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Archive for the ‘Coaching’ Category

Studying comes usually but for some wonderful reason it could be extremely vital to locate out a lot extra and recognize things greater. There are lots of of you who wish to cultivate a quite very good habit of mastering but you just do not possess the time and possibility to try and do so. With appointments, work, social necessities, home, examining and studying gets at the bottom with the list. This hinders you from moving ahead of the career the correct way. Some say that those that study turn out to be excellent leaders because reading as a result of transforms people’s minds and makes it possible for it to challenge the possibilities of tomorrow. If you’ve got no time to study, then your thoughts is only revolving close to 1 plain.

You can find techniques to suit your needs to get the same quantity of energy. Some on the most efficient and brightest persons have a secret towards their achievement. They have the capacity to acquire in large quantities of facts accurately and rapidly. They do this as a result of a method known as speed learning. What is speed learning? It really is really a variety of mastering that helps you comprehend new skills plenty of times quicker than the typical degree. Regardless of your background or how challenging it genuinely is for you personally to learn new items inside the past it really is frequently a proven successful approach to enhance up your understanding.

Speed learning will permit ordinary individuals to rapidly carry in information, realize the information, and retain it as fantastic variety knowledge for the long term. It really is synonymous to accelerated learning and it’s all about how you might be in a position to discover although actually understanding lesser and how you’ll be able to select up a brand new language lesser than thirty days. Acquiring started out with speed learning is uncomplicated.

The really first factor you will need to complete is to eliminate distractions. This way you will be capable to exclusively concentrate in regards to the examining material in front of you. You will be capable of do this by discovering a quiet place to maintain the noise away.

The moment you could have eliminated distraction, it certainly is now time to suit your requirements to invest attention by actively involving your self inside the procedure. Lastly, before beginning, scan by way from the details. This gives you an overall feel about the whole piece you’re going to internalize.

I watched an awesome video by Dr. Phillip Goudeaux about 10 steps to fight off Discouragement.  When we get discouraged it can affect us in so many ways.  The biggest way it affects us the most is with our emotions.It can consume our each thought and drain our courage..  It can make us angry, lonely, and make us feel disappointed in ourselves.  It can even make some people bitter.It attacks our vision, passion, dreams, hopes and faith for the reason that life can throw so many numerous things at us at a given notice..

We do have the capability to change and battle off discouragement and alter our situation and resume on our path..  Here are 10 steps of fighting off discouragement.

1. Become your own cheerleader-you don’t have to get pom poms but pat yourself on the back for even the little triumphs or do a little jig (dance).
2. Stay positive-even in the most negative situation stay positive about it and look how you can change the negative to a positive.
3. You are in control- remember that you are always in control of yourself, attitude, and environment.
4. Change your atmosphere- do something different, get away to think or meditate.
5. Don’t associate around negativity- if you are constantly around negative individuals you need to change.  Maybe you don’t associate with these individuals.
6. Have a vision of winning-vision yourself accomplishing your goal or promise to yourself.
7. Get more sleep-this is a hard one for me but this does really help.  Take time to make sure you are getting enough sleep even if you take a power nap to rejuvenate.
8. Recognize things that bring discouragement-be more receptive of things that make you discouraged and make a note of it and make a change.
9. Stay productive and focused-by staying productive and focused on what you need to get accomplished it will become a positive accomplishment over any discouragement.
10. Attitude-a positive attitude will always defeat discouragement.  Attitude is more important than the problem that has come into your life.

I believe that attitude is key to all of these points.I feel if you can keep a positive attitude that the other 9 keys will fall into place.  I hope this brought some value to you and keep your head up and fight off any discouragement.  I have faith in you.

As always I love to hear any comments you may have and feel free to share with your friends.

Tell me a story or situation that you rose above discouragement.

“If you don’t like something change it; if you can’t change it, change the way you think about it. “ ~Mary Engelbreit

God Bless and have a Wonderful Day!

L. D. Klippert

L. D. Klippert has helped many people generate success with their business and can help you. To find out more about L. D. Klippert and how he can help you click the highlighted link. Have a wonderful and blessed day!

