Coach Andrea

Coach Andrea’s Intro

Adrenaline is robbing us of our health. If you run on adrenaline, please consider other ways to get energized.  In this week’s Tip, Steve Straus provides healthy alternatives to adrenaline.

Quote of the Week

“This art of resting the mind and the power of dismissing from it all care and worry is probably one of the secrets of energy in our great men.”

~ Captain J. A. Hadfield

Beyond Adrenaline

By Steve Straus

Adrenaline has its benefits. And its costs.

Great outcomes have been accomplished using the adrenaline tool. It is one of the most popular drugs-of-choice for driven achievers. A source of ready energy, it provides focus, is cheap to acquire, and easy to use. Also, you don’t need to do deals in dark back alleys, you’re your own drug dealer!

Need some? Leave late for an important meeting.

Need more? Under-prepare for that meeting.

A little more? Fear not getting what you want.

Your ability to create the adrenaline you need, when you need it, is huge. But at what cost?

Like any stimulant, the use of adrenaline requires a balancing of the scales. Your physical system experiences a crash and needs recovery time.

The focusing which adrenaline can provide may act as blinders and cause you to miss available resources. And someone hyped-up on adrenaline attracts similar people. Adrenaline is expensive.

Rather than suggest that you simply give up adrenaline, how about replacing it with healthier forms of energy? Such as passion. Such as clarity of purpose. Look for the joy in situations rather than possible negative consequences.

An often overlooked resource is to pause and revel in your intermediate wins. Adrenaline junkies tend to focus only on the big payoff at the end, but there is plenty of healthy energy available from the incremental victories along the way.

Copyright 2012 Steve Straus. All rights reserved. Steve Straus can be contacted at http://www.StrausUSA.com.

Coaching Call To Action

Who can help you remove the adrenaline needle and move beyond it, permanently?

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Coach Andrea’s Intro

This week’s Tip by Nancy Solomon is a reminder to continue to step into your greatness.  You are here in this life to be you! Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine!

Quote of the Week

“Greatness is not in where we stand, but in what direction we are moving. We must sail sometimes with the wind, and sometimes against it – but sail we must. And not drift, nor lie at anchor.”

~ Oliver Wendell Holmes

You Were Born to Be Brilliant

By Nancy D. Solomon

Embedded deep within our souls, in the very fiber of our DNA, is our blueprint for greatness.  Each one of us has our own unrivaled brand of genius, irrespective of the fact that we may repeatedly forget that.  It is as exclusive to us as our thighs, and as quirky as our personalities.  Denying our brilliance doesn’t make it any duller, ignoring it breeds nothing worth mentioning and avoiding it brings unnecessary pain, misery, and suffering.

We came into our lives to get something done, something unique to us.  Our impact can only be accomplished by us. There is no job sharing.  Nor is there a do-over or makeup class.  This is it.  We are the keeper of our message.

You will never know the magnitude of the possibilities of your impact unless you show up in life (Solomon, p. 11-12).

From:  Solomon, N. D., (2010).  Impact!: what every woman needs to know to go from invisible to invincible.  Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Reprinted with permission from the OSU Leadership Center, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, (614) 292-3114, http://leadershipcenter.osu.edu

Coaching Call To Action

Where are you wanting to show up more in your life?  Where can you shine your brilliance?

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Coach Andrea’s Intro

Happy New Year!

There are so many articles on the internet about goal setting.  Whether you own your own business or work for someone else, the key for setting goals is choosing what will be most important to you.  What makes the biggest impact for you in your life?  Steve Straus’s article reminds you to be conscious in this process.

Elevating Life

By Steve Straus

“I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by conscious endeavor.”
~  Henry David Thoreau

The key to this quote is not “endeavor” it’s “conscious.” You can work hard, endeavor, on the wrong things and end up changing nothing. But when you are conscious about your world, your desires, your resources, your activities, then wonderful things can happen. And that’s encouraging. Are you conscious?

Copyright 2012 Steve Straus. All rights reserved. Steve Straus can be contacted at http://www.StrausUSA.com.

Coaching Call To Action

What will you do this year that really matters?

