Guest Post

Why do we have to niche our services?

27 February 2015 in Guest Post tagged clients / coaching / Julie Crowley / marketing / niche

In this weeks guest post Julie Crowley focuses on that subject of your niche.

Why do we have to niche our services?

By Julie Crowley

"Why do we have to niche our services?" by Julie Crowley

I know that the general advice is to niche your business services so that clients can find you (/me) and ‘we’ stand out from ‘the crowd’. But which crowd?

I am pretty sure that most if not all of us have, at one time or another, questioned this aspect of our ‘business’ (versus service provision). Do you agree? Should you and I niche to satisfy the marketing advisors?

But maybe it isn’t about the clients, or the marketers or about our business at all – but about us, ourselves.

I have this internal debate with myself on a regular basis! Should I? Shouldn’t I? And why (not)?

I decide – at that point – one way or the other. I can slip back on what I have decided too at times! But, like my clients, things change. I change. I grow, learn, develop ideas and try new things. That’s what coaching is about after all!

Question dice

But niching…it’s difficult (at least for me) to decide what you are, or I am, what we want – and can – offer our clientele.

Like many of you, I guess we want to offer whatever we can, to whoever we can and get them where they want to be! Our focus, our aim, our own SMART targets!

But limiting ourselves as it might seem – is that the answer? We suggest to clients that they explore their own potential, try lots of things or just focus on the one straight (!!!) path to their goals. To our goals.

So niching is an oft-appearing cliché for me in business. It’s here now again, raising it’s (ugly?) head. But I think this is healthy and useful, it keeps me on the ball, it keeps me focused on my clients and it helps me look at my own journey and development too. Keeping my eye on where I am going – and checking the direction is right for me, making sure my steps align with my goals too!

So what niches are my options? What do I want to offer, or show to clientele that I can offer? Who am I now that I wasn’t last year, or at the start of my business services? Who do I want and aim to be – and when?

Just like our clients, we are always looking forward, monitoring goals, managing steps, acknowledging achievements and hopefully too, giving ourselves those ever-necessary (and fun!) rewards.

I have niched into careers, and something I am still keen on but no longer my whole focus. Why I wonder? Because it did work for clients – it gave them/gives them a clear trigger, a clear focus on the ‘problem’ that’s arisen for them hence they are looking for guidance, motivation, inspiration or/and the rest of what coaching can offer.

I have focused on managing the psychological self – self awareness, personal power, personal development and personal change. Psychology plays a big part in my practices.

I am unsure if niches are just short phrases or words that clearly spell out what the outcome might be for all to see, or whether it is to help me as a life coach decide what I do best or my current focus.

Question mark

I will think on this one, as my clients do, work through the step by step action plan, monitoring and acknowledgements and ponder the decision of what my next niche might be. And who it will be for, my clients, my professional self, or society at large to judge me and decide my worth in the coaching forum! For me my clients needs come first so that is where I will be starting …

About Julie Crowley

Julie Crowley, Personal Counsellor and Life Coach based in Lees, Oldham as Clear Mind Life Coaching & Counselling. My aim as a coach is to help clients explore their potential and find out their real goals in life – or at least now! Developing their “personal power” to create the life they want to live by exploring their inner self – practically, emotionally, psychologically and leaving with more awareness than they came with for more effective steps “For a better personal future” and the tools and techniques to use in future …

More information:

My website and blog www.clearmindco.co.uk offers comment and ideas about people, thoughts, feeling and life plans …as well as counselling concepts and focus too.

I am also on Facebook – Twitter – Linked in – CLEAR Connections

Stop Comparing Yourself: Improve Your Business and Focus By Being You

13 February 2015 in Guest Post tagged business / Carrie Greene / coaching / comparison / others / self

In this weeks guest post Carrie Greene addresses an issue that often gets in the way of developing your coaching business.

Stop Comparing Yourself: Improve Your Business and Focus By Being You

by Carrie Greene

I received an email from a client…

“I am feeling crazy stuck in a comparison cycle today – and I have so much to do. Just wanted to share my mind-tape today in case you have any sage wisdom.”

When you play the comparison game it seems that you always fall on the short end of the stick.

Everyone else’s business is better. Everyone has more clients. Everyone is making more money. Everyone else is doing more than you. Everyone else can do it.

Now wait a minute. Is that really true?

If you are going to play the comparison game at least play full on.

When you find yourself stuck in the endless loop of “everyone is better than me” think about this:

How many people have actually taken their idea and started a business?
How many people have said to you… wow, that’s a great idea, I wish I could do something like that.
How many people have taken any of the steps necessary to achieve their dream?
How many people have taken the types of risks you have to better yourself?
How many people have told you that they admire your courage or bravery?
How many people have any sort of plan to take them to their goals?
How many people have had the successes or achieved what you already have?
What would happen in your life and business if you played the comparison game fairly?

