Thursday 4 October 2007

Use These Longer Evenings

If, like me, you lead an active outdoor life you will think of the autumn dusk as coming too early and making your evenings shorter. If you spend much of your time indoors you will see them as longer evenings.

The hours of darkness are the same for everyone. It is only your perception of them that is different. As a professional coach I notice that no two people see the world
in exactly the same way. The art of achieving success in life is to ensure that you see every challenge or opportunity in its most positive light - and this is a great time of year to start doing this.

In a few one-hour telephone conversations, at weekly intervals, I invite my clients to review where they are now and where they want to be in the future. Together we create a strategy for getting to where they want to be and define the actions that will produce the desired results. As I always say, moving from dreaming to action.

I am quick to point out that as the coach, I am simply the catalyst. It is the client who makes the decisions and the commitment. For a great many, the weekly reporting back of progress is the spur that keeps them on target.

Many of us are too busy working at earning a living to actually take time out for living fully. I begin by asking a client,

‘What would you choose to do in your life if you could do absolutely anything with no limitations, no prospect of failure and no accountability to anyone?’

I am no longer surprised when clients answer this innocent question with a long list of what they don’t want to do. It seems to be a natural reaction. I don’t let them off the hook that easily. I listen and keep returning to the positive side of the question. Eventually I will get them to admit to themselves, and often this is for the first time, what it is that they really want to do.

Coaching is a painless procedure that seeks to eliminate limitations, ensure success and allow individuals to take personal responsibility for their own lives.

Some clients are amazed at how liberated they feel when they realise that they can and should take control over their own lives. Too many just go with the flow and respond to the pressures of what others think they should do. With coaching they can change from this ‘victim’ mentality to one of ‘victor’ thinking. And anyone can do it.

I am always happy to discuss this or other aspects of my approach to coaching, absolutely free of any cost or obligation.

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