Genuine Happiness Comes from Within

Life isn’t the sweetest candy. Sometimes, when I feel like the world is just too heavy, I look around and find people who continued to live fascinating and wonderful lives. And then thoughts come popping into my mind like bubbles from nowhere – “How did their life become so adorably sweet? How come they still can manage to laugh and play around despite a busy stressful life?”  Then I pause and observed for awhile… I figured out that maybe, they start to work on a place called ‘self’.

So, how does one become genuinely happy? Step 1 is to love yourself.

My own Life Coach once said that “loving means accepting.”  To love oneself means to accept that you are not a perfect being, but behind the imperfections must lie a great ounce of courage to be able to discover ways on how to improve your repertoire to recover from our mistakes.

Genuine happiness also pertains to contentment. When you are contented with the job you have, the way you look, with your family, your friends, the place you live in, your car, and all the things you now have – truly, you know the answer to the question “how to be genuinely happy.”

When we discover a small start somewhere from within, that small start will eventually lead to something else, and to something else. But if you keep questioning life lit it has never done you any good, you will never be able to find genuine happiness.

I believe that life is about finding out about right and wrong, trying and failing, winning and losing. These are things that happen as often as you inhale and exhale. Failure, in a person’s life has become as abundant and necessary as air. But this should not hinder us from becoming happy.

How to be genuinely happy in spite all these? I tell you… every time you exert effort to improve the quality of life and your being, whether it is cleaning up your room, helping a friend, taking care of your sick dog, fail on board exams and trying again, life gives you equivalent points for that.

Imagine life as a big score board like those which are used in the NFLs. Every time you take a step forward, you make scoring points. Wouldn’t it be nice to look at that board at the end of each game and think to yourself “Whew! I got a point today. I’m glad I gave it a shot”, instead of looking at it all blank and murmur “Geez, I didn’t even hit a score today. I wish I had the guts to try out. We could have won!” and then walk away.

Genuine happiness isn’t about driving the hottest Formula 1 car, nor getting the employee of the year award, earning the highest 13th month pay, or beating the sales quota. Sometimes, the most sought after prizes in life doesn’t always go to the fastest, the strongest, the bravest or not even the best. So, how do you become genuinely happy?  Everyone has his own definition of ‘happiness’. Happiness for a writer may mean launching as much bestselling books as possible. Happiness for a basketball rookie may mean getting the rookie of the year award. Happiness for a beggar may mean a lot of money. Happiness for a business man may mean success. So, really now, how do we become genuinely happy? Simple. You don’t have to have the best things in this world. It’s about doing and making the best out of every single thing. When you find yourself smiling at your own mistake and telling yourself “Oh, I’ll do better next time”, you carry with you a flame of strong willpower to persevere that may spread out like a bushfire. You possess a willingness to stand up again and try – that will make you a genuinely happy person.

When you learn to accept yourself and your own faults, you pass step 1 in the project “how to become genuinely happy”. For as long as you know how to accept others, you will also be accepted. For as long as you love and know how to love, you will receive love tenfolds back.

Again, throw me that same question “how to become genuinely happy?”. I’ll refer you to a friend of mine who strongly quoted- “Most of us know that laughter is the best medicine to life’s aches and pain. But most of us don’t know that the best kind of laughter is laughter over self. Coz then you don’t just become happy… you become free.”

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results life coaching Life coaching tips

The media runs a piece every week about the dangers of a sedentary lifestyle and everyone is more than aware that the west is facing a serious obesity problem. It’s becoming very hard to avoid processed foods, and most items you buy have some kind of chemical treatment or artificial preservative. Naturally, then, fitness should be high on the agenda of all citizens.

One really effective way of getting your fitness up to scratch is by using a personal trainer. These qualified guys and girls are well placed to drive you to better yourself in any given activity, and can tailor a training plan especially for you to meet your goals. They can even recommend nutritional plans for you.

That approach is not for everyone though. The alternatives are to join a gym or go ahead and start a plan yourself. A good way to set yourself up is to get hold of a training device. Many men’s watches and indeed ladies watches are available on the market that include fitness features and provide a brilliant way to track your training.