About Carrie Greene

Carrie Greene is a speaker, author and business coach.

Carrie helps entrepreneurs get clear on what they want and understand their value in the marketplace. Carrie helps her clients create simple and straight-forward plans to get where they want with a smile on their faces while they increase their profits.

Carrie spent fifteen years on Wall Street in marketing and product development for major brokerage firms and The New York Stock Exchange. She is the author of “Chaos to Cash: An Entrepreneur’s Guide to Eliminating Chaos, Overwhelm and Procrastination So you Can Create Ultimate Profit!” and the forthcoming book “The Value Formula: 5 Steps to Knowing What You Are Worth and Getting It”

Connect with Carrie at www.CarrieGreeneCoaching.com, www.Facebook.com/CarrieGreeneCoaching or on Twitter @CarrieCoaching

Mindset Secrets to Successfully Selling Premium Coaching Packages

6 February 2015 in Guest Post tagged boundary / client attraction / clients / coaching / codependency / fear / high end / Ling Wong / marketing / mindset / package / preconception / program / self-worth / selling / value

In this week’s guest post Ling Wong uses her expertise and knowledge as she shares:

Mindset Secrets to Successfully Selling Premium Coaching Packages

By ling wong

"Mindset Secrets to Successfully Selling Premium Coaching Packages" by Ling Wong

A lot of business trainings tell us to sell coaching packages instead of single sessions, and raise our fees while we are at it so we can earn more, work less and have more energy to deliver our best services to our clients. Some of these trainings probably showed you how to design a program and price it.

Sounds good in theory, but… let me ask you – how much are your clients actually paying you? Do you consider the amount you are paid “premium”? (hmm, can you take just one or two new clients a month to pay the bills and more?)

Maybe you have a premium package sitting somewhere on your website, but you somehow have never been paid a “premium” fee; or you revert back to selling the “old” lower-cost packages when the rubber meets the road, i.e. during your sales conversation, because fears and doubts creep in and you chicken out.

If you (intellectually) know offering a premium package is better for your business, and you also have the knowledge to create the package – why aren’t you selling it? Where is the disconnect?

YOU, hold the answer. It’s all in your head.

Everything can sound good on paper, until it comes time to ask for the money.

There are a lot of fears, pre/misconceptions and judgments around “selling”, self-worth and value. Until you bust through these mindset hurdles, you will never feel completely comfortable during a sales conversation.

Your comfort level in asking to get paid is proportional to how much you ultimately get paid.

Preconception

Nobody likes being pushed into buying, and we may perceive people selling to be “bad” because some salesperson gave us bad experience. If you had bad experience with sales people, it is easy to equate selling as “dishonest,” and who wants to be perceived as such? Of course you don’t want to, so you hold back from selling.

Plus, there are many unfavorable images we associate with people doing selling – e.g. the used car salesman, the late-night infomercial dude, even that pushy MLM friend who won’t let you off the hook until you reluctantly sign up for stuff that you don’t want.

What if I tell you, selling = serving? What if you can serve your potential clients while you sell them your services? Educational marketing is a great example. You give people information and provide value to raise awareness about a problem. When they understand the problem they have actually has a solution and you, standing right there, provides that service – they will want to seek you out without you pushing your wares.

I sign a lot more clients after I changed my approach in my discovery sessions from constantly worrying about “what can I say or ask to get them to buy my stuff?” to “what questions can I ask to help this person see a solution to her challenges?” This change in attitude can give the energy behind sales conversations a major overhaul.

How can you lead your potential clients into exploring working with you by serving them?

Fears

What kind of selling works? Genuine selling. The kind that you don’t hide behind scripts and templates. The kind that you put yourself forward and connect with your potential clients. But our fears are making us hide… instead of making the connection so critical to getting “yes” from potential clients.

The Fear of Not Being Good Enough can make you feel that you, being yourself, are not enough. It makes you feel there gotta be a script that holds the key to the perfect sales conversation. Maybe you fear that you don’t know enough so you keep babbling on about what you know and where you were trained… completely negating the potential client (who just wants to be heard and be given a damn solution!)

Don’t forget that little voice in your head that keeps saying “who are you to ask for that much money?”

The Fear of Not Being Worthy can cause you to confuse “self-worth” to what people are paying you for – i.e. our services that will give them results. When you don’t feel worthy of being paid, guess what… you don’t get paid!

