A new year usually means a time to re-assess our lives in terms of job satisfaction, quality of life, family relations, well-being, personal growth and development to mention but a few. But what is stopping us from doing this review on a more regular basis? Are you and your skill set recognised and rewarded appropriately at […]
Sugarman (2001) states that: ‘Whilst we may not control everything that happens to us, we can shape the meaning that we give to these events’. This is also referred to as our narrative. What is your narrative/life story? How would your life story sound if it was told by your best friend? What does the […]
The purpose of coaching is to identify the individual’s capacity for growth and it is influenced largely by models and theories used in counselling such as Gestalt, Existentialism and the Humanistic Model. If you haven’t come across these before do not worry. They are simply interpretations of how humans behave and how to influence behaviours […]
The key elements of coaching are listening, incisive questions, reflections and hard work. Sometimes exercises can be a good way of forcing the thinking process. We can spend days, years, lives saying the right thing, but do we really believe them/mean it? By working with your coach as a sparring partners, you allow yourself time […]
Coaching can be challenging. A good coach will ask you questions you don’t want to answer, you may not immediately know the answer to because you have put up barriers or because they make you reflect and this requires time and energy. Instinctively we seek people who are similar to ourselves, mainly because of our […]
You know those moments when you forget time and place and realise only afterwards that you were in the moment without any thoughts of worries about the past or the future? Professor in psychology Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi has studied ‘flow’ for many years and thinks that it is this state that is the secret to happiness. […]
CS Lewis supposedly said that Notice how the operative word here is ‘doing’. In other words, ‘saying’ the right thing is not enough. In coaching we work towards positive change in behaviours by ensuring the client identifies the solution to the dilemma himself or herself and by setting achievable targets. What does integrity mean to […]
Because it is moving away from what we know, even if it is deciding to exercise more, eat less or quit smoking. Many theories have been developed about change, but the one that sticks with me is Motivational Interviewing by William R. Miller (www.williamrmiller.net/motivationalinterviewing.html). Change isn’t something that happens easily, but try this simple recipe which […]
The dark days are upon us and winter is around the corner. Many people are affected by the seasonal changes and October can be a very difficult month to get through. Whilst there is nothing we can do about Autumn arriving, what we can do is change the way we look at it, how we are dealing with […]
I don’t know if you find this, but solutions only come when you least expect them. If I have a dilemma I need to solve and dedicate some time to sit and ponder or solve the problem, I rarely come up with the solution. I have friends who agree and confirm the same thing happens to […]