Showing posts with label change your life. Show all posts
Showing posts with label change your life. Show all posts

Get the most out of your coaching time!


1. Create a level of trust with your coach. Early on, get personal and share who you are,  your likes, dislikes, hobbies, past work experience and current objectives. People work together better when they feel comfortable enough to articulate questions and concerns. What your coach learns about you will help determine which strategies and action steps are the most likely to help you become successful.

2.  Stay open-minded. No one has all the answers but there are many options to explore. Your coach is there to work with you so focus on listening.

3. Develop the habit of recapping what you’ve learned via action steps. What are you going to do next? Document it. Share your intentions with your coach. You won’t forget what’s expected of you next and review your successes upon your next call.

4. Become consistent. Keeping scheduled calls to develop accountability is important to work on your goals.  Email in between whether to review something, discuss an update or ask a question so your coach can stay on top of your progress.

5. Make the focus of your course a top priority. Actively work toward accomplishing assigned tasks each week. Look for ways to get the work done, not for excuses as to why you couldn’t.

6. Set realistic goals about the time you have available to pursue your goals and your ability to succeed. Set goals that inspire and drive growth without becoming overwhelming. 

7. Listen with the intent to take action. Focus on action steps at all times. There’s a big difference between acknowledging the information shared and actively doing what needs to be done to move forward. Engage with the knowledge your coach imparts. Coaching is a two-way street and all the instruction in the world won't help if action is taken after the session.

8. Don’t be afraid to get real. This is your coach. They are here to help. Having a coach, especially one you’ve hired, is a unique experience. Maybe you’ve never opened up about your ideas before or verbalized your ambitions out loud. Now is the time. This is what it's all about, being able to clearly and concisely express a message is an invaluable skill you will use over and over again.

9. Do the work. Better yet, return asking for more. If you want to achieve your full potential and monetize your ideas, you’re going to need to be enthusiastic.

10. Be patient. Nothing happens overnight. At the same time, you need to maintain a sense of urgency to the tasks ahead. Accept the process for what it is, that it might take longer than you want. There's no point in letting forces out of your control frustrate you. But do everything in your power that you can. It’s a balancing act, to be sure.

11. Don't let projects sit too long. Follow up, follow up -- and then follow up some more. Use any down time to learn even more and in turn, better prepare yourself for the future.
If you follow these steps, you'll get the most out of working with a coach.

Book a complimentary session at Business and Life Management Coaching to start achieving your full potential today!

The Power of Choice



Rohn: Change Begins with Choice... 


If you don't like how things are, change it! Any day we wish, we can discipline ourselves to make important changes in our lives. Any day we wish, we can open the book that will open our mind to new knowledge. Any day we wish, we can start a new activity. Any day we wish, we can start the process of life change. We can do it immediately, or next week, or next month, or next year.

We can also do nothing. We can pretend rather than perform. And if the idea of having to change ourselves makes us uncomfortable, we can remain as we are. We can choose rest over labor, entertainment over education, delusion over truth and doubt over confidence. The choices are ours to make. But while we curse the effect, we continue to nourish the cause.

As Shakespeare uniquely observed, "The fault is not in the stars, but in ourselves." We created our current circumstances by our past choices. We have both the ability and the responsibility to make better choices beginning today. Those who are in search of the good life do not need more answers or more time to think things over to reach better conclusions. They need the truth.

They need the whole truth. And they need nothing but the truth. We cannot allow our errors in judgment, repeated every day, to lead us down the wrong path. We must keep coming back to those basics that make the biggest difference in how our life works out. And then we must make the very choices that will bring life, happiness and joy into our daily lives.

And if I may be so bold to offer my last piece of advice for someone seeking and needing to make changes in their life: If you don't like how things are, change it! You're not a tree. You have the ability to totally transform every area in your life—and it all begins with your very own power of choice.

Expand your knowledge and enlighten your mind with tools to help you excel in your professional and personal life. Work with a Business and Life Management Coach and Book a Complimentary Coaching Session at http://www.denisedema.com

Replace Negative Thoughts With Positive Thinking



Positive and negative thoughts can become self-fulfilling prophecies: What we expect can often come true.  

