Coaching Quote of the Day 4th January 2014
“Change is the end result of all true learning.”
(Leo Buscaglia)
Getting Your Client’s to RACE towards their dreams in 2014 (beyond the second week of January!)! 1
In the first guest post of this year coach Charlotta Hughes uses her experience and knowledge to focus upon:
Getting Your Client’s to RACE towards their dreams in 2014 (beyond the second week of January!)!
by Charlotta Hughes
Of course there’s no surprise that people tend to start out the New Year hoping that this will be the year when those changes will really happen. They’ll lose the weight, land the perfect job, develop a great social life, find their life partner or leave the one who isn’t making them happy.
The list goes on and I’m sure you agree that for us coaches, there’s lots of opportunities to help clients change their lives for the better around this time of year. They have the motivation, will and determination to invest in themselves and their lives.
Yet, despite this surge of energy and optimism, so often people soon lose sight of their goals and ambitions. They get busy with their day to day lives, old habits kick back in and once again their comfort zone is keeping them prisoners of the same reality they’ve been experiencing, probably for quite some time.
Having a life coach can, of course, make a huge difference. However, for many it turns out not to be enough. What started out as an exciting journey for the coachee and rewarding and energising work for the coach, then turns into a disappointing and frustrating experience for both of a ‘stuck’ client.
So why does this happen, when the person seemingly really wants the changes they set out to achieve? The problem might very well lie with the goal, not with the dedication or ability of the client. In my coach mentoring I help coaches decipher whether their goal setting actually empowers the client enough to make the desired changes their new reality. Frequently I help them see how the main tool used in goal setting today isn’t enough. Namely, the acronym SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Timely).
I totally agree that the rules applied here are sound, however, SMART only deals with the goals. Not the person who’s going to achieve them. This is where RACE comes in. RACE is to the person, what SMART is to the goal. Here’s what it stands for:
Responsibility – this is about the fact that unless a client takes full responsibility for their own goals and dreams, they will never reach them. That ownership is pivotal! People tend to blame others or the circumstances they’re in for their own failings – it’s only by taking complete responsibility that they are in control of reaching their goals. Similarly, people often put their own happiness and ambitions in the hands of others. If a client’s dream or target involves someone loving them more or someone saying sorry to them, they are really setting themselves up for failure. They are in no way in control of this happening and they therefore can’t take responsibility for it or make it happen.
Action – people tend to plan, analyse, discuss and make decisions on how they’ll improve things and what they’ll achieve in their minds and with those around them. In the process of doing so, they can almost feel like they actually are moving closer to their goals. However, it’s only when they take actual action and DO something that they start moving towards them. Many little things will add up to the big stuff – get clients to focus on at least taking one small action in the right direction every day.
Commitment – if they aren’t dedicated and committed to achieving their dreams they’ll quickly lose sight of them. Ultimately, growing as people and instilling positive change in their lives will involve some degree of discomfort. After all, it has to involve them pushing themselves out of their comfort zones. To stick with it when the going gets tough (maybe when the ice cream craving sets in, when the unknown feels scary, when letting go of control is daunting, and so on …), they must be completely committed to themselves and they own goals. Wanting something isn’t enough, they must be 100% dedicated to accomplish it!
Emotional – clients must be emotionally attached to their dreams and goals. This is so pivotal for personal success as if they don’t care sufficiently about them to stick with them when distractions or challenges come along, they’ll be long gone by the time February arrives! They must be perceived as friends. This is also why it’s vital that the motivation for their goals comes from themselves in the first place – if they are developed for the benefit of someone else, such as to please their partner, boss or parent, they won’t have this important emotional connection to them. The goals may sound great in theory but they could soon feel more of an enemy than a friend, and that’s never going to work!
I hope you have lots of exciting work coming your way this month, and when it does, make sure these four ingredients are in the mix when establishing your clients’ goals, and once you, and they, are confident that they are, set them off to RACE towards their dreams!
About Charlotta Hughes
Charlotta has been coaching professionally for over 12 years and in March 2013 she won Life Coach of the Year, awarded by the national body Association of Professional Coaches, Trainers and Consultants.
Her background is within Human Resources and she started her busy coaching practice, be me life coaching, in January 2007.
Charlotta specialises in coach mentoring, confidence, direction and entrepreneur coaching.
Her academic qualifications include professional Life and Corporate Coaching qualifications. She also has a BSc (hons) in Psychology & Computing, an MA in Human Resources Management and she is a Member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.
ch*******@**************ng.com
+44 (0)7720 839773
www.facebook.com/bemelifecoaching.com
Coaching Quote of the Day 3rd January 2014
“There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.”
(Colin Powell)
2014 plans for the blog
As we are at the start of a new year, a time when we often focus upon new resolutions and goals I thought I’d share a couple of plans I have for Coaching Confidence, the coaching blog.
