Circle of Life Coaching

Who's the ideal candidate for life coaching? 

Maybe understanding the process will help you make a decision...

Clients hire coaches to help them get stuff done. Here's how it works: 

Thoughts: This is where it all starts. What's your "self-talk?" What are you saying to yourself on a daily basis? What you believe is usually what comes true. This is why optimists usually succeed and pessimists sabotage themselves. Although this may sound cheesy, it's accurate: "If you believe it, you can achieve it." 

Feelings: Our feelings are triggered by our thoughts, not the other way around. If you don't believe me, ask an engineer. Feelings are a secondary reaction based on what you are thinking about. Even though the thought may last a split second and the feeling can last a while, it still starts with your thought process. That means you can basically manipulate the way you feel.

Actions: How you feel determines how you act. For example, if you're depressed you can suffer from "inaction," or not doing anything. On the flip side, if you're inspired to take a risk, you usually go for it and don't think about what could go wrong. This is where most people get stuck. You want to act, but don't have the incentive to. Hiring a coach can be beneficial because he/she provides the accountability to reinforce what you said you would do. 

Results: This is the sum total of everything covered. Think of a personal trainer. You hire him/her to help you accomplish your goals. Their job is to create a program that caters to your needs. Coaches are like personal trainers for your mind. A coach can give you the extra push when you get stuck. They won't do the work for you, but they will help you navigate so you can get it done.

Now that you're informed, are you interested in hiring a life coach? Feel free to reach out here.

5 Tips for Keeping Your Email Inbox Under Control

Guest Post by Charles Lee

Reading and responding to emails can become quite overwhelming. Unless you’re a person who doesn’t have a problem with ignoring everyone trying to communicate with you, you’re probably going to want a system to deal with your growing inbox. How do you do it?

Here are some simple tips that can help you reduce the number of emails sitting in your inbox:

Unsubscribe from any unnecessary email lists and notifications. While it is somewhat of a hassle to unsubscribe from unwanted email lists (especially those you never signed up for), take 20 seconds to do it. Don’t tell yourself that you’ll unsubscribe next time. If you find yourself hitting the delete button without reading these updates, that probably means that you don’t need to be on their email list. Unsubscribe and see your inbox number dramatically decrease. Also, be sure to turn off any unnecessary notifications from the various social platforms you participate in, especially if you find yourself checking in throughout the day anyways.

Move longer conversations to calls. I find that moving an email conversation to phone calls is a great alternative to going back and forth. A quick phone call is often much more productive and efficient than 10 emails asking for more clarity.

Give yourself a time limit for responding. Deadlines tend to motivate action. Give yourself a deadline for responding to emails. Also, give your self a mini-deadline for each time you sit to write email. For example, I give my self 30-45 minutes each time I sit to respond to email. I find that I am far more productive when I know there’s an end time.

Find the app. For emails from brands offering deals, see if they have an app for their latest sales and go to it when you want to browse offerings. The truth is that the majority of emails from these brands don’t have items you actually “need”. This will also help you limit your spending!

Create a filing system only for certain kinds of emails. Many of the emails we get are for record keeping or future reference. I tend to only put these kinds of emails in folders (Most email clients allow you to make folders to help you organize your inbox.). I try not to put emails I have to respond to in these folders. Once emails go into these folders, it becomes far more difficult to remember to get to them unless a clear need arises. Therefore, I keep all my emails that I need to respond to in my inbox. This helps me to stay actionable and responsive.

I’ve been able to keep my inbox fairly low or at zero by using these methods. What are some ways that you keep your email inbox to a minimum?

Be MASTERMINDful

What is a Mastermind group? 

A group that provides collaboration, feedback and accountability for your goals.

How can being in a Mastermind group benefit me?

Mastermind group participants act as catalysts for growth, devil's advocates and supportive colleagues.

Basically being part of a Mastermind group is committing to be held accountable for the goals you set. It's also a great way to receive perspective and feedback from others. 

Each person has an allotted time to share, receive feedback and then state their goal(s).

Personally I've been a part of a Mastermind group before and this is the format we used:

1)    What are you working on?

2)    Describe your current challenge. What do you need help with?

3)    What is your goal to accomplish before the next session?

 

When you set your own goals, it's easy not to accomplish them because there's no accountability. You'd be amazed at the increase in goal accomplishment when you know you have someone checking up on your progress. 

Successful people get stuff done. Even if you're highly self-motivated, there's synergy in a Mastermind group. The collaborative brainpower is larger than if you worked alone.

Your success is directly affected by who you surround yourself with. If you want to be more successful, join a Mastermind group.

The Champions of Viral Video Content

Infographic by 522 Productions

Sexier Than Inspiration

Everyone wants to be inspired, but let's be honest...like a bouquet of flowers, inspiration at best lasts about a week. 

Beyond inspiration lies action. Although not as appealing, it's what makes an idea, reality. 

Think about it. How often have you thought about an idea that has unlimited potential, yet a couple of days later it's tossed aside like last week's new toy?

You know what transforms inspiration to action? Accountability.

Yup, the A-word can be positive or negative motivation, but either way use it for what it's worth!

New Year's resolutions never become tangible goals because there's no one to be accountable to.

Before I became a coach, I hired one. I remember how motivated I was between meetings to show my coach how much progress I made since the last time we talked. 

Was it because I wanted to prove to myself I could do it? Was I afraid to look like a failure to him? 

Probably a combination of the two, but it was one of the most accomplished periods in my life.

Start this year off on the right note. Don't settle for just being inspired. Get stuff done!