? What causes them to happen? I had a recent experience where I was in desperate need for something to happen; I had been looking for ways to make it happen for a number of weeks and was beginning to despair about it ever happening. Then out of the blue I received a phone call inviting me to a function, and guess what, when I was there what I was hoping would happen, happened.

When things happen in your life, they happen for a reason, usually because they’ve been asked for! Our behaviour, the way we act in terms of what we want to happen has an effect on what we receive. Having the belief you’ll receive something once you asked for it goes a long way to being successful. It won’t necessarily happen or appear straight away but being patient and showing the belief will be worth it.

Have you had any experiences similar to this? Please let me know in the comments below.

photo credit: garryknight

I love working

Jayne Sherwood — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 07:00:50 +0000

I really like to work, it has been said that I am a bit of a workaholic, however is this a bad thing I ask myself? When I first left school and moved onto college I was so excited about going out into the world of work and doing something that I considered to be great. I wanted to be a teacher and so took the journey through college and into teacher training at Birmingham university in the UK. I loved the classroom and teaching right from my very first teaching practice. The children I taught were four to five year old and the day sped through as if I had only been there for an hour or so. When I got home my dad asked me if it had been a good day, I replied that I loved it and couldn’t wait to return the tomorrow.

From then on I can never really remember disliking work, I have disliked some of the processes and organisational rhetoric I have had to follow, but actually going out to work for me is so motivational and fun. So I wanted to share 5 things you can do to help you feel the same.

One of the keys to happiness is finding work you love, that you’re passionate about and that you want to do. After all, if you really want to do it, how can it be work? Like with my teaching I found the work I loved right from the start, not just teaching, but working with others to help them develop.

The difficult part for most of us, is actually identifying what that work is, what is your passion and how can you turn it into your work, at times we don’t even know where to start, and it seems a hopeless cause, but it isn’t, honestly. You will find that work, but it does take some effort. Here’s what you can do to find the work you love:

It won’t find you, so go out and find it

We have all heard the saying, if you continue to do the same thing you’ll get the same result, so doing the same thing every day won’t get you anything motivational or new. Sometimes we’re lucky and it just lands in your lap, however many of us don’t get that break and have to go out and find the one thing that you’re passionate about. You’ve got to take action, and you’ve got to seek it NOW!

Don’t give up until you’ve found it

Why settle for one thing when you can do something more interesting. If you find something that’s even marginally more motivating than you’re doing now, that is great, but if you’ve moved forward already, why stop there. Keep going until the time when that alarm wakes you in the morning and you think, ‘great, I’m doing this today and I really love it!.

Be brave and challenge yourself

Really explore your options, try something new and just forget about all those qualifications you have. Find the people you admire and ask them how they did it, remember, normality is often boring! Inspiration might come from the strangest of opportunities and from somewhere you would least expect it to.

Remember, you might not even realise you really love it until you can do it

It’s quite possible you will know that you like something once you find it, however, don’t just think this is it and then think, why did I love this again? We all have to get good at doing something before we really enjoy doing it as a natural process. Once you get good, you can’t stop doing it, because you’ll feel so motivated by it. It will become second nature.

Now you found it, mould yourself into it

When you find the work you love, consider it a gift and give yourself a pat on the back for being clever. But don’t spoil it and begin to ignore the other loves in your life and that includes loved ones. So strike a happy medium and add that to the jobs you love too.

Enjoy the work you do and do it with the people you like, including your loved ones. I have my weekend ahead of me now and will take time to reflect on my week, has it been good and what was challenging about it. What ever I come up with, one thing I know for sure is this, on Monday morning, I shall rise from my bed and feel motivated to go again and learn something new!

photo credit: Nina Matthews Photography

Following your gut instinct

Paul Worswick — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 11:35:29 +0000

There is an abundance of gurus, blogs and other resources available, not only on the Internet, but off-line too, where you can easily become knowledgeable about how to achieve success. Many of these personal development tools include coaches, goal setting, personality profiling to name but a few. They do however tend to constrain you within a fixed, whilst not rigid, model; it can limit your thinking if you’re not too careful. A relaxed mind and willingness to think ‘out of the box’ is still required to maintain your creativity, openness to change and new ideas.

