Ready Go!, February 2011

• Editors Letter
• IIC - Benefits for our Members
• Ready Go!
• Top Tip
• Your Questions Answered
• 2011 - De-clutter, Detach, Dismantle
• Create a Sanctuary
• IIC Member Benefit Spotlight: ICR
• A Day in the Life…
• Recommended Reading
• Share this Newsletter with a friend

Editors Letter

Dear Subscribers

Happy New Year 2011 is old news!

What an amazing start to the year, and do you realise we have already lived out the first 10% portion of 2011. It’s amazing how time flies, how have the days and weeks been for you since the beginning of the year?

During January many of you had set your goals with the intention to get them accomplished over the course of the following year ahead. It is my firm belief that intention plays an enormous place in goal achievement, read our article further on and see if you agree with what I have to say. Now we are already into the second month of the year so what results have happened for you?

The business world as we have known it has changed. It’s been hit by an economic ‘situation’ frequently referred to as ‘R&D’, recession and depression - yet for many coaching entrepreneurs this phase of our economy has proven to be enlightening and productive with regular sales and higher profits – just look around you at the number of ‘sales’ along the high street and at internet stores. Moving forward is the key in any downturn so taking that into consideration keep reading and be part of the movement that moves forward, this is exactly what this newsletter is all about, inspiration, education and on-going business expansion.

I believe that a fresh new approach is needed in today’s economic climate with a master plan to overcome the patchiness of previous wealth building so that purposefully and quickly we can leave behind mediocrity and harness a forward moving result. Every single day is a brand new day and yesterday, last week, last month, even ten years ago are all in the past, filed away under ‘history’, now is the time to take action – are you ready to make a difference?

With each newsletter issue I specifically source and share positive words to keep motivational levels high with a selection of informative articles to equip you towards and further our collective coaching careers along the path of professional coaching and business ownership. Social change and entrepreneurship is a force for good in 2011. We have amassed some fabulous articles providing education and secrets on how to be a true entrepreneurial coach.

Mentioning change, you would have noticed that we were unable to deliver our January 2011 newsletter issue, however, just as you would expect from a team of dedicated coaches we’ve managed to rise above the challenges that beset us and I have great pleasure in providing you with this issue of the IIC Insights and the Global Newsletter, enjoy the read and just as the February theme suggests – Ready Go!

Yours in Coaching,
PaTrisha-Anne Todd, LCSi, AFC
Newsletter Editor

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IIC - Benefits for our Members

Build a Booming Business

Get Known Fast

The Science of Getting Rich

Coaches in Business Offer of the Month

What other Members offers would you like the IIC to source? Let us know by emailing our department for Members Offers.

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Ready Go!

Promising yourself that you will accomplish a new goal or several fresh ideas in 2011 actually, for that matter at any New Year or point of time is not enough. Full realisation of what you are promising to accomplish is the key to making it real.

Taking that leap of faith to jump right out of your comfort zone to having more abundance, prosperity and happiness can sometimes be a scary option, even for the more robust of us. You might be tempted to remain firmly in your neighbourhood of security even though it may possibly be coupled with a hint of boredom and perhaps some weighty financial worries plus your relationships and general lifestyle might be currently unsatisfying and your energy and motivational levels at a low and draining point. Getting ready for change is a huge undertaking and requires commitment.

So what can you do about getting ready and moving to ‘Go’ on your personal playing field of living a better lifestyle?

EXPERIENCE and WISDOM

Taking into account that you already practice personal development and understand the process of coaching I would put forward you take some time out from your current way of living to acknowledge your own experiences in life, the good, the bad and the ugly. Probe into your sub-conscious so that you can access the wisdom that is laying there ready and willing to assist you in accelerating your lifestyle to where you want it to be. Tap into your accumulative knowledge base with a trusting that a two way communication process will happen between your conscious and your sub-conscious psyche and you’ll be able to take that stored wisdom to generate a truly new and exciting successful 2011.