The ideal situation would be to get one with a heart rate monitor and stopwatch to ensure that you can get the right information to maintain exertion in the most appropriate training zone. You can match your pace to your heart rate in different ways to achieve either fat loss or increased stamina for example.

Introduce a portable computer to the kit list and you have an instant way to keep track of not only your training (perhaps through downloading your activity logs from your fitness watch), but also a record of all the meals you eat. This can help you meet your training goals too, by showing whether you are eating too much, too light or even the wrong type of nutrients relative to the amount of calories you need to take on to lose, maintain or gain bulk.

Perhaps motivation is lacking in one particular area, such as stretching after a training session, well here’s an idea, get hold of, or design and print your own laptop computer skins with details of a stretching routine or even a quick exercise plan on. That way, while you’re entering your data or working post session you can quick reference the information.

One fantastic piece of kit that has evolved from the last few years of sports fabrics are the base layer items called skins, also known as compression clothing. This super technical style of sportswear is designed to protect your muscles whilst you are exercising and help them recover quicker post exercise by promoting blood flow. They tend to be body moulded, with panels that match your natural muscular structure, and can be used for running, cycling, swimming and many other sports.

Have you had that experience when all of a sudden you just had this huge hunch that something is about to happen, and to your surprise, that intuition was eventually translated to reality?

When you feel strongly about something without logical basis to it, that’s called intuition. It comes in three impressions: clairvoyance or “the third eye”, sensing clearly and feeling through listening.

Clairvoyance is when your eye goes beyond what it can see. This is when you know what is happening somewhere.

Sensing clearly is basically what we refer to as “hunch” or “gut feeling.” This is the time when you are overwhelmed with a feeling and you can’t explain it and all you can say is “I just know.”

On the other hand, feeling through listening or clairaudience is being able to “listen” between the lines. Intuition also happens at times when a certain sound, whatever it is – be it a car’s honk or a bird’s twitting – ushers in an intense feeling.

They say only a number of people are gifted with intuition. Astrologers even insist that people born under the Scorpio or Pisces signs are naturally intuitive it almost borders on E.S.P. But studies have been sprouting left and right that proclaim that anyone can develop intuition.

Why the need to develop intuition, you ask? Why not let your emotional and psychological state as it is? First and foremost, intuition promotes good communication. It makes you more sensitive to the people around you; it often keeps you from hurting those you love because you are intuitive enough to understand them. Intuition also makes you far more creative than ever. Intuition means releasing more creative juices for any means of expression. Lastly, intuition has a healing power. This healing power is not in the physical sense, but in delving deep into your soul to eradicate some negative energy buried in it.

With that being said, are you ready to develop your intuition? Here are some ways to unlock this gift:

1. Hypnosis

Oh yes, get yourself hypnotized. Hypnosis is not limited to watching a pendulum move back and forth. Perform self-hypnosis or you can avail of hypnotic programs that can strengthen your intuition.

2. Meditation

Meditating means finding peace in yourself. If your mind and heart are cluttered with too many baggage and hurt, you wouldn’t be able to quiet down that part of you that could eventually initiate intuition. There are so many ways to meditate: take a yoga class, or just simply practice some breathing that could bring you straight to Zen.

3. Think positive!

A worry-free, fear-free state could do so much to improve your intuitive ability. By staying positive, you attract good energy that would be able to easily recognize imminent feelings and events.

4.  Just let go

What does this mean? If you are on the brink of making a huge decision, let go of all the inhibitions and head to a quiet place where you could find out where the letting go has brought you. Sometimes you just have to listen to the voice within you, and that voice wouldn’t come out unless you let go.

5. Never expect

After letting go of the inhibitions and all those things that stop you from thinking and feeling clearly, never expect for an answer right away. Never expect that the “hunch” would fall on your lap immediately. Give it a little time then you’d just get surprised that — wham! — Now you have your answer.

