Especially for coaches & potential coaches : 16 corporate clients in 24 hours - by David Wood Flaven Clayton from Hawaii is a new life coach. And when she said she booked 16 sessions at once, all paid for by a corporation, I had to ask how she did it. About Creativity Coaching - by Eric Maisel, PhD Creativity coaching means different things to different people. By creativity coaching I mean the activity of one person helping another person with every aspect of that person's creative life, including the psychological, emotional, existential, and practical problems that arise as a client tries to create. Virtually nothing is out-of-bounds as a creativity coach endeavors to help his client write, paint, invent, or compose, find and make meaning, maintain mental health, enjoy a measure of happiness, and lead a good life whose centerpiece activity is creating. Becoming an Expert - by Alyson Mead One of the most coveted roles in our society is that of an expert.  Experts are not just average people.  They command respect, and get it.  People hang on their every word, and make them their go-to source for information.  Often, experts can create wonderful new income streams, because their information is that valuable. Let’s face it.  If we want to solve a problem, we look for an expert.  If we want advice, we seek out an expert.  And if we want to stay on track during a particularly arduous process... yep, same person... the expert. Entering the Field - by David Wood So you're considering a career as a life, business or corporate coach, but wondering what's the best way to enter the field? Do I need to do a training course? Do I need to get accredited? Where will I get clients, and do I have what it takes? Here are the key steps.. Experiences of a New Coach - by David Wood Estelle Gibbons, of Western Australia, had been coaching for approximately eight months at the time of this interview. The First Step to Clients - by David Wood Getting people to go from 'hello' to 'let me sign up as your client' can be a big task - especially when they don't know what coaching is! In this article I'll explain exactly how to get plenty of trial sessions, which is the first step to plenty of clients. Four Steps to Confident Coaching - by David Wood Have you ever felt unsure of yourself as a coach? Scared that you might not have an answer for someone? Worried you’ll give the wrong advice? Concerned they’ll think you’re a fraud? The biggest difference I seem to make with the new coaches I mentor is in the area of confidence. Sure I help them with designing their unique coaching session, marketing and business set up. But their main block is often lack of confidence. The Magical Way to Get Clients - by David Wood For many months now I have been working on an e-book with interviews from ten hugely successful coaches with successful businesses. A major questions focus was: "How did you get so many clients?" Surprising Six-Figure Jobs, by Tom Van Riper, Forbes 08.03.06 Another business spawned by coaching, naturally, is coaching the coaches. Christian Mickelsen, who started as a small business coach in San Diego seven years ago, now helps wannabe coaches get their businesses started through his Web site, CoachingBusinessRocketLauncher. He says the key to six-figure success in coaching is finding a specialty and sticking with it. "Be a business or life coach but not both," Mickelson says. "You need to realize why people hire coaches; it's not about having some super-awesome life, but because they have a specific problem they want to solve." > also see workshops and more on the Coaching Resources blog

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  General coaching & self-coaching :

4 Ways Fear Wreaks Havoc on Your Dream and What to Do About It - by Kim Castle
Are you making daily progress towards accomplishing your business vision? Despite a strong desire to make your vision happen, do obstacles always seem to pop up and slow you down? Do you find that doubt is chipping away at your vision, keeping it from ever becoming a reality? Let's do something about it.

5 Steps to Goal Setting Success - By Jill Ammon-Wexler, PhD
Goal setting is the true secret to success in any area of life. But although setting a goal may seem simple, achieving it is usually another question altogether. Why is that? Because you will never achieve your goals unless you: (1) know exactly what you want, (2) are passionate about your goal, and (3) have a solid, realistic plan of action. This is what marks the difference between nebulous dreams and wishes - and truly achievable goals!

Are You Settling? - by Valerie Young
Settling is not the same as compromise. ... When you settle, you unwittingly or wittingly check your true needs, desires, feelings, and gifts at the door. By settling you're essentially telling yourself, "This is the best I can do." You don't even try to get your needs met, or realize your true desires, or express your feelings, or bring your gifts into the world... But far more is possible than you think and everyone -- including you -- deserves to go after what they want.

