Return to Newsletters
by Joan Collins
©Joan Collins. All Right reserved.
|
| |
|
Welcome Back! |
"Personal
coaching is like strategic planning for your life." I couldn't have said
it better. My friend Joan was spot-on in her observation. Thanks to so
many of you who responded to my first newsletter with warmth and good
wishes. My practice is growing steadily as more people learn about the
benefits of coaching for their business and personal lives. You can read
more about how coaching works at the end of this issue. Please feel free to forward this to a
friend.
Back To
Top |
|
| |
|
Quotes To Live By |
"The
worst thing in your life may contain seeds of the best. When you can see
crisis as an opportunity, your life becomes not easier, but more
satisfying." Joe
Kogel
"A
wise man will make more opportunities than he finds."
Bacon
Back To Top |
| |
|
Enjoy
the Ride: Making Decisions in
Difficult Times |
Enjoy the Ride
During
this period when many jobs have been cut, when retirement funds have
dwindled, when new college graduates are waiting tables or flipping
burgers, it's tempting to lose heart. What's happened to our choices? They
seemed endless only three years ago.
Well
guess what? We always have choices. We can start with our own reactions to
tough times. Are we going to view setbacks as the end of the world, or are
we going to see them as simply part of being alive. All of life operates in cycles.
Why should we be exempt? Watch the beautiful unfolding of Spring. Outside my window this
morning red maple buds are
swaying alongside chartreuse willow boughs. The marsh grass is greening
up, and the tide is creeping up into Eagles Nest Creek. We should learn to think of
ourselves as creatures of nature and, like nature, take our cycles in
stride.
|
Making decisions
During Difficult Times
OK,
so you're not a migrating duck, and your natural "clock" isn't as well
honed as the flocks of Brants that stopover for supper on their way to
Canada. How do you decide
among the options available right now?
When
we need to make what feels like a life-altering decision, we clutch. We
take on way to much responsibility, as though we are clairvoyant and
should be able to perceive the future. We are apt to listen to statements
like this, "Mary is a smart person, she makes all the right calls." There are at least three problems
with this statement:
1)
We don't know about all of Mary's decisions that didn't work
out.
2)
We don't know what Mary learned along the way that she has since put
to good use in her life.
3)
What makes Mary look "smart" may also involve some good
luck.
Hearing
about "smart" people and feeling that they know exactly how to negotiate
life's decisions puts a lot of pressure on us. We feel that every decision at
every fork in the road is crucial, so we clutch. Make a "bad" decision, we
think, and our whole destiny is headed in the wrong direction.
In
her excellent book, Feel The Fear And Do It Anyway Dr. Susan
Jeffers says, "Our need to be perfect and our need to control the outcome
of events work together to keep us petrified when we think about making a
change or attempting a new challenge."
|
There
are no "bad" decisions!
The
only thing "bad" about a decision is when we fail to learn from it. I once
read that the only security in life is in relishing life's insecurities.
To those of us who want a secure future, nailed down and tied up in a
Tiffany ribbon, the idea of relishing insecurity seems absurd. Yet the
only way to receive life's gifts is to stay open to what lies ahead. If a decision we make doesn't turn
out, we integrate what we've learned, and we move on to other
opportunities. |
Choices
to consider when we are making decisions.
·
The
choice to view any situation as an opportunity.
What new insight, experience, career, or friendship might be opening for
us?
·
The
choice to expand the way we see ourselves.
Take this little test. Write down what you believe to be true about
yourself, then prove or disprove your beliefs from your actual
experience. You'll see
yourself in a whole new, expanded light, I
guarantee.
·
The
choice to try something you always wanted to do.
Perhaps you've always yearned to be a minister, a financial planner or an
innkeeper. Nowhere is it written that you have to keep doing what doesn't
satisfy you.
·
The
choice to redefine and/or broaden your career objectives.
Thinking the next position should be just like the last leads to a lot of
dead ends. How will the skills from your prior situation enhance the
next?
·
The
choice to meet new people who have much to teach you.
When we start networking, wonderful things begin to happen. We hear things
we need to hear. We get challenged and inspired. Stay open and hear what
the Universe is sending your way.
·
The
choice to stay stuck
is always an option. This is comfy in a "misery loves company" kind of
way, but there's not much future there. |
Every
situation is fraught with opportunity,
no matter how grim things may seem. It's up to us to learn to bend, to
adapt, to reinvent ourselves. That's how we learn to dance with life as a
creature of nature. When we
go willingly along for the ride, instead of clutching fearfully at the
past, we are presented with opportunities we could never have
imagined. What I want for you
is to experience every season, every phase of your life, including the
set-backs, as opportunities to live fully. Enjoy the
ride!
Back To Top |
| |
|
A
Few Words About Coaching |
I've
been asked by some of my readers to say a few words about the coaching
process. Coaching is a
relatively new profession. Unlike psychotherapy, it assumes you are
healthy and ready to take action in order to move your life or career
along. The coaching experience is as varied as the individual client. You
work on your top priorities, those things that stand between where you are
now and where you'd like to go.
Often a client needs to start the process by taking care of
personal matters such as learning to set boundaries, getting clear of past
issues, financial problems, etc.
The
coach is an objective partner who listens and asks questions to get
clients to view the bigger picture.
This includes strategizing about the client's life goals and
setting up interim steps for their attainment. Clients work on weekly
assignments, with the coach sometimes challenging for even bigger results.
Progress is usually rapid and measurable. It is safe to say that when you
are being coached, you take more action, you make better decisions, and
you will probably make more money.
Most
coaching is conducted over the phone, so it is possible for a single coach
to have clients anywhere in the US. Coaching sessions are 40 minutes,
three times per month. Half-hour free sample sessions are encouraged. Call
(781) 934-6804 to arrange one for yourself.
Help for the
journey
If you'd like support in examining your business
and personal choices, contact
Joan Collins for a sample session to find out if coaching is the right
thing for you at this stage of your life.
I
wish you joy!
Joan
Collins
Personal and Business Coach
(781) 934-6804
Back To Top
|
| |
|
Try my complimentary coaching
session. |
Several of my clients have benefited greatly from utilizing these
ideas. There are many other ideas to explore, of course. I have a few
openings in my practice for people who are serious about getting the best
for their lives. Whether you're a professional, a business owner or a
savvy individual, that's what I want for you - the best life you can
imagine. I'd like to offer you a complimentary coaching session. Email me
at jcollins@a2btracking.com
to set up a half-hour telephone session or call 781-934-6804 and leave a
message. All coaching sessions are strictly confidential.
Back To Top |
Return to Newsletters
|
Home |
About Joan Collins |
Personal Programs |
Business Programs |
Coach's Bench Newsletter |
Coaching Q & A
Copyright 2003 Joan Collins. All Rights Reserved
|
|