6. Believe in your first impressions

When you see someone for the first time and think that he is a bit too arrogant for your taste, chances are that impression actually holds true. Most of the time, first impressions are brought by intuition.

7. Stay happy!

See? All you need to be intuitive is to stay happy! Happiness attracts immense power and such power includes intuition. In tapping your intuition, your motivation must be happiness and contentment. Given that premise, intuition will fall to you easily.

Intuition is helpful, because sometimes it leads you to something that cannot be achieved otherwise. A lot of lives have been saved by intuition alone. Decisions are easier done if armed by this gift. Develop intuition now and reap benefits you have never imagined.

Thank you for reading our article for more information
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life coaching course life purpose coaching

Everyone, at some point of his or her life, has dreamed of being somebody special, somebody big. Who hasn’t fantasized about being the one who hits the game-winning homer? Who hasn’t dreamed of being the homecoming queen? And how many times have we dreamed of being rich, or successful, or happy with our relationships?

Often, we dream big dreams and have great aspirations. Unfortunately, our dreams remain just that – dreams. And our aspirations easily collect dust in our attic.

This is a sad turn of events in our life. Instead of experiencing exciting adventures in self actualization, we get caught up in the humdrum of living from day-to-day just barely existing.

But you know what? Life could be so much better, if only we learned to aim higher.

The most common problem to setting goals is the word impossible. Most people get hung up thinking I can’t do this. It’s too hard. It’s too impossible. No one can do this.

However, if everyone thought that, there would be no inventions, no innovations, and no breakthroughs in human accomplishment.

Remember that scientists were baffled when they took a look at the humble bumblebee. Theoretically, they said, it was impossible for the bumblebee to fly. Unfortunately for the bumble, bee no one has told it so. So fly it does.

On the other hand, some people suffer from dreaming totally outrageous dreams and not acting on them. The result? Broken dreams, and tattered aspirations.

If you limit yourself with self-doubt, and self-limiting assumptions, you will never be able to break past what you deem impossible. If you reach too far out into the sky without working towards your goal, you will find yourself clinging on to the impossible dream.

Try this exercise. Take a piece of paper and write down some goals in your life. Under one header, list down things ‘you know you can do’. Under another header, write the things ‘you might be able to do.’ And under one more, list the things that that are ‘impossible for you to do.’

Now look at all the headers. Strive every day to accomplish the goals that are under things ‘you know you can do’. Check them when you are able to accomplish them. As you slowly are able to check all of your goals under that heading, try accomplishing the goals under the other header-the one that reads ‘you might be able to do.’

As all of the items you wrote under ‘things I could’ do are accomplished, you can move the goals that are under things that are ‘impossible for you to do’ to the list of things ‘you might be able to do.’

As you iterate through this process, you will find out that the goals you thought were impossible become easier to accomplish. And the impossible begin to seem possible after all.

You see, the technique here is not to limit your imagination. It is to aim high, and start working towards that goal little by little. However, it also is unwise to set a goal that is truly unrealistic.

Those who just dream towards a goal without working hard end up disappointed and disillusioned.

On the other hand, if you told someone a hundred years ago that it was possible for man to be on the moon, they would laugh at you. If you had told them that you could send mail from here to the other side of the world in a few seconds, they would say you were out of your mind. But, through sheer desire and perseverance, these impossible dreams are now realities.

Thomas Edison once said that genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration. Nothing could be truer. For one to accomplish his or her dreams, there has to be had work and discipline. But take note that that 1% has to be a think-big dream, and not some easily accomplished one.

Ask any gym rat and he or she will tell you that there can be no gains unless you are put out of your comfort zone. Remember the saying, “No pain, no gain”? That is as true as it can be.

So dream on, friend! Don’t get caught up with your perceived limitations. Think big and work hard to attain those dreams. As you step up the ladder of progress, you will just about find out that the impossible has just become a little bit more possible.

Thank you for reading our article for more information
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results life coaching Life coaching tips

The Blarney Stone is a historical stone, or actually part of the Blarney Castle in Ireland where it was believed that kissing the stone can grant you the gift of gab. Yeah, it seems strange in this day and age, but who are we to question tradition? It’s not like I’m saying that Santa Claus doesn’t exist (OOPS!).

