Why Businesses Need Coaches

Thanks to Neil Thornton for his tremendous insights on the challenges faced by businesses today, and how coaching can make a difference. Listen right here!

40 Days Left - Time to Take Stock

There are only 40 days left in our 80 Day Challenge. Are you still with me?

This time, I want to turn your attention to a great little exercise that will help you to begin planning out your 2009 year with purpose. I first began doing this at the end of each year, about three years ago after I had worked like a dog all year, with very little to show for it financially or emotionally in the end. I wish I could remember where I first heard of this exercise - I want to say I learned it from one of my colleagues from back in the day when I worked for Pryor Resources Inc., but in truth I can't be sure.

In any case, the exercise works like this. Draw a T quadrant on a sheet of paper (you may need more than one sheet) - an example is here for you to look at. In each quadrant, you will place a different heading:

1. What was FUN and made me money

2. What was NOT FUN and made me money

3. What was FUN and didn't make me money

4. What was NOT FUN and didn't make me money

Go back over your year. What tasks or projects did you participate in? Were they fun? Were they lucrative? What was not fun at all, but was seemingly necessary in order for you to earn a living? What was incredibly fun - that you would do again for NO PAY?

Prioritize your 2009 plans accordingly. For me, there were some things I did in 2008 that were amazing FUN, but didn't make me any money - this time. I already know what needs to be done differently, and the wheels are already in motion to make this fun time a profitable one as well. There were some things I did for free because I believe in the value I can bring to the process (e.g. teaching self-esteem programs in the schools, participating in the National Bullying Awareness Week, etc.), and others that were strategic marketing efforts. I balance that out with several projects that are also fun and profitable, so that I can be fiscally responsible to my company and to my family.

What makes the difference for me is going through the annual (and sometimes quarterly) process of evaluating what I'm doing, asking if it is working, and making adjustments as needed. I find myself doing less and less of the stuff that is just NO FUN at all - and spending more time doing what I am most passionate about and having a blast doing it.

When you complete your quadrant, pay close attention to those things that you want to do more of, and begin asking, "What can I do differently to ensure that I am filling more of my time with the FUN and PROFITABLE activities?" Focus on what you want - because energy flows where the attention goes.

I want to hear about your breakthroughs as you go through the 80 day challenge! And guess what - starting in January, we will begin another process to keep us all in forward motion. I encourage you to stick with me on this journey.

I am so excited to bring Transform[ED] Coaching to you beginning January 5th, 2009. What a great way to start the New Year! We all make resolutions about what we want to change, and what we will do differently, but very soon into the first few weeks of January or February, we revert back to our old ways. Do you ever wonder why it is that way? Is it possible that the change we seek is too far outside of our comfort zone? Perhaps, we see what we want to achieve, but we don’t have the tools or the roadmap to get there. Most definitely, we lack the skills to make change sustainable over the long term.

With the help of Transform[ED] Coaching you can finally cut through all of that, and begin making those all important steps towards your goals. I will be your partner in success, accountability, and in effort – guiding you through the processes required to Get Past Your Past, Stress Less, and to acquire the Anger Solutions you need to move forward.

Transform[ED] Coaching is an 8-week group process that you can participate in from the comfort of your own home. All you will need is your telephone, a journal, and a pen. I will provide you with the roadmap, the tools, the insight, and the leverage you need to make the changes you desire. You can be assured that your personal information will remain confidential, and your self-work will be seen only by me. Each hour-long session will focus on a particular task or issue, and there will be an opportunity for question and answer at the end of each call. Those questions that cannot be answered within our time will be covered in an e-mail. Because I want to be able to give each participant the personal attention they deserve, registration in these sessions is limited to the first 20 who sign up.

The investment in this process of creating radical, lasting, positive change in your life is only $579 – a fraction of what I normally require from individual coaching clients. Because you are a valued customer and friend of BRC, I am pleased to offer you a $100 discount when you sign up for our January 5 class. Tell a friend about this class and have them sign up with you, and we will extend the $100 savings to them AND take another $25 off your registration fee.