Attitude Control: The Key to Lasting Success - by Neil Fiore, PhD
When we're in charge of our attitude we don't use the victim's inner dialogue: "I have to show up but I don't want to." Instead we speak about "choosing to show up to do our best." Choice is an executive function that involves considering the risks, consequences, and one's commitments before deciding how to act. Choice is an act that ends ambivalence and procrastination.

Been "Kicking a Dead Horse?" - By Jill Ammon-Wexler
Does your past history control your life today? If you're not achieving the lifestyle you truly desire, it's probable that painful old memories are in control of both your present AND your future. Old memories cannot be accessed or controlled using logic. The fact is, they can only be accessed using the power that memorized them in the first place -– emotional power. It takes focused, passionate desire to get stuff like this out of your way!

Being assertive - by Chris Williams, MD
Assertiveness is being able to stand up for yourself, making sure your opinions and feelings are considered and not letting other people always get their way. It is not the same as aggressiveness. You can be assertive without being forceful or rude. Instead, it is stating clearly what you expect and insisting that your rights are considered. Assertion is a skill that can be learnt. It is a way of communicating and behaving with others that helps the person to become more confident and aware of themselves.

Being Resilient and Flexible Yet Holding On - By Brad Swift
In the Life On Purpose Process, we first work to uncover the person's inherited purpose. This is the fear, lack, struggling to survive based life shaping force that can keep us from ever really getting around to clarifying our true purpose. By uncovering this, the person can move beyond it -- set it aside, at least long enough to gain access to their true purpose.

Being With What Is - By Jen Louden
Paying attention to what is means we must stop and be in the present moment.. to become more comfortable with not knowing, with not having a pat answer or action to take - to observe the world. It is human nature to interpret and assess ourselves, other people, and events constantly.. It is when assessments run our lives without us questioning whether they have any grounding and without us paying attention to what we are experiencing that we lose our ability to create our lives.

Celebrating Jonathan - by Amy Jaffe Barzach
It was just after New Year's when I lost Jonathan, my baby son, to spinal muscular atrophy. ... The image of that little girl sitting on the sidelines continued to haunt me while Jonathan was struggling for life in the hospital. Now here I was at my desk, thinking about how to celebrate Jonathan's life. What if I built a playground where all children could play? Wouldn't that be a true celebration of life?

Change Happens: How to Accept, Navigate and Master Change - by Michael Angier / SuccessNet
Not only do we live in a time of unprecedented change, but the changes we’re experiencing are happening at a faster and faster rate. Our lives are significantly unlike that of our parents’. We think differently, act differently, travel differently, and we work differently. Virtually everything about how we interact with the world around us has changed in just one generation.

Cosmetic Brain Surgery -  By Barbara Bernath
Break free of the old ‘objectified’ concept you have of yourself and start embracing your new identity as an awe-inspiring event. How? By getting more creative. By letting go of old ideas and notions and opening up to newness. This means looking inside and out with new eyes, listening with new ears, feeling with new fingertips; it means being curious and spontaneous and stepping outside of your norm.

Create Your Own Mission Statement for Your Personal and Professional Life - by Dr. Denis Waitley
Two of life's greatest tragedies are: Never to have had a great mission in life, and to have fully reached it so there is no challenge remaining. Are you going where you want to go, doing what you want to do, and becoming who you want to become?

Dealing with Emotional Extremes - by Jack Elias
Extremes of happiness and of sadness may have good cause.  Such co-mingling of powerful experiences present opportunities to challenge any tendencies of the mind to take us into smallness and dark moods and to choose our greatness and joy instead.

Don't worry, be happy - by James Flint
[book review of The Happiness Hypothesis, by Jonathan Haidt] Buddha compared the experience of being human to that of a trainer (rationality) sitting astride an elephant (animal impulse)... Jonathan Haidt suggests that we return to the idea of elephant and rider as a template for the workings of the mind in a book purporting to tell us how to be happy. Haidt knows what he's talking about.