There is so much to know about conversation that anyone, even I, could ever realize. You can go though watching talk shows; radio programs; clubs dedicated to public speaking; ordinary conversations; certain rules still apply when it comes to interaction through words. It may sound tedious, I know, but even though it’s your mouth that’s doing the work, your brain works twice as hard to churn out a lot of things you know. So what better way to start learning to be an effective communicator than to know the very person closest to you: yourself?

1. What you know.
Education is all about learning the basics, but to be an effective speaker is to practice what you’ve learned. My stint as guest at BNI meetings I go to taught me that we all have our limitations, but that doesn’t mean we can’t learn to keep up and share what we know.

2. Listening.
It’s just as important as asking questions. Sometimes listening to the sound of our own voice can teach us to be a little bit confident with ourselves and to say the things we believe in with conviction.

3. Humility
We all make mistakes, and sometimes we tend to slur our words, stutter, and probably mispronounce certain words even though we know what it means, but rarely use it only to impress listeners. So in a group, don’t be afraid to ask if you’re saying the right word properly and if they’re unsure about it then make a joke out of it. I promise you it’ll make everyone laugh and you can get away with it as well.

4. Eye Contact
There’s a lot to say when it comes to directing your attention to your audience with an eye-catching gaze. It’s important that you keep your focus when talking to a large group in a meeting or a gathering, even though he or she may be gorgeous.

5. Kidding around
A little bit of humor can do wonders to lift the tension, or worse boredom when making your speech. That way, you’ll get the attention of the majority of the crowd and they’ll feel that you’re just as approachable, and as human to those who listen.

6. Be like the rest of them
Interaction is all about mingling with other people. You’ll get a lot of ideas, as well as knowing what people make them as they are.

7. Me, Myself, and I
Admit it; there are times you sing to yourself in the shower. I know I do! Listening to the sound of your own voice while you practice your speech in front of a mirror can help correct the stress areas of your pitch. And while you’re at it you can spruce up as well.

8. With a smile
A smile says it all much like eye contact. There’s no point on grimacing or frowning in a meeting or a gathering, unless it’s a wake. You can better express what you’re saying when you smile.

9. A Role Model
There must be at least one or two people in your life you have listened to when they’re at a public gathering or maybe at church. Sure they read their lines, but taking a mental note of how they emphasize what they say can help you once you take center stage.

10. Preparation
Make the best out of preparation rather than just scribbling notes and often in a hurried panic. Some people like to write things down on index cards, while others resort to being a little more silly as they look at their notes written on the palm of their hand (not for clammy hands, please). Just be comfortable with what you know since you enjoy your work.

And that about wraps it up. These suggestions are rather amateurish in edgewise, but I’ve learned to empower myself when it comes to public or private speaking and it never hurts to be with people to listen how they make conversations and meetings far more enjoyable as well as educational.

Thank you for reading our article for more information
please visit us at alainbalanche-jacquet.com
life coaching course life purpose coaching

If you’re considering a personal development or wellness solutions coach, congratulations. To say the step in major is not an exaggeration. It’s also a step into the unknown for many people. My goal here is to provide an expert view into those feelings and insight into coaching relationships. Before you start a coaching relationship, let me share the key considerations I’ve found in coaching clients for many years.

In my practice I take seriously the potential client’s readiness for a coaching relationship. It’s very important for the client’s success in their wellness solution or development plan. Yes, most people can benefit from a personal coach for sure. And many people often feel coaching is the next logical move. Others feel coaching is the answer to their desperate desire to do something positive. However, a coach is not always the best answer at the moment in time they want to work with one.

Your wellness today weighs heavily on your coach-readiness. There are many possible reasons a coach may not be right for you. Because I cannot help someone who is not ready, my top priority is determining a potential client’s coach-ready status. If not, then I can only be of help by pointing the them to a different development path where they will find success. Then, when they are ready for coaching, they know I will genuinely be there for them. At the same time, I’ve achieved my goal of helping people to live a fuller, richer life.