Are you ready to be Transform[ED]?
Call today 1-866-754-6169 to get your name on the list.

Lessons from the Masters Part 3 - Coaching Distinctions

This week I have been watching closely as I continue to make little shifts in my thinking and behaviour - and the results that follow. Last week I taught my students how to create a vision board as part of an extensive goal setting exercise. My vision board is not yet complete, because I want to be sure I am clearly visualizing my goals before I place them on the board. However, I put some key goals on the board around selling a certain number of books per year, and as a means to that end, to gain more exposure via radio, television, and print interviews. That was Thursday. On Friday, I received a call from CTS Television's "On the Line" saying that their Monday guest had to bow out due to an emergency, and could I be their expert guest for Monday's live show. Of course, I said yes. I sent out a quick email to my contact list to let them know that I would be on the show. On my arrival home from taping the live show in Burlington, I opened my email to see a note from CHCH TV in Hamilton asking if I would like to do a guest spot on one of their programs. The producer saw the email I sent out to my e-list, and thought that the topic of stress management would be a good fit for their show! How cool is that? The power of intention coupled with focused action created another opportunity for me to fulfill that goal of booking more interviews to promote my books.

Another cool thing that happened this week, also happened while I was taping "On the Line". I had an epiphany right in the middle of a conversation with a caller and it was this: All stress is FEAR-based. Think about it - we become stressed when we feel afraid that we lack the resources we need to meet the demands of a circumstance or event. Example: If I get stressed over an interview, it is because I am afraid I will sound stupid, or make a mistake, or say something that doesn't make any sense. I am afraid the host won't like me and won't ask me back on the show. If you get stressed over a project at work, it is because you are afraid you won't get it done on time, the boss won't like it, your peers or colleagues won't carry their end and you'll end up doing all the work, and so on. Knowing that our stress is based in fear gives us tremendous freedom because by tackling and subduing the fear, we in effect, subdue our stress. You can read more about Facing Your Fears in one of this blog's back entries, or in my book, Stress Less in 27 Days.

Last distinction I have made since beginning coaching with Lisa Nichols: In our first session she talked about "exposing the lies" - those things we have been told, or we have told ourselves that hold us back, keep us down, and prevent us from being our authentic selves. I was taken back to a time when I was much younger and I had struggled with a LIE put on me by a woman who had offered me a job, and I turned her down for a better opportunity. She told me I was irresponsible, and that I would never make anything of myself because I couldn't stick to a decision. What she said hurt me for a long time, and worse - it haunted me. Then, somewhere around 1995, began to dig deep through the layers of negative self talk, and I realized that I had been believing this lie she had implanted in me. So I wrote a poem about it, and in doing so - released the weight of the lie that had been on me for close to 10 years. Here it is... maybe it will help you to let go of a weight that ties you down.

For the Manager of Rockland Textiles, June 1986
This is for you who told me
I was making a mistake.
You were angry
But not at me.
I did not understand it then
But I do now
Someone must have failed you
Disappointed you miserably
And I, in the wrong place
At the wrong time
Stood silently, tearfully
The lamb before the slaughter
As you whipped me with your words,
Stripped me with your gaze,
Destroyed me with your vote of non-confidence.

Now for the record
Let it be known that you,
You made the mistake,
Not I.
The choice I made was right
For me and for you.
We cannot see
What lies ahead -- we must but
Trust our instincts as they
Lead us toward our destiny.
The mistake was yours
For resisting fate,
For shaking your fist at the
Heavens in defiance
For robbing another human being
Of her self-esteem
For contracting her self-respect.

I am beyond that now.
I understand.
You were angry but not at me.
Someone failed you
Disappointed you miserably
And I, I was there for you
In the right place
At the right time
We cannot see what lies ahead
We must but trust our instincts
(I have followed mine)
As they lead us toward
Our destiny.
(c) 1996, Julie Christiansen