The Fear of Lack can make you discount or settle for the client purchasing a smaller package even though you know she needs something more extensive because you don’t want to end up with nothing! By settling for less, at least you get the client to pay you something… (note how this makes you come from a place of lack, and not one of service)

The Fear of Being Vulnerable can get you to puff up as a protective mechanism, setting up a wall that prevents you from deeply connecting with your potential clients (people buy high-ticket items with emotions, you need to make that connection). Or, maybe you are afraid of being criticized so you hide from having conversations with potential clients or JV partners. If you hide, they can’t find you!

The Fear of Rejection can make you not ask for more money under the misconception that you will get more “no’s” if your price is higher. If you have this fear, the problem is not the price, the problem is you not having figured out how to communicate the value you deliver.

Can you recognize when you fears kick in during your sales conversations?

Boundary and Codependency

In this article, I explored money boundary and codependency extensively. Here is the highlight:

If you are undercharging and not asking for a “premium price,” you may feel that you need to give everyone access to your service and you have the limiting belief or misconception that you can “help more people” by charging less. (You are trying to give everyone your stuff whether they want it or not – and this, is a violation of the other person’s boundary.)
If you are over-delivering (e.g. going overtime during your sessions, writing pages after pages of support emails, “throwing in” extras), essentially giving “premium” services without being compensated for it, you may be feeling responsible for your clients’ results even though they need to do the work to succeed. Because you feel responsible, you would bend over backwards – compromising your own boundaries in order to “help” that person with the misconception that somehow, you can do the work for your client (By the way, the client may or may not want to be helped, so in a way, you are violating that her personal choice.)
If you have been constantly discounting, you may be buying into the client’s money stories and somehow made felt responsible that your fee will turn into the cause of her distress so you discount to make yourself feel better. (By the way, you have no rights to decided for the other person what she can or cannot afford… it’s her priority and her decisions to make.)
If you have been giving away services for free – STOP! This is martyr mentality stemming from a fear of not being worthy (you are trying to prove to yourself that you are) and can turn into victimhood that kicks you off the driver’s seat altogether.

When your boundary is overstepped, it is you who allows that to happen.

If it’s your boundary crime to commit, can you recognize your triggers and “rehearse” what you can do or say in those situations?

Self-Worth vs the Value of Your Program

I have a bone with the phrase “charge what you are worth” – I explained it in this post.

If you can separate your self-worth from the value you deliver through your program, then the question “how can my time be worth that much” will not even enter the equation.

Focus on the value your clients get out of your program or service package, not how much time you spend on the phone with them.

If they get a more out of your service than what they pay you, then offering them your package is doing them a service. The key, again, is to communicate effectively so they understand the value of your program, and the impact it has on their lives.

Write down how your work impacts your clients in the areas of health, career, finance, relationship and personal growth. Then put a monetary value (wherever possible) against each item. Now, add it all up and see for yourself how much value you deliver. Can you charge more?

***

Selling, and selling high-ticket items, is not scary. You can sell more with integrity by having the right mindset and perspective, overcoming your fears, strengthening your boundaries, and properly communicating the value of your offer.

About Ling Wong

Ling offers “Business Soulwork + Marketing Activation” to help coaches nail their Messages, claim their Superpowers and muster up the Guts to monetize their Truth so they can build a purposeful and profitable Personality-Driven business that is a full expression of their individuality and creativity.

Through her “left brain meets right brain” approach, Ling helps her clients tap into their intuition and ground those light bulb moments with practical strategies and marketing tactics to build a profitable and sustainable business.

Ready to Nail Your Message, Claim Your Superpowers and Monetize Your Truth for a Personality-Driven business? Get your FREE “Monetize Your Truth Mindset + Marketing Training” here.

Hear The Voice and Do It Anyway!

30 January 2015 in Guest Post tagged achievement / coaching / gremlins / inner critic / Laura Li / self-doubt / voice of doubt / voice of fear

In today’s guest post Laura Li shares some of her personal experience and what she’s learnt as she started using her coaching.

Hear The Voice and Do It Anyway!

By Laura Li

"Hear The Voice and Do It Anyway!" By Laura Li

There was a time when the voice in my head was so loudly and relentlessly telling me what a failure I was, that I concluded the only way to stop it would be to kill myself.

“You’re a loser and a failure. You’re worthless”.

These words coming from a good friend would have hurt me and caused me to think of all the reasons it wasn’t true. Coming from an enemy they would have made me angry and I would have fought back.

But it wasn’t a friend. Nor even an enemy. It was the voice inside my head. The voice was mine. And I believed it.

Today I’m no longer fighting for my life. Not literally. But I’m still engaged in a battle with that voice of fear and doubt that’s doing it’s best to rob me of my life in a different way.

We all have this voice. Some call it the gremlin, the chatterbox, or the inner critic. I call it The Voice of Fear and Doubt, or more simply, The Voice. For most of us it doesn’t get as severe as it did for me, but it’s always there discouraging us from moving out of our comfort zone into the arena of living fully.

