Point of View

POINT OF VIEW

Ongoing thoughts about coaching...

It’s not smoke and mirrors, it’s not magic, and it’s not always going to be easy. Your decision to hire a coach and change things for the better, reminds me of that quote,

“It’s hard, but you can do it.”

In fact, it’s really all about you. That’s it in a nutshell.

Let's face it, it's a rare moment when you get to concentrate on #1 exclusively, with a facilitator who's there to assist you in identifying and accomplishing the things you most want to do.

And it stands to reason that when given this opportunity, you will move faster and with more certainty, with the guidance and support of another person. This arrangement results in a higher degree of clarity about oneself and one's goals. From there a path is laid out, and progress is tracked as we move forward.

The bottom line is: You set the agenda, the pace, and the focus, and I help.

Specifically what does it take on your part? First, you have to recognize and acknowledge your desire to do something. That you are looking at this site is a step in the right direction. Next, it’s a matter of finding the right individual to work with you, and getting started.

The process calls for will power, determination, the willingness to work hard, and the courage to change.

Also, you’re going to have to give yourself permission to be happy. If that’s not too much to ask then what are you waiting for? Just take the leap.

You’ve got nothing to lose.

Friday, September 26, 2008

DESIGNING A SUPPORTIVE ENVIRONMENT Typically, when we refer to our “environment”, we think of the color of the walls, or maybe the weather, pollution, Save the whales, Heal the Bay or Green Peace.For the purpose of this discussion we are going to focus in our personal environments. Thomas J. Leonard, the father of the modern day Life Coaching movement, suggested that we think of everything in our lives as an environment. Thomas referred to, “The seven environments of you” He put them into the following categories: Self, Physical, Network, Nature, Intangible, Memes and Relationships. The idea is to form a partnership with the different categories in, order to design more supportive structures within each. By doing so, our environments become places that move us forward with less energy expended, and sometimes in very inspiring ways. Once we take charge to intentionally re-design our environments, we are able to move from succeeding in spite of our environments, to succeeding because of our environments. For your personal Network environment I’ll give a simple illustration from my own life. Imagine you are a parent with two small children under three years of age, and you are forever seeking referrals for the needs of your children. You may already have plenty of friends and various professional connections within the community, but because your children have yet to attend a formal child development center you may lack a natural network to many of the resources that exist out there for parents with young children. I know of a parent who’s children attended the same Pre-school as my own, who started a Yahoo group to provide a central place for her family and friends to share information on everthything related to families with small children. What do think would happen if as a parent with very young children, you were to join this group? This group now has over 500 members and anything you can think of that a person with toddlers and infants might want information on can be found here. From pediatricans to nannys, from crib suggestions to the best children's entertainment locations, all that and a whole lot more, is only a few mouse clicks away. This little tweak to your (my), personal Network environment, would overnight, make this enviromment much more supportive, by design. Another exapmple follows, from my personal environment with Nature. Like most of us I thrive on the chance to surrond myself with a natural setting. It calms me, and grounds me like nothing else can. In response I have scheduled myself to go for a hike in the woods no less than twice a month, no matter what, and to take a camping trip annually. I have also blended part of my exersise routine, with my desire to spend more time by the ocean, by taking walks and runs on the beach. Until I intentionally committed to these adjustments in my routine, just as surely as I shop for food or put gas in the car, I mostly just yearned for spending more time with nature. Now, I am doing these things regularly because I’ve designed my lifestyle so that nature has become an intergral part of my life. Lets take a closer look at the seven environments of you and some of the things that fall under each catagory. Self: Your body, height, weight, hair. Your spiritual side, yourself, your connection to the universe, your unique talents and abilities, etc. Network: The Internet, professional peers, PTA, community groups, social groups, etc. Nature: Outdoors, the seasons, the aging process, our access to the beaches, the mountains the woods, the quality of light, etc. Memetic: Ideas, concepts, cultural beliefs, knowledge and information that influence your thinking, etc. Physical: Home, furniture, money (anything you can touch), car, toys, equipment, TV, artwork (very important one), our books and magazines, our ‘things’, etc. Relationships: Family, friends, co-workers, spouse, lovers, colleagues, children, neighbors, the checker at whole foods, your trainer, your doctors, your pets, etc. Intangible: feelings, your emotions, your passions, your values, your dreams, your visions, your aspirations, etc. I suggest a starting with a 3 step 1) WHAT IS WORKING-Identify one thing that you have already have in place in your environment that is working to support you. Examine, “How did it get there?” 2) WHAT IS NOT WORKING-Identify one thing that exists in your environment that you are tolerating, that is a hindrance, that could be minimized or eliminated. Examine, “How can I reduce or eliminate it, or it’s impact,?” 3) WHAT CAN MAKE IT BETTER-Come up with one thing that you’d like to add, or upgrade for each category, that you believe will make this particular environment more supportive for you. “What must I happen for me to just do it?” Why design your environments consciously? Simply put, To make things more supportive for the way you want to live. Change the environment to fit you, rather than changing yourself to fit the environment. It’s a bit of an adjustment for some people to become pro active about the big and small ways that our environments are set up. But my advice is that we never take for granted that we have to just be at the mercy of the status quo. Choose to respond! Think about your personal environments and what things within them are working to support you, and what things that you are tolerating that are a hindrance. Come up with specific design tweaks, that is, ways you’d like to upgrade, or change things, to better support you personally? The effort proves worthwhile because creating more supportive personal environments, serves to propel you forward, to give you increased energy, and to be more inspired in all aspects of life. What are you waiting for. Start anywhere, and take the leap. Jan V. Solomita - Life Coach Telephone: 310 390-2072 Email: janvsolomita@yahoo.com Internet: Janvsolomita.com

Friday, January 25, 2008

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