You are here: Home / Archives for life coach

International Coaching Week

February 6, 2012 By Gerri Leave a Comment

International Coaching week started on Sunday. I was thinking about it this morning, remembering back in 2005 when I burned out on my well-paying management job. I understood the meaning of ‘going postal’, knowing that if I had to look forward to doing that work for the next ten or twenty years, I could have done bodily harm to a client!

Having no idea of what was on my career horizon, I gave a nine month notice to the board of directors, that I wouldn’t be renewing my contract at the end of the year. Now what? I prayed, asking God to show me how I could be of service to Him and to people, while still earning a decent living.

Within a few weeks of giving notice, one of my good friends sent me a link to a life coach’s website. I had never heard of coaching before, and figured it was probably one of those new-age California gimmicks. Lo and behold, that coach lived less than thirty minutes from me; could my quiet, little Brevard County, Florida be that progressive?
Lorraine Edey became my coach, introducing me to the exciting world of coaching. I took the prescribed classes and soon was working with clients of my own.

“What are your goals?” Coach Lorraine queried during one of our sessions. I shared that I always wanted to write a book. I soon discovered that if I waited for inspiration, that book would remain a figment of my imagination. Coach Lorraine inspired me to develop an action plan, and take the steps to putting that book on the market. It took a year, but soon I was signing copies of Trust God and Buy Broccoli, A Spiritual Approach to Weight Loss. My dream became a goal, because I spent the money on me, to hire a coach and take some action!

During this week, International Coaching Week, I challenge you to really think about your dreams and what you might do to make them a reality. Go visit the International Coach Federation or World Coach Institute’s Website and pick someone who resonates with you. Check out their website. Send them an email and ask for a complimentary session. Don’t go to your grave with dreams that never materialized because you didn’t know how to get them off the ground.

Share
Filed Under: Blog Posts Tagged With: achieve excellence, coach, coaching, goals, Hire a Coach, International Coach Federation, International Coaching Week, life coach, listen, new perspective, published books, trust God and Buy Broccoli, World Coach Institute

Travel Humor

January 20, 2012 By Gerri 1 Comment

I often tell my clients, “Quote yourself; you’ll never become famous by quoting someone else.” Of course, not everyone wants to be famous and there have been a quote or two that have been life changing for me.

I’m enroute to Los Angeles, waiting in Albuquerque for a connecting flight. The flight here was uneventful, save a rather restless passenger behind me. Perhaps he was listening to some great song on his I-whatever, keeping beat on the tray table – which extends from my seat. I found myself becoming irritated, wanting to turn around and politely ask him to knock it off. It was annoying.

Wayne Dyer’s quote came to mind, “When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.” .  Gosh, why didn’t I think of that first?

But, it did come to mind and I wondered how I could change the way I perceived the constant jarring. I was blowing it way out of proportion by allowing it to become an aggravation.  Maybe it was his way of just letting me know he was back there, so I’d not feel alone.

Tadum!  I was instantly transformed. I didn’t have to be an irritated old shrew; I was once again, the nice lady from Titusville, just flying to Los Angeles with about 90 other people, one of which was unintentionally communing with me.

I wonder if I’ll be so blessed on the second leg of my journey. The nice thing about Southwest Airlines (in addition to no charge for bags or changing your flight) is that I can pick my seat. Perhaps I’ll search out a friendly looking soul with which I can share the ride. I’ve really met some nice people that way. And if the person who sits behind me wants to let me know they’re there, I’ll welcome the unknown hello and smile when I visit the restroom!

Gosh, this whole thing could turn into a spiritual experience. Thanks, Wayne!

Share
Filed Under: Blog Posts Tagged With: change, coach, laughter, life coach, new perspective, spiritual awakenings

Who Are Your Heroes?

January 4, 2012 By Gerri Leave a Comment

Remember Sully Sullenberger?

He’s the pilot who miraculously landed a jet on the Hudson River without losing one of his 155 passengers. He was ranked second in TIME Magazine’s Top 100 Most Influential Heroes and Icons of 2009. When asked about his biggest accomplishment, Sully didn’t cite the landing; he said, “Our daughters.”

In 2010, Sully interviewed another hero – Chief Master Sergeant Tony Travis, who created a makeshift control ‘tower’, where planes could bring sorely needed supplies into the earthquake ravaged Haiti. Water and supplies insured survival for thousands of Haitians. Bet you never heard of Sergeant Tony Travis! He’s an unsung hero.