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Coach Andrea’s Intro

Like Natalie Manor, this week’s Tip author, I, too, have had people come to me who don’t know how to be “successful.” They are working with someone else’s definition of success and when you do this it isn’t inspiring. Our work is to help people create their own definition of success – one that has you jump out of bed in the morning, enthusiastic about going for it! Read further to see that success can be anything you want it to be.

Quote of the Week

“The truth is that all of us attain the greatest success and happiness possible in this life whenever we use our native capacities to their greatest extent.”

~ Dr. Smiley Blanton

Success is Supposed to Be Fun and Rewarding

By Natalie Manor

I find so many of my clients who are angry at the idea of success.  They do not feel they can attain it nor do they want to try. For them “success” takes too much effort, time, and sacrifice. I have heard many of them say, “I don’t have the talent anyway.” Actually, success is the daily deeds we do in order to live our lives. One of the most influential writers of the 20th century, Ralph Waldo Emerson, said of success:

“What is Success?

To laugh often and much;
To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children;
To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends;
To appreciate beauty;
To find the best in others;
To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition;
To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived;

This is to have succeeded.”

Success is not complicated. If you think about it, you are already very successful in many respects. Find out what success means to you and do it.

Natalie R. Manor, CEO is an author, business consultant, speaker and executive coach. Her company, Natalie Manor & Associates, is the ultimate resource for business leaders, executives, owners and managers who want to master their life and their business by Getting Clear, Getting Confident and Being Effective faster than ever before. You can register for her free bi-weekly articles at: http://www.nataliemanor.com/newsletter/subscribe.html

Coaching Call To Action

This week, take on Natalie’s challenge and find out what success means to you in all areas of your life. Where are you going for it and where are you stuck?  Congratulations for the areas where you are making progress.  In those areas where you aren’t, what’s one step you can take to get unstuck?

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Coach Andrea’s Intro

Whether you lead a business of thousands or are a solopreneur, are you the best that you can be? This week, Chris Widener delineates the characteristics of those who are the best at what they do. After reading the list, I noted a couple of areas where I needed to revise my outlook and way of being. How about you?

Quote of the Week

“The roots of true achievement lie in the will to become the best that you can become.”
~Harold Taylor

The “Best” Test

by Chris Widener

Some time ago, I spoke to a group of salespeople in Kansas City as they kicked off their new team. It was exciting to see them get excited about making a difference through their work.

The topic they assigned me was “Simply the Best.” So as I prepared, I asked myself: What characteristics would help someone pass the “Best” Test? That is, what are the characteristics of those who become the “best” at what they do? Here are the thoughts I shared with them:

The Best Are Optimists. You can’t get to the top if you don’t think that there is a top or if you think you can’t make it. One characteristic of those who reach the peak is that they always believe that things can get better or be done better. This pushes them on to be their best.

The Best Have Vision. They can see ahead of the pack. Their eyes aren’t locked into the here and now. They see the bright future and what things will look like when they reach their destiny. While working hard for today, they live for the future! They do what Stephen Covey calls “begin with the end in mind.”

The Best Relentlessly Pursue Excellence. The status quo is not for them. They want to be the best and experience the best. And that means giving their best. They go the extra mile so that in everything they do, in everything they say and think, they are striving for excellence.

The Best Have a Lifelong Habit of Personal Growth. They don’t want to stay at the level they are at. They want to grow in their work, their intellect, their spirituality, their relationships, and in every area of their life. And they discipline themselves to put themselves in situations wherein they grow. Personal growth doesn’t “just happen.” You choose to grow. I always suggest what Zig Ziglar does and that is to enroll in “Automobile University.” Whenever you are driving around, listen to a personal or professional growth CD or MP3. Over the long run you will grow. Also, read more. The old saying is true: Leaders are readers. So are those who pass the “Best” Test.

The Best Understand That They Will Be Pushed by the Competition-and They Welcome It. Like the lead runner in the race who has someone on his heels, the best know that the competition is right behind them. They love it, though, because they know that the competition keeps them from becoming lazy and resting on their laurels. Instead, the competition pushes them to go faster and to achieve more-to remain the best by forging ahead.

The Best Have a Quest for Leadership. Someone has to lead-it may as well be the best! Those who attain it get there because they want to. They want to lead and help make a difference. And they want to be equipped with the skills necessary to lead others on to a better place.

