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Archive for 'Abundance'

Experiencing Empathic Overload? 6 Ways to Recover Your Center

March 30, 2011 | Read 17 comments and join the discussion

These are tough times for empaths. In a world hammered by tsunami and nuclear disaster, political unrest and economic crisis – feeling the feelings of others can be super overwhelming and painful. (I say this with the deepest respect for people who have directly experienced these disasters, whose suffering is in a whole different class.)

I believe that what’s going on in the world right now is one of the reasons why the field of coaching has burgeoned. It takes a conscious act to stay in balance in these times. And coaches remind people to stand in their power, hold their center and direct their actions with integrity.

Empaths, who have empathy in spades, have naturally gravitated to coaching as a career. I’m in that subgroup and attract a lot of clients who are too. If you are an empath, chances are you lose track sometimes of where you begin and end.

Even if this never happens to you, I bet some of your coaching clients can relate and it’s helpful to be aware of the unique challenges that empaths face.

It’s More Critical Than Ever to Regain Your Center

Experiencing Empathetic Overwhelm The world needs empathy – and here’s the paradox. For empaths, when the world is most in need is exactly the time we most need to take care of ourselves. We need a strong daily practice to recover our center, boundaries, and vitality. Then we can serve from strength.

Here are 6 ways to recover your center:

Go on a media diet. I’m not just talking about the news. Turn off anything that has an on-off switch. Give yourself a rest from all that frenetic input. If possible do this for a few days or weeks, or at the very least have sacred times to be completely unplugged every day while you’re awake.

Go outside. Become a cloud, bird or plant watcher. Spring is a great time for this, but nature calms your nervous system anytime you tap in there. Cultivate an appreciation for natural beauty and let it influence your mind, body and spirit.

Continue reading Experiencing Empathic Overload? 6 Ways to Recover Your Center

Topics: Life Coaching Skills

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Too Much Yearning? Try Just Being Here for Now

March 8, 2011 | Read 6 comments and join the discussion

There’s too much anxiety in the world right now. Do you feel it? The impact on our bodies, minds and spirits is heavy, if all we want is to get away… if we’re just trying to get back to the way it was, or scrabbling so hard to get to our better future that we miss what’s here for us right now.

I’m waxing a little philosophical in this post. I caught myself this morning bouncing around from past to future and then opened my eyes to the lounging Buddha before me.

Too much to do for your coaching business? Just be here now.

I’m big on ambition and so are my clients. But really… all this yearning is a little much sometimes. There’s lots of good stuff in the here and now. And now is the only time we have for receiving it.

If we let the moment go by without receiving the depth of what has come to us, how does THAT impact our future? What are we saying when all we want is more, more, more?

So, I’m offering this moment to myself and to you. A moment to drink in NOW.

Continue reading Too Much Yearning? Try Just Being Here for Now

Topics: Abundance Tools for Coaches

How to Get Repeat Business from Your Coaching Clients

December 14, 2010 | Read 2 comments and join the discussion

I hope you’re enjoying the week before Solstice and Christmas! Wouldn’t it be great to amp up your coaching income to cover all your holiday cheer? Repeat business from your current or past clients is the least effort, most profitable way.

An often overlooked approach is to simply call your previous 1:1 or group coaching clients to come back for more. You might feel shy about doing that, but don’t. Your call may come at the perfect time and they’ll be thrilled. At the very least, you’ll show once again that your curious about their life and supportive.

Check in about something you worked on together before. Where are they on that now?
What do they want most for the near future? That gap is your next step together.
Have a program or coaching package at the ready. Don’t forget to pay yourself well.

Call rather than email and don’t leave a message. Try again until you reach your past client directly. The high touch approach really works.

Seed Repeat Business Early On

The best overall approach to repeat business is to “seed” the idea of their return before your clients are finished with their current coaching program. Design a natural flow with all your programs that drives clients to your next step. This is known as a funnel or pyramid.

Seed Repeat Business Early On It begins with listening to what people in your niche market specifically want:

Relief from pain, correct mistakes.
Solutions to challenges, filling holes in their knowledge base.
Guidance to achieve their ultimate desired outcome.

Convert that “intel” into valuable freebies and programs that will inspire and motivate your prospects to invest. Catchall programs and topics don’t draw as well as very specific outcomes your market wants.

Continue reading How to Get Repeat Business from Your Coaching Clients

Topics: Coaching Business Tips

Read More About Abundance, Client Attraction

3 Coach Archetypes – Which Are You Today?

November 2, 2010 | Read 4 comments and join the discussion

Each coach brings deep skills, world wisdom and powerful purpose to the table. But some excel in their coaching business more consistently than others. Why is that? Mindset is the make or break factor in our success on any given day. The good news is, we control the messages we feed ourselves.

If you want to bring in more consistent results in your coaching business, pay attention to the archetypes you embody – the pattern of thoughts and behaviors that you play out – they will help you consciously change and grow.

The 3 Coach Archetypes

Watching myself and my clients closely for the last decade, I’ve noticed that coaches often default into one of three behavioral patterns:

brave hearted coach

Some coaches are perpetual students, always engaged in consuming information. These knowledge seekers may be steered by possibility thinking, but they distract themselves from taking persistent high payoff actions.
Some coaches are perfectionists. They may “tear up the ground” getting things done, but their belief that nothing they do is good enough takes the power out of their actions.
Some coaches are brave hearts who are 100% committed to their own success. They cultivate both the courage and capacity to manifest what they most want, by adjusting to a powerful mindset while taking high payoff actions.