So, now that you’re thinking about a coaching relationship. Let me help by laying out what I’ve found to be the 10 key considerations.

1. Ask yourself if you really feel ready. Are you emotionally healthy? Do you have no unfinished issues that would be better handled through therapy?
2. Are you fully willing to do the work and let the coach do the coaching?
3. Are you ready to take yourself and/or your business to the next level of excellence and integrity?
4. If you do engage a coach, and you then feel you are not getting what you need or expect from the coach, will you be able to share this and ask that you get what you want and need from the coaching relationship?
5. Are you willing to stop or change self-defeating behaviors which limit your success in the coaching relationship and in reaching your development and wellness goals?
6. Can you handle honest feedback and are you willing to consider new ideas that may not fit with your current or previous ways of thinking?
7. Are you ready, willing and able to make the financial investment to get the results you desire and deserve?
8. Do you have ideas about what your goals are, but are unsure how to reach them?
9. Are you sometimes feeling stuck, even though you know you’re capable of discovering answers that work?
10. Are you motivated now to put the time and energy into coaching?

If you answered true to all statements above, congratulations, you are ready for self improvement coaching! Your best next step is an initial consultation with one or more coaches. Some coaches offer an initial visit for no charge.

If you answered yes to most questions, you may be ready for coaching. However – and this is a big however – should you decide to seek a coach, you must also be ready to accept that at this point coaching is not the right wellness solution path. If it’s not, a good coach who really cares about people will let you know during an initial consultation.

John English is a behavioral specialist providing personal development and wellness coaching in Charlotte, NC.  At his practice, The Wellness Coach, he specializes in holistic therapy, emotional healing and personal development wellness solutions with clients worldwide.

Using Wisdom in Life Coaching

The concept of wisdom is as old as human civilization. It implies that the greatest challenge that each of us faces is ourselves. Sophia is the Greek word for wisdom, and in mythology was personified as a goddess. Wisdom was also personified as a woman in the Judeo-Christian tradition in the book of Proverbs. Wisdom is a stream that flows through every culture. It reconciles our innermost thoughts and strivings with the social and physical realities in which we live. Wisdom is a concept of which every person has an intuitive grasp, but which almost everyone has difficulty explaining clearly and concisely.

Meanwhile, through the social sciences, we have identified behaviors that seem to consistently lead to success, both at work and in one’s personal life. We call these behaviors competencies. Competencies have now proliferated to such a bewildering extent that the simple yet profound concept of wisdom again seems reassuringly appealing. The SOPPHIA model organizes the plethora of competencies into 7 Dimensions of Wisdom, and provides a framework that facilitates coaching and self-development efforts. 

What the acronym SOPPHIA represents

Each letter in the acronym SOPPHIA stand for one of the 7 Dimensions of Wisdom. Here are the seven with a brief description of each:

•         Self: competencies related to self-awareness and self-management

•         Others: competencies for understanding others and managing relationships, including issues of ethics and justice

•         Purpose: competencies related to commitment to a vision of excellence and to producing results

•         Presence and management of time: the ability to be effectively present and to manage time

•         Health: competencies related to healthy practices, such as work/life balance

•         Innovation : the ability to use creativity to produce value and wealth    

•         Assurance beyond reason (faith): the ability to endure and persevere when it may seem reasonable to give up 

Wisdom begins with Self

The concept of emotional intelligence has been demonstrated to explain more of the success of leaders than mental intelligence. The most well established model is the one by Daniel Goleman, which includes both self-awareness and self-management. To grow in wisdom requires both awareness on one’s emotions and self-discipline.

Wisdom includes relating effectively with Others

The second part of Goleman’s emotional intelligence concept is how one relates to others. This also has two components: understanding other people’s feelings and motivations, and being able to effectively manage relationships. One can therefore say that emotional intelligence makes up two of the seven dimensions of wisdom.

