Life Coach: A new plan for a new year

Kelley started our coaching session by saying, “Even though this year has been tough, I am optimistic that next year will be better. I should probably make some resolutions, but it has never worked before, and I’m wondering why it would work now.”

It had been a tough year for Kelley. Her mother was moved into a nursing home; there was stress at work due to downsizing; and she broke her leg in a hiking accident last summer.

“Let’s talk more specifically about things getting ‘better,’” I suggested. “In which area of your life would you like to begin?”

“There are several areas, but let’s start with my health,” Kelley said. “Since I broke my leg, I have realized how important my health is to me. Over the last six months, I’ve gained 12 pounds — partly because I haven’t been able to work out and partly because I eat when I’m bored or stressed — and you know there’s been a lot of that lately.”

“So how can the health area of your life be ‘better?’” I asked.

“I’d lose weight, eat better and work out more,” Kelley said.

“The words ‘health’ and ‘better’ can be nebulous. Let’s make them more tangible,” I suggested.

“I’d like to lose the 12 pounds I’ve gained,” Kelley said. “Is that what you mean by being tangible?”

“That’s a great start and will help with measuring your progress. Let’s make it even more specific. What will you actually SEE when you reach your weight loss goal of losing 12 pounds? For example, you might see yourself on the scale and have it register 12 pounds less than you are now.”

Kelley closed her eyes. “I see myself looking in the mirror wearing my ‘skinny’ jeans and noticing that they are a bit baggy. I am pulling out the waistband and looking for a belt so my pants won’t fall down,” Kelley said.

“What do you HEAR yourself or other people saying about your health and weight loss?” I asked.

“I feel great! Look how wonderful my clothes fit me!” she said. “And other people are saying how healthy I look and how much energy I have. They wonder what my secret is.” Her face was radiating with excitement as she added each detail.

“How will it FEEL? You can start with feelings like excited, motivated, etc., but what I am really looking for is what it would feel like if you could touch what’s going on.
Would it feel smooth, bumpy, slick or something else? Does it have a color or temperature? If you could touch ‘better health,’ how would you describe it?”

“This is tough,” Kelley said, but she stuck with it.

“It feels hot and electric. I think the color is bright red.”

We summarized Kelley’s description of what she will SEE, HEAR and FEEL when she reaches her goal of “better health.”

We created a timeframe, measurements, strategies and accountability to help her reach her goal of better health.

Kelley identified three additional areas of her life on which to concentrate and set her goals.

As part of her Action Plan, she agreed to make each goal more tangible by identifying what she will SEE, HEAR and FEEL as she reaches her goal. Kelley also agreed to create timeframes, measurements, strategies and accountability for each area to review at our next session.

“I like this approach better than making resolutions,” Kelley said as she turned to leave. “Resolutions often feel lofty and unrealistic.

By making my goals more specific and tangible, it feels like they are within reach and possible. Next year already feels better … and it hasn’t even begun.”

Coaching challenge

Which area(s) of your life would you like to focus on in the coming year? Set a goal describing how you’d like it to look. Get specific with your goal by describing what you will SEE, HEAR and FEEL once you reach your goal. Create a manageable timeframe with realistic goals and a way to measure your progress and stay accountable.

Remember that big changes are created by knowing where you are going, taking small, specific steps to get there and celebrating along the way. Happy New Year!

Source Link :- http://www.gjfreepress.com/article/20090101/HEALTH/812319993/1063/NONE&parentprofile=1063&title=Life%20Coach:%20A%20new%20plan%20for%20a%20new%20year

Life Coach

Life Coach

What is the work like?

Life coaches support and encourage people to help them fulfil their potential and make the most of their lives.As a life coach, you would aim to empower your clients to take control of their situation in areas such as relationships, careers, fitness, work-life balance and self-confidence. You would work with clients to:

explore their situation

discuss their values, attitudes and beliefs

find ways in which they might achieve their aims

help them to set appropriate goals

encourage them to stay motivated and committed

explore ways of overcoming barriers and setbacks.

Your clients could range from individuals to an entire business. You could either offer a general service or specialise in a particular area, such as executive and business coaching, life changes or spiritual coaching.You may sometimes refer clients to an appropriate therapist if they agree that this would be beneficial.

What qualifications and experience will employers look for?

Life coaching is not regulated in the UK – at present anyone can work as a life coach if they feel they have the necessary skills and qualities. However, clients tend to favour coaches who have accreditation and membership of professional organisations. A good starting point would be to choose a course that is endorsed by the professional bodies.It is important that you gather as much information as possible before choosing a course. As well as looking at the costs involved, check that the course offers:

contacts with other coaching and mentoring bodies, or universities

testimonials from coaches that have attended the course

good resources for developing skills

practical training, such as workshops and seminars

some supervised work with a practising life coach

advice on setting up a business

opportunities for continuing professional development.