Whilst many people will advise you to tread careful and be cautious with your decision making; listening to you gut feeling is often a worthy alternative.

You only need to look through history at the examples of where people have taken a chance and followed a hunch they’ve had; the result has proved to be very successful.

Typical example of hunches are:

Completing an application form of a job – from this a successful career can be achieved
A second date with somebody – from this a lasting relationship can be borne

More famously in the sport of athletics, the four-minute mile is one such example. For many years, scientists and athletes thought that it was impossible to run a four-minute mile. It was first achieved in 1954 by Roger Bannister in 3′ 59.4″. The ‘four minute barrier’ has since been broken by many male athletes. In the last 50 years the mile record has been lowered by almost 17 seconds. Without Roger Bannister listening to his gut feeling this would never have happened. The changes might only be small, in terms of time, as in this case, but the magnitude in terms of the sport have been massive.

How often do you wish you’d followed your gut feeling instead of following the norm and expected practice? Did you enjoy it? Where has it left you? Embarrassed or just feeling deprived?

Many famous and not so famous entrepreneurs are renown for taking notice of their gut instinct or following a hunch and then being acclaimed a genius. They have a great deal of self belief that helps drive them forward and more importantly they are not afraid to fail; to them it becomes another learning point. Take a lesson yourself from this!

So the next time you have a hunch try taking notice and follow your instinct; you may well be surprised by the result, it could also change your whole life. it may also involve or entail a whole paradigm shift, meaning you’ll adopt new beliefs and discard older ones that you no longer require. The next time you’re unsure which direction to take, consider asking yourself the following questions!

What is the worst that could happen?
What do you want to happen?
What could go wrong?
What is the best that could happen?
What would it be like if you got there?
What will it be like if you don’t try?
What will success mean?

Thinking differently and trying new things; doing something out of the ordinary takes courage as well as time to adapt; be patient with yourself. Developing something new takes time; give yourself plenty and enjoy the outcome. Please let me know what you think; add your comment below.

photo credit: P Keigan

Effective SMART Goal Setting For Personal Development

Guest Writer — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 07:00:39 +0000

Have you heard about SMART goal setting? This technique is widely used by successful individuals in reaching their goals in life. They are those which are simple, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely. Once you set your goals through goal setting, you are guaranteed of favorable results.

Why is it important to set your goals early in life? If you are someone who wants to have a promising future you will definitely set your goals correctly early on. It is important since goals shape your future. What you will become is a product of the goals you have set for yourself.

Here are the reasons why you must use effective SMART goal setting for your personal development:

Lead you to the right direction

Many people fail to achieve their aspirations in life because they lack the guide. They don’t have something to remind them or lead them to the right path. Once you use SMART goals, you will have a guardian with you that will guide you every single step of the way. Make sure you have simple, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely goals so that you will get exactly what you want in this life.

Help you stay motivated

It is only normal for one to encounter problems along the way to success. Challenges and problems are parts of our lives as humans and they will not go away. However, there is something you can do about them. SMART goal setting will help you face these obstacles head on. Once you fix your eyes on your goals, you will never go astray. You will know exactly what you want to achieve and have the drive to reach them. You will stay motivated despite the troubles that will come your way.

Make you a better time manager

One of the reasons why you have to use effective goal setting is because it can help you greatly in managing your time well. You will learn to avoid procrastinating, wasting your time on worthless matters, and become a better time manager. You stick to your goals and to the timetable you have set to achieve them.

Indeed, none can be more important than effective SMART goal setting for personal development in paving your way towards a wonderful future. Setting your goals right is crucial since it can make or unmake what you will become years from now.