Away from playing it safe to being daring.

From moving on to the next steps with our coaching. It tells us we’re not good enough, or that we’d be silly even to try, or that it’s impossible to have what we really want.

And, oh my goodness, it says to us, what will other people think?

A lot of new coaches go through this.

Reluctance to go out and talk to people about their coaching.

Fear of selling.

Fear of charging.

And for us newer coaches it’s easy to think that if we can just get over the first few hurdles in our business then we’ll be ok and the voice will die out. But from my conversations with more established coaches – even coaches earning those 6 figures – I know that the voice of doubt is always there.

Fear of raising your fees.

Fear of putting that new project out into the world.

Fear of contacting that one person you’d really like to work with

Where is The Voice coming from?

The Voice is coming from our emotions. From the fight or flight response. It’s primary function is to keep us safe and sound and away from the dangers of sabre-toothed tigers and woolly mammoths.

Only today the sabre-toothed tiger is really starting a coaching practice and the woolly mammoth is making a presentation to that corporate client you’re trying to win.

The rational, logical side of you, the part that does want you to run your coaching business is doing its best to fight your corner. But it’s no fair fight. It’s like sending in one of the seven dwarves to go ten rounds with Muhammed Ali.

In the argument between do or don’t do – don’t do wins out.

We can’t turn The Voice off completely, but we can learn to turn the volume down.

Five Tips For Turning The Volume Down and Drowning Out The Voice of Doubt:

1. When The Voice starts up don’t try to argue with it. Arguing with it can sometimes make it stronger.

Simply turn your thoughts to something else. The cute thing your cat did yesterday; what you’ll have for dinner. The Voice may well return, but each time you think of something else it loses little bit more of it’s power over you.

2. Start an Achievement Journal – every day write down at least ten things you’ve achieved today. And don’t just focus on the big things like getting a new client. Focus on all the little things you do every day that make a difference.

Even getting the ironing done in a busy day is an achievement. Heck, even getting half of it done can be a miracle sometimes. We’re so used to filtering out the small stuff that sometimes we need to remind ourselves how well we’re really doing.

As well as writing in the journal every day make sure to read previous days’ achievements to fully absorb all your greatness.

If a daily journal seems too onerous or time consuming then you can do a smaller version: whenever you’re feeling uncertain about something sit down and list 100 things you’ve ever achieved.

You’ll see how capable you are, and more importantly The Voice will have to fade into the background under the weight of all your evidence

3. Don’t focus on how difficult it will be to achieve the complete goal. Keep making the goal smaller and smaller until you’ve got the biggest step that you can tackle. Then keep doing that until step-by-step you reach the bigger goal.

The Voice knows its ridiculous to fill your coaching practice in 6 months. But it can’t argue that it’s impossible to go out and get the next client.

4. Know that even with the first step The Voice will still be whispering to you. It won’t disappear completely, but you can learn to take action despite it.

5. Take Frank Sinatra’s advice and do it your way. Whatever it is you want to do think of a way that will be fun and that suits your personality. Trying to follow someone else’s way of doing things when it doesn’t fit who you are is pure glee for The Voice.

**Where Is Your Voice Holding You back?**

Whatever it is for you – where is The Voice discouraging you from taking the next step in your coaching practice?

.
Where are you playing small?

Whether you’re a new coach starting out and trying to get your first client or an established coach looking to increase your impact in the world, what is The Voice telling you?

What is the next big step for you to take in your life or in your coaching business?

Hear The Voice and do it anyway.

And now I’m off to write up in my Achievements Journal: wrote my first guest post today, and sent it off to be published. The Voice is telling me I don’t have anything to say that anybody would want to listen to. But I’m too busy thinking about having spaghetti Bolognese for dinner to hear it.

About Laura Li

Laura Li trained as a coach and then let The Voice deter her from working with real paying clients for 10 years. She has recently become a Life Coach who works with people to help them drown out The Voice of Fear and Doubt and bring their Impossible Dreams to life.

If you’d like to find out more about banishing the voice or to sign up to my monthly newsletter then please email la******@********et.com

Procrastinators, if not now, when?

23 January 2015 in Guest Post tagged coaching / Minda Miloff / Procrastination / stress

In this weeks guest post Minda Miloff shares some of her knowledge and coaching experience.

Procrastinators, if not now, when?

by Minda Miloff

Procrastination is the practice of carrying out less urgent tasks in preference to more urgent ones, or doing more pleasurable things in place of less pleasurable ones, and thus putting off impending tasks to a later time, sometimes to the “last minute” before the deadline. – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The secret of getting ahead is getting started.
Mark Twain

Was Rodin's Thinker really a Procrastinator?