Do What You Love and Continue to Grow Every Day - By Jennifer Louden
Here is a juicy and liberating idea I'm meditating on these days: What if, instead of thinking I'm wrong, off track, or screwing up when I'm uncertain, afraid, lost, don't know what to do next or aren't enjoying some aspect of living my dream, I held the interpretation that I am moving to a new level of development.

Do you know when fear is holding you back? - by Michael Angier
Your fears can be valuable information for you.. They shouldn't run you. Evaluate your fears. Then move through them and bask in the sunlight of your achievement. The following is from Frank Herbert's book "Dune": "I will not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear...”

Ending Procrastination - by Jim Rohn
Perseverance is about as important to achievement as gasoline is to driving a car. ... The opposite of perseverance is procrastination. Perseverance means you never quit. Procrastination usually means you never get started, although the inability to finish something is also a form of procrastination. I'm going to tell you how to overcome procrastination. I'm going to show you how to turn procrastination into perseverance, and if you do what I suggest, the process will be virtually painless.

The Evils of Story Time: When Stories Become Malignant - By Grace Judson
From earliest childhood, we all love story time. As adults, we dress “story hour” in more sophisticated clothing and attend poetry readings, literature society presentations, and “open mike” nights at the local bookstore.  And as businesspeople, we explore the role of story-telling as a knowledge transfer tool.. And we tell ourselves stories. But not every story we tell is visionary; in fact, the little ones, the small, deceitful ones that drag us down, frustrate us, and make us mistrust people are quite the opposite of visionary. These stories lead us to believe the worst of other people and to doubt our own abilities.

Goal-Free Living - by Stephen Shapiro
Success and happiness are unarguably our Holy Grails, but the standards taught to find them are all wrong. We have been brainwashed into believing that the only way to achieve this elusive combination of success and happiness is through setting goals. This is simply not true.

The Homecoming - by Timothy Ciciora
This sudden, unexpected expression of thanks from a total stranger hit me like a lightning bolt. I'd received many decorations over the years, but nothing could compare to the simple tribute she'd given me. It made me remember why I was here. It renewed my faith, not only in my military career, but in life, as well.

How to Be a Nervous Wreck, by Alan Alda
When I’m faced with a kind of character I’ve never tried before, the fear can rise to the level of terror. But, it’s a terror I look forward to, and I don’t like to take on a part unless it scares me a little. I’ve found a tremendous value in this kind of fear... I don’t just scare myself with playacting. I scare myself in the rest of my life, too...

How to Fix the World - By Rev. Dr. Daniel Ó Connell
How to deal with the world's problems, when sometimes it seems we are powerless to deal with our own? One piece of advice that seems sage, is to first deal with our inner critic. You know, the one that mocks your ambition, the one that seems to sap your resolve, the constant critic of inner doubt.

How To Get Motivated - By Clay Tucker-Ladd, PhD
In any area where we are hoping to self-improve, both short-term and long-range goals are needed. If your long-term goals clearly contribute to your most important values and your philosophy of life, they should be more motivating. Good goals are fairly hard--they stretch us--but they are achievable taking small steps at a time.

How to Lighten Up and Not be So Hard on Yourself - by Michael Angier
We all need to forgive ourselves for our shortcomings. Jack is one of the kindest, gentlest men I know. He has a big heart. But I'm guessing, like I had done, he bought into other people's criticism and began to question his goodness. In doing so, it made it easy for him to beat up on himself. For me, I had to learn to develop a thicker skin to protect my soft heart.

Hypnosis - Who Will It Work For, And Why? – By Alan B. Densky
There are many different hypnotic methods that are used to reach the unconscious mind to invoke change. Each method has its strengths, and its weaknesses. Every person is different, so it stands to reason that the best results will be obtained by utilizing the methods that each person will respond to.

The Inner Critic  (an issue of Living The Creative Life newsletter - includes book references on dealing with destructive self-talk)

In Praise of Rebellion: 10 Steps to Supercharge YOUR Life - By Dr Jill Ammon-Wexler
Are you totally happy with life as it is? How about with yourself? If you are anything less than TOTALLY satisfied with your own status quo -- I encourage open and wild rebellion! STOP accepting your limitations. The probability is they don't even belong to you, anyway.