Want to discover more about SMART Goal Setting and success secrets to discover how to create a roadmap to achieve your goals for your personal development and self improvement?

To learn insider secrets and powerful goal setting strategies, visit http://www.smart-goal-setting-tips.com.

Author: Annette H. Hill
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Pressure cooker

photo credit: lululemon athletica

The feeling of success!

Paul Worswick — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 10:50:04 +0000

There is much talk about achieving success and how we should or can achieve it for the plethora of gurus and experts, however one question that doesn’t appear too often is, “how does that success feel”? It is very important to have an idea of what the success will feel like when we set off; this will not only let us know what to expect but also provide us with an excellent motivator.

When you set off on your journeys or experiences, how do you discover what your success will feel like or do you merely rely on a surprise when you’ve achieved something. The only problem with that is that the feeling you experience might be the wrong one; it might be a different success. This doesn’t sound as silly as you may think; we can all think we know what the feeling will be but actually knowing what it is provides us with a completely different challenge.

When you spend time setting goals, time allowed to understand that feeling of success is just as important as setting an appropriate goal for the reasons already given.

Just think how much more motivated you would feel if you knew how you would feel when you achieved your success; conversely how unmotivated would you feel if you didn’t like that feeling. Would you still continue with the goal? We have five senses, your kinaesthetic sense (feeling) is just as important as the others, such as your vision to see your end result.

photo credit: FindYourSearch

7 great holiday activities for children

Jayne Sherwood — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 07:00:16 +0000

The summer holiday invariably brings a stressful time to some parents in terms of finding childcare for their children while they continue to go out to work. When you make the decision to start your family the true extent of what is required isn’t always so obvious at the time. However, you soon realise that the two weeks annual holiday you get from work, doesn’t stretch too far when it comes to taking your holidays at the same time as your children and their six week summer break. We’ve now had two weeks of the summer holidays and if you’re not considering what you can do for the next few weeks, your darling children might just be drive you round the bend with their persistent demands!

You may well be stuck for ideas and things to amuse them, so I’ve come up with a list of things you might want to consider:

Visit the cinema

We find ourselves revisited by two of our old favourites this summer, Toy Story 3 and Shrek 4. Our own grandchildren recently went to the cinema with their mum to watch the latest version of of their favourite Shrek, they were so excited, at 4 years old it is so interesting to watch how young children can actually follow a story, sometimes far easier than you or I. Children learn so many life skills from a visit to a cinema, how to understand that there are rules to be followed and that you have to respect others around you. Children are resilient to many situations and always surprise us when we most expect them to behave inappropriately, so why not take your children to the cinema and let them surprise you too.

Visit a Safari Park

A visit to a local safari park is a great way to help your children gain an understanding of wild animals in a safe but friendly environment for both the animals and their visitor. Children are able to see how the animals can benefit from living at the Park in environment which are suitable for their life style. Share an exciting adventure together in the many activities which are available within the parks themselves and listen to the way the animals are cared for and how protected spices are also catered for

Visit a museum

Many galleries and museums at this time of year arrange some exciting activity events for families and children to go to. In years gone by, I’ve have taken my own children to such events, one was at the Lowry in Manchester, UK where a local group of art students put on a workshop for children to do T-Shirt painting and creative activities based on local artists. The children learn about various types of media and are able to create their own ideas. These sessions are extremely therapeutic for children of all age groups.

Visit the theatre

Look out for local theatre companies who put on productions in your areas, these do not have to be huge theatre companies, in fact, there are at times more benefits from working with small companies than there are taking your children to see a massive production on stage. Local companies tend to address local issues in their productions which helps your children gain an understanding of many important issue that may effect them.

A local leisure centre

During the summer months you will find that the local authorities where you live arrange for ‘out of school’ clubs to be organised. These clubs are designed to support families who work, however they tend to be so well organised many families use them, whether they work or not. The staff who are always qualified to work with children, arrange visits and activities throughout the school holiday season. The children are in a safe friendly environment and they are open to various opportunities that they can participate in.