Wisdom involves Purpose

Positive Psychology has demonstrated scientifically that happiness derives more from engagement in purposeful activity and being of service to others, than from pleasure in and of itself. Pleasure is the icing on the cake, rather than being the substance of happiness. Purpose involves the commitment and motivation to produce excellence, and in its highest form excellence for the benefit of others, or something larger than oneself. If wisdom begins with self-reflection, then it is purpose that move self-reflection beyond self-absorption to give a life authentic meaning and direction.

Wisdom requires being Present 

Our problem with time is not solved by what we usually call time management, but by the discipline of being present. When we are present, our minds and spirits are ordered according to our purpose. Therefore, even though a hundred things press upon us with urgency, we are at peace in that storm, and our priorities are clear.

Time management tools are helpful: schedules, checklists, reminders and priority rankings. But using these mechanical aids is the easy part. The challenge is to be present and to be ordered in mind, spirit and purpose. When we are present, we realize that there is nothing that we have to accomplish except to get out of our own way. When we let go of the debris of emotional pushes and pulls (regret, longing, anxiety, desperation), our actions emerge from the positive energy of the life force that is in us.

The primary tool for becoming present that we have developed over the course of human history is meditation or contemplation. There are forms of it in every culture, but the common features that have been revealed by research are to focus on breathing, to repeat word(s) or other sound(s) that are simple and repetitive, and to ignore and let go of thoughts and emotions that arise. It may involve sitting still silently, chanting, using prayer beads, or dancing among other forms. This activity induces a physiological relaxation response that affects both our bodies and our brain waves. This response is identical regardless of the content (religious or otherwise) of the sound or phrase on which we are concentrating. The content should be consistent with the values and beliefs of the individual.

Wisdom supports Health and balance

Human beings are not so different from plants in terms of needing a balance of inputs to support optimum development. Our inputs however, are both material and non-material. Health begins with awareness of both our material and non-material needs and developing a lifestyle built around healthy behaviors. 

Wisdom makes Innovation out of creativity 

Innovation begins with creativity and continues with stewardship, the optimal management of resources. Creativity becomes innovation when it is connected with people’s needs, and with the institutional machinery to produce goods or services that meet those needs; and also to generate value and wealth. Stewardship requires innovation to maintain and increase wealth or resources. Without innovation, resources are depleted. Good stewardship requires making generally profitable decisions about investment of resources into potential innovations. Every organization and person does this; for better or worse.

 Wisdom provides Assurance beyond reason 

Assurance or faith is the ability to remain resilient and to endure in the face of challenges; when it might seem reasonable to give up. This involves being able to enter into a meditative or prayerful state and to induce the relaxation response under situations of great stress. This has been shown scientifically to increase a person’s chances of avoiding certain illnesses or of recovering more successfully from them, for example.

Life Coaching and Self-development Using SOPPHIA

Coaching can be done within an organization, as a program for improvement of leadership and other competencies; using individual or group coaching formats, and either face-to-face or virtually (telephone or web meeting). Coaching can also be done as an individual’s initiative for self-improvement. Regardless of these variations, the first step is assessment. If you don’t know where you are and your destination, you are unlikely to get there.

Within an organization, assessments can be done using whatever tools have been selected for performance management and development: such as a 360 degree assessment. An individual acting on his/her own initiative can use good-quality free online assessments such are from www. authentichappiness.org. In either case, it is important to build on strengths rather than focusing on fixing weaknesses. Ask “What am I good at and what do I love to do?” Organizations should also be interested in how their employees answer this question, because that is the key to getting them engaged and motivated. And since employee engagement is directly related to customer satisfaction and profits, this fits with business strategy.

Out of the assessment should come clarification of one’s purpose (and organizational goals) and the beginnings of a plan for leveraging one’s strengths to create sustainable and successful performance; and a successful life at work as well as in the personal sphere. This initial sense of direction is what moves the coaching process forward.

Whether in group or individual format, it is essential that ground rules for the sessions be agreed upon, as well as expectations for practice activities between sessions; and the expected number of sessions, and their frequency. Behavioral change only occurs and becomes habitual with practice. It is also important to have the participant(s) describe at the end of each session, what worked well and what can be improved. This installs a continuous improvement mechanism into the coaching process.

