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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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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Just reading the news about this volcano causing such an impact on multiple levels makes me realize that sometimes you have No control over some plans you made so long ago. Who can anticipate the eruption of a volcano high north of the European continent would impact people as far as Australia? Well it does, people wanting to fly to Europe, all flights suspended. Not since WW2 has there been such a standstill of international flights. This puts many plans into jeopardy, which prompts the need to think about contingency and your plan B. Perhaps when you plan something think about the alternative just in case, yet again this is not really practical as you then need to think about when things go wrong. And if you have done any personal development and the law of attraction this is not a good idea as you are entertaining the thought of disaster and your plans falling through. We want to be in a positive state and feel that it will come to fruition  that is what we need to feel and ...

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For many of us asking for help is a difficult thing to do. We would rather stay stuck in our challenges or settle for outcomes that we are not happy with than go to someone who could offer us some assistance. So why is asking for help difficult for people?  The following are some reasons that I believe contribute to people’s inability to ask for help: Perception that asking for help is a sign of weakness; Fear of looking foolish or being embarrassed in front of others; Pride; Reflects an inability to manage areas of our life; and Having to pay someone for their assistance. Our thoughts and beliefs around asking for help have been influenced by the messages that we have been exposed to from our environments (e.g. home, social, work, school etc.). For example, you may have been exposed to environments that suggested that you should solve your own problems or that you cannot trust others to help you. If you had been exposed to these types of messages yo...

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Setting goals on December 31 is a wonderful tradition. There you are, full of bonhomie (or maybe just pretty full). All things seem possible. Goals for the year ahead just roll of your tongue. Now its February, holidays are well and truly over, and the pressure is on to stop talking, get into action and produce some results. Trouble is those New Year goals may now not be looking quite so sparkly and easy. Another challenge is that, for some of us, switching off and taking a mental break is really hard to do. But once weve finally slowed down and are enjoying the holiday pace, switching on again and getting back into the groove towards our goals is even harder. Here are eight strategies to ease you back into the groove and get focused again - when part of may still be hankering for the beach and a good novel. Clear the space ready for easier action. Complete some of those tasks you have had on your list but never make a priority. Handle those little things that annoy, like fix...

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Six key steps to setting goals   Well, it’s the New Year and I am guessing most of you (me included) have set at least one goal or New Year resolution. So before you go much further, make sure that you set yourself up for success and give yourself the best possible chance to achieve your goals.  Today I share with you 6 key steps to writing goals that will help you achieve them.    State your goal positively Put your goal in context Express your goal in specific, sensory terms Choose a goal you can fulfill yourself Evaluate honestly the effects of achieving your goal Choose a worthwhile goal. Many of the people I coach have radically improved different aspects of their lives by using this approach to setting and achieving their goals. 1. State your goal positively State what you want (not what you don’t want!!). The brain works in such a way that stating a goal in negative terms can have completely the wrong effect. What most...

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We all play the waiting game, when we are queuing for services or at the check out counter at the supermarket, we wait. As we grow up we wait to get older, so we can stay up later, and then we wait so we can be old enough not to need a babysitter. And before you know it we are waiting to get our drivers license and buy alcohol. We then wait to move out of home and find our place in the world. Yes waiting is apart of life and as we get older we realize that waiting serves a purpose, to appreciate the now, to not fast-forward our lives, and to enjoy being young. I used say when I was younger that I cannot wait to grow up, funny and now that I am grown up I want to find my inner child again! In coaching we find people that are still waiting, waiting for that magical relationship, career, and new life. They believe others will give that to them if they wait long enough. Well it is about getting out there out of your comfort zone that you will create new change and new opportunities. With...

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