The Fake it ‘Til you Make It principal (and it’s application to leadership)
As I type this I'm admiring the treetops from an apartment in Santiago, Chile. My [...]
See you in Santiago
This article is a replica of a recent interview published in the COMENSA (Coaches and [...]
Can your best friend be your coach?
The word “coaching” literally means to transport someone from one place to another. People [...]
Seeking Sattwa: equilibrium and harmony
There are those us who have (not yet?) chosen to escape to caves or island retreats for a life of meditation and yoga. Those of us who still throw ourselves into the daily chaos of creativity, business and economics. In our chaotic contribution, we still look for the same peace of mind, the same sense of equilibrium amongst the hustle and energy of our world. We too seek Sattwa. The ancient yogis have known what modern science has recently affirmed – everything (all matter, our bodies, the empty spaces between us), when broken down to its smallest component, amounts to nothing more than energy. The world as we know it is essentially a massive collection of energy particles. Energy only ever finds itself in three different states. […]
I work with only a select number of clients at any time. If you think we are a good fit, please email me on motivcoach@gmail.com
Learn The Language
Coaching brings with it dynamic thinking constructs together with its own unique language, buzz words and vocabulary. Learning the language is a great way to get acquainted with coaching, whether you’re about to coach or whether you’re preparing for your first chemistry meeting with your preferred coach. […]
I work with only a select number of clients at any time. If you think we are a good fit, please email me on motivcoach@gmail.com
Shifting Perspective
If you own a cat, and even if you don’t, I’ll bet you’re familiar with feline tactics for attention. Walking, prancing and rolling on a keyboard is a favored manoeuvre. This morning, my cat was doing just that when she accomplished an extraordinary shift; I’m not sure which keys she stood on, and in what sequence, but *viola!* the entire visual on my display screen turned 90 degrees. The whole screen. I didn’t even know my notebook had such a trick in it! I had to turn in on it’s side to view my screen. It’s taken me quite some time to figure how to right the image. The experience reminded me about a coaching dialogue technique — about how taking a 90-degree angle shift on something can shift our perspective. Whitworth et al, in their book Co-Active Coaching, set out this elegant example. I hope it adds value to your thinking. […]
I work with only a select number of clients at any time. If you think we are a good fit, please email me on motivcoach@gmail.com
What is your view of the World?
The word “paradigm” has become familiar to most of us. It refers to the conceptual framework, belief system, and overall perspective through which we see and interpret the world – our ‘lens’, so to speak. Our paradigm determines what we are able to see, how we think, how we respond and behave. Mostly, we don’t question the accuracy of our paradigm because we’re usually unaware of its existence. Trying to reflect on it is like trying to study the color pink while wearing pink-colored glasses. We cannot distance ourselves enough from it to see how much it affects our perception. We simply assume that the way we see things is the way they really are. […]
I work with only a select number of clients at any time. If you think we are a good fit, please email me on motivcoach@gmail.com
Do you Labour with Love?
Some of you may know that I am a student of Astrology. I was introduced to it by a co-worker many years ago who kept insisting that I “dressed just like a Capricorn”. Intrigued to know more, I began a life-long study of this ancient art and science. When I work with coaching clients who are themselves receptive to astrology, I find the astro-language offers us a unique perspective for self-study. This post, based on the eloquent work of Astrologer and Creative Writer, Linda Goodman, offers us a look at the sun signs in the context of the work we do. What motivates each sign? What might be considered out Labor of Love? […]
I work with only a select number of clients at any time. If you think we are a good fit, please email me on motivcoach@gmail.com
Preoccupation, be gone!
“How whole is your ‘whole life?'” is the name of the 8th Chapter of Susan Jeffers’ book Feel the Fear and do it anyway. The chapter serves as a reminder to us about perspective – about giving more attention to select areas of our lives, and far less to others. The areas that we focus on can become so significant that we base out identity there. We say ‘My work is my whole life’ or ‘My relationship is my whole life’. The risk we run is that, if we lose the thing upon which our whole life is based, our whole life might feel like it is falling apart. Along side this, even on a smaller scale, we can be absorbed, preoccupied and lose ourselves in select dramas of life that serve to distract us from other important areas. […]
I work with only a select number of clients at any time. If you think we are a good fit, please email me on motivcoach@gmail.com
My Mid-Life Crises: and a backbend in cyber-space
I’d really prefer not to think of myself as in my “Mid-Life” – the term scares me. Let alone “having a crises”. Outwardly no one is seeing typical mid-life symptoms; I’ve not bought a motorbike, tattooed Rumi sutras across my left arm or found a lover 20 years my junior. (Ok, I have posted a picture of myself doing a backbend in cyber-space – does that count?) I’m a youthful women in my early 40’s – “mid-life” happens in our 50’s, I tell myself. And then another one of life’s interesting side-balls brings me back from illusion to reality, turns my thinking upside down, and I recognize I might be having some sort of crises – perhaps, as a ’crises of meaning’ that I wrote about a few posts back. […]
I work with only a select number of clients at any time. If you think we are a good fit, please email me on motivcoach@gmail.com
Just because it’s January, should we all be setting goals?
Have you ever had the intuitive niggle that although it is January and everyone is shouting goals, goals, goals, you are simply not ready to set yours yet? Perhaps you feel like you are still getting a handle on previously set goals or that you are just not inspired for goal-setting at this time? And it is frustrating because we all know that the annual year runs from January to December and the financial year runs more or less the same, and your HR Department wants your annual objectives pronto. So what is up for you? […]
I work with only a select number of clients at any time. If you think we are a good fit, please email me on motivcoach@gmail.com
Keep Walking! and other techniques for moving beyond the limitations in our heads
Although I’m not a whisky drinker, for some years I have adopted for my own inspiration the slogan from the Johnnie Walker Advertising campaign that encourages me to just Keep Walking! It’s my habit to look for quotes and personal motivating slogans to use as personal prompts to help me to stay focused on implementing my ideas. Thanks to Nike— I ‘Just Do It’! Thanks to the Olympic high-jump coach, I ’Throw my heart over the bar and the rest will follow’. Thanks to my yoga teacher, I ‘Go there and make that effort’. […]
I work with only a select number of clients at any time. If you think we are a good fit, please email me on motivcoach@gmail.com