“Sometimes your only available…”

Posted on May 6, 2015 by Barry

“Sometimes your only available transportation is a leap of faith.”

—Margaret Louisa Vanderbilt Shepard, 20th Century American Heiress

Photo from Flickr by Common Ground Adventures

Helping high-integrity, growth oriented individuals pursue and realize their vision of life excellence is my passion.

This special coaching partnership with each individual includes many aspects, which can be summarized in a three step process, which I call a “Pivot.”

Assessing the client’s current situation, including emotions, feelings, and of course, objective evidence of what is and isn’t working.
Determining their preferred view of the future – where they wish to be at some point down the road – professionally and personally.
Exploring, choosing, and taking committed actions to move from their current reality toward their vision.

EXERCISE:

If you happen to not be progressing sufficiently toward your desired goals, or if you perhaps feel stopped entirely, take the leap to secure a coach or other supportive individual. Find someone who can help you “pivot” to continually and faithfully leap each and every day toward the life you deeply desire.

“All things come to pass.”

Posted on May 5, 2015 by Barry

“All things come to pass.”

—Heraclitus, pre-Socratic Greek Philosopher

Photo from Flickr by Kpcmobile

We’ve all heard the phrase “Nothing Lasts Forever.” This, of course, includes the good things as well as the bad. After each great storm the sun shines again, and then the clouds and storms return.

Given these facts, how might we gain power from Heraclitus’ words of wisdom? Perhaps we can choose an optimistic frame of reference to both maximize and celebrate the good in life, and also minimize the times when life brings us down.

EXERCISE:

How can you accentuate the positive and eliminate or at least minimize the negative, which will come to pass throughout your day?

Consider making the exercise above a daily practice to support you in living an even more extraordinary life.

“Spam is like shoplifting. [It’s] theft…”

Posted on May 4, 2015 by Barry

“Spam is like shoplifting. [It’s] theft of a tiny amount of a very valuable asset – (Time).”

Seth Godin, American author, entrepreneur, marketer, and public speaker

Photo from www.bookwormroom.com

Most people I work with value honesty and integrity. I’m pretty sure that none of them would consider themselves criminals, or in the case of today’s quote, shoplifters.

Consider the current state of your e-mail system. How many messages do you have at this moment? What percent of these messages are valuable and desirable? What percent are necessary but a cause for frustration? Finally, what percent do you consider spam that literally steals precious moments of your day?

EXERCISE:

What actions can you take today to more carefully utilize e-mail and perhaps social media as well, to recapture a bit more of the precious resource of time?

Consider discussing today’s quote with others in your professional and personal communities, to amplify the value of this exercise.

“Worrying won’t stop the bad stuff…”

Posted on May 1, 2015 by Barry

“Worrying won’t stop the bad stuff from happening. It just stops you from enjoying the good.”

-Author Unknown

Not a single person ever got out of this thing called life alive. Bad stuff happens and without question, it happens to everyone.

Someone once told me the reason many people get up in the morning is simply because they didn’t die in their sleep.

What a sad thought.

Worry is something we actually do to ourselves, which very often keeps us from being fully alive and enjoying all the good that life has to offer.

EXERCISE:

Try the More/Less/Start/Stop exercise as it relates to the concept of worry, by answering these questions:

What things can you do to experience more joy, fulfillment, and vitality today?
How can you worry less and not focus on potential bad stuff that could only possibly occur?
Start each day reading some form of affirming optimistic material to set the course for your day.
Stop associating with people who worry excessively in your professional and personal lives. Worry is contagious.

Feel free to modify this More/Less/Start/Stop exercise with alternative questions you would like to ponder.

“Hide not your talents…”

Posted on April 30, 2015 by Barry

“Hide not your talents, they for use were made / what’s a sundial in the shade?”

—attributed to Benjamin Franklin

Photo from Flickr by James Achel

Yesterday’s quote about talent caused me to select today’s quote, attributed to Benjamin Franklin.

One of the values of a coaching relationship is helping the individual more fully discover and express the talents within. In many cases, these talents have been hidden, or kept in the shade.

EXERCISE:

Who are the people in your professional and personal lives most capable of shining a bright light on your visible and hidden talents? How can you—and how will you—play this important role for others?

“One of my greatest talents…”

Posted on April 29, 2015 by Barry

“One of my greatest talents is recognizing talent in others and giving them the forum to shine.”