This blog has constantly been evolving since I first set it up several years ago. In fact that’s something that is very likely to continue in the future, so don’t be surprised if there are other developments throughout the year which are not mentioned below!
Quotes – Daily
On a daily basis the coaching quotes of the day are going to continue, with an aim of provoking and prompting new and/or useful thoughts.
I aim to include a mix of different quotes that will appeal to different coaching styles, opinions and beliefs.
This means that there will be days when a quote may really resonate with you personally and with your approach to coaching.
It may also mean that there are occasionally quotes that you feel do not fit with your approach to coaching or even personal beliefs.
I find that there are times when I can be contacted by two separate individuals about the exact same quote – one sharing that the quote really sparked an insight and they loved it, the other individual sharing that they disagree passionately about how useful the quote could be!
Both view points and thoughts are valid and you are welcome to share your comments, providing you remain respectful that others can hold different views and thoughts.
TED Talk Tuesday
As you may have deduced by the title, each Tuesday I post a TED talk that you can watch at your leisure. Sometimes it will be a talk that has been very recently added and on other occasions it will be a talk that was made further back in time.
I know that TED talks provide a wealth of fascinating, inspiring and informative speakers and many talks can be incredibly popular. So it’s not outside the realms of possibility that you may already have seen a clip previously! If that ever is the case I invite you to watch it again to see what new thoughts occur to you from today’s perspective 🙂
You’ll notice that some talks will be obviously directly related to personal development and how you use coaching. On other occasions they will be talks where the topics appear more abstract, they’ll be here to prompt new thoughts by coming at something from a different direction – or just because they struck me as interesting/ funny etc 😉
For those moments when time seems to be a limited resource I’ll clearly include the length of each clip below the video so you can determine precisely how long you’ll need to watch the clip uninterrupted!
Most RT’d quote from our Twitter Feed – Thursday
The only difference from the way that this worked in 2013 will be the day that this is posted – it’s on the move from Monday to Thursday.
The blogs twitter feed is a busy account that shares many quotes throughout the week. This feature shares the most RT’d quote from the blogs twitter account during the previous week so you can see what has attracted others attention during those 7 days.
Guest posts – Friday
Friday’s will also continue to host the popular guest post feature.
The main thing I look for in a guest post is that it MUST be something that will be of interest to coaches. It’s important that a post is written with this blogs audience in mind and “pitched” accordingly – Even if I receive a superb post for a different audience, if it’s not suitable for this blogs readers I won’t publish it!
This does mean that the majority of our previous guest posters are either coaches themselves or work regularly with coaches as their clients. However, there have also been experts in other areas that have written superbly posts because they considered how their knowledge and experience could be worded suitably to attract a coaches interest and often provide useful information.
I plan to continue guest posts each Friday and I am always happy to hear from new individuals who are considering being involved by writing a guest post. If you are interested in being a guest poster in 2014 then click here to get in touch with me so we can talk further.
Blog posts for coaches from around the web – Sunday
This feature shares links to blog posts that could interest coaches from other sites.
Each Monday on our Facebook page I make a general invite for people to share links to posts that they think will interest other coaches. Apart from RTing these links on twitter I also share a selection of these links here each Sunday.
Alongside those Facebook shared links I also include a few posts that also attracted my attention either personally or because of readers requests to read more on a particular subject.
Previously this feature was called “Recapping the Facebook Monday Invite” – the name change is happening as I feel it’s a better reflection of the what the whole feature is about.
What else?
My main work is all about supporting, nurturing and encouraging coaching skills and talents, from non-coach to coach and beyond and this blog is just another extension to that work.
I have other ideas and developments that all support that vision that are currently at various different stages of development 🙂
There is also a new Monday feature that I will be telling you more about on Monday.
However, feel free to let me know what you’d like to see and what would be helpful to you – either on a personal level or as a professional coach. I can’t promise I’ll be able to provide what you want but it will be a lot easier if I know that’s what you are looking for!! Either add a comment below or drop me an email here to share your thoughts.
I wish you a happy, healthy and wealthy 2014!
Love
Jen
About the Author
Jen Waller is on a mission to support, nurture and encourage coaching skills and talents from non-coach to coach and beyond.
She has created a free 7 day e-course about how to create your own unique coaching welcome pack that works for you and your clients. Get your copy here.
Coaching Quote of the Day 2nd January 2014
“For last year’s words belong to last year’s language and next year’s words await another voice.”
(T.S. Eliot)
Happy New Year!
Happy New Year!
May 2104 be everything you hope it to be – plus lots more fun on top 🙂
Coaching Quote of the Day 1st January 2014
“Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year.”