The Best Leave a Legacy. They aren’t in it just for themselves, though they will surely reap the rewards of being the best. Rather, they build things that last beyond themselves, things that can be enjoyed by others as well.

The Best Are Adept at the Two Most Important Pieces of Time and Personal Management: Prioritize and Execute. Just like weight loss boils down to eating right and exercise, personal management boils down to prioritize and execute. First, prioritize your activities. The important stuff goes on the top. Then, execute: do them. The best have habits and discipline that get them to the top by doing the best things and doing them first.

The Best Focus on Building Relationships. Success does not come alone. Everyone who achieves much does it with the help of countless others. How do the Best get others to help them? They treat them right. They embrace them and help them. People become the best because they help other people, and people like them.

The Best Make No Excuses. When they fail, they admit it and move on. They get back up and do it right the next time. They let their actions speak louder than their words. They stand tall and do the right thing the next time. No excuses, just results.

The Best Understand That the Good Is the Enemy of the Best. Yes, they could say, “This is good.” But that would mean they have settled for less than the best. Many people think that good is good. Good is not good. Good is the enemy because it keeps us from the best. Choose your side: the good or the best. The Best choose, you guessed it, the Best.

The Best Dare to Dream. While others live the mundane and settle into a life they never bargained for, a rut, the Best dream of a better life. And then they take the risks necessary to achieve their dreams. They live by Teddy Roosevelt’s quote: Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs though checkered by failure, than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much because they live in the grey twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat.

Want to be the best at what you do? Take inventory on the above characteristics and then start moving to bring your life in line with the characteristics of the “Best.” Then when you get to the top you will know that you have passed the “Best” Test.

Chris Widener is the Co-Founder of Chris Widener International, www.MadeForSuccess.net, a wealth of ongoing motivation and leadership skills training.

Coaching Call To Action

Take some time today to think about an area where you know you could and should be doing better. Now take one tangible step today to reach for that goal of becoming your best in that area. In doing so, you will reach TRUE achievement!

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Coach Andrea’s Intro

The holidays are over. We’ve taken some time to kick back and relax, and our business and personal goals are set for the year. We’re relaxed, energized and working through what is most important each day. Wait! Is that how you feel? Maybe on New Year’s Day, but today??? Has the stress in your life crept back in or come back with the force of Nor’easter like winds? Michael Neill reminds us that we can control the stress in our life and it may be easier than you think.

Quote of the Week

“Adopting the right attitude can convert a negative stress into a positive one.”
~Dr. Hans Selye

There Is No Stress In Life

by Michael Neill

At some point early on during our work together, my clients often express surprise that I don’t recommend a particular meditation or technique or hypnosis regimen to help them “control their stress”.

While I am certainly not against formal practice of any kind, particularly when it is enjoyable to the person using it, I also don’t see it as a necessary prerequisite for thriving in life. To better understand why, consider the following scenario…

You are relaxing on a beautiful beach. The sun is shining, and a gentle cooling breeze is flowing in over the water. Waves are lapping at the shore, and you are in heaven.

After a time, you decide to catch up on some reading and you pick up a fascinating book. You’ve read this author’s books before, and you’ve always thought the main character was an awful lot like you. Before long, you are completely caught up in the drama of the story, and for the time being, the beach and the ocean disappear as you lose yourself in the novel.

Each time you think to yourself that you’ll put the book down at the end of the chapter and go back to enjoying the beach, the author hooks you in with the seductive promise of even more intriguing things to come, and you tell yourself “just one more chapter” and go back to your story.

Fear and love and anger and laughter and tears become your experience of life as the highs and lows of the story take you on a roller coaster ride in your own mind, and before too long, you’re so caught up in the emotional stress of the book that you think to yourself “I need to do something to relax!”

Fortunately, you’ve got your mp3 player with you, so you pop the headphones in and click on a peaceful meditation that begins with the words “Imagine that you are relaxing on a beautiful beach…”

The reason I don’t promote particular techniques for stress control is because I have come to see a simple truth:

There is no stress in life – there is only stress in our thinking.

When I see that well-being is my nature, the only way I can feel anything other than well is when I am caught up in my own story (thinking). To try and do something to “reduce stress” when it’s my own thinking that’s creating it would be like massaging my toes as a way of reducing the pain caused each time I drop a rock on them. It’s not that my toes won’t feel better – it’s just traveling the long way round.