For information on accredited training and other useful information, visit the Coaching and Mentoring Network website. This is an independent body that helps to promote the services of life coaches.If you already have a degree, you could study for a postgraduate degree in coaching at some universities. These courses contain life coaching modules which are generally business-orientated.

What further training and development can I do?

Once you are working as a life coach, you can become accredited by the UK International Coach Federation (ICF). There are three grades of membership, depending on your training and experience. These are:

Associate – 100 hours’ coaching experience and 60 hours’ training

Professional – 750 hours’ experience and 125 hours’ training

Master – 2,500 hours’ experience and 200 hours’ training.

Contact ICF for further details of accredited training providers.The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) offers an Advanced Certificate in Coaching and Mentoring, which is aimed at people with some experience.You could also join the Association of Coaching. As a member, you will have access to training opportunities, networking services and continuing professional development (CPD).Some courses may be connected to the European Mentoring and Coaching Council, which promotes good practice and standards within coaching generally.

Source Link:- Life Coach

5 New Year’s Resolutions for Ambitious Women

Life coach Ann Daly PhD offers advice to ambitious women who want to live large in 2009. Excerpted from Dr. Daly’s new ebook, “A Year of Clarity: The Monthly Guide for Women.” What are the best New Year’s resolutions for ambitious women?

“Women are hungry for a life of focus, meaning, and accomplishment,” explains life coach Ann Daly, PhD. “In order to commit to that life, women need to begin by getting clear about what they want. They need to unclutter their minds and hearts.”

In her new e-book, “A Year of Clarity: The Monthly Guide for Women” ($16.95, Wollemi Pine Press), Dr. Daly shows women how to claim and achieve their ambition, whether it’s for the C-suite, work-life balance, or a creative calling.

What is the best way to begin a year of clarity? Dr. Daly suggests these New Year’s resolutions:

Tame the female ego — If men feel the need to be in control, women feel the need to please. Ask yourself: “Am I doing this because I want to do the right thing, or because I’m afraid to be seen as selfish, bitchy, rude…?”

Just say “No!” — Every time you begrudgingly reply “Yes” to someone else’s priorities, you say “No” to your own.

Add Mozart to the mix — This measured, buoyant music is an immediate antidote to the manic moment. You’ll find yourself able to breathe, relax, and focus.

Don’t say “should” — Eliminate the word from your vocabulary. Find alternatives such as “want” that declare your power and responsibility to make choices.

Stop Multitasking — It’s not a productivity tool. It’s an excuse for perpetual distraction. Instead, plan your time well enough to focus on one task–or person–at a time.

Ann Daly, PhD, is a life coach, speaker, and author based in Austin, Texas. Formerly a women’s studies professor, she is an expert on the changing lives of professional women. The author of five books, Dr. Daly is the “Transitions” coaching columnist for Your Address magazine and the host of BookWisdom, a salon that encourages books as a resource to inspire and improve women’s lives. Dr. Daly has been featured on “The Coaching Show” and in the Austin-American Statesman.

Source link:- Life Coach

7 Steps To Happiness For This Holiday Season

Happiness is not as hard to find if one applies effort and acceptance of the joy of the “simple” things in our everyday life. Things like family, lovers, and friends, that like you unconditionally. If one appreciates what one has had rather than what they don’t have, they can find happiness.

Focus on Abundance :- Focus on what already exists in life that is satisfying and one will never be at a lack for finding things to be happy about. We all have things to be grateful for. Family, friends. Even possessions.

Appreciate :- The food on the dinner table. Many people in the world lack this. If one has food, they have sustenance and that alone will keep them alive to contribute to the lives of others. Appreciate the family that loves each other. The friends that don’t make judgments. The people that show unconditional support.

Give To Get :- The more one “gives” the more one “gets”. A simple smile is the best example of this. Think of how many times a smile has changed a day for the better. It is pretty rare. It is the closest bridge between people. Make use of it.

Happiness is Contagious :- The more happiness that is spread – through good deeds, simple gestures or contributions will make a happier person.

Keep a List Daily of Things To Be Grateful For :- Do this every day and feel will happy. The weather. The friends. The dog at the foot of your bed.

Write All Of The Causes of Unhappiness On a Piece of Paper :- Do this. Read it twice. Crumple it up and throw it away. Problem solved. One usually feels a “cleansing” effect when they eliminate all the negatives in life by using this technique. Focus on the positive and the rest will take care of itself,

Life Is Short :- In an interview with Sean Connery. He said “Every morning you have a choice to make the best of each day or be miserable” Embrace that, and realize that if one lives every day as if it were their last, sooner or later they are going to be right. Walk around with a smile, radiate happiness within, and be the cause of it for others.

