A group of elderly people were asked what they would do differently if they had their lives to live over again. They would have.

• Taken more risks.
• Spent more time thinking about their lives.
• Done more things that would remain after they are gone.

They would have taken more risks

One of the greatest regrets in life can be those missed opportunities that we didn’t take or decisions that we didn’t make because of the risks involved. Let’s face it; most of us like living in the comfort zone.  We often avoid risks because:

• Risks are risky. For something to be counted as a risk there needs to be something of value at stake.  For example, starting a business may end in financial disaster or asking someone out on a date may end in rejection or embarrassment.  It is often the fear of loss that holds us back from taking risks.
• Risks are unpredictable. Even when we have done our research, we never quite know how it will work out because often the results are out of our control.
• Risks attract criticism. Can’t you just hear someone saying “Why leave a secure safe job to do that?” Although we should listen to the warnings of wise people, we need to watch out that the negativity and small-mindedness of those around us who never take risks doesn’t put a wet blanket on our enthusiasm and dreams.

However, without risk taking…

• You’ll never know what might have happened.  It’s a sad thing to go through life thinking about “what might have been” or “if only”.
• Life may be safe but it may lose its zing, challenge and sense of adventure.  So many people work hard at making life safe, stable and predictable and then wonder why they are bored.
• New lands won’t be discovered. Discoveries and breakthroughs rarely come to those who are just sitting on the comfy couch or watching from the sidelines.
• You will not learn to grow and mature through defeat. Although things going badly may hurt and cost, there are valuable lessons to be learned and maturity to be gained.
• You will never savor the sweet taste of victory and success that comes after a large challenge has been met and conquered.

Are you going to be a risk taker in 2010?

What are some decisions that you have been putting off because of the fear of the unknown?  Who or what is holding you back?

• You feel as though you want to go further and have maxxed out your current resources…
• You are willing to explore your potential and desire to think beyond normal to extraordinary…
• You are willing to restructure your life, if necessary to achieve your goals and dreams…
• You are a visionary and maintain a high level of accomplishment…
• You are willing to do something different to operate at the leading edge…
• You are willing to accept another person’s insight, encouragement and feedback so that you can advance beyond what you’ve dreamed…
• You feel you need something new and exciting…
• You have a challenge with your life/work balance…
• You feel stagnated…
• You have lots of good ideas but are not able to do anything with them…

Call 229.444.1994 (10 AM – 3 PM CST, Tuesday – Thursday) to set up a complementary phone appointment.

Phone coaching is a 20-30 minute conversation to help you in your journey.  I want to help you get where you want to go!

You know where you’re going…

Now that may sound strange, but coaching doesn’t tell you where to go or even how to get there.  That’s called “vision” and it is unique to you.  You know it or you don’t.

If you don’t have a vision someone – anyone – will try to give you one.  But if that happens, then it’s not your vision.  It’s their vision in your skin, which might not be very comfortable, satisfying or even doable.

Coaching might help you develop your vision or even help you reframe your values in such a way that produces or at least reshapes your vision.  Coaching is not about telling you the vision you must live out or the pathway you must take.  That’s up to God.

But a coach helps you look at where you want to go and look at what is impeding the progress.  Coaching helps you analyze your vision and see what parts of it are genuinely yours and what parts are begged, borrowed or even stolen.  Coaching helps you clarify your call, reframe your values and examine your vision.

If you know where you want to go, but don’t know how to get there, or feel stuck and are making no progress, call me for a complementary coaching session. It’s free – no strings attached – and will help you look at where you are and how you can get moving.

Call 229.444.1994 (10 AM – 3 PM CST, Tuesday – Thursday) to set up a complementary phone appointment.

Phone coaching is a 20-30 minute conversation to help you in your journey.  I want to help you get where you want to go!

Remember, a little help never hurts.

Helping you move forward is what we’re about!  Helping you experience the best in your life as you travel life’s journey is why we’re here!

Although coaching is not consulting, not mentoring, nor spiritual direction, coaching interfaces with them all, and draws from these disciplines to assist others to make good choices and fulfilling progress in their life.

We coaches provide candor and feedback designed to improve performance through increased self-awareness and needed behavioral shifts.  Coaching not only identifies life and career challenges, but provides skills to remove barriers to effectiveness and improve behaviors that improve success through better communication and stronger relationships.

So, get in touch with us today.  There’s no obligation, we can just talk and see iit’s time for you to have a coach.  (850) 696-7985

A little help never hurts.

• You’re ready to unpack your dreams…

• You want to recover your personal, professional and spiritual connections…

• You ready to engage the world in new ways…

• You want to make a difference and learn to live in the now…

• You want to explore your creativity and live a more balanced life…

• You want to grow your current business/ministry or start a new one…

Get in touch with me… A little help never hurts.

Your life should be a celebration of creativity, diversity and individuality.

Yet you have been re-shaped by just about everyone who has an agenda for you.  The result can be that we can find ourselves in the wrong job, in the wrong place, in difficult relationships and feeling unsatisfied with our place and direction.

So, unable to move forward, sideways and certainly not back, you’re just stuck.

I’m reading the Brafman brothers’ SWAY: The Irresistible Pull of Irrational Behavior. And it’s a great little read.  In it they talk about three hidden psychological currents:

• Loss Avoidance – the tendency to go to great lengths to avoid possible loss – even when commitment to the present course is destructive to us, our dreams and family.
• Value Attribution – the inclination to give a person, thing or situation certain qualities based on our initial perceived value. (You know how first impressions are…)
• Diagnosis Bias – the blindness to all evidence that contradicts our initial assessment of a person or situation.

