If you want to develop your toolkit as a Career Coach get in touch with Sue Harford today on bookings@fireworkcoaching.com to book one of the last remaining places!

http://www.coactivesummit.com/

In out-of-the-way places of the heart,
Where your thoughts never think to wander,
This beginning has been quietly forming,
Waiting until you were ready to emerge.

For a long time it has watched your desire,
Feeling the emptiness growing inside you,
Noticing how you willed yourself on,
Still unable to leave what you had outgrown.

It watched you play with the seduction of safety,
And the gray promises that sameness whispered,
Heard the waves of turmoil rise and relent,
Wondered would you always live like this.

Then the delight, when your courage kindled,
And out you stepped onto new ground,
Your eyes young again with energy and dream,
A path of plenitude opening before you.

Though your destination is not yet clear
You can trust the promise of this opening;
Unfurl yourself into the grace of beginning
That is at one with your life’s desire.

Awaken your spirit to adventure;
Hold nothing back, learn to find ease in risk;
Soon you will be home in a new rhythm,
For your soul senses the world that awaits you.

~ John O’Donohue

William James quotes (American Philosopher and Psychologist, leader of the philosophical movement of Pragmatism, 1842-1910)  

So I’m learning yet again how to lean in to experts, friends and colleagues to help me create the materials in Spanish (which I don’t really speak yet, certainly not enough to do translate), let the Spanish coaching community know it’s coming at last, and liaise with the participants and hotel (on the waterfront in Barcelona – wonderful!)

What an exciting challenge!! More later…..

Jedi Master Yoda

As a relationship and career coach, I work with clients at the ‘edges’ of their lives….the boundaries between who they are and who they want to become whether that’s in their career or in their relationship. It’s important for me to walk my talk so last year, after many years of having it on my ‘must do sometime’ list I finally travelled to New York for the month of July and took up a whole bunch of creative classes – dance, voice, acting and so on…some of my edges…if you get my meaning. Oddly, I had a poor relationship with the city of New York, (bad experiences every time I’d been before) so I decided it was time to see what I could change there too. (More about my time there on another post!)

And just this evening I finally took receipt of one of the products of those labours in the form of a short film that I helped to craft whilst I was there. I don’t anticipate a career change or a Golden Globe or Oscar anytime soon, but that’s not why I did it. I did it to discover..or even rediscover something in me. It started out as a New Year Resolution, and it’s helped me to get connected to my resourceful, creative side in ways I hadn’t imagined before I went. Oh…and New York is now a top five favourite city of mine. Oh, and this week I just had an article published about my career and relationship coaching in a magazine in New York too….you can view it here.

 Just before I left for the holidays I was asked if I had any tips for helping us to keep to our New Year Resolutions, and I was reminded that some years ago I wrote about this for a magazine. Now that I’m back I looked up the ‘Top 10 Tips’ I made on this and I’m posting them here,  just  in case they help inspire you this year!

Tips for Keeping your New Year Resolutions

 It’s that time of year again! Here are my top 10 tips to help you set achievable goals, and make sure you stick to them!

1 Spend some time getting to know yourself better

Think about the things you really enjoy doing and ask yourself what’s so good about them that they means something important to you. Where else might you find those types of fulfilling experience?

 2 Don’t try to ‘change everything’ at once

Review where you’re now most satisfied with your life and where you’d really like to put your efforts. Fill in our ‘Life Wheel‘ to help you. Click here to download Wheel of Life

3  Don’t just set the same old goals you just haven’t succeeded at before

If you’ve had this one for so many years it’s probably become an embarrassment, or a family joke! So either ditch it or change the way you think about and describe it. What would be available if you had/did this in your life? Is the appeal still resonant or is it part of an old story now?

4 For each resolution, create a positive mental picture

Too often we focus on a resolution as an insurmountable hurdle to be overcome. If it’s really important to you though, then having achieved it will bring about some really positive benefits and that’s what you need to focus on. Imagine life with this i it…how would that be? Draw it, write about or paint it! 

5 Set yourself realistic goals

Make sure you have smaller goals or milestones along the way and make sure you reward yourself every time you reach one.

Ask yourself who you’re doing it for

Avoid doing anything that’s about other people’s ‘musts, shoulds and oughts’

To really bring about change it has to come from you.

7 Redefine the ‘F-word’ – Failure

Take note how many times you give yourself a hard time for not having done something. Be gentle with yourself! Failure only means that you ate that cream cake this time. It doesn’t mean you’ll always give in and more importantly, it doesn’t mean you’re a failure either.

8 Notice the choices you have, and the ones you make

Every obstacle, tough day with the kids or bad day at work can make it hard to stick to something especially because creating change involves making new choices. Often we jump straight back to familiar ways of being and doing when. Every time we say no to something we say yes to something else. Ask yourself, what are you choosing right now?

9 Celebrate success whenever you can

Clearly define what success looks like and how you’ll reward yourself when you get there.  Celebration has many faces and forms – make sure you celebrate in ways that are meaningful for you…after all you’re doing the work!

10 Create your own support

Change is easier and more fun when you have some support. Everyone benefits from some kind of support to boost morale, after all it’s part of being a human being. Find a buddy or a relevant club with the same interest or work with a coach for a while.