Sam Childs is a widely recognized as a leading expert on “Executive Coaching” and “Lifestyle Development and Improvement”. Childs is an avid student and lecturer who has helped dozens of people overcome their fears, increase their confidence, and live a more satisfying life. He has learned from some of the leading authorities on life coach and personal development.

Source Link:- Life Coach

Area Life coach helps you help yourself

Cassie Schuh’s new career and future business began when she attended a seminar at the Fearless Living Institute in Boulder, Colo.

“I wanted to make a change professionally as well as personally and this conference changed my life and made me think differently about my life,” Schuh said. “I hired a life coach, and she began to teach me how to communicate and change my attitude and approach toward life.”

Schuh began to see how her background in social work and experience could be combined to develop a business that would promote positive change in people’s lives.

Schuh began coaching in the summer of 2007 and later gave her business the name “Zaptastic”. The definition of Zaptastic is: to add a sudden infusion of energy, verve, color and attractiveness to your life in an exceptionally good way.

“It is that moment that hits you, and all the little changes you have made make the big difference in you life,” Schuh said.

Cassie Schuh’s mission as a certified life coach is to guide people into and through change by helping them identify obstacles and self-defeating beliefs while learning how to eliminate excuses, complaints and fears that keep many of us from achieving our goals and life desires.

“The way we handle change varies from person to person,” Schuh said. “We can feel stuck and overwhelmed. My goal is to teach people to give themselves permission to move forward with clarity and passion.”

Life coaching helps people that are interested in getting healthy, growing a business, becoming a leader, solving money issues, improving communication, developing stronger relationships and learning how to balance work with your life.

This is accomplished by changing the way you think and feel about your work, relationships and your life.

You will learn how to get unstuck for good, eliminate negative self-talk, build confidence, reach your goals, become fearless and take control of your life.

“Hiring a life coach gives you the insight, support, accountability and skills you need to make positive changes in your life in a way that empowers you,” Schuh said. “I offer private coaching,group coaching, telephone classes and public speaking events.

So when someone knows they are ready to make changes in their life but are not totally sure what it is they want or need to change, Schuh will help discover what it is each client is looking for by asking a series of questions.

These questions not only help clients discover what they want; they become aware of the belief systems that has created the life they now lead and how they got where they are today.

Schuh offers a free 20-minute complimentary session to anyone interested in her services to help individuals decide if her life coaching services are right for them.

Source Link:- Life Coach

After coach’s blasting, Cal women roar to life

After a public upbraiding by life coach Joanne Boyle following the first game of the season Friday – a 24-point win over Albany – Cal took the message to heart. And to the floor Sunday at Haas Pavilion.

The No. 9 Bears responded to Boyle’s blistering criticisms with a 67-53 win over Nevada, alleviating most of their coach‘s concerns.

Cal showed energy and fire, particularly on the defensive end, dominated the boards and made up for a lackluster shooting day (34.3 percent from the field and 1-for-14 from behind the three-point line) with a good afternoon from the free-throw line (20-for-26).

“It was a much better effort,” Boyle said. “We really focused on the things I talked about and we did a much better job. We had only seven turnovers; we did a much better job on the boards, and I think we did a good job defensively in the first half.”

Cal (2-0) needed everything it got from senior forward Ashley Walker, who passed the 1,500-point mark in her career. She finished with 27 points and 17 rebounds.

The Bears are missing the post minutes of senior Devanei Hampton and junior Rama N’diaye. Hampton is on the bench with lingering knee issues that have kept her out of practice, and N’diaye is coming off a knee injury in March that was expected to keep her out until perhaps December. Both will return to practice this week, but Boyle wouldn’t say whether either will be ready for Cal’s matchup with No. 3 Rutgers on Friday night.

“When we play without Dev and Rama, obviously, I have to do more,” Walker said. “But that’s part of who I am. I do what I do.”

Guard Alexis Gray-Lawson added 15 points, playing only 24 minutes because of foul trouble. Casey Morris, the freshman from Piedmont, had 12 points.

Boyle expressed her displeasure with her team’s effort Friday in the postgame media session, and with her players behind closed doors. She joked Sunday that she got text messages from coaching colleagues once her comments went on the Internet. The message clearly was received by her players.

“We had talked about the things that were missing. There was a lack of passion, a lack of energy, no one was running, there was no cheering on the bench. That was part of our identity and that was missing,” Boyle said. “I think the kids came out and were much more focused. The energy and the passion from the floor and from the players on the bench were much better.”

Cal finished with an 18-6 advantage on the offensive boards and forced 20 turnovers.

“Our tenacity and fire on defense made us go,” Walker said.The Bears led 31-17 at the half, but were shooting poorly (10-for-31) and relying on free throws (1o-for-13).

Nevada (1-1) cut Cal’s lead in the second half to 39-30 before the Bears responded with an 11-3 run that included two baskets each from Walker and Morris.