Intentions vs. Expectations - by Jack Elias
In the same way that prayer is the flip side of worry, living by intention is the flip side of living up to expectations. And just as prayer nurtures and empowers while worry ennervates, living by intention strengthens and enlivens, while living up to expectations perpetuates cycles of hope, fear and stress and bewilderment.

The Key to Mental Re-Programming - By Dr Jill Ammon-Wexler 
Your imagination takes you beyond the limits of space and time... Many people attach little importance to such inner visions, but they actually hold a major key to creating our mental programs. There’s now solid scientific proof we actually create our reality with our thoughts -– and not the other way around.

The Language of Self-Hypnosis - by Adam Eason
Using language in the most progressive way to ensure your internal dialogue can be as amazingly powerful to you as using self-hypnosis. When I teach people self-hypnosis, the language they use in self-hypnosis sessions is very important. What’s more, the kind of language used in self-hypnosis can be used outside of formal self-hypnosis too, to enhance your communication with yourself at all times.

Learn to Say No! - By David Wood
So what is the worst that could happen by saying no? You might lose some people in your life who are used to you doing what they want. Living an authentic life can seem tough. Sometimes there will be unwelcome consequences. And I say: Bring on the consequences! In the end, it’s worth it.

Life: Lessons Ad Infinitum - By Jennifer Louden
Perhaps, just perhaps, we can approach the situation like a Fool... maybe we really don't know what is going on, what will happen next, or who we or anyone else will be and for how long. Maybe we can reconstruct our trust, our innocence, one breath at a time and confirm our commitment to creation--with all of its limitations, vulnerabilities, and infinite twists.

Living Simply in a Complex World - by W. Bradford Swift
A number of spiritual leaders have taught the value of simplicity as well as finding a balance between the inner and outer aspects of our lives. ... I found out what we had become DOMOs: "downwardly mobile professionals, typically under 40, who abandon a successful or promising career to concentrate on more meaningful or spiritual activities."

Making It A "Happy" New Year - by Marc F. Kern, Ph.D.
We strive annually to "take stock" and to "feel better" this time next year. In my experience, the most central feature for successful lifestyle change is to challenge the "feel good" paradox. Specifically, that successful lifestyles must satisfy the same desires that brought about unhealthy lifestyles: it must feel good. ...  Learning to trust your own self-leadership, your own intuition, is essential to making you a happier person and more enjoyable to be around.

Making Meaning - by Eric Maisel, PhD
The existential threads in every tradition suggest that you have faith that what you choose for yourself is right for you and that you have the ability to accomplish the arduous work of personal meaning-making. It may be scary, but this cycle of committing yourself and reevaluating your commitments is, according to every tradition, living!

My Perfect Mess - by Nancy Roman
[from the book The Right Words at the Right Time Volume 2, by Marlo Thomas] "Look," Sister Regina said quietly, "we all want everything we do to be perfect, but sometimes it just doesn't turn out that way, because we aren't perfect. If you aren't satisfied when you're done, well, then, just do it again. You can do it as many times as you like." In those few words, I learned one of the most reassuring lessons of life: that you don't have to be perfect. You only have to satisfy yourself.

Negative self-talk by Douglas Eby
"When negative self-talk robs us of our enthusiasm for our dreams, we're suffering from the classic creative block... Self-criticism can seriously injure potential talent that wants to be expressed."
These quotes from the book "Putting Your Talent to Work..." by Lucia Capacchione and Peggy Van Pelt emphasize the damaging impact of some "inner dialogues" we may have with ourselves. The authors note "Many of us perpetuate negative self-talk about talents that we don't accept."

Open to Anything - By Linda Dessau, the Self-Care Coach
When we're attached to certainty and sameness we feel unsettled when we don't have them. It's easy to forget that if we would just stop and tune our attention inwards, we can find the most certain path to wisdom there is.