Was Rodin’s Thinker really a Procrastinator?

There’s no single type of procrastinator and no single explanation for why procrastinators do their thing, or, rather, don’t do the things they should be doing.

What I see in my coaching practice are three types of procrastinators:

Chronic procrastinators, who have difficulty starting and finishing most tasks.
Situational procrastinators, who avoid certain kinds of tasks.
Rebellious procrastinators, who dodge or evade imposed tasks.

Regardless of type, procrastinators usually feel bad, stressed and guilty about their habit of not getting things done in a timely manner or not getting things done at all.

If I could stand the guilt or stress I probably would be a procrastinator. But, I don’t do well when I’m stressed, falling behind, missing deadlines, or late. I hate being late with library books! For me, the benefits of doing things on time far outweighs the high costs of procrastination.

Yet who doesn’t have difficulties choosing between more pleasurable tasks that give you a quick fix and the tougher less pleasurable tasks that require discipline, commitment and getting your hands dirty or at least sweaty?
For example:

Do I go to exercise class or stay at home and watch a movie?
Should I order in food or make something healthy?
Should I tackle that tough project or wait till I clear my Inbox?

What you find if you do a Google search, or a literature review of the research on procrastination, or consult procrastinators, are:

Irrational reasons for postponing doing something they know they will feel bad about later.

Concerns about others controlling, imposing or dictating deadlines or tasks that they would prefer to decide for themselves (the rebellious type!).

Anxiety-producing stress leading to a range of responses and emotions:
- Desire to avoid any unpleasant and uncomfortable feeling;
- Worry about not doing something well (perfectionist streak);
- Fear of not knowing how to do something (incompetence);
- Paralysis due to the complexity or number of tasks (fear of failure); and
- Certainty they might not be making a right decision.

Are you are one of those people who gets down on yourself about not getting stuff done? Are you easily distracted? Impulsive? Or prone to avoiding stressful tasks in favour of more pleasurable pursuits?

If you are saying “yes” then here are some ideas that will help you kick the procrastination habit. Or at least minimize the negative impact of putting off tasks till later.

The first three ideas are foundations for the others. As with any change, it’s best to start with small steps.

Work with a short timeline – day to day, week to week, and month to month.
Don’t make a big resolution – “I’m done with procrastinating and I’m doing everything on-time from now on” – because that will never work.
What is most important is to never stop trying. When you fall short of your good intentions, which is inevitable, don’t give up. Try again.
Ask for help – there is usually someone in your life who can help you break down that long list of tasks into smaller and more manageable pieces.
Self-impose a few deadlines with tasks that are important to you and, if that doesn’t work, seek out externally imposed deadlines (e.g. from your spouse or a friend)
Counter the temptation to surf the Net by using apps that block you from Facebook or other sites that are more pleasurable than the task at hand.
Use timers on your smart phone or on your stove to keep you on-time and track.
Recognize you are compromising longer-term goals (that really matter) for short term pleasures (that just prompt you to seek out more short-term fun to cover up your feelings of guilt).
Tell yourself a story about the importance of conquering procrastination, how it will make your life better, or how you will feel better about yourself.
If all else fails, work with a coach! You need help.

Keep trying,
Coach Minda

Often I feel that projects overwhelm us when we look at how many hours are involved until completion. But just getting started is usually not that difficult.
Emily Giffin

About Minda Miloff

Minda Miloff, M.A., has developed, implemented and managed educational and training programs for over twenty years – for blue chip companies, professional associations and non-profit organizations.

In her coaching practice she helps clients:

Improve their productivity and effectiveness, at work and at home
Make the most of work relationships with superiors, direct reports and colleagues
Develop time management and organizational skills, overcome procrastination, increase focus, concentration and motivation, become professionally and personally more effective
Adopt healthier lifestyle habits and learn healthier responses to stress in all phases of life

Typical coaching clients are:

Assessing a career change or coping with a challenging new job
Struggling with time management and prioritizing tasks
Looking for practical solutions to problems at work or at home

Coach Minda – provides confidential coaching services in Montreal, and internationally by telephone or by SKYPE.

To know more about her services, email: mi**********@*******co.ca

Visit her website www.coachminda.com to learn more about her work history and achievements or to review client testimonials

Our Life: “We walk by faith and believe by sight”

16 January 2015 in Guest Post tagged Andrew A. Faccone / faith

One of the basic questions I ask guest posters is what would they most like to share with the blogs readers.