The value of tapping into your hidden unconscious will without doubt give you a sense of good judgment to guide you away from any preconceived ideas about lack, insecurity or such like. Instead you’ll find that your capacity to understand the processes of positive thinking of enormous benefit to you in preparation and readiness to meet the remainder of 2011 and all future New Year’s head on with a vim and vigour that propels you forward to a better lifestyle, the standard of living you desire.

ACCELERATION

Looking for a way to stepping up your lifestyle whether to make money, enhance your relationships, de-stress, get healthy or fine tune your life work balance depends on your understanding of the systemic laws of personal development.

It’s well understood that coaching/personal development has the ability to remove limiting beliefs and unleash the best in personal performance. Effective coaching models and techniques abound galore with each providing a solution to the challenge in hand, yet it is up to the coach as a leader in his/her craft to contribute top notch coaching techniques and strategies for the good of the coaching client. Personal capability of the coach has a competitive advantage in that it provides acceleration to the goal when applied correctly.

Now is YOUR time to get ready and go...

PaTrisha-Anne Todd, Email PaTrisha-Anne Todd
© 2011 PaTrisha-Anne Todd; All Rights Reserved

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Top Tip

Stepping-up to attain more with maximum results requires peak performance in order to turnaround the situation and have a different outcome.

The first step would be to implement results orientated strategies that can be applied immediately to your particular circumstances and desired outcome, thus improving the quality of your life and the people around you. To help you do that you might want to consider spending time with a professional coach who works specifically on the areas that matter most in your life.

DECLUTTERING – do not assume that any coach can coach in the areas pertinent to you. Do your research on coaches that come onto your radar, see if their style of coaching is the ideal method for you before engaging in any coaching agreement.

Inspiration from PaTrisha-Anne

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Your Questions Answered

Question

“How can I earn a good income during January when so many people I speak to about my coaching services complain about not having enough money for coaching as their spending over Christmas was high? It seems to me that coaching is not a priority on their list.”

Answer

Coaching as with any other business has its peaks and lows. However, with forward planning you can ride the low seasons and maintain a healthy income.

You mention ‘a good income during January’, firstly I would ask you to be specific when referring to income. Every person has a different income level requirement, do you know yours? Have you created a cash flow projection within the financial section of your business plan? If you haven’t created a cash flow projection as yet, get it done, if you already have one, take a look at it now and review what you planned. The action of revision followed by action to implement is an important part of your business planning so that you are totally aware of your income requirements, and secondly look again at your marketing and promotion action steps. It’s vital that you promote your coaching practice service and products regularly, actually 80% * of your business efforts are all about marketing and promotion. Always promote to your target market (again this will be imbedded into your business plan), to be in no doubt you are targeting only those people who are interested in experiencing the benefits of coaching, when you master these steps you will find that the month of January will not be a ‘low’ month for you and you’ll attract an endless stream of clients to your door.

* Vilfredo Pareto an Italian economist in 1906 created a mathematical formula known as the Pareto Principle (also known as Pareto’s Law) to describe how wealth was distributed amongst the Italian population. Basically he observed that 20% of the people owned 80% of the wealth. Careful application of the rule will produce an interesting financial result.

Have a question about coaching?

Let our experts at the IIC answer them for you

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2011 - De-clutter, Detach, Dismantle

Now the New Year is underway it is a fantastic time for individuals to make a fresh start, learn from the experiences of the previous year and actively focus on the areas where they would like to improve. To support this action three activities need to be considered – de-cluttering, detaching and dismantling.

DECLUTTERING

When we talk about de-cluttering individuals often only consider tidying up physical items around the home or office, like a ‘spring clear’ exercise. This activity is extremely useful as it creates a tidier more ordered environment, disposes of unnecessary items or paperwork and releases the burden of those jobs nagging to be done. In the home it induces a more relaxed atmosphere where everything is placed how an individual desires, so reducing stress levels. In the office, knowing that everything is orderly and for example, papers filed where they can be found, aids clarity of thinking and enables an individual to focus more efficiently on the work in hand.

