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Here
is a list of insightful articles and resources to help make your
life a little easier.
Check
this page periodically to see updates or additional ideas to get
you thinking or acting.
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"Who,
exactly, seeks out a coach?… Winners who want even more out
of life."
- Chicago Tribune, 12/17/00
"In
the next few years, coaching will become the norm in the business
world."
- Washington Post, 6/28/98
"Your
coach will guide you to a fuller or a slimmer figure. Whatever you
want. Your weakness is his/her challenge."
- USA Today, 6/3/96
"Want
to get even further ahead?…What you need is a coach, your own
personal motivator."
- Miami Herald, 3/6/96
"Coaching
can certainly help you strengthen your sense of self-worth, focus
on your goals - and get there, fast."
- The London Daily Telegraph, 3/22/99
"The
benefits of coaching appear to win over even the most cynical clients
within just a few weeks."
- Industry Week, 10/21/96
"A
coach maybe the guardian angel you need to rev up your career."
- Money, 7/12/97
"A
coach is part advisor, part sounding board, part cheerleader, part
manager and part strategist."
- The Business Journal, 4/10/00
"Coaching
is an action-oriented partnership that, unlike psychotherapy which
delves into patterns of the past, concentrates on where you are
today and how you can reach your goals."
- Time Magazine, 10/16/00
"People
who want to stand out at work or face a job crisis increasingly
turn to a coach."
- The Wall Street Journal, 6/26/01
"Coaching
is the latest and most pervasive evolution in the self-improvement
industry."
- Career Confidential
"I
absolutely believe that people, unless coached, never reach their
maximum capabilities."
- Bob Nardelli, CEO, Home Depot
"What's
really driving the boom in coaching, is this: as we move from 30
miles an hour to 70 to 120 to 180…as we go from driving straight
down the road to making right turns and left turns to abandoning
cars and getting on motorcycles…the whole game changes, and
a lot of people are trying to keep up, learn how not to fall off."
- John Kotter, Professor of Leadership, Harvard Business School
"The
coaching relationship also has a unique structure. After an initial
assessment of the client's situation, the coach and client set specific
goals for the client. In each subsequent meeting with the client,
the coach determines what goals have been met and why other goals
were not. Different set of goals is agreed upon for the following
meeting. The coach prods the client to keep to the action plan."
- The Business Journal, April 1999
"Got
a nagging feeling that your life could be more fulfilling? Want
to change direction but aren't sure how to do it? Here's how to
jump start your new life today… Hire a personal coach."
- Modern Maturity, January-February 2000 issue
"If
you're thinking of overhauling your career to achieve a more fulfilling
life, consider joining the estimated 100,000 Americans who annually
enlist the help of some 4,000 personal coaches each year."
- Money, December 1997
"Executives
and HR managers know coaching is the most potent tool for inducing
positive personal change, ensuring better-than-average odds of success
and making the change stick for the long term."
- The Ivy Business Journal, September-October 2000 issue
"Once
reserved for executives and professional athletes, personal coaches…are
going mainstream. Investment bankers, entrepreneurs, dentists, accountants,
secretaries, even homemakers are hiring coaches to help guide them
in everything from changing careers to starting a business to balancing
work and family."
- Christian Science Monitor, 1/25/99
"I
first heard about personal coaches five years ago - at the
same time personal fitness coaches were beginning to flex their
muscles. The two fields are related: coaches in both areas help
you achieve your potential… Personal coaches provide powerful
professional insights. My personal advice: get one."
- Chicago Tribune, 5/17/98
"Today's
managers, professionals, and entrepreneurs are hiring coaches to
help them with time management, a change in career, or balancing
their work and personal lives. People are looking to coaches as
sounding boards and motivators who can offer a fresh perspective
on career and life problems - but without the conflicting agendas
of a spouse, family member, or even a mentor."
- Fortune, 9/28/98
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Reaching excellence
does not mean we must be perfect. It means we strive to use our
God-given talents, abilities, and skills in the very best way we
have available to us. It means being ahead of the pack by doing
that little extra thing.