A children’s working farm

This is one of my favourite places to visit with children, when I working as a primary school teacher, teaching 4 to 5 year old, I took my class to a working children’s farm every year. The children experience so many working methods that inner city children would not know about at all without this opportunity. The children are able to milk cows, forage for pests in the woods and looks after small animals by feeding them and helping clean out pens.

A water park

There are some amazing water parks about nowadays, with slides and shoots for them to have fun. There are pools and slides for all age groups and swimming abilities. I know my children have had great deals of fun and games visiting water parks and if I’m really honest, I’ve had loads of fun to.

You could try these activities with children of almost any age range providing you select a time for their age to visit.

photo credit: epSos.de

What is it about relationships?

Paul Worswick — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 07:00:31 +0000

We build relationships, different ones, on a daily basis; they are the bedrock of our whole existence. We develop them with friends, parents, teachers, colleagues, neighbours, siblings etc. The list is fairly endless.

Building and maintaining them takes place with or without any real planning as part of our everyday activities. Watching them change and develop is a fascinating science for some who take a delight in studying them, for others they view them less scientifically and more on a basis of destiny.

They are a mere commodity for some, to use and abuse at their leisure, whereas others treat them with the utmost respect and treasure them as though their life depends on them; unfortunately some people do take this to the n^th degree.

Relationships aren’t merely about romance, sex and lust; there are of course the relationships we build with other family members, work colleagues, our peer group and the strangers we meet on a daily basis. They all involve different strategies to support their development and maintenance.

What is it about our relationships that makes them so intriguing and interesting? There are some of us who prefer not to engage in relationships with either gender; whereas others find it difficult to comprehend life without the company of others and the mere thought of being without others isn’t an option. So why is there such a wide disparity of thoughts and opinions, why can some people do without them whilst others can’t?

Even the most thought out relationships don’t always go as planned; you only need to look at the divorce and separation rates of many of the marriages that take place. So if we can’t plan through careful thought out relationships and guarantee their success what chance do stand when we wander aimlessly into them. There is of course similar examples of relationship breakdown out of the marriage scenario; the evidence just isn’t documented in the same way. In the workplace selected people are brought together to work on specialist projects, alas there are many examples of project failure due to relationship breakdown.

How about the example we have all probably experienced in the workplace; that is the one where employees are selected at interview partly because of their likely success rate of full integration into the team and becoming an important member; again there are examples, many I think, where this has failed to transpire.

How complex are relationships? What makes them work then suddenly they stop working? Why do some work and some don’t?

There are examples of people who opt to work with somebody else all for the sake of the project or company. This invariably puts them under pressure and places them in a stressful situation. Is this type of behaviour money or loyalty oriented? May be there are other reasons such as reputation or a desire to be liked that come in to play!

photo credit: HikingArtist.com

Personal Development – 6 Steps And Goal Success

Guest Writer — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 07:00:43 +0000

Would you like to live a more prosperous life? Would you love your relationships to improve. Perhaps you have specific goals or desires you long to see manifest in the material world.

It doesn’t matter where you are or where you have been. It makes no difference if you have a string of success behind you or only failures. I am about to share with you six steps that will ensure you reach all your goals.

Here are some top tips to help you achieve all the success you want.

1. Know what you want! Be very clear on exactly what it is that you want. Wanting more money or a good mate is not enough. How much money do you want? What are the qualities you are looking for in another? Vague wishes will gain you nothing. You must formulate a clear intent!

2. Once you have identified what you want turn your desire into a goal. Write down on a paper a statement of intent. Begin your statement as follows, “I am so grateful that I now allow myself to have…” Read this statement twice a day and recall the mental image you will create in step 3.

