Many people mistakenly believe that they cannot change their lives. They are stuck in a dead-end job that does not provide any enjoyment or their lives seem to be permanently on pause. It does not have to be that way though.
Always remember that nothing is impossible. Just keep that in mind when you start setting your objectives and following life tips to achieving what you want.
Personal development coaching occurs in steps. Step one is to analyze your current living situation. No, this is not referring to where you live or with whom you cohabitate.
It is about taking a good, long look at your life. Are you happy with your workplace? Are you happy with your personal relationships? This is about taking an inventory or stock of your life and recognizing in what areas helpful, leadership mentoring could make a difference.
The second step involves telling your coach consultant what your goals are. He or she cannot tell you what you should aim for, that is your job to let them know what it is you want out of life. Just remember to set reasonable goals. You may want to conquer a fear of heights or learn how to make the most out of relationships. It is okay to set a series of small goals rather than one large goal.
Step four is the final part of the plan. It is now time to start implementing the changes that you will need to make in order to succeed and make your end objectives a reality.
Personal development coaching comes full circle and you can finally see how you really want things to be. Your coach will prove to be a valuable asset in this learning process and can provide you with the appropriate motivation in order to see things through to completion. Good luck on your journey!
Image by Swamibu via Flickr
by Kim and Charles Petty
To grow spiritually in a world defined by power, money, and influence is a Herculean task. Modern conveniences such as electronic equipments, gadgets, and tools as well as entertainment through television, magazines, and the web have predisposed us to confine our attention mostly to physical needs and wants. As a result, our concepts of self-worth and self-meaning are muddled. How can we strike a balance between the material and spiritual aspects of our lives?
To grow spiritually is to look inward.
Introspection goes beyond recalling the things that happened in a day, week, or month. You need to look closely and reflect on your thoughts, feelings, beliefs, and motivations. Periodically examining your experiences, the decisions you make, the relationships you have, and the things you engage in provide useful insights on your life goals, on the good traits you must sustain and the bad traits you have to discard. Moreover, it gives you clues on how to act, react, and conduct yourself in the midst of any situation. Like any skill, introspection can be learned; all it takes is the courage and willingness to seek the truths that lie within you. Here are some pointers when you introspect: be objective, be forgiving of yourself, and focus on your areas for improvement.
To grow spiritually is to develop your potentials.
Religion and science have differing views on matters of the human spirit. Religion views people as spiritual beings temporarily living on Earth, while science views the spirit as just one dimension of an individual. Mastery of the self is a recurring theme in both Christian (Western) and Islamic (Eastern) teachings. The needs of the body are recognized but placed under the needs of the spirit. Beliefs, values, morality, rules, experiences, and good works provide the blueprint to ensure the growth of the spiritual being. In Psychology, realizing one’s full potential is to self-actualize. Maslow identified several human needs: physiological, security, belongingness, esteem, cognitive, aesthetic, self-actualization, and self-transcendence. James earlier categorized these needs into three: material, emotional, and spiritual. When you have satisfied the basic physiological and emotional needs, spiritual or existential needs come next. Achieving each need leads to the total development of the individual. Perhaps the difference between these two religions and psychology is the end of self-development: Christianity and Islam see that self-development is a means toward serving God, while psychology view that self-development is an end by itself.
To grow spiritually is to search for meaning.
Religions that believe in the existence of God such as Christianism, Judaism, and Islam suppose that the purpose of the human life is to serve the Creator of all things. Several theories in psychology propose that we ultimately give meaning to our lives. Whether we believe that life’s meaning is pre-determined or self-directed, to grow in spirit is to realize that we do not merely exist. We do not know the meaning of our lives at birth; but we gain knowledge and wisdom from our interactions with people and from our actions and reactions to the situations we are in. As we discover this meaning, there are certain beliefs and values that we reject and affirm. Our lives have purpose. This purpose puts all our physical, emotional, and intellectual potentials into use; sustains us during trying times; and gives us something to look forward to—a goal to achieve, a destination to reach. A person without purpose or meaning is like a drifting ship at sea.
To grow spiritually is to recognize interconnections.