1. Pour your heart into whatever you do.
Having a passion for what you do is the ultimate key to being successful
at it. Half-hearted attempts will ultimately show through as a mediocre
effort.
2. Believe that what you do matters and will make a difference.
You don't have to save the world in one stroke, but you can make
a difference one person at a time.
3. Do more than you are being compensated to do.
Reaching excellence is about doing what you do anyway, even if you
are not receiving renumeration for it. That quality of going the
extra mile just because is what will set you apart from similar
services/products.
4. After
you've done more than you are being compensated for, do it again.
Raise the bar continually. Giving more than you get does come back
to you in unexpected ways.
5. Give
what you do all you've got.
Delegate the mundane and pay attention to the details that only
you can do. Then do it, do it, and do it again.
6. Do the
usual in an unusual way.
Develop creative processes. Think out of the box. Let your creativity
flow.
7. Customize
the delivery of your service.
Customizing to your client's specialized needs, circumstances or
situation gives you a lead from the pack. It makes you more memorable
to others because you cared about THEM not just what you're getting
FROM them.
8. Endure
through the rough and demanding times.
Getting through the difficult challenges will sharpen your skills
and talents. Remember the prize is at the end of the rainbow.
9. Get up
close and personal.
Identify with what you do. Make it part of your daily life, part
of who you are. Talk it up, show it, give it.
10. Let
go of the outcome.
All you can do is the very best you've done. Know you did your very
best and that you have created a quality product or service. You
are not responsible for how what you've done is received, only for
delivering it.
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1. Their
Needs.
What you need is important to know, satisfy, be proud of and be
responsible for, i.e., love, touch, time, space, power.
2. Their Values.
Values are those things or activities that naturally interest us,
such as beauty, contribution, creativity, discovery, adventure.
3. Their Boundaries.
Boundaries are the behaviors of others that you don't permit in
or around you. Boundaries are a "No."
4. Their Standards.
Standards are the behaviors you hold yourself to, out of choice,
not obligation.
5. Their
Gifts.
Gifts are the talents, skills and abilities that make us special.
6. Their
Experience.
What you've accomplished to date is a very important part of who
you are today.
7. Their
ability to relate well and experience Love.
You ARE very much WHO you come across as and communicate with others,
i.e. phrasing, grace, effect.
8. Their
level of Attraction.
Attraction refers to the ability we have to "bring to us"
what we want or need. The opposite of attraction is promotion or
seduction.
9. Their
level of Awareness.
The more you know and can sense, the more sensitized you are to
Truth.
10. Their
Rolodex.
Who you know extends who you are.
Thomas J. Leonard.
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A challenge
is not simply an obstacle...rather, it's a brilliant opportunity
just waiting for you to discover it. Crack the challenge-opportunity
code, and you'll unlock a world full of endless possibility for
your life.
1. Get macro
or get micro.
Imagine you're a bird in the sky looking down on the challenge below
or, you're an insect on the ground that is face to face with the
challenge. Sometimes simply changing the scope of the view reveals
new information.
2. Identify
the polar opposite.
On occasion, the opportunity exists in the opposite form. Other
times, the opposite provides a contrasting backdrop against which
you can see the opportunity at hand.
3. Reframe
perceived negatives as positives.
It's the lemonade in the lemon. Every challenge exists to teach
you something, point you in a new direction, or give you a gift.
4. Talk
it out with yourself.
Talking it out with yourself is a powerful way to blaze through
the jumble of thoughts and quickly get down to what you really have.
What comes out of your mouth just might surprise you.
5. Hit the
highway.
Research has shown that low stress activities that require the brain
to simultaneously process space and movement, such as country road
driving, get the right and left lobes of your brain communicating
more effectively, and can enhance your levels of insightful thinking.
6. 360 the
obvious.
Explore the challenge from all angles. Sometimes the opportunity
is right there staring you in the face.
7. Do a
mini-getaway.
Let your subconscious mind take control of the helm for awhile.
Take a break from your thought process by preparing a cup of tea,
going for an energizing jog, or taking a relaxing nap or a soothing
shower.
8. Write
your streaming thoughts.