-Tory Burch, American fashion designer

For my birthday this year, my son-in-law Chris gave me a wonderful book titled The Talent Code, by Daniel Coyle. Chris knows me pretty well and has a knack for finding the perfect gift. It seems only fitting, since we have given him our wonderful daughter Rachel!

Recognizing and developing talent is and will continue to be a critical factor in the business world. This is particularly so as the Baby Boom generation begins to exit from the workforce.

Coyle drew on cutting edge science and first-hand research gathered on his travels to “talent hotbeds.” He identified three key elements that allow us to more fully develop our gifts, and optimize our performance in just about any area of life. They are:

Deep Practice
Deep Practice combines experiential efforts of trial, error, and rapid correction, to increase skill development at rates up to ten times faster than conventional methods.

Ignition
Ignition is that special factor that fully captures the passions and commitments, and is the catalyst for an individual to start and stay with the efforts to master a particular skill.

Master Coaching
Master Coaching reveals some of the secrets and tools used by the world’s most effective teachers, trainers, and coaches to fuel and bring out the best in their students.

EXERCISE:

Purchase, read, or better yet – study – The Talent Code. Recognize and develop your talents, and those of others, so that we can all shine more brightly.

Everything you Think

Posted on April 28, 2015 by Barry

“Don’t believe everything you think.”

—Allan Lokos, founder of the Community Meditation Center in New York City

Photo from Flickr by Karen Neoh

I’m sure we’ve all heard the phrase, “Don’t believe everything you hear.” Over the years, most of us have learned to take much of what we hear or read with the proverbial grain of salt.

At some point however, we decide what we are going to internalize and cement within us as truth. This choosing, whether intentional or perhaps mostly unconscious, can be useful and at the same time, limiting. Usually, these thoughts help us navigate our world efficiently and effectively, supporting a form of life momentum.

Alternatively, sometimes our thinking simply doesn’t work or serve us in certain situations.

EXERCISE:

Take out a piece of paper or Post-it Note, and write the following questions:

How does my current thinking help or hurt this situation?
What alternative thoughts would generate even more work-ability?

If you have been reading The Quotable Coach series for some time, you may know that Edward DeBono’s The Six Thinking Hats is a resource I refer to frequently.

Trust when the answer is no

Posted on April 27, 2015 by Barry

“Trust that when the answer is ‘no,’ there’s a better ‘yes’ down the road.”

—Author unknown

Photo from Flickr by Abhi

Many people are familiar with the story of Thomas Edison’s 10,000-plus unsuccessful attempts to create the light bulb. His philosophy on such a high volume of failures was that the world was simply saying ‘no’ to the most recent attempt. He is quoted as saying, “I never failed. I only found 10,000 ways in which it did not work.”

Undaunted, he persisted in his efforts, always seeing a better way and getting to a ‘yes’ that would eventually light the world.

EXERCISE:

Where in your own life are you receiving your share of No’s?

How often do the No’s stop you? How often do they spur you on in faith, knowing that the better Yes’s of life may simply be a bit further down the road?

“Don’t step over dollars to pick up a dime.”

Posted on April 24, 2015 by Barry

“Don’t step over dollars to pick up a dime.”

—Author Unknown

Photo from Flickr by Chaval Brasil

Imagine you are in a room and suddenly a shower of money in all denominations falls from the ceiling. You happen to have an umbrella and open it quickly to avoid the downpour of coins clunking you on the head.

The financial storm comes to a halt after a few minutes, and you are given the challenge of picking up as much money as possible in a single minute, using only your hands. What strategy would you use to maximize your payoff?

My guess is that you would leave the coins where they lay and gather up as many bills as you could.

EXERCISE:

What activities do you step over daily, in order to pick up or pursue the lower value, “shiny objects” that take up a considerable portion of your day? How can you pass up the dimes of life and go for the dollars that can make life even more worthwhile?

“A Teacher Affects…”

Posted on April 23, 2015 by Barry

“A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops.”

—Henry Brooks Adams, American historian and member of the Adams political family

Photo from Flickr by Anne Adrian

Among the core values explored and discussed with my clients is their fundamental desire and passion to contribute to the lives of others.

When we examine the wide variety of roles each of them play in their professional and personal worlds, the opportunities seem limitless.

Who are the teachers, mentors, coaches, and other life supporters who have made the biggest difference in your life? Where have you noticed yourself “paying forward” valuable lessons to those whom you care about?

EXERCISE:

Where and with whom can you share your knowledge, wisdom, and life lessons to influence the lives of others, and more fully realize your unique contribution to eternity?