This week Andrew A Faccone has chosen to share a personal experience:

Our Life: “We walk by faith and believe by sight”

By Andrew A Faccone

"Our Life:"We walk by faith and believe by sight" by Andrew A Faccone

2 Corinthians 5:7 We walk by faith, not by sight.

Those of us who view life from the optimist’s perspective enjoy many of the benefits of life that much of society cannot comprehend or even understand The optimist sees each day as a new opportunity- a chance to make a difference and leave the world better than when he awoke to a new day.

The readers of this blog are making a conscious effort daily to improve themselves so they can have greater impact where they are in their lives. Taking time to read inspirational or motivational readings enables to the reader to better handle the negativity that life presents us with.

Paul “Bear” Bryant, the legendary American college football coach for the The University of Alabama had a plaque on his desk which stated “We Must Get Better Spiritually, Physically and Mentally each and everyday. We start off with the best of intentions daily but life and the day to day commitments, challenges and obstacles we all face sometime make those intentions bigger than what they really are. This unique perspective on how we are able to handle life is not an elite’s perspective that we are better, we are just better prepared to handle what life presents us with. I find myself going thru my daily interaction with a smile on my face, an appreciation for life, a kind word to share with people and the desire to improve on a daily basis.

To help better implement this process you must make you a priority. It sounds easy in theory but many times we forget about ourselves and other “things” in our daily lives distract us and we are not a priority. Those “priorities” begin to gain momentum. Days become weeks, months turn into years and many times we lose control, forgetting that person we once were.

With the recent start of the New Year 2015 we all make resolutions to start anew, creating a better way and changing some of those habits or rituals to make a better you. Those of you reading this post on the second week of January – are you still just as committed to those resolutions as you were on Dec 31, 2014? The optimist that you are (because you are making a conscious effort to improve yourself by reading this article) has a driven purpose to make a difference in your life. The burning desire to improve, to stretch, not to settle where you are, to see things as they can be, not as they appear to be.

The optimist takes a different approach to life and is also criticized for the way he goes about his daily life.

Many times throughout a person’s life, challenges, obstacles and road blocks present themselves ,testing the optimist’s resolve in overcoming those formidable challenges. During our lifetime we are constantly evaluating how to react to situations, we learn from others who have experienced similar situations and we begin to share that knowledge with others who we interact with. The learning and sharing process is a lifelong process that we all experience.

Then there will come a situation that will truly test your every fiber, you will truly question your reason for existence. I am referring to the death of your parent. I recently lost my father Anthony J. Faccone this past April 12, 2014, after a brief illness.

The world has been quite different since my father’s passing. I was blessed to have my father in my life, my married life with my wife, my family’s lives and both of my children were lucky enough to have had their Grandpa in their lives in so many ways. He was the 5th person in our 4 person family. We did everything with him and he did with us.

The new normal has not been the easiest since his passing, as there have been some challenging days, frustrating situations and our family has had days that have been missing something since his passing. We are all tested in life in many ways, what you believe deep down inside will reveal itself when you need it most. When the challenge is the most difficult your true resolve will reveal itself. What you believe and demonstrate will see you thru those challenging times.

What I have discovered since his passing as I make a dedicated effort to get my life back to the ”new normal” I draw upon my reserves of optimism and wisdom that my father shared with me my entire life.

Those Pearls of Wisdom have appeared and aided me numerous times since last April. Life is not easy, those who possess a vision for life, a burning desire to live with a purpose and believe in there heart of hearts with all they possess there best days are still ahead That belief system will help you weather the challenges you are presented with. We are all faced with many challenges. what you have deep inside will help sustain the storm and thrive when the storm passes.

I was so very fortunate to have such a wonderful father who did so many wonderful things for me, for my wife and for my children. He was a man of action who shared with me all the things I needed to know to excel in the game of life, lead with character and be the husband and father my family is worthy of. I would not be the person I am if it wasn’t for the man who was my father

In closing you may not understand why things occur as they do in your life, you must rely on yourself and what your gut tells you to do a different times. You must walk by faith and believe by sight to reach your bright & unlimited potential.

About Andrew A Faccone

Andrew A.Faccone, MBA can provide insight regarding his expertise within the healthcare industry. He can also provide valuable business acumen and coaching insights. Andrew is available for speaking engagements for any size business organization as well as personalized business & career coaching.

Contact Andrew A Faccone on Linkedin

Follow Andrew on Twitter @AndrewFaccone

Email: aa****@***oo.com

Challenging the coaching critic

9 January 2015 in Guest Post tagged Charlotta Hughes / coaching / criticism / investment

In this weeks guest post Charlotta Hughes shares some of her expertise and knowledge.

Challenging the coaching critic

by Charlotta Hughes

"Challenging the coaching critic" by Charlotta Hughes

January can be a busy time of year for us coaches, as people seek out the best support to make sure the New Year becomes the best it can be.