Within the coaching sessions, the coach using uses SOPPHIA (The 7 Dimensions of wisdom) to help the participant to map the competencies and skills needed for personal and business success; aligning those with both personal and work priorities. In coaching sessions, the coach models effective ways of encouraging reflection and providing feedback. In a group coaching format, participants benefit additionally by the practice they get in coaching their peers.

After the agreed upon coaching sessions are completed, there should be an assessment of their impact. Within a business context, one can examine post-coaching customer satisfaction and employee engagement scores compare to pre-coaching baselines. For individually initiated coaching, the participant can again take the online assessments and compare where she/he is now compared to at the beginning. This can be done in the last session, and the participant(s) can leave with closure, and some ideas on the next steps they could take on their own to sustain behavioral change.

Fulfillment is a life-long pursuit for the individual, as is excellent performance for the organization. Both involve continuing new levels of growth and development and overcoming challenges. Competency-based coaching using SOPPHIA (The 7 Dimensions of Wisdom) provides a structure, tool, and a personal guide to help an individual or an organization on the path toward success.

Dr. Bernard Brookes is a Principal Coach with SOPPHIA Life Coaching (www.sopphia.com). He was formerly a Professor and Leadership Coach in the Graduate School of Management & Technology at University of Maryland, University College.

Working with a Business Coach

Pretty much everyone is in business to Create Wealth, some people are in business without any particular aim other than to do something, however that’s hardly having a business. Businesses are established in order make a Profit and Create Wealth, pretty much everyone running a business has a Wealth System as I am sure you do.

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The things that people often forget as they keep working on their business are the reasons that they set the business up in the first place, the objectives they wished to fulfil by having the independence to work in the manner they saw as being most successful. So what carried you into your existing situation? What was the motivation and the reasons for going along the business route you have chosen? What Wealth System did you decide on and what level of success is you Wealth System gaining you?

As you continue working along the line that creates and established business remember that the true joy of having a business comes largely from the results you reap from it and also what you are doing while you work on your business. By ‘working on’ focus is set on leading and developing your business to move where you wish it to, if however you are ‘working in’ the business you will be spending time on tasks others should be doing whilst you direct and move it to where it should be. So while you think through whether you have been ‘working in’ or ‘working on’ your business, as well as the level of success your Wealth System has been getting plus your motivations for initially setting up the business, evaluate to what level your potential has been getting fulfilled. What are the areas and points that you could hone and improve so that you could attain much greater performance? When you have finished formulating the list of things you could improve you gain the ability to start doing something about them, so initially check for; courses, workshops, appropriate books for the information you require, resources on the internet, and a good Business Coach. Having created your list of options available evaluate each option in terms of its effect and impact it could have upon you and your business, how rapidly it can yield the effect, how much time needs to be assigned to it and how enjoyable it would be to you. The final part perhaps sound strange though through all my experience in Sydney Business Coaching and the UK too, plus the other roles I had, I have noticed time and again that people get their best results at the times when they are enjoying themselves. Due to this I always recommend people to do as much as they can to make their work enjoyable, also it is the reason I ensure as best as I can that through my role as a Business Coach that the clients I work with enjoy their sessions as widely as possible, of course things can get serious at times, though when you are enjoying yourself a huge amount of growth and movement is possible. So with great care work through your options evaluating each to find what is best for you, I strongly recommend taking time to think deeply about Business Coaching, your potential for reaping benefit from working with a good Business Coach can really blast you onwards along your road to success. Your Business Coach can further aid you by tailoring things specifically to your Wealth System and then helping you to tweak it so you can gain much more from it than you had previously. During your time working with a Business Coach things that held you back can be dealt with effectively and speedily, mitigating everything where possible so as to engender your free movement onwards to the achievements you desire.

So set yourself guaranteed time to sit and think, writing out all improvements you wish to make and then researching all your options, doing so could yield you great benefits. For those that have committed to creating success for themselves and can realise the value of having a good Business Coach, contact me for your initial consultation and to arrange for either Skype or face to face here in Sydney Business Coaching sessions that will improve your future.