(I once heard someone ask supercoach George Pransky how he could say that their stress, which felt so real to them, was only a mirage – a trick of thought without any substance to it. George thought for a moment and then responded “Well, it’s a real mirage…”)

So what do we do when we feel stress if we know (or at least suspect) that it’s not real?

One of the most useful things we can do is use it as a feedback mechanism for our own state of mind. If I am feeling stressed, I am out of touch with my natural state of clarity and well-being. And if I know that, I can hold off on putting too much stock into my thinking, world-view, or story until I am “back on the beach”.

Recently, a friend called me to ask for a bit of informal coaching. Her husband had had a heart attack over the holidays, her daughter was unwell, they were having financial issues, and their health insurance was on the line.

Unfortunately, I was caught up in my own drama that week, and I thought to myself that I should postpone our chat until I was in a better state of mind. But based on the way I was feeling in the moment, I knew that my judgment was impaired, and my deeper wisdom urged me along to meet with her anyways.

After she unfolded her story, which included some undeniably difficult real-life situations, she talked about her uncertainty and insecurity for the future. I then unfolded my own story and the uncertainty and insecurity I felt when I looked at mine.

Despite the fact that we made for a miserable pair that afternoon, there was one fundamental difference between us:

She thought the crap she was seeing was actually in the world; I knew that the crap I was seeing was on my own glasses.

We had a nice lunch, she got clear about what actually needed to be dealt with in the moment (which was considerably less than she had been concerned with), and later that evening she sent me this short note:

Thanks for today.
I shall get me back – I just have to be patient.

And therein lies the key to a deeper understanding of stress and thought and well-being and life. If you go outside and it’s snowing, you don’t have to fix the weather. You simply put on some more appropriate clothes or go back inside and wait until the storm has passed. Because no matter how bad the weather seems, the sun is always shining in the background…

Copyright 2011 Michael Neill, author of Supercoach: 10 Secrets to Transform Anyone’s Life. All rights reserved – Read more tips at www.Supercoach.com.

Coaching Call To Action

I loved Michael’s imagery of snowing and fixing the weather having gone through a 12 hour blizzard last week. So perfect! This week, what will you put in place to remember that the stress in your life is coming from your thoughts?

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Coach Andrea’s Intro

As we come to the close of another year, it’s time to step back and look at the year behind us and the year ahead. Steve Straus provides a simple reminder to enjoy the destination and the journey!

In order for me to enjoy my own family this holiday season, this is the last Coaching Tip of the Week for 2010. Look for your next Tip on January 7, 2011. I wish you all the love and happiness this season can bring and may the New Year find you healthy, happy, prosperous and full of joy.

Quote of the Week

“I’ve come to see that I’m both traveling and arriving in every moment. My life is a journey in which I’m constantly arriving at my destination, which is here and now. And I’m also traveling onward into a future that will become here and now.”

~Tim Freke

Journeys and Destinations

By Steve Straus

“Arriving is a point on a continuum of traveling. Traveling is a process of constantly arriving.”

There has been much written about “enjoy the journey, don’t just get caught up in making it to a destination.” Freke’s quote (and the entire book, for that matter) is a nice reminder to enjoy BOTH the journey AND the destination by seeing them as interwoven, inseparable threads. Have you
learned to live in a journey through time…while maintaining an awareness of Now?

Copyright 2010 Steve Straus. All rights reserved. Steve Straus can be contacted at http://www.StrausUSA.com

Coaching Call To Action

First and foremost, enjoy this blessed holiday season with family, friends, and loved ones. Secondly, look back at 2010 – did you enjoy the journey and reach your goals? Thirdly, plan for 2011 using the information below.

Ideas and Information

It’s time to get started on your master plan for 2011. Give yourself some quiet time, put on some relaxing music . . . and begin. First, acknowledge all that you have accomplished in 2010. Next, write down your goals for 2011. Open your mind to ALL the possibilities. Start each goal with “I am” or I will”. Don’t even THINK about restricting yourself. This process may take two hours. It may take two weeks. Remember, you’re building what you want in your life. To help you with this process, here are some key questions to ask yourself: