“It’s life Jim, but not as we know it”

I was watching online last night live as NASA held a press conference. I’ve not studied science since leaving education so if you want a scientific explanation of what their announcement was then you can read what they had to say here.

Described by many as an announcement about a new life form, Hollywood images such as ET are easily conjured up in your imagination. In reality, with apologies to the actual science involved, it wasn’t ET that they have identified but a microbe with the catchy name of “strain GFAJ-1.” As I understand it, and I’m certainly not claiming to be an astrobiologist, the reason that they were getting so excited by this is because it disproves one of the basic assumptions about life on Earth.

If you were watching the press conference you would have heard quotes about rewriting textbooks and “If something here on Earth can do something so unexpected, what else can life do that we haven’t seen yet?”

It’s a question that I thought is very valid to more than those with an interest in science. In this weeks message I invite you to consider the possibility that there is perhaps assumptions that you have made. Maybe there is something in your life just waiting to do something so unexpected, what else can you do with your life that we haven’t seen yet?

Love

Jen

(Marcel Proust)

(Albert Einstein)

(G.K.Chesterton)

The warm up is complete… It is time for the main event!

by Marie Yates

When something isn’t going quite as you planned what do you do? Do you give up, feeling despondent and as if the whole world is against you? Or do you try and figure out how to adapt to the new situation, amend your plans and keep on going?

As you’re now over a month in to your plans for 2012, what have you done to take action? Has everything gone according to plan? If the answer is a resounding ‘yes’ then I hope you are finding time to celebrate. If the answer is a demoralised ‘no’ then have you taken some time to establish what has been happening?

It is easy to become inundated with tasks. Quite often we are exhausted at the end of every day as it has been jam packed but we can’t quite remember what we’ve done. It is during these days that our goals seem so far removed from our reality.

Thankfully there are still eleven fabulous months waiting to be filled with taking positive action!

Block out some time in your diary to allow yourself the space to consider these questions.

• What will I have achieved by the 31^st December 2012?
• What needs to change in order for me to prioritise these goals?
• Who will I need support from in order to achieve these goals?
• What do I need to do right now to take a step closer to these goals?

Once you know what your next steps are, do not waste a second! Taking that action will be a catalyst towards making 2012 your year. It is never too late to make a resolution to change.

As you consider what it is you need to do. Check that you are also creating balance in your life. Being focused on achieving your goals is vital; however it needs to be one part of your daily agenda.

Also write down the other important things that are going on in your life. Your family, friends, fitness… The list is endless. These need to be factored in to enable you to create balance and stay motivated. Making a sustainable change can only happen when you are working in congruence with your values. A goal to set up a business by April, working 24/7 and therefore missing out on spending valuable time with the people that matter most will leave you exhausted and possibly a little resentful. Consider this idea if you have been struggling to stay motivated, have you been neglecting other important areas of your life?

Now is the time to take stock, re-engage and make a sustainable change. Consider January as your warm up… The main event starts now!

About the author

Marie Yates is a performance coach based in the Midlands and can be found at www.indigo-turtle-coaching.co.uk

(Eric Allenbaugh)

(Jiddu Krishnamurti)

A common response from more experienced coaches can be a variation of “yes that’s something I remember experiencing and it’s something that gets easier with practice.” Whilst I agree, it is something that gets easier when you practice, let me also give some pointers for that practice

Firstly, what expectations does your client have about what happens in a coaching session? If you want them to set the direction of the coaching how did you explain that when you both agreed to work together?

If you find that it is a common theme with all your clients struggling to pin point a goal for the session you may want to consider how you are describing coaching and your work.

What could you do so that it was even clearer what a client can do to be prepared before a session? Is there any additional guidance you could give so that it is even easier for them to get the most from your work together?

Perhaps you would like to encourage your clients to consider how they would know it has been a great session? A client often concludes for themselves that this is connected with what they wanted to get from each session (or the goal.) The answer to this question can also be used to form a question using their own language if they come to a session without a “goal” decided.

For example, imagine that Bob is a client who has told you that he will know that it was a good session if he left it feeling relaxed and focused. You could utilise that language in a question to clarify a “session goal” ie what would need to happen in this coaching session for you the leave feeling relaxed and focused?

Perhaps you want to include the use of a coaching preparation form in a format that works for you and your clients. This pre-session exercise can give people time to consider and get into the habit of deciding what they want to get from each session.

I said earlier that I often hear experienced coaches say that identifying a session goal gets easier with practice. Another aspect that can influence how a client “turns up” prepared for the session is their commitment and the value they see from your work together.

I know it’s possible that you are reading this and thinking you are not yet ready to charge for your coaching but I encourage you to consider what you could do to encourage commitment from the people you are coaching right from the start.

What else would you add to how you can help a client set a goal for the coaching session?

(Oscar Wilde)

(Wilfred Peterson)

The squirrel and the ducks

This past week I took a short break. The place that we were staying was in a country setting. Woodland and a lake were all within the vicinity.

I happened to walk past a bird feeder hanging from a tree where a squirrel was busy helping itself to the nuts contained within. If you are familiar with squirrels then I suspect that this wouldn’t particularly surprise you – they are well known for using bird feeders as a source of food – even if they have to manoeuvre around complicated assault courses to be able to access them.

There was no assault courses with this particular bird feeder. There was however a group of ducks gathered below. I am not certain if the squirrel was deliberately feeding the ducks at the same time or if this was just a happy accident. One thing that did seem to be apparent – this was not an unusual occurrence and the ducks were quite happy to accept assistance from someone else.

I may be wrong but I didn’t see those ducks read any more into the situation than it was an opportunity they were not going to miss.

Sometimes, we cannot be as willing as those ducks to accept assistance or even see such opportunities that arise. We may have an idea in our own head that it is important to do everything all by ourselves.

I’ve seen that self-sufficiency manifest itself in coaches in all sorts of ways:

For example,

• Missing the possibility of hiring someone who loves to do the business bits you hate/spend lots of your time doing. I’m not saying that you will never have to spend any time communicating or keeping track about what is happening with such tasks, just that the option is there to get assistance.
• I’ve seen beliefs that in order to be a coach you had to be perfect, have all the answers and not require or want to use the services of a coach/mentor/other professional.
• Choosing to “beat yourself up” and just “try harder” if you encounter a skill you’re not happy with rather than consider another alternative.
• Ignoring/ not seeing marketing possibilities because you didn’t create them from scratch.

Today I invite you to consider the following question:

If it really didn’t mean anything about you, your skills or your business, what would be different if you took extra assistance?

Have a fantastic week

Love

Jen

(Oscar Wilde)