Let’s take a closer look at the three archetypes. While you do, notice which one is your default for now. This doesn’t define who you are; it’s just the pattern you’ve currently settled into. You have the power to love yourself into a more powerful way of thinking and doing. Trust that.

Continue reading 3 Coach Archetypes – Which Are You Today?

Topics: Abundance Tools for Coaches

5 Tips To Make More As A Coach

October 11, 2010 | Read 2 comments and join the discussion

Last year, the coaching industry magazine choice featured an issue devoted to “The M Word” — too discreet to even print the word in large type. Money is perhaps the most taboo topic, yet it’s in the back of every coach’s mind – how to make more of it, more easily and consistently.

For me, it boils down to this question – why do some coaches make more than others? I’m studying this right now, not only for myself, but also for coaches who seem to only get pro bono or trade clients. And for the coaches who continuously over-deliver, under-fill their business, place a low value on their services, and haven’t yet realized how the power of coaching grows when clients fully invest in themselves. It can be different for you, if you really want it to be.

Financial success in coaching

The Big Secret

The #1 reason why some coaches make more than others — they ask for it! That’s the big secret.

You’ve heard “the squeaky wheel gets the grease”. That applies here too. It’s not about being smarter – except for the fact that they are smart enough to ask. You don’t need more coaching skills and certifications. And it’s not about having more experience or being better at coaching and marketing. But you do have to believe in yourself enough to ask for more.

People who make a great living in coaching think strategically about money often enough to plan for it. They analyze their sales, and innovate ways to increase them. That doesn’t mean they are obsessed with the bottom line or less heartful than other coaches. In fact, some of the highest earning coaches are very spiritual in their approach to business, knowing that abundance means there’s enough for all.

What else do coaches who earn more know, that you can apply right now?

Continue reading 5 Tips To Make More As A Coach

Topics: Charge What You're Worth

Suspending Your Disbelief Opens Doors to What You Want

September 21, 2010 | Read 5 comments and join the discussion

Every time you try something for the first time – launch a coaching business, start a blog, speak publicly — you enter into the great unknown. For adventure seekers, the unknown is a double dog dare. For innovators, it’s where the spark of brilliance always strikes. For the rest of us, it can be absolutely terrifying territory… but it doesn’t have to be.

suspend disbelief
Everyone has fear. Some “feel the fear and do it anyway”. They consciously suspend their disbelief that they can do it, long enough for the combination of their trust, persistence and subtle energies to coalesce dreams into reality. Our favorite stories are about regular people persevering to reach their destiny despite all odds. Without super powers, people do this every day.

To get to where you want to go, first suspend any disbelief that you can arrive there.

Break Through by Letting Go of Attachment

When I was eight I thought I’d never be good at downhill skiing, because experience told me I’d never be good at any sport. Totally psyched out, I struggled pitifully. Then one day, when I wasn’t scrutinizing my general lack of coordination, I hit the zone!

And then of course, I knew I could ski. There was no longer any question of that. Before long I could make it down a black diamond and practically float down the rest of the slopes. Having crossed the unknown and come out the other side, it was easier to become a pretty decent skater and halfback in soccer. I broke through the belief that I couldn’t do sports.

Believe in Stories of Success

We all need role models to grow to our full potential. It’s helpful to know that others have achieved your dreams. And to believe with all your heart that if they can do it, you can do it too.

Something really poignant happened last week…

Continue reading Suspending Your Disbelief Opens Doors to What You Want

Topics: Abundance Tools for Coaches

Overwhelm: A Bad Habit You Want to Break

August 31, 2010 | Read 3 comments and join the discussion

I’m tired of overwhelm. Aren’t you? Nothing sucks the joy out of your coaching business like that over-burdened feeling – a burgeoning to do list, an overflowing inbox, too many learning curves to traverse.

If we are truly committed to our own success, then surely success includes keeping our sanity while we get there! After all, the freedom of working for ourselves is part of why we’re doing this, right? So when are we going to start acting like we’re free?

The truth is, overwhelm is most often just a bad habit wanting to be broken. Whatever the reasons, we choose to feel overwhelmed. Like the boy who cried “wolf”, we’ve trained our brains and bodies to perceive challenges as emergencies. We’re actually OK, but don’t know that we are.

So how about making a different choice? I agree with David Risley’s smack-you-upside-the-head post about overwhelm. It’s time the vogue went out of our crazy busy lifestyles.

Overwhelm is caused by:

Non-stop stimulation
Procrastination and chronic disorganization
Scarcity consciousness, and
Not knowing how to resource

This is Your Brain in Rehab

It’s no wonder we’re all over-stimulated. There’s so much coming into our psychic space all the time — we’re never without connection to global media and entertainment (much of it anxiety-ridden).

The New York Times reports there’s a neurological reason that all that digital input doesn’t seem to make us any smarter. It turns out, when people keep their brains constantly stimulated with input, they miss the mental downtime they need to effectively learn from all that incoming information.

Continue reading Overwhelm: A Bad Habit You Want to Break

Topics: Coaching Business Tips

Read More About Abundance, Business Tips