However, apart from the benefits of physically de-cluttering items, it is of massive benefit to engage in a mental de-cluttering exercise in order to discard negative thought processes which may be holding you back from the goals you are working towards so that you are able to concentrate more fully on opportunities to move forward. Such examples could be fears brought about by the desire for change, limiting beliefs about such things as stretching your comfort zone and venturing into new territory, or lack of confidence to truly identify what you want. All of these issues need to be addressed before effective progress can be made towards any goals that an individual is working on. As we know, the support of a professional coach can be invaluable when working on de-cluttering our thought processes so we can sustain a positive mental attitude, as these strong drivers are often deeply embedded and control behaviour without an individual realising it.

DETACHING

In order to move forward towards the goals which have been identified, another good exercise is for individuals to consciously mix and build relationships with like-minded positive people who will support and motivate them to persevere with their dreams. Within this process, wherever possible, it is appropriate for individuals to detach themselves from people, relationships and situations that are draining them, whether it is demands on their time, demands on their emotions or simply creating a negative atmosphere when with them which affects their motivation. One question to ask is ‘what are you tolerating?’

Again, this needs to be done in respectful, gentle steps which an individual feels appropriate and a coach is able to support this action. However, it is essential that any mental or physical drain is reduced as much as possible to enhance a positive beliefs, confidence and improved wellbeing. This can also take courage because although these things were a drain for the individual, they were familiar and breaking away can introduce fears of the unknown which can have a big effect of individuals actually detaching themselves from them. In this situation, coaching can support them in their clarity of thinking, help change the perspective of a situation, help them create an objective view and actions they feel necessary, all in the confidential coaching relationship and without judgement. Very often, when this is undertaken successfully it creates great freedom and confidence for the individual to them make great strides towards the goals they have identified.

DISMANTLE

Having identified the two areas of work above, the real progress is made dismantling the negative thought processes and influences currently impacting on an individual’s progress towards their goals. This is when coaching is the powerful resource available to help an individual really make progress. This is the work which is very difficult to consistently maintain without professional support and this is what makes the difference between achieving their goals and staying in the current situation.

Adopt the 3Ds to give clients the kick start they need to achieve success.

Written by Helen Jones, Email Helen Jones
©2011 Helen Jones; All Rights Reserved

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Create a Sanctuary

One of the most common problems I have come across with my clients is their difficulty in suspending the many demands they have and allow themselves what they see as the ‘luxury’ of relaxation.

A method I suggest is to actively build a personal sanctuary. What I mean by a sanctuary is a place where they can go to relax and get into the habit of completely switching off for as little as 10 minutes at a time to start with. For some the idea of meditation is not attractive so by focusing on creating a personal relaxation place is more realistic.

We all generally have a place where we can go a feel more relaxed. Perhaps it is a favourite chair, in the garden surrounded by nature, going for a walk, taking a long bath or perhaps it is a particular room where we feel at ease. Wherever it is for a client I encourage them to develop this with the specific aim of creating a place where they can instantly relax, switch off, stop thinking of the many tasks they have and slow their pace down.

Having identified their preferred place clients should consider what else they could do to strengthen this to support them. They should consider whether playing some relaxing music would help, or lighting a scented candle. It is also useful to identify the times in a day where taking 10 minutes out is the most realistic and useful. They may find first thing in the day is best to clear their mind, let thoughts come and go and start the day refreshed. Some prefer to use this place to wind down at the end of a working day to enhance the balance between work and home life. Clearing the mind of the day’s events, shutting the mental door of work can ensure any stresses do not spill into their home and personal lives.