If you start off thinking you will mess up a task, the chances are that you will: You may not try hard enough to succeed, you won't attract support from other people, and you may not perceive any results as good enough. Positive thinking, on the other hand, is often associated with positive actions and outcomes. You're drawn to, and you focus on, the positive aspects of a situation. You have hope and faith in yourself and others, and you work and invest hard to prove that your optimism is warranted. You'll enthuse others, and they may well "pitch in" to help you. This makes constructive outcomes all the more likely.  When it comes down to it, positive, optimistic people are happier and healthier, and enjoy more success than those who think negatively. The key difference between them is how they think about and interpret the events in their life.

So, how do you think about your successes and failures? Do you think you have a predictable thinking pattern?

The first step in changing negative thinking is to become aware of it. For many of us, negative thinking is a bad habit – and we may not even know we're doing it! 

Consider these examples of negative thought patterns: The guy on the subway who just made a face is surely directing his behavior at you. When the receptionist doesn't greet you in the morning, you must have done something to anger her. again! You go straight to the coffee machine, because it's Monday morning and you just know you'll be solving problems until lunchtime. When you finally get to your desk, your assistant is waiting for you. "Oh no," you think. "What has he done now? The first problem of the day.”

Imagine how it makes you feel to constantly surround yourself with negativity. Then ask yourself if this is the way you tend to think in your own life? Dr Martin Seligman, who has been described as America's most influential psychologist, has done extensive research on thought patterns. In particular, he looks at the impact of an optimistic versus pessimistic outlook on life and success. He uses three basic dimensions of Permanence, Pervasiveness and Personalization, with optimistic people on one end of the scale and pessimistic people on the other.

Permanence
Believing that something we are experiencing is either permanent or temporary. The pessimist statement implies that you think bad times will carry on forever. 

Pessimist: I lost my job and I'll never find one as good again. No point even looking!
Optimist: I lost my job. Thank goodness there are other opportunities I can explore!

Pervasiveness
Believing that situational factors cause an effect or that the effect is evidence of more universal factors at work. The pessimist statement shows that you tend to think that if you've experienced a problem in one place, you'll experience that problem wherever you go.

Pessimist: I lost my job. Companies are all the same; all they care about is money. I don't know why I bother putting in any effort at all.
Optimist: I lost my job. It's too bad our company has to reinvent itself to stay competitive. Thankfully I learned some great transferable skills!

Personalization
Believing that something about you influenced the outcome or that something external to you caused it.  The pessimist tends to blame himself for bad things, rather than attributing the cause to more general factors. 
Pessimist: I lost my job. If I had been a decent employee they would have found a new job for me.
Optimist: I lost my job. I gave it my all, however they just can't use my skill set right now.

Re-shape Your Thinking
The way you view what happens around you can show whether you have a positive or negative pattern of thinking when you become more aware of your thoughts - and the effect they have on your life. 

When you're more aware of the way you think, you can take action to use positive situations to your advantage, and re-shape the negative ones. The goal is to think positively, regardless of the situation, and make a conscious effort to see opportunities instead of obstacles.

So if we look at one of the examples listed above, if you immediately think the receptionist is mad at you because she didn't say hello, how rational is that? Now change that thought to more rational outcomes like, she have been busy or distracted when you walked by or did you say hello to her? Maybe she wasn't feeling well, or she was in a negative mood herself. These are all more rational reasons for her behavior than simply assuming that you did something wrong.  Persistent negative thinking can cause mental health problems, including depression. While these positive thinking techniques have been shown to have a positive effect, they are for guidance only, and readers should take the advice of suitably qualified health professionals if they are experiencing persistent unhappiness.

Key Points
Becoming more positive is always a good thing. The more aware you are of your thoughts, the better you'll be able to change them to emphasize the positive.  Positive thinking usually attracts positive people, events, and outcomes. If you want to create an environment where you're successful and satisfied, you'll need the power of positive thinking on your side.  You may not be aware of all of your negative thoughts and the effect they have on your life, however, by taking some time to understand your own thought patterns, you can challenge those irrational, negative thoughts – and replace them with more positive, optimistic and empowering messages.

“We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts we make the world." - Buddha

Achieve your full potential! Book a complimentary session at Business and Life Management Coaching to get the support you need to excel in your professional and personal life.


Start Choosing the Best Environment for Success


Success in any area of life never happens in a complete vacuum. Often it is just as much dependent on an individual’s will-power and intelligence as it is on their environment and outside circumstances.


To find happiness and success, you therefore need to pay attention and take some control over the type of environments you are surrounding yourself in on a daily basis; even the strongest and brightest of minds will find it difficult to achieve their goals if they are in a completely wrong environment for them. This is because every aspect of your external life has some influence over your internal thoughts and behaviors, especially the people you surround yourself with on a daily basis, and the type of places where you spend most of your time.