3. Create in your mind a clear image of yourself already in possession of your desire. Make it as clear as you can. View yourself in the image as the person you wish to be already having your goal. Imagine how that ‘other’ you thinks, feels and acts and add these characteristics to the ‘other’ you in your mental image. When you have your image clear and concise, imagine that you can step into that ‘other’ you. As best you can start to feel all those feelings that the ‘other’ you felt. As you step inside that mental you feel yourself becoming that new person. Increase the feelings. Make the colours, in the environment you are now seeing through your mental eyes, more colourful and vibrant.

4. Remove your mental barriers. The only reason why people fail to achieve their goals is negative mental attitudes. You must remove these mental ‘demons’ before you can achieve success. When you verbally intone your goal, through the affirmation statement you created in step 2, you will find your negative attitudes begin to surface. This is excellent as the attitudes are being brought up from the subconscious to the conscious mind where you can eliminate them. Be diligent and try to become aware of how you are thinking throughout your day.

When you become aware of a negative attitude, when it surfaces, do not fight it. This is disastrous. If you fight to suppress a negative attitude it will remain in the subconscious mind and act like a hidden computer virus in your brain. Allow the attitude to surface fully. You will find that you have feelings associated with these thoughts. When you permit the feeling to come up and you experience it fully you will quickly find that it burns itself out! By no longer supressing your emotions but allowing them to express themselves in your body you will find that they dissipate. I know this sounds too easy but please try it, it really does work!

Once you have allowed your negative feelings to burn themselves out, by allowing them to surface and leave your body, it is a good time to mentally revisit your goal image and speak your statement of intent. If this is not possible then just re-affirm to yourself that you are allowing yourself to have your goal. When visualizing and affirming your statement of intent do not stop until you feel positive about your goal. Never leave your mental work while you still feel negative. You may find that the next time you do the exercises you feel similar negative feelings. These emotions are not the same feelings that you have already allowed to dissipate! You have gathered much negativity during your stay on planet Earth and your negative attitudes have many layers. Just be diligent and patient.

5. Let it go! Once you have finished your mental work let it go. You are doing your part so allow universal forces and laws to their work. If you allow your mind to dwell on the hows, where’s and whens you are really affirming to yourself and the universe that you do not already have your goal! Never worry about how your goal is going to come to you or when or where you will receive it because this will slow down its manifestation. Thinking in terms of your goal as having already been accomplished is fine but give no thought as to when, how or where it will come. When you think of something that you already have you do not contemplate how you got it, you just think in terms of already having it!

6. Take some action! It doesn’t matter how small it is. Take some small steps everyday that will bring you closer to your goal. When you reach out for your goals with the correct mindset the universe will rush to meet you.

When you pursue your goals and desires using these six simple steps you will find that you achieve a higher level of success than you have ever before and you will find it much less stressful. Follow the steps and prepare for your next success.

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Author: Michael McGrath
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Low-volume PCB maker

photo credit: Lorkan

Taking time out

Paul Worswick — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 07:00:07 +0000

Hard work to the extent of overworking yourself and not taking time out for rest and recuperation is a common fault with many people. This happens for a variety of reasons; some of which are guilt, pressure from managers or peers, or simply a wish to work hard and get the job done; this could be attributed to trying to create an impression. Do any of these reasons ring true with you? They certainly do with me!

The guilt we feel if we don’t work hard, is something that more likely than not comes from a self limiting belief; probably from our parents or other mentors we have worked with as part of our upbringing.
Pressure from managers or peers appears later in life and is probably an extension of the belief we have developed as a result of listening to our early years mentors.
Wishing to work hard to create an impression or to raise your profile within your circle of friends stems from a lack of self esteem or a self estimation. Not to be confused with self confidence!

Whether or not you agree with these three views, the point is we all need to allow ourselves time out for rest; to allow recovery from the efforts we put into achieving our goals, otherwise progress with our personal development will certainly suffer. The overall effect will be counter productive towards your intended progress. What do you think about these three views; let me know in the comments section below.

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photo credit: Jinx!

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