Like all habits, this takes time to develop. Firstly, a client must understand the value of spending as little as 10 minutes a day doing this and work on realising their self-worth to invest in this. As this activity is practised it becomes more of a habit and positively enjoyable. Client’s sometimes comment that they can’t understand how they managed without this ‘downtime’.

Other benefits experienced by clients is reduced stress, ability to improve time management, increased clarity of thinking, greater creativity and a better sense of happiness and wellbeing.

Written by Helen Jones, Assoc, Email Helen Jones
©2011 Helen Jones; All Rights Reserved

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IIC Member Benefit Spotlight: ICR

The International Coaching Register is for any individual who trades as a Coach, who help individuals and/or organisations for example, establish a work life balance, manage stress levels and build communication skills amongst many other specialist areas.

Everyone who has qualified as a Coach with a recognised Coach training company should now take the opportunity to register. This will dramatically cut down on any misrepresentation that goes on within the industry. Many people have websites and call themselves a Coach but have no actual qualifications. The register will stop these people and raise the profile of genuine Coaching and how it can transform people’s lives.

President of the IIC Gerard O’Donovan said “the register has been administered by the IIC for the benefit of the world of Coaching and Coaching clients. It is also a great way for Coaches to get business as members of the public can search for registered Coaches in their area. It brings Coaching transparency at last.”

As a Member of the IIC, Have you published your details on the International Coaching Register, at no charge?
To do so:

Login to the IIC Members Area, and then select the ICR Register Edits menu option on the left hand side of the screen.

Create your entry by selecting:
Insurance - enter your Professional Indemnity Insurance details here.

Training - enter the details of all the training courses you have completed here.

Workshops - enter the details of all the workshops you have attended here.

Accreditation - your IIC Accreditation details will automatically be included here. You also have the opportunity to enter the details of all the accreditations/credentials you have been awarded, as an independent verification of your Coach training and experience.

Business Details - select or enter all types of Coaching you include in your Coaching Business/Practice.

Organisation Membership Details - enter the details of all Business Organisations in which you hold a Membership -these could be other Coaching Bodies, Chamber of Commerce, or any type of organisation that is appropriate to your business.

Display - do not forget to DISPLAY your details.Selecting yes your details will be displayed on the International Coaching Register. For IIC Accredited Coaches, your details will also be displayed on the IICs Coaching Referral programme.
We look forward to seeing you on the International Coaching Register.

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A Day in the Life…
A recently qualified coach shares his insights.....

Why Did I Become A Coach?

In every job that I have ever had in my working life there was always a part of the job where I was training or coaching or mentoring an individual or a group that gave me the deepest joy. I didn’t realise at the time that coaching would be my vocation.

Training

Over time I have explored many types of personal development training and even explored changing industries from retail to another! After some careful thought and discussion with people close to me I decided to look at which job roles encompassed the skills of coaching and training. My partner had been in a role as a team coach for a large company, an idea grew inside of me and coaching was I concluded the basis for my research.

Life Coaching For Me

Consequently I found a Life Coach and embarked on a road of discovery. After an empowering and enlightening personal coaching journey I discovered many things about myself, my core beliefs and my comfort zone, including that I was not living my life according to my true values. Plus, to my joy and delight, I realised that my Coach wasn’t only the person I wanted to model, she had the career I wanted to!

So there it began the search for a coach trainer, someone who could teach me more. I first went on a ‘free’ coaching course where I discovered I could genuinely help others through providing coaching sessions. That insight made up my mind, I knew coaching was for me and therefore I needed to choose a trainer and qualify for my diploma.

The journey has not been without challenges and frustrations. All in all I can honestly say that it was absolutely worth it to train for a new vocation that I deeply adore.

Contributed by Christopher Stribblehill, Assoc.

Tell us your stories and the stories of people whom you admire.

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Recommended Reading

Links to books available through amazon.com that were published by our members, as well as any other books which we find particularly helpful for coaching ideas and insights will be placed here. Cheers to reading!

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