Time to look at the people you surround yourself with…..

The first main aspect of our environment that influences our success is the people we surround ourselves with on a daily basis. 


For example, a recent study published in a 2013 issue of Psychological Science found that surrounding yourself with friends who are more self-disciplined can also help you become more self-disciplined. This is just one of many examples of how our social network can have an influence over our own behavior and goal-seeking.


It fits well with other research that shows if you hang around people who are obese and unhealthy, it’s more likely you will become obese and unhealthy. And if you hang around with people who are lazy and don’t study for class, it’s likely you’ll end up with similar grades as them too. More and more scientific evidence is beginning to show that we become a reflection of the types of people we hang out with the most. This social influence affects every area of our lives: at home, at work, at school, at a party, or wherever.


So take a moment to think about some of your own personal goals and values. Are there any people in your life who are currently holding you back from achieving them? Be honest. Instead of spending time with people who make you hate life and make you want to give up, spend time with people who make you love life and motivate you to improve yourself for the better. 


That to me is one of the most important characteristics in a healthy relationship. It’s also essential to achieving success. If you have the right people in your life, it’ll be easy to find that extra boost of support when you really need it.


Think about the places you spend your time at……

The second main aspect of our environment that influences our success is the places we spend most of our time at.


For example, one important factor that has shown to increase productivity and happiness is giving people some freedom to design their own workplace. Taking ownership over where you spend your time allows you to choose an environment that motivates and inspires you. A good environment for success should keep your senses stimulated and awake while you work on your goals, while not being too distracting. 


For example, one specific thing you could do is put plants or a fish tank in your office, gym, or workplace to surround yourself with nature more. There have been countless studies showing how exposing ourselves to nature can improve focus, minimize stress, and boost cognitive ability.


Another thing you can do is decorate your workspace with motivational posters and quotes. These can be great resources to have around the office when you need something to lift your mood. Find images that are visually appealing to you, with designs and colors that make you feel good and set the right tone for you and your goals.


Often when working for large organizations we can lose a sense of our personal identity. Your office is usually the one place you have some freedom to express yourself, so create a work environment that works for you – something that reflects some of your own values and interests, and something that motivates and inspires you.


Try changing your workspace around every few months or so to keep it fresh and interesting. On the surface it may not seem like a big deal, but remember this is the place you work at everyday, so it’s going to have an influence on your success and inspiration whether you realize it or not. You might as well make it as positive as possible.


It’s about choosing an environment that brings out the best in you……..

At the end of the day, you can’t meet your full potential for success unless you find an environment that brings out the very best in you. Try to become more aware of the people and places you interact with on a daily basis. Are they encouraging your success or discouraging it? How can you make some changes to your environment so that it better serves you and your goals?


Achieve your full potential and work with a Business and Life Management Coach who has over 20 years’ experience empowering individuals, executives and business owners to attain self-defined success in their professional & personal lives. Book a complimentary session at http://www.denisedema.com

One Single Day Cannot Define You

One day cannot dictate the whole course of your life. Even if you feel it is the worst day of your entire existence, it is a small blip in the grand scheme of things.

What happened has happened – and it is over and done with. It is a small moment compared to the billions of choices and paths that lay in our future.

Real, sustainable growth is never sudden and rapid. Instead, it is growth that happens incrementally over long periods of time.
It is the small things we do on a daily basis that build who we become in the future, and the impact we leave on the world long after we’ve passed away.

Our minds are built to focus on significant events in our lives. When something makes us really sad or deeply disturbs us, our mind ruminates over it to find a solution or a way to cope.

Rumination is when we think about an event in our lives over and over again. Some psychologists believe it can aid in problem-solving, but when rumination goes haywire it can bring us into a state of depression. That’s because we are constantly thinking about something that we no longer have any control over. Thus, we feel powerless and hopeless.

We can overcome this negative cycle by changing our perspective. When you get stuck in these narrow patterns of thought, “zoom out” and see the bigger picture of your life. Change your thoughts from making it monumental to a moment that will pass. This will remind you that no single day can ever define you and your future.


Each day we make hundreds of choices. These each direct the course of our lives. And it is in these individual choices where we have real power and freedom over what our lives become.


Get the tools you need to excel in life. Work with a  Business and Life Management Coach with over 20 years experience empowering people to attain self defined success in their personal and professional lives. Book a complimentary session today!

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