Sit down with 3 blank pieces of paper and a pen and write a continuous
stream of anything and everything that comes to your mind about
the challenge and related issues. Let your mind empty itself, and
then see what you have left.
9. Use a
lifeline.
Regis Philbin's contestants know the value of this method. Call
a friend, family member, mentor, or coach and ask them for advice,
insight or powerful questions that will give you a different perspective.
10. Go outside
and open your eyes.
Still can't find the opportunity? Go outside and pay attention.
The natural mechanics of the universe are jam-packed with the answers
you are looking for.
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The E-Myth is
hailed by many as the most important book in print about how to
succeed in running a small business. These ten points will help
you to run a small business, run your coaching business, or to coach
small business owners and managers.
1. The fatal
assumption is that if you understand the technical work of a business
- that you understand a business that does technical work.
When the baker opens a bake shop, they may know how to bake a great
pie but what do they know about marketing, management, etc.?
2. Work
on your business, not in it.
Working in your business is just as bad as having the job that you
left before you went into business only worse - now you're paying
for your job!
3. The key
to running a successful small business is not to franchise your
business but to copy the principles that franchises use.
50% of all small businesses fail after one year but only 5% of franchises
do. 80% of small businesses fail after five years but only 25% of
franchises do. Therefore, franchises are onto something!
4. One principle
that franchises use is that they 'keep their promise' by creating
a consistent, predictable experience for their customers.
A Big Mac hamburger in Nevada will taste like a Big Mac hamburger
in Georgia. The pickles will be in the center of the bun in both
states - so that they won't fall onto your shirt.
5. Formulate
a 'primary aim' for your business - the experience that will benefit
your customer in every interaction with your business.
Examples would include: caring, openness, compassion, etc.
6. Gerber's
Management Strategy - an accountabilities checklist for your employees
to sign off every day.
A system replaces personalities when there are detailed job descriptions
for each position in the company.
7. Gerber's
People Strategy - each position should be created to be operated
by people with the lowest possible level of skill.
This ensures simplicity in the job descriptions. It also encourages
submission to the job descriptions that brilliant workers may not
be able to attain.
8. Gerber's
Marketing Strategy - choose your target market and learn the demographics
of those individuals.
Know your market better than they know themselves. What colors does
your target market respond favorably to?
9. Gerber's
Systems Strategy - hard systems (furniture, buildings) and soft
systems (people, sales pitches) and information systems (quantifying
everything that happens to figure out what works and what doesn't).
In a coaching practice, for example, you might implement a system
of having a pad by your computer and your phone. When someone inquires
about your coaching services you ask, "How did you hear about
me?" You record the source of the referral on the pad and submit
monthly tallies of referral sources to the CEO (you). This quantification
gives your marketing Vice President (you) important information
about what works and what doesn't work in your coaching marketing
efforts.
10. The
three keys to a successful business are innovation, quantification,
and orchestration.
Innovation keeps each employee free to offer suggestions about how
to improve their accountabilities checklists for their job duties.
This supports a sense of creativity, freedom, and contribution for
each employee.
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The Web has
evolved from being a place to find information and connect with
people to being a tool for getting things done. By using innovative
web-based services to handle time-consuming administrative tasks,
professionals and small business owners can spend more time focusing
on what they do best - getting and servicing clients. Best of all,
most of these services are either free or low cost.
1. Take
care of printing needs from home.
Services such as iPrint.com and PrintOnLine.com allow you to quickly
design and print customized business stationery products, promotional
items, and gifts online. Cost? About $20 for 250 business cards.
2. Purchase
stamps online.
Give those long lines at the post office a miss by printing digital
stamps on your office printer. Stamps.com and e-stamp.com support
all mailing services (including First Class, Priority, Express,
Registered Mail, Delivery Confirmation, Package Tracking, and Return
Receipt). Additional software is needed, expect to pay a service
fee of 10%.
3. Manage
incoming communications with an internet in-box.
Unified messaging is an emerging trend where all incoming communication
(voicemails, e-mails, faxes, pages) is received in one location
that is accessible via telephone or the internet. Services such
as Onebox.com, ureach.com, and efax.com issue users a personal telephone
number. Faxes and voicemails received at this number are forwarded
to their e-mail account where all incoming messages can be conveniently
viewed in one place. In addition to not having to install a separate
fax line or voicemail service, faxes and voicemails retrieved over
the internet can in turn can be shared and forwarded to anyone via
email.