We, who work in the coaching profession, know just how much more likely it is that those who use coaching to support them, succeed in actually seeing things through, break down real or perceived barriers and implement the improvements they desire.

When given the opportunity, it’s such a joy to see the positive changes unfold and just how possible it is to defy the February blues kicking in.

However, we do need to be given the opportunity and despite the known and visible benefits, for many coaches it’s pretty hard to find the clients. Even in January.

And for many individuals desiring positive changes, they don’t make the leap and commit to a coaching process, reducing their chances of success significantly.

This is a conundrum that I’ve pondered for some time and I’ve come to realize that there are two main reservations about coaching that I hear and read about:

1. Coaching is too fluffy and unscientific.

2. Coaching is a luxury!

They’ve fascinated me for some time and I’ve spent some time reflecting on them over the holidays.

In doing so, I’ve been considering where these criticisms may stem from and I’ve also scrutinised my own thoughts on whether they bear any real weight or not.

Thankfully, I’ve landed in a strong conviction that neither are true for great coaching. Like all professions, of course, there are good and bad coaches. So, for the sake of this piece, I’ll only consider great coaching. Which, of course, is what we all endeavor to provide!

When the coaching is great, the criticisms just don’t stand up and there are strong arguments around why they don’t. Rather helpful when the skeptics turn up!

Let’s start with looking at criticism number one – it’s too fluffy and unscientific.

Truthfully there is a lot of science behind great coaching.

This is not always obvious, as the philosophy of great coaching is to not bamboozle people with science and facts but rather to deliver it in a way that is accessible to everyone. That’s part of its power – no one feels daunted or overwhelmed and can simply enjoy the process and its benefits.

A great coach never puts themselves in the ‘I know best’, ‘my word is law’ or ‘I’m right and don’t need to explain how or why’ bracket. This allows the clients to listen to and trust themselves and, with the guidance of the coach, instill the scientifically proven benefits in ways that suit and work for them.

So on to criticism number two – it’s a luxury.

Of course it’s true that we must be able to afford whatever we chose to spend money on.

However, how we prioritise and make decisions around what we can afford is influenced about what feels like a luxury and what doesn’t.

And I really disagree that great coaching is a luxury.

We only have one life, and the main player in each of our individual scenarios is ourselves. That is (or should be) true for all of us.

This doesn’t make us selfish and it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t ever priorities those around us. What it does mean however, is that if we forget to value and look after ourselves, we reduce the quality of our one and only life. And in doing so, we probably become less of a value or positive addition to others’ lives too.

The mindset that such self prioritisation and development is a luxury is anything but helpful. To ourselves and those we love.

Here’s 4 reasons why great coaching is a priority rather than a luxury:

1. Developing and growing as a person is fundamental to you being the best that you can be.

2. Learning how to take control of your life underpins your success, happiness and motivation.

3. Understanding your motivators and what drives you is vital for knowing yourself; who you are and what you really want from life.

4. Liberating yourself from limiting beliefs and fears is the secret to kick start action, eliminate inertia and achieve great things.

This is why I don’t regard great coaching a luxury, and not even a ‘cost’ but rather a serious investment in ourselves and our future happiness. One worth prioritising whenever possible.

These are the messages that I convey wherever and whenever I get a chance and slowly but surely, it’s a joy to see the skeptics won over and more and more individuals allowing themselves the great joy that comes with coaching. Good luck in getting your positive messages out there and in helping more and more people take the leap and make that commitment to themselves and their dreams!

About Charlotta Hughes

Charlotta has been coaching professionally for over 12 years and in March 2013 she won UK Life Coach of the Year, awarded by the national body Association of Professional Coaches, Trainers and Consultants. She specialises in coach mentoring, confidence, direction and entrepreneur coaching.

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Charlotta’s background is within Human Resources and she started her busy coaching practice, be me life coaching, in January 2007.

Coaches and Money: 7 breakthroughs to help the money flow in 2015

2 January 2015 in Guest Post tagged beliefs / business / Helen Collier / help / journaling / money / niche / present

In the first guest post of the new year money coach Helen Collier focuses upon:

Coaches and Money:

7 breakthroughs to help the money flow in 2015.

By Helen Collier

My MacAfee Vulnerability Scanner has just popped up and told me it has found two new programme updates I need to install to keep my laptop running optimally.

How useful would it be if we had the equivalent of an internal money vulnerability scanner, that automatically scanned every 24 hours? Installed to spot what needs up dating and what needs binning to keep ourselves and our money life running optimally? More importantly it then goes on to make the necessary changes to get us back in tip top condition.

In the absence of our own personal ‘app’ it’s down to us to hone our own ability to look both internally and externally at ourselves and adjust as necessary.

