Encouragement is something important that we all need to help us achieve our goals in life. Encouragement gives us the impetus to keep moving towards our goals.   There are times in our life where we doubt our ability to achieve certain things. I know that when I decided to transition from a career in the military to setting up a coaching business those doubts existed. What helped me though was the encouragement that I received from my coach and from my wife. They believed that I could be successful and encouraged me to take the necessary steps.   I suggest that you look to surround yourself with people who are encouragers. Encouragers are people who instill the belief in you that you can achieve whatever you want. They are optimistic people. Having people like this in your environment will be tremendously helpful for you. Consider these people to be your cheerleading team. They want you to succeed and to be happy in life.   The way to attract encouragers into you...

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A fellow colleague told me the story about a training organization that is not functioning very well. They are not paying their employees on time and have very little internal communication. Needless to say they are not working as effectively and the morale is at an all time low. This obviously affects their service delivery as staff do not feel valued and also impacts direct business. Their enrollments for courses and workshops are struggling to fill up. The energy is negative and thus so is the results that they are getting. From an outsider’s perspective I ask " if you do not have integrity and value towards your employees how can you attract new business and retain good working relationships with your clients?". As I often say, if you work on the internal and get this right then the external will match this, as you become congruent with your environment and you begin to attract opportunities and meet the right people that will help you on your journey. As a coach, ...

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Let go so that you can be free like a butterfly. When you let go it allows you the freedom to live the life that you want. You need to let go of things that are keeping you stuck and not allowing you to move forward towards what you desire in your life. So, what are some of the things that you may need to let go of in order for you to be free to live the life that you want. The Past: Don’t allow past experiences to rule the rest of your life. Learn from them and apply the learning to create a better life for you. Living in the past will take energy and focus away from the action you need to take in the present to achieve the results that you want in your future. Fear: Fear stops us from taking action that can improve our life. Rather than focus on the fear of taking action focus on the benefits that taking action will bring into your life. Be driven by the benefits. The Need to Please Everyone: Don’t live your life for everyone else. It is important that you respect and satisfy y...

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I just reconnected with an old work colleague and it was so nice to hear from him. Last time we spoke he had a young family and seemed to be doing well. It is interesting that from appearances we think people are doing well from the outside however he was going through some relationship issues with his wife. As he is recently remarried and expecting another little one. I guess he has now found his relationship happiness and I am so happy for him. Life is too short to be with the wrong person, we just don’t allow ourselves to shine and grow as we are too busy ‘trying’ to fix the insecurities of the other person. We change to suit them and in the long term this does not serve us anymore. We do not like ourselves anymore and we lose our sense of self. Ultimately we begin to gather confidence to tackle our own insecurities and find our own happiness, after all our spouses are not responsible for our happiness we are! So taking responsibility and accountability is the first step. When we...

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Keeping a relationship sweet with a spouse or partner over the years can often be pretty challenging. The same can also be said of business relationships. Put the two together and WOW! The concept of 'relationship skills' will take on a whole different meaning! Having lived and worked together with my husband for over 20 years, both in a  home office and away from home premises. Needless to say there have been “moments”, while we’ve learned a lot about how to run a micro business together, we've also found ways to keep our personal relationship interesting and romantic. Here are some of the strategies we have developed: • Keep the space between you clean with regular WIFLS (What I feel like saying).  Often before we go to bed at night, or even during the day if one of us can feel some tension, we ask, “Have you any WIFLS”.  This can quickly handle any misunderstandings over something the other has said or done that we disagree with or are upset about.  It ...

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What appointments are you making in your life? Is your diary full of appointments related to work? For most people I would say that this is the case. Have you thought of making appointments for other areas of your life? I believe that it is important for us to make appointments for all areas of our life. This allows us to achieve a balanced approach to life. Don’t just fill up your diary with appointments related to work. What I am suggesting is that you be deliberate in making appointments for all areas of your life. Make a specific date and time that you are going to do things. By doing so you will ensure that you are not neglecting important areas of your life. Don’t allow the important areas to be low on the priorities list and something that you will only do if you have the time. You will most likely never have the time to do many of these things if you don’t commit a date and time to doing them. You need to make time for these areas and you can do this by planning them into y...

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Lately I had many people asking me ‘why should I have a coach?” and I thought this was a good discussion for a blog post. You have most likely heard the term ‘life coach’ especially if you are on the path of self awareness and personal development.  For those who haven’t heard of this term, simply think of someone who is on your side, who can see the best in you and wants you to achieve great things in your life, things you want for yourself. This person could be a relative or spouse, yet we are not related to you or have known you for a long time. We are non-judgmental guides who assist you on your path of self discovery and self empowerment. We are here to support you when you hit some tough challenges along the new journey.  We shall be with you taking each step with you, shining the torch and holding your hand if you need. Like a good sports coach we see the best version of you, and believe you can achieve your goals. We will share our knowledge so you will reach yo...

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You would think that once you have acquired patience that you would possess it always. Unfortunately it doesn’t work like that. My 16 month old is a master at teaching me about patience and stopping to smell the roses. She is curious and thus will take her time, end of story. Yet according to my astrological chart I possess fire all over, my sun, moon and rising signs are all fire, and so I am used to blazing my way through life’s challenges even if it is done at 70% I just keep on going, who cares about the other 30% I say? Some people have patience in one area in their lives and not much patience in another. Take my life for example; I waited until I was almost 35 years old to meet the love of my life. So that took a l o n g time, and I didn’t settle for second best as I knew he was coming towards me. So granted I had patience. Standing in queues, waiting on hold on the telephone and waiting for my web browser to load up, these things just drive me nuts if I have to wait longer th...

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Passion is such a buzzword right now, so many times I have people come and say to me, if I only knew what my passion was I could change my life and be happy.  It is like they are some big secret, something that is hidden from them that if they could only see everything would be great. Having specifically worked with passions for a while now I have to reveal a secret – your passions are not something that are hidden away from you, something to be discovered that you haven’t previously allowed yourself to see.  One person I was talking with said that when she wrote down her passions nothing new came to mind.  How could it?  We can only be passionate about what we know, or we think we know, we want.  You can’t be passionate about something you don’t know.  But you can, and many people are, not be focused on your passions or even dismiss them because they are so obvious. When I work with clients who want to make changes in their life one of the first things ...

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This article is for all the mums out there who on most occasions put themselves last in the family hierarchy of needs. First comes the children or husband, then the duties that must be done during the day and then you take care of your own needs. Even if it means going without you do, as other people take priority. No wonder they call this the hardest job of all, but I know how rewarding it can all be. When you have 5 minutes to yourself to reflect that is! As mothers’ day is fast approaching think about what you really do and how the family copes because you do. Amazing isn’t it? This is the time to prioritize some ‘’me” time and celebrate being you. We are geared to nurture and to allow others to shine, yet in today’s modern thinking this also refers to you and that you need to set the example for others to follow. If you make yourself shrink into the wallpaper and continue to put others first then how will your children learn that you need to be Numero Uno? They learn by example no...

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