There are many unknown heroes, but you rarely hear about the boy scout who helps an old lady get across the road these days. I went hero-hunting on the internet and found a bunch of people that I not only I didn’t know, but also wasn’t significantly impacted by their heroics. This lead me to wonder about who my heroes are. I have a few and want to take this opportunity to say, “Thank you.” I’d much rather write about them, than people I don’t know.

I was first introduced to Ann Lamott when a friend sent me a copy of her book, Traveling Mercies.  It was at a time when I felt like my life was spiritual, but I didn’t necessarily worship in community. I developed a curiosity about possibly returning to church but even better, I loved her style of writing. It was more like somebody talking; it was kind of like how I talked and it birthed an ‘ah-ha’ moment for me – I could also write a book! And I did! So, thank you Ann! I’m one of the people who’ve you’ve impacted.

In 2005, burned out by 25 years of managing communities, I prayed for an angel who’d help me figure out what I could do with my life, and was introduced to Coach Lorraine Edey.who walked with me while I turned dreams into goals and finally  become a life coach and motivational speaker! She helped me with the business side of becoming a coach and when I inadvertently shared that I always wanted to write a book, encouraged and supported me until the boxes of Trust God and Buy Broccoli arrived on my doorstep. Lorraine held my intentions to become a spiritual coach; I believe that I wouldn’t be the intuitive coach that I am today without her intercession. Thank you, Coach Lorraine for your impact on my life.

Perhaps there’s some heroes in your life too, that you’ve just never really thought about how they changed your direction or assured you on your present path. Why not take a moment today to thank them?

Share
Filed Under: Blog Posts Tagged With: Ann Lamott, Chief Master Sergeant Tony Travis, coach, coaching, Coaching Inspirations, giving, goals, God, heroes, life coach, Lorraine Edey, new perspective, New year's resolutions, published books, reframe, spiritual experiences, spiritual relationships, Sully Sullenberger, Traveling Mercies, trust God and Buy Broccoli

New Habits for 2012

January 3, 2012 By Gerri 2 Comments

Marcia Sirota wrote an article yesterday about ten bad habits to let go of in 2012. Some of them are pretty good, such as ‘comparing yourself to other people.’ Whenever I do that, I come up short. I’d much rather look for ways that we are the same. I can usually relate in some way to everyone. Yes, everyone! Everyone has something in common with someone else. And we all will have something more (or a little less) than the next guy. It’s just too
exhausting to look for how I’m different and then feeling less-than as a result. So, thank you, Dr. Marcia, I’m going to use that one.

The article also recommends that we let go of jealousy, avoidance, rudeness, denial,
complaining, gossip, a bad attitude, co-dependency and facebooking your ex. All are excellent habits to replace with something positive.

I have a few good habits that I want to reinforce in 2012:

Building a support team – Self-sufficiency propelled me to over 250 lbs. I binged, dieted and failed at diets alone. About nineteen years ago, I was introduced to the concept of building a support team to help me with my goal of weight loss. I’m sure that some friends thought me to be a bit daft when I’d call and let them know that I was thinking about eating a whole bag of cookies. We’d laugh about it and voila! I didn’t eat the first cookie. I know today that I need people in my life for all successes – you just get more results with an army than a slingshot and a pebble, unless of course, you are David.

Listen More – Every time I give to others, I get something in return. It doesn’t have to be about money either! Listening is so valuable and sometimes it’s just what a friend might need while working through a tough time. I also want to listen to my own instincts around self-care.

Forget the One – If there are 99 people in a room that love me, I’m not going after the 1 who doesn’t any more. There are always going to be people who don’t prefer my company, so I’ll bask I what I have and not worry about what I don’t have. Unless of course, the one is Tony Stewart. I’d have to go after him! He drives pretty fast and I’d probably not catch him, but I’d have to try.

 

Strengthen my Spiritual Disciplines – I presently start my day out with prayer, meditation and whenever possible, exercise. It feels so good to be connected to God in this way. And there’s always time to meditate during the day – it only takes a minute to stop and take time to breathe in God and breathe out self, or whatever might trouble me at the time. Just for one minute. Try it!

I’m also going to keep it simple this year. I was racking my brain to come up with more good habits, but this is really enough. I can make a list of ten but odds are excellent that adding more will only lead to doing less.

What bad habits do you want to release? What good habits will you reinforce in 2012?

 

Share
Filed Under: Blog Posts Tagged With: achieve, achieve excellence, bad habits, coaching, goals, Keep it simple, life coach, listen, meditation, New year's resolutions, Reflection, Spiritual, spiritual awakenings, spiritual experiences, Tony Stewart
« Older Posts