(Ralph Waldo Emerson)
2013 blog review – December
Over the remainder of this year I’ll be recapping what’s been happening here on Coaching Confidence, the coaching blog during 2013.
If you missed the recaps so far click on the relevant month to catch up: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October and November.
Today we turn our attention to:
December
Guest Posts
“Why You Aren’t Attracting The Right Coaching Clients?” By Holly Chantal
Holly Chantal specialises in working with coaches and solopreneurs – in this guest post she shares on a subject many coaches wonder about.
Guest post request
Are you a coach, or someone who works with coaches, and love writing?
Then have you considered writing one of the Friday guest posts for this blog?
I’m always happy to hear from new potential guest posters and I’m currently scheduling 2014 guest post dates.
In this post you’ll find some details about how the Friday guest post feature works.
Most RT’d quote on our Twitter feed each week:
- “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then is not an act, but a habit.” (Aristotle)
- “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.” (John Quincy Adams)
- “Man must not allow the clock and the calendar to blind him to the fact that each moment of his life is a miracle and a mystery.” (H.G. Wells)
- “We learn wisdom from failure much more than success. We often discover what we will do, by finding out what we will not do.” (Samuel Smiles)
- “If you want to be happy, set a goal that commands your thoughts, liberates your energy, and inspires your hopes.” (Andrew Carnegie)
TED Talk’s
Each Tuesday we share a different TED Talk.
You’ll notice that some talks will be obviously directly related to personal development and how you use coaching. On other occasions they will be talks where the topics appear more abstract, they’ll be here to prompt new thoughts by coming at something from a different direction – or just because they struck me as interesting/ funny etc 😉
- Tim Ferriss: Smash fear, learn anything
- Seth Godin: How to get your ideas to spread
- Alanna Shaikh: How I’m preparing to get Alzheimer’s
- Diana Nyad: Never, ever give up
Posts from around the Internet
Posts shared on our Facebook page on Monday 25th November 2013:
- “Recognizing and leveraging coaching moments: Relationships drive results” by James Gerrity
- “7 points for coaching colleagues: Breaking down barriers with even difficult peers” by James Gerrity
These are a few posts that also attracted my attention either personally or because of readers requests to read more on a particular subject…
Bonus posts:
- “Solopreneurs, work however you do your best work” by Michelle Christensen
- “The simplest things make the biggest difference” by Karen Williams
- “Don’t let success kill your success!” by Mastin Kipp
- “What solves problems?” by Eric Klein
.
Posts shared on our Facebook page on Monday 2nd December 2013:
- “PARENTS……usually not about wins and losses” by Sports coach DeAngelo Wiser
- Helen Collier has an Advent Calender on her blog with a daily money and Christmas related entry. You can read Day 1 ‘Bah Humbug’ here
These are a few posts that also attracted my attention either personally or because of readers requests to read more on a particular subject…
Bonus posts:
- “Email Marketing Lessons From Classic Holiday Movies” by Steve W at Aweber
- “How to reinvent yourself” by Steve Chandler
- “Three simple ways to explain your value to potential clients” by Fabienne Fredrickson
- “Hanging Back as an Introvert? How to Stand Out at Work” by Stephanie Peterson
- “Learning to Say “No” Is Part of Success” by Ed Batista
- “Truth Is… I AM Worthy!” by Robin Lee
.
Posts shared on our Facebook page on Monday 9th December 2013:
- “Setting Goals” by swim coach Anthony Pedersen
- “Investing in Yourself: A Personal Story” on the Natural Greatness blog
These are a few posts that also attracted my attention either personally or because of readers requests to read more on a particular subject…
Bonus posts:
- “6 Signs You’re Sacrificing Too Much for Success” by John Brandon
- “How to get planning right or how not to be a bridezilla in your business” by Molly Gordon
- “My Confession (and How it Led to More Clients, More Happiness and More Moolah)” by Tammi Metzler
- “Grow Your Brain” by Michael Bungay Stanier
- “Here’s how not to create a successful business” by Karen Williams
- “JST 14 – The Thought Revolution Manifesto – Chapter 1 The Cause” by Jamie Smart
.
Posts shared on our Facebook page on Monday 16th December 2013:
- “Coaching Website Pop Quiz” by Christopher Chaves
- “Overcome Any Coaching Obstacle” by Glenn Livingstone
These are a few posts that also attracted my attention either personally or because of readers requests to read more on a particular subject…
Bonus posts:
- “Is Your Hubby or Partner Complaining About Your Business?” by Kendall SummerHawk
- “You Were Born to Sell: Dismantling the Myths of Self-Promotion” by Janet Choi
- “Your vision – Is it big enough?” by Karen Williams
- “Trash talking important work” by Seth Godin
- “You hereby have permission to be yourself!” by Mastin Kipp