4. Stay
in touch with clients.
Internet mailing lists are an easy way to communicate with your
clients or community. Several sites (Onelist.com, egroups.com, topica.com)
offer free services to help you start, manage and communicate with
large groups of people online. Groups can send and distribute e-mails,
schedule meetings, hold discussions, share files and photos, poll
members, or even have private group chats on the internet.
5. Broadcast
group messages fast.
If you need a mix of different modes of communication to reach your
clients, MessageBlaster.com's service offers a fast and efficient
way to communicate time-sensitive information to large groups. Once
the group list is set up, the service can broadcast your message
to individuals within the group using their preferred method - e-mail,
phone, pager or fax.
6. Automate
your direct mail campaign.
Your direct mail marketing efforts can be automated using Eletter.com's
web based service. Eletter.com will print postcards, catalogs or
letters (based on mail merging your address list and document file),
fold, stuff, seal, address, add postage, sort and deliver the entire
package to the post office.
7. Store
and share documents on the web.
Several web sites (Xdrive.com, Driveway.com, Idrive.com) offer password-protected
personal storage space on the Web to organize, edit and share any
type of file. This is an easy way to make an offsite or extra copy
of important files which can be accessed if you're on the road.
8. Send
paperless invitations.
If you're organizing a marketing event, business meeting, or speaking
event, services like evite.com, acteva.com, and seeUthere.com can
take care of the details. These services send out online invitations,
process all RSVPs, and even provide an event web page, directions,
weather forecasts and a tally of responses and headcount. Tickets
can be purchased online and automated reminders sent to attendees
prior to the event.
9. Reminders.
Having trouble remembering important dates and events? iPing.com's
Mr.Wakeup service calls your telephone or pager at pre-specified
times and can leave user defined messages or the day's latest news.
Lifeminders.com will send you an e-mail reminder not only for personal
events but also on selected topics (home improvement, parenting,
personal finance and pet care).
10. Appreciate
clients with an easy gift idea.
Several one-stop web-based services (giftcertificates.com, giftspot.com,
giftpoint.com) offer gift certificates from a large selection of
stores, hotels, restaurants, spas within the U.S. The recipient
can redeem the certificate at any of the stores listed with the
service.
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"There are some people who live in a dream world,
and there are some who face reality;
and then there are those who turn one into the other."
-Douglas Everett
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1. Know who you are and what you want.
Like an iceberg, we are typically aware only of the tip, while our
success and happiness depends upon what lies below the surface.
2. Learn
how to get what you want.
Assess the information, tools, and skills you will need and acquire
them. Develop creative strategies and action plans. "When you
fail to plan, you plan to fail."
3. Be the
"Chooser."
Take initiative and responsibility for your outcomes. Don't react
to what, or who, chooses you. Seek to create what you want in your
life.
4. Balance
your heart with your head.
Make your relationship choices consciously. It's still exciting!
5. Be ready
and available for commitment.
Live your life and bring your dating strategy into alignment
with how ready you really are for a committed relationship.
6. Use the
"Law Of Attraction."
Be the partner that you are seeking. Attract the partner that you
want by developing yourself and living the life that you want. "If
you build it, they will come."
7. Gain
relationship knowledge and skills.
Prepare for the love of your life by learning about relationships,
improving your relationship skills, and deepening your relationships
with your family, friends, and colleagues. Date for fun and practice.
Take more emotional risks. Read about relationships. Get relationship
coaching. Take relationship classes and workshops.
8. Create
a support community.
Isolated singles become lonely in their relationships when they
focus on a partner to meet all their social and emotional needs.
9. Practice
assertiveness.
To get what you really want, you need to say "No" to what
you don't want.
10. Be a
"Successful Single."
Don't put your life on hold waiting for a relationship to happen.
Live your life vision and purpose while you are single. The best
way to find your life partner is to be a happy, successful single
person living the life that you really want.
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