Coach Sez...

Strike while the iron is hot!

2006-02-13T09:01:00.000-08:00

So you were among the 22,000 or so people who attended the Get Motivated! all-day seminar in Sacramento earlier this month? And you came away filled with new ideas and pumped up for action? And you’re wondering, “What now?”

Get a coach! You may be noticing what many people describe as the “hot bath effect” after having any powerful, motivating experience. We come away really jazzed and desiring to make some changes in our business or personal life. And then we experience “re-entry” and life as usual. The excitement and motivation fade, much like the “hot” in a hot bath after we’ve been in it for a while.

A short series of coaching sessions with a competent professional, who can support you in maintaining your enthusiasm as you take positive action toward your goals, can make all the difference.

A great resource is the Sacramento Coaches Association, a local chapter of the International Coach Federation, the credentialing body for certified coaches world-wide. A visit to their website at www.sacramentocoaches.org will highlight some forty or so professional coaches, with expertise covering a wide range of business and personal coaching needs.

That feeling of empowerment and possibility you experienced at the Get Motivated! seminar was real… don’t let it turn luke-warm. Find your coach today!

I Would Rather Be Coherent...

2005-03-20T14:00:00.000-08:00

One of the things we all share in common are our life's intentions. All of us have a longing to be known in certain ways, to know that our lives are making a difference. These intentions are often expressed in "to be" statements, as in

to be a creator of beauty

to be a contributor to my community

to be a loving family member (husband, wife, son, daughter, etc.)

to be a successful author (musician, artist, sculpter)

to be financially successful

How do these sound? Pretty good? When one or more of our life intentions are demonstrated in physical reality, our experience is one of "it doesn't get any better than this!"

The mechanics of such demonstrations are pretty simple. In life, you and I take action. Our action always leads to an outcome. When our action produces an outcome that is in keeping with our intention, life is sweet! We experience meaning, satisfaction, harmony and fulfillment. We might call this coherence... everything holds together.

On the other hand, when our action produces an outcome that is NOT in keeping with our intention, we experience what we can call incoherence. The elements of incoherence are frustration, resignation, and cynicism. Life is not so sweet.

At this point, many of us question our intention, with thoughts like, "Maybe I'm not meant to be a successful writer," or "I guess I don't have what it takes to give to my community," and so on. This is a Coaching Moment! We should never question our intention... just simply look at the action, and make an appropriate correction. It is the action that produced the outcome, remember. Our intentions live in us as part of the fabric of who we are, waiting to be joyously expressed!

There are many wonderful coaching tools and skill sets that can support us in consciously moving from incoherence to coherence and a more satisfying life experience. More on these in future notes!

Why Coaching Works

2004-11-27T22:08:00.000-08:00

Personal coaching, executive coaching and business coaching work in the same way that good sports coaching has always worked. The coach sees in the player what the player cannot see for herself. The coach inspires the player to go beyond his normal limiting self-talk so that he can demonstrate the hero he truly is. This model works well in sports and it works equally well in this larger game we call life.

A coach sees the player in a particular way, as whole and complete, as someone who has her own answers. A coach stands side by side with the player and together they survey the landscape of possibility. A coach supports the player in seeing that life is a game worth playing, and together they create goals worth playing for.

Dr. Maria Nemeth, a Master Certified Coach, and founder of the Academy for Coaching Excellence says, "A coach is someone who has a grounding in philosophical and spiritual principles and is thoroughly trained in pragmatic approaches that help people clarify their life’s intentions and goals and how to express them in their lives."

It is a good thing to be a coach. And a player.

Coaching works.

The Holographic Universe

2004-11-10T13:21:00.000-08:00

A great deal of fascinating speculation is going on (and has been for a couple of decades, at least) about the fundamental nature of the universe, and everything in it. Working at the particle level, scientists are discovering that particles behave in ways that are not consistent with Newtonian physics as we understand them. Just when we think it's a particle, it behaves like a wave, and vice versa.

David Bohm (and others) are concluding from their quantum studies that just maybe simultaneity, and not cause and effect, is what's really happening. And that it's holographic, in that the smallest "piece" contains information about the whole.

This has fascinating implications for how we view our lives. What if there is no past (except in memory) and no future that we are living into? That there is no future time in which, if I have my act together, things will be different and better? What if there is only this "rolling moment of now" in which I experience my life?

Have you ever wondered how life would turn out? In a holographic universe, how it turned out is this moment, right now! This is it! And here is the wonderful news in this useful metaphor: in a holographic universe, all we have to do to change our entire life experience is to do the smallest thing that lies before us with clarity, focus, ease, and grace. Bring our self fully present to the moment at hand, not living in the "past" or "future."

When we are fully present to the moment, we experience coherence and the "luminosity index" of our life goes up. Holographically, that one small, sweet action changes our entire life. It doesn't get any better than that.

It's worth a thought.

The Hero's Journey

2004-11-02T14:11:00.000-08:00

Joseph Campbell, the noted mythologist, described our life experience as a "hero's journey," with all the characteristics of those wonderful ancient tales. A journey filled with wonder and opportunity, dragons and obstacles.

It is a very useful metaphor that can support us in seeing our lives in a fresh way. What would it be like for you to see yourself (and others!) as a hero? What would it be like to know that you have a contribution to make, an important contribution, and that is the principle reason you are on the planet? What would it be like for you to discover that you have the capacity to make that contribution with clarity, focus, ease, and grace?

Believe it! That is the truth about you, and about every human being. That is the principle that stands under the many coaching models that are appearing today in almost every culture. A coach is someone who stands with you, and supports you in identifying your most heartfelt life intentions. A coach looks with you at all the possible ways to demonstrate those intentions in your life, this game worth playing, by setting goals worth playing for.

Coaching isn't for everybody. Coaching isn't for the faint of heart. Coaching is for those who feel the stirring in their hero's heart, who want to turn and face the dragons on their path, and demonstrate their life intentions in ways that make a difference.

Coaching is for you.

Wayne Manning
Manning Consulting
530-210-5887