Nevada kept at it, shooting 50 percent from the floor in the second half, and closed the Bears’ lead to 60-50 with 4:15 to go on a three-pointer by Megan Cherry.

Source Link:- life coach

Vikings Coach: ‘Main Goal – Be Winners in Life’

Marques Sullivan was an outstanding offensive lineman in college and the NFL, helping create opportunities for three Buffalo Bills players to have Pro Bowl seasons.

As the offensive line Life Coach this year for the North Park Vikings football team, it is outstanding men he wants to help create.

A graduate of the University of Illinois, he anchored the Fighting Illini offensive line, starting 45 consecutive games during his career (1997-2000). He was voted second team All-Big Ten in both 1999 and 2000 and also was named third team All-America by the Football Writers Association after his senior season.

The Buffalo Bills drafted him in the fifth round in 2001. He spent three seasons playing in Buffalo (2001-2003), before splitting the 2004 season between the New York Giants and New England Patriots.

In 2002, he started all 16 games for the Bills at right guard, a season in which quarterback Drew Bledsoe set 10 team passing records, running back Travis Henry rushed for 1,438 yards and wide receiver Eric Moulds set a franchise record for receptions with 100. All three were Pro Bowlers that year. Sullivan won the 6th Man Award, given to the team’s most improved player in 2003. Sullivan started a total of 24 games in his NFL career that ended after four years due to injuries.

Sullivan started coaching the North Park team this year at the invitation of Vikings coach Harold Blackmon, himself an NFL veteran. He met with Head Coach Scott Pethtel, who is in his third year at the school.

“I thought he was moving this program in the right direction, and I was sold,” Sullivan says. “I want to do what I can to help this program grow.”

Although he made his name in Division I, Sullivan is impressed with the players at the Division III level. “These kids come to play for the love of the game,” Sullivan says. “Most of the people in Division I are hoping to get into the NFL, but only about five percent of them make it.”

The Vikings are an especially young team this year, made up of mostly freshmen and sophomores. After meeting them, Sullivan says, “I thought this would be a great group of guys to coach”

“All I expect from them is to pay attention and work hard every day,” Sullivan says. “I tell them, ‘Don’t waste my time, and especially don’t waste yours.’ ”

Sullivan has made himself available to all the players on the team, who seek advice about  personal issues as well as on-the-field issues. “They can ask me anything,” he says.

“I consider myself as a teacher,” says Sullivan, who adds he wants to instruct the players in more than football techniques. “I think the main goal is to be winners in life.”

That includes facing adversity. The team has struggled this year, and Sullivan has used his experience to keep the team motivated. He reminds them that in his first three years at Illinois, the team won fewer than 10 games.

“We just have to keep working toward our goals,” Sullivan says. “Have large goals, but also small weekly goals. We’re teaching them life goals.”

Now is the time to learn those lessons, Sullivan says. “Students don’t realize how easy they have it compared to their post-college years.”

In addition to working with the Vikings, Sullivan is the director of the Chicago NFL Alumni Football Camp, serving high school-aged children. The camp features former NFL athletes coaching high school kids at every football position. He also serves as a coach for the Chicago Bears Youth Football Camp coaching children ages 6-13.

He hopes to dispel the negative image of professional athletes as people who frequently are in trouble. “A majority of the players are doing great things in the community and their families,” he says.

He adds that people also have the misconception that all of the players are getting wealthy, saying only a few have really large contracts. Most careers last two years or less.

Halfway through his final season, Sullivan was traded to the Patriots. He was there to block for a guy named Tom Brady.

“He was the first guy to come up to me and say, “how’s it going?’ He told me to let him know if there was anything he could do for me. He’s a great guy. He works hard, really hard.”

Source Link:- Life Coach

The Bigger Picture: Life Coaches

Isak Griffiths has what a lot of people want: happiness. That’s why she decided to be a life coach.

“My job is listening. My job is working with you as you really sort through all the clutter and noise in your life,” said Griffiths.

She helps clients deal with stress, manage their responsibilities, and find out what they want out of life. She’s seeing more demand for her services now, than ever.

“People are worried about being able to be at home with their families while they’re trying to make ends meet.” said Griffiths.

She calls herself a guide, and says she never gives advice. She has almost a dozen clients who she helps only over the phone. Some wonder if this coaching can really work without seeing a client face to face.

“I find that limiting. I do not think you can tell more about a person.. by talking to them over the phone,” said Florence Paisey.

A life coach can cost anywhere from $200 to $1000 a month, and with the economic crisis, some argue this kind of help is a waste of money.

Griffiths says the money won’t matter if you learn to be happy.

“I want people to know that life doesn’t have to be that hard. I want people to live with that kind of joy and to celebrate,” said Griffiths.

Source Link :-http://lifecoachus.blogspot.com/2008/10/bigger-picture-life-coaches.html

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