The Outer Roads of Simplicity - by W. Bradford Swift
More and more, living simply is not only a good idea, it is becoming paramount to our survival... Simplicity starts with a fundamental shift in consciousness, otherwise you will continue to be uptight, worried and stressed, whether you have a lot of possessions or you have none at all.

Overcoming Self-Limiting Beliefs - by Brian Tracy
The worst beliefs you can have are "self-limiting beliefs." These exist whenever you believe yourself to be limited in some way. For example, you may think yourself to be less talented or capable than others. You may think that others are superior to you in some way. You may have fallen into the common trap of selling yourself short and settling for far less than you are truly capable of.

Practical Steps to Enchantment - Improving Your Self Esteem - By Dr. Barbara Becker Holstein
Often in our society, we are bombarded with the lives of celebrities. We can end up feeling that if we are not part of the rich and famous, our lives are insignificant. Our society also sends a message of competition and achievement. The result often is that we are taught to see how well we are doing, in terms of how pretty we are, how bright we are, what kind of house we have, how well we do in sports, what rewards we receive. However, in reality, these are external measures. Each of us needs to develop a sense of self-worth, a capacity for positive self-regard that comes from within.

Practice Being Like a Child - by Jim Rohn

Priming the Passion Pump - by W. Bradford Swift
Clarifying your life purpose is a team effort between the rational mind and the intuitive mind. The following exercise is an effective way to combine these two powerful resources to help you move forward along the pathway of a "life on purpose."

Remembering the Best, Restoring Yourself, Rapture, by Dr. Barbara Becker Holstein
In today's world there are so many wonderful and inspirational books... There is one thing often missing from these books. It is the mental and emotional perspiration that we need to go through as we struggle to live a life of meaning and joy. The inspiration is there but it's the perspiration that most of us need to put into our daily lives to create for ourselves lives of enchantment.

The Right Words at the Right Time [Foreword] - by Marlo Thomas
Rudolph Giuliani, Cindy Crawford and Gwyneth Paltrow heard the words that changed their lives during a moment of crisis. Itzhak Perlman spent his entire career, almost forty years, living by a single, eight-letter word first spoken to him by a Russian music teacher when he was ten years old. All of these stories confirmed something I've always suspected: that whether we know it or not, each of us carries our own unique slogan, a custom-made catchphrase that resonates throughout our lives.

The Secret of Lasting Personal Change - By Dr Jill Ammon-Wexler
Why do so many of us end up frustrated when we try to improve our personal reality? Why do diets end up in gained weight? Why do some people fail again and again at business? Why do others get into one bad relationship after another -- in spite of their deep desire for a "good" relationship? The basic rule of personal change is this: Your effort will *always* fail (or will only be temporary) unless they are accompanied by a change of your thoughts and beliefs. It all starts in your mind. Period!

Seven Simple Exercises to Invite the Extraordinary Life - By Guy Finley
I can think of no greater encouragement than the self-evident Truth that there dwells in each of us the opportunity to explore and know the Extraordinary Life. The meaning of Extraordinary I wish to convey points to the immutable and inexhaustible source that is the secret center of each of us: a timeless resource open and available to anyone who would seek this Life that sits behind life as we know it.

Six Ways to Overcome Fear – By Marcia Wieder
As you get closer to fulfilling your dreams, don’t be surprised if doubt and fear surface. The number-one way we sabotage our dreams is by saying things like, “But, what if?” and imagining the worst. But, what if I... fail, succeed, say or do the wrong thing, don’t make enough money? With this thinking, as you move toward your dream, you’ll also move toward your fears and worst nightmares... Here are six ways to overcome fear.

Start Living Without the "Shakes"! - by Guy Finley
Trying to hold yourself together is a terrible way to go through life. The fears of falling apart can never be quieted by adding more pieces to your self, such as success or the hopes of success. Who you truly are can never fall apart. What will collapse is the haunted house of self-flattering and security-seeking pictures you had mistakenly identified as a solution to your shaky life.