2014 has been a year of big breakthroughs for me personally. Looking back I see how I have been scanning my installed money mind-set as I prepared to take my money coaching practice to the next level of success. Some of it is new learning, other parts simply deeper learning and some of it came with the ‘Durr!!’ moment. ‘How have I not seen these things!!?!’

7 breakthroughs to help the money flow. In no particular order.

This year I have had many conversations with women who outwardly ooze confidence and composure and yet underneath they were squirming with dread and embarrassment about money. Suddenly there was my niche right in front of me, these very women. In fact they had been there all the time but I simply hadn’t seen them. Since discovering this niche I’m focused and my client list has increased. I know who I am talking to when I write, when I am out giving talks, when I go out networking.

Action

Action: Find your Niche

Find those things that keep you stuck. What are those big beliefs and assumptions that keep you stuck? I’ve discovered some great material this year developed by Keegan and Lahy called ‘Immunity to Change’ It provides a great structure for understanding why sometimes our best intentioned progress is held back almost by having the foot on the brake at the same time as trying to accelerate. It’s one I knew well. It described my resistance perfectly. A belief that went something like. ‘I have to resist because if I don’t I’m going to lose control then something (unspecified) really bad will happen.’ The thing is this resistance in itself was very generalised and it was preventing my money flowing.

Action

Action: Find those big beliefs and assumptions that keep you stuck and test them for accuracy

It’s important to pay attention to the practical side of money in your business. I’ve always known this, I don’t always do it but this year I’ve put some really simple systems in place that have helped me easily stay in control of my cash flow. I know when it comes to doing my tax return next week I’ve got everything I need at hand to do it. Andi Lonnen has just published a great little book called ‘Be fabulous at Finance’ which is well worth buying.

Action: Pay attention to the practical side of money in your business.

Getting down to your own deep layers of assumptions is like peeling the layers of an onion; it may well come with tears but that’s when you know you’ve hit on something and if you keep peeling you eventually get to the sweet spot. I’ve long known that I am the mistress of creating a smoke screen. Setting up elaborate psychological screens to prevent me from doing that which I say I want to do. This year I have finally outed a real big one for me. I’ve not got to the sweet spot yet. ‘If I make a success of my business then I will be exposed as a fraud’ is sitting on my desk as I work. I do cringe as I type. It throws up the one Brene Brown has been talking about, vulnerability. What will people think? What will people say when they hear this? This though is what my clients experience when they take that first step to talking about themselves and their money. I owe it to my clients to continue working through my own personal money issues so that I can be cleaner and clearer in my interactions with them

Action

Action: Be prepared to feel vulnerable in order to be in a clearer, cleaner place for your clients

Writing as a way of gaining understanding, clarity and perspective. I encourage my clients to keep a journal in order to explore their relationship with money and keep track of their progress. My own writing this year has taken on a whole new perspective as I have explored my own spirituality and where money fits into this picture. It’s been sumptuous spilling my innermost thoughts onto paper. I have created a module on money journaling for clients and included topics for exploration.

Action

Action: Consider using journaling as a tool to help you understand your own money life and to help you make peace with your own money story.

I finally asked for help. I had a huge assumption running through me that said ‘I should be able to do this. I am supposed to be the expert, if I ask for help people will think I’m a fraud’ (notice that fraud thing popping up again!). It kept me quietly and privately battling with my own demons. It also kept me very safely and frustratingly going around in circles. I’ve engaged a business coach. She’s very different from me and has a very different style but she has helped to plug a gap and has helped me to keep focused on moving forward in my business. Crazy as it now seems I imagined she was going to laugh at me and criticise me when in fact she said ‘Helen, what is stopping you, this sounds great!’ Hugely motivating.

Action

Action: Don’t be afraid to ask for the help that you need to move your business forward

My biggest breakthrough of the year has undoubtedly been completing my 60^th year on the planet, getting grand parented for the first time and discovering that both these are huge blessings rather than things to be feared! Bizarrely it has given me more focus in my business. I concentrate better. I don’t spend as much time drifting into the cyber world and amazingly have more time! Which means that when I am with my granddaughter I am truly with her, not thinking I should be doing something else.

Action

Action: Concentrate on the here and now and count your blessings.

Here’s to a prosperous and peaceful 2015.

About Helen Collier

Helen Collier is a money coach working with bright, smart women who are tired of squirming with dread and fear about their money. She trained with the Money Coaching Institute in California. Helen developed Harmoney as a direct response to her growing disquiet that something was out of balance in the financial world. She set an intention to play her part by supporting people to put money in its rightful place in their lives, no more, no less. Helen writes a weekly column for the Yorkshire Evening News and blogs regularly.

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Website: www.harmoneylife.co.uk