Because you want to avoid loss – financially, relationally, emotionally – you are “swayed” to stay in the same place, doing the same thing even though it’s just wrong.  Or because you attribute an initial value (”it’s important for me to be here”) or diagnosis (”thing would fall apart without me here“) to our situation, you “hold on to what you’ve got,” even though situations are ever-changing.

And your creativity and joy are ebbing away!

These are big internal issues that a coach serving as a strategic outsider can help you overcome.  Coaching can help you rediscover your true identity, improve your self-esteem, direct your own life and be free to make your presence in the world both satisfying and enriching.

Coaching gives you the opportunity to look at issues in your life which are causing you concern, and to explore ways and means to bring about positive change.

Contact us if coaching is right for you.

A little help never hurts.

I love coaching!  I love that we have technology that is so good, I can talk with a missionary in another part of the world and sense that things are changing as we make conversation.

Recently, I was coaching a cross-cultural missionary who confessed that he was “stuck.”  He had raised his family on “the field” and had been involved in many things – schools, church-plants, mass evangelism, you name it.  But now after all these years he felt stymied and unable to find direction, unable to move forward.

So here was this godly man who had sacrificed many things to serve God, but was now feeling that he was at a crossroad and feeling directionless.

There are no major problems in his life.  His family is good and healthy.  His finances are adequate.  He’s secure in his call and giftings.  Relationships both in-country and “back home” are good.  He feels emotionally and spiritually whole and stable.  So basically he doesn’t need counseling.

He needs coaching.

Coaching is helping him move on.  Coaching is helping him answer his internal questions.  Maybe even some of his doubts.  Coaching is allowing him a safe place to make introspective enquiries and look for the next step in his career and service to Christ.

He calls me every ten days via SKYPE for pre-arranged sessions.  For around twenty minutes, I ask powerful questions, reframe his ideas and allow him to dream bigger than before.

And it’s not about me – the coach, it’s all about him!  It’s all set in his agenda, set against his backdrop and his vision.  He knows more about God’s plan for his life than anyone else!  And without any other agenda of my own, I’m helping him think things through.  He understands the direction, pace and means of progress needed for his vision and life better than anyone else.  My job is to help him get around the internal obstacles that have him “stuck.”

Recently as we talked over SKYPE, it got really, really quiet following a question I posed to him.  As I waited for an answer from him, you could feel something happening in his heart and in his understanding.  Finally, he cleared his throat, “Why didn’t I think of this before?  This would work.  This could really help me do this!  Why didn’t I think of this before?”

And I felt the earth move.

Somehow in the tectonic plates of this seasoned missionary’s heart and vision – and in the plan of God’s great Kingdom, there was a shift.  A spiritual seismic event!

So when we hung up, I wanted to dance!  Wow, wow and wow!  This is what I live for!

As a leader many things are expected of you.  Things are coming at you at the speed of light from all directions.  And you have to respond.  The questions and decisions you face are both complex and varied.  How do I increase my own productivity while guiding others?  How do I begin and achieve important business, ministry or personal goals?  How do I effectively direct the people entrusted to me?  How can I inspire others to achieve the performance objectives we’ve identified?

How can I move in a different direction without destroying all that has already been achieved?

These are questions that deserve a hearing, yet with the demands and constraints of your position, who can you trust?  Who will listen?  Who will help you chart and navigate a new course?

Where can you safely discuss your aspirations, issues, concerns and fears with the intention of moving forward powerfully?

Coaching gives a safe place to explore who you are as a leader and where you want to go.  Coaching is a discovery system that helps you rework your goals and means of achievement.

A little help never hurts.  Give us a call.  We can talk and see if coaching is something for you.

From a personal and professional perspective, think about where you are in your life-journey and answer the questions below:

• Do you feel stagnant in some area of your life?
• Is it time to go further and need additional resolve and resources?
• Are you willing to more deeply explore your God-given potential and reconsider your future?
• Are you ready for something new and challenging?
• Are sensing the need to restructure your life to achieve the goals and dreams you have?
• Do you desire a higher level of accomplishment?
• Are you ready to risk safety to operate at the leading edge?
• Are you willing to accept input from someone who has your best interest in mind, a person who is an advocate and who will encourage you and share insight and objective feedback with you?
• Do you have a lot of good ideas, but you’re not able to get traction with them?
• Is God telling you that it’s time for a change, and you’re not quite sure what that means?

If the answer to any of these questions is yes, it may be good timing to work with a coach.

It’s your journey and if you need a little help, give me a call…

I’m chatting with someone about coaching.  They are intrigued, because many people have never heard of coaching.  I tell someone that the primary role of a coach is to help people and groups of people get “unstuck” in some aspect of their life journey – career, marriage, ministry, whatever.  And too many times, they look down, shake their head and say, “Well that’s me.  I’m certainly stuck.”

You can feel the sense of frustration, bewilderment and deep pain.  And then they walk away never to be heard from again.  Stuck in a lifestyle that keeps them discouraged, going no place yet knowing there is more to their life than they are living.

Nobody is condemned to stay immovable and jammed!  Life is a journey and forward movement is the process of living, enjoying and celebrating!

The role of a coach is to help build confidence in the “stuck” person so that they can move from where they “are” to where they want to be.

And real confidence begins with real vision.  Many individuals, families, couples, businesses and organizations – even some churches – have no clear vision.  They continue to do what they have done without much change and with little expectation that things will ever be different or fulfilling.

Coaches work with many different individuals and groups as they think beyond the present, more clearly envision the future and make plans to get there.

So, if you feel “stuck” – and only you can really determine if you are – how should you begin?

Ask yourself:

• Where do I really want to be?
• What do I really want to be doing right now?  In two years?  In five years?
• What would “being unstuck” look like?
• What steps do I need to take to get where I want to go?

Professional coaches challenge, encourage, give accountability and help their clients form a dynamic vision for a better future.

It’s about your journey!  And a little help never hurts.