Staying with it: Momentum overcomes procrastination - By Linda Dessau
When we procrastinate, we fuel our inner critic's statements that, "You're no good", "You can't do it" and "You'll never finish it". We provide evidence that those messages are true, and we sink a little lower in our seats and a little father away from our passion. When we gain momentum in the creative flow, however, quite the opposite occurs.

Stop Sabotaging Yourself and Awaken to Who You Truly Are! - by Larry DeRusha
Life's most important question is: "Why am I here?" Everyone must discover the answer to this question for themselves.  It is part of the sacred journey.  But having the tools to assist you makes it easier than stumbling along.  Intuition and meditation are the most powerful tools for self-discovery.  The Roar from Within program is deliberately structured so its exercises and guided meditations will gently lead you along the path of awakening to who you truly are.

Top 10 Benefits to Knowing and Living Your Life Purpose - by W. Bradford Swift
One of the most important matters that anyone can do for themselves and the world is to become clear what their true purpose in life is and to then live true to it.

What Is Genuine Control? - by Deanne Repich
Genuine control does not mean other people, events, and situations determine my feelings, thoughts, and actions. It means that I choose how to feel, think, and act... Genuine control is not about trying to stop the rain, the snow, or the sunshine. It's about making rainbows, snowmen, and sand castles.

What's wrong with goal-setting - by Kenneth W. Christian, Ph.D.
"Listen folks. Talking about goals won't get you there any more than going to church will get you to heaven. If you do not passionately believe in where you are going, don't give goal-setting a bad name by using the word goal to describe listless me too ism."

When, Why, and How to Disappear For a While - By Suzanne Falter-Barns
This is an article about retreating, whether it be for an afternoon, a week, or a year. Retreats are for those times when you've reached a personal plateau from which you just don't seem to be able to budge. Maybe you're very tired from weeks or months of hard work. Maybe you need to grieve a loss but you just can't seem to find the time. Maybe you're surrounded by people and demands all day long and you just plain need to get away. Maybe God is calling you, so you need to stop and listen for a while. Maybe all you know is that you need to move forward, but you don't know how or why. A retreat is time you give to yourself to allow you to quiet down, tune in, and really listen to your soul.

Why Can't I Change, by Joan Chittister
The search for perfection, like a mite under the skin, goads us and drives us and makes us ill at heart when we fail to attain what we cannot possibly accomplish. ... We want perfect 10s in gymnastics, 300hp engines in family cars, airplanes that fly faster than sound, multiple gigabyte processors in computers. We push every boundary to the breaking point–and in the case of cars and jet engines and desktop PCs sometimes we even get it. It’s when we apply such standards to the human soul that things go miserably wrong.

Why Increase Your Emotional Intelligence? - by Susan Dunn
One reason researchers began to define the field of emotional intelligence is because we know intuitively that cognitive intelligence has its limitations. We see it all the time – people with high IQs whose lives are a mess because of naivete, poor social skills, or abrasiveness. Emotional intelligence defines the competencies that contribute to such vague constructs as “getting along,” “maturity,” “common sense,” and even “street smarts.” For the good life, for authentic happiness, cognitive intelligence is not enough.

Why We Need Values and Morals - By  Clay Tucker-Ladd, PhD
Values and morals can not only guide but inspire and motivate you, giving you energy and a zest for living and for doing something meaningful. Sensitivity to a failure to live up to your basic values may lead to unproductive guilt or to constructive self-dissatisfaction which motivates you to improve.

You can’t seek for change and control at the same time - by Tama J. Kieves
And as clever and insistent as it is, your mind or “the monkey mind” as Buddhists often say, is not the navigator of this journey of the heart. The heart has different paradigms and portals through which transformation takes place. ... And of course, this all comes down to trust, trusting the Universe, trusting yourself, trusting the moment. But that’s what it’s all about. Because when you have trust, you don’t need control. And then you can step into ease, grace, and a creativity that will blow your mind. And that’s what we’re here to do.

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More :....article pages index

..change / growth sites........books : change / growth......

nurturing talent / achievement : sites........nurturing mental health : sites / programs

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