#80: “Just do what you do best.”

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– Red Auerbach, American basketball coach

As parents of two children in their mid-20s, my wife and I were always focused on their growth and development. From the moment they were born, “What will they become? How can we support their success?” were questions we often asked ourselves.

I believe that we, as parents, are caretakers of these young souls, for the purposes of both keeping them safe and secure, and exposing them to the world to discover their gifts and their talents through the various experiences and opportunities through their life journey.

Exercise:

To what extent are you and those closest to you doing what you do best?

What efforts can you make to further discover and express these unique abilities in the future?

Quotes are posted on The Quotable Coach a week after being sent out by email. To get the latest quotes straight to your inbox, pop your details in the sidebar to the right.

#79: “Love the giver more than the gift.”

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– Brigham Young

I read the book The Five Love Languages many years ago, to enhance my relationship with my wife. I often recommend it to my coaching clients, to help them better understand their partners. The gist of the book is that we have different ways of showing love to one another. We almost always choose to show love in the same way that we like to receive it.

By tuning into one another’s offerings of love, we can embrace these gifts in the way they are intended – instead of missing the message because we’re simply not speaking the same love language.

Exercise:

How could you fully love the givers in your life by fully embracing every gift they have to offer, in their language?

Quotes are posted on The Quotable Coach a week after being sent out by email. To get the latest quotes straight to your inbox, pop your details in the sidebar to the right.

#78: “No one who rises before dawn 360 days a year fails to make his family rich.”

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– Chinese proverb

When I was little, I remember waking up very early on Saturday mornings to watch cartoons. There were no VCRs or DVRs: if you didn’t get up, you missed it! I guess watching cartoons and playing was my “work.” I did this work gladly because it brought me pleasure.

As adults, many people begrudgingly wake up to go to work, in order to earn a living and take care of their families.

Exercise:

What would get you to leap out of bed each morning, with that excitement of youth? What skills could you master and what riches would you attract into your life?

How can you go beyond simply making a living to making your life a masterpiece?

Quotes are posted on The Quotable Coach a week after being sent out by email. To get the latest quotes straight to your inbox, pop your details in the sidebar to the right.

The Quotable Coach on OC Talk Radio – Recording Now Available

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If you weren’t able to listen to my recent interview with Doug Gfeller on OC Talk Radio, you haven’t missed out.

Doug has posted a recording of the interview on his Podbean site, This Week on The Coaching Perspective.

As well as discussing The Quotable Coach, we also talked about my coaching work (through Barry Demp Coaching) and my business strategies.

Click here to find out more, and to listen to the recording.

#77: “Ah, but a man’s reach should exceed his grasp – or what’s a heaven for?”

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– Robert Browning

In the early 1990s, Robert Fritz wrote a book called The Path of Least Resistance. A key concept from this book is “Creative Tension.” Fritz describes this special form of tension as an attractive force that pulls and draws us from our “current reality” to our “committed vision.”

The phrase “I’m looking forward to the weekend” is a good example of positive creative tension. Many people, however, do not look forward to Mondays, due to their undesirable jobs or unfulfilling careers.

With this simple concept in mind, maybe all we need to do each day is to formulate something worth reaching for, beyond our current grasp.

Exercise:

What will you reach for today, tomorrow, and in the future?

Perhaps you will even experience a bit more heaven, here on earth.

Quotes are posted on The Quotable Coach a week after being sent out by email. To get the latest quotes straight to your inbox, pop your details in the sidebar to the right.

#76: “If you do everything calmly, with intense concentration, you’ll do everything at the correct speed.”

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– Paramahansa Yogananda

We all have an optimum rhythm or speed of life. If you play golf, what is your optimal club head speed? If you run, what is your optimal speed for a 5K? If you drive a car, what is your preferred speed for highway driving, to have you arrive safely?

Exercise:

What critical activities do you engage in each day? At what speed do you find your optimal effectiveness? And where do you need to develop greater calmness and concentration to find your correct speed of life?

Quotes are posted on The Quotable Coach a week after being sent out by email. To get the latest quotes straight to your inbox, pop your details in the sidebar to the right.

#75: “Each lifetime is the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle…”

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“… For others the puzzle is more difficult to assemble. But know this: you do not have within yourself all of the pieces of your puzzle. Everyone carries with them at least one and probably many pieces to someone else’s puzzle… When you present your piece, which is worthless to you, to another, whether you know it or not, you are a messenger from the Most High.”

– Rabbi Lawrence Kushner

There is a corny sentiment in romantic movies: “you complete me.” What if this really is true and that we all have within us a certain quality, characteristic, skill, or gift that makes another person more whole and complete?

Exercise:

What special gifts and talents do you have to contribute?

What gaps or missing pieces are there in your life that need filling?

How would a greater awareness of these allow you to fulfill your highest purpose?

Quotes are posted on The Quotable Coach a week after being sent out by email. To get the latest quotes straight to your inbox, pop your details in the sidebar to the right.

#74: “Friendship is a soul dwelling in two bodies.”

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– Aristotle

In my first career, I was a science teacher. I have always been fascinated by what makes things work.

When we shift our perspective from the macro to the micro, the rules really get strange: consider the infinite universe and the infinitely small quantum world. I like the thought that there is some unifying force that holds everything together in some way.

I consider friendships and close, caring relationships as a place where we get to experience this special magical force. We can’t see it, but we have that deep, soulful feeling it is there.

Exercise:

Examine your very special relationships and their soulful quality and determine how you can take this experience to an even higher level.

Quotes are posted on The Quotable Coach a week after being sent out by email. To get the latest quotes straight to your inbox, pop your details in the sidebar to the right.

Is the juice worth the squeezing

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“Is the juice worth squeezing?”

– folk Proverb

Image from webstaurantstore.com

When she was a child, my mother lived in an apartment above the fruit store her father managed. She would sometimes help him polish the apples and display the fruit as engagingly as possible to attract customers.

Have you ever bitten into a shiny apple, only to find out that what was inside was mushy? You would never use such apples for juice.

Exercise:

Look at your own life as a fruit basket of people and experiences. Where are you putting your efforts? Is the juice of your life worth the squeezing?

 

The Quotable Coach on OC Talk Radio – Live Today!

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Later today, I’ll be interviewed by Doug Gfeller of OC Talk Radio about The Quotable Coach. You can listen in here at OC Talk Radio, 7pm Eastern / 4pm Pacific.

Whether you’ve been following The Quotable Coach for several months, or whether you’re new here, take a few minutes out of your day to hear about how the project is progressing.

I’ll also be talking with Doug about my business practices as a coach: how I customize my coaching programs for a variety of client groups, and why I give away so much material.

Here’s the link again, so that you can listen in today at 7pm Eastern / 4pm Pacific:

OC Talk Radio