Religions stress the concept of our relatedness to all creation, live and inanimate. Thus we call other people “brothers and sisters” even if there are no direct blood relations. Moreover, deity-centered religions such as Christianity and Islam speak of the relationship between humans and a higher being. On the other hand, science expounds on our link to other living things through the evolution theory. This relatedness is clearly seen in the concept of ecology, the interaction between living and non-living things. In psychology, connectedness is a characteristic of self-transcendence, the highest human need according to Maslow. Recognizing your connection to all things makes you more humble and respectful of people, animals, plants, and things in nature. It makes you appreciate everything around you. It moves you to go beyond your comfort zone and reach out to other people, and become stewards of all other things around you.
Growth is a process thus to grow in spirit is a day-to-day encounter. We win some, we lose some, but the important thing is that we learn, and from this knowledge, further spiritual growth is made possible.
As we accumulate things in our life, we seem to grow more disenchanted. This has become so true that previously scoffed at Eastern Philopophies are getting another look in the West and no more so than Feng Shui.
Many people think of the mystical when Feng Shui is mentioned, but this traditional Chinese philosophy is more about creating a good living space for each of us. The basic belief is we need a harmonious place to just be and Feng Shui shows us how to make it.
At its outset, Feng Shui was actually known as Kan You, which mean the Laws of Heaven and Earth. As it evolved into the name Feng Shui, pronounced fung shway, it became more about placement of things and harmony with the environment.
Feng Shui proper wasn’t a philosophy, it was a way of life in ancient China. It was considered a form of astronomy and entire cities were laid out based on astronomical forecasts. Politics were also based upon these readings.
Feng Shui was no passing trend in China either. At its most dominant, it was the guiding light of Chinese civilization for between 2,000 and 3,000 years. The fact that entire cities were organized upon it is truly amazing to think about.
In modern times, the influence of the philosophy is a shadow of its former self. One has to wonder if this is a good thing given the urban sprawl we see in many countries and the overall strife and unhappiness in the world.
In truth, modern Feng Shui has gone local. The largest applications are no longer cities, but individual projects where the purchase of land and building upon it are determined using the philosophy.
On a person level, Feng Shui can be implemented in and around your personal spaces at home and work to create harmony with the immediate environment. This, in turn, creates positive energy which attracts harmony in the rest of your life as well.
The truly bizarre thing is the philosophy is current barred in China. The versions we interface with are the Black Sect in the USA and Shen Dao Feng Shui in England. The schools have different views, but not harshly so.
So, is Feng Shui a passing fringe trend or something more? Given the fact it has existed longer than Christianity and makes the Chinese Communist Government nervous enough to ban it, it would seem to be here to stay.
Even though the brain is not actually a muscle the brain does need to be exercised regularly so that it will continue growing and developing nerve connections that help improve memory. While studying the brain and how memory works scientist realized there were things that could be done to improve your long and short term memory.
These things can include easy exercises like paying close attention as you hear new details so you can recall them better later. If you are nervous or distracted you may miss hearing something, like a person?s name, that you might want to recall later on.
It takes approximately eight seconds for memories to move from the short-term memory area to long-term storage areas. If you do not pay enough attention to details you can have difficulty remembering them later.
?Over-learning? is another common technique for strengthening memory. This is what a person does when they repeat a bit of information over and over again ? they are over-learning it so that there is more of a chance that it will be stored in long-term memory.
Like riding a bike, the other techniques may seem complicated at first but once you get the hang of it they become as natural as any other process.
Learning different techniques to improve your memory is often affected by the teachers you have. In example, some researchers will suggest that you chew gum to improve your memory and increase the amount of brain power you have. Others claim moving your eyes from side to side for at least thirty seconds can help your memory.
You probably know that a diet based on fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and “healthy” fats will provide lots of health benefits. This same diet can also improve memory.
There is obviously no one method or technique that will improve memory for everyone. However, it is important to “exercise” the brain, otherwise the adage “use it or lose it” definitely applies to the brain.
I noticed something interesting at the gym. The gym I go to is by no means a meat market. . . there are few mirrors, most of the patrons are really there to work out, not to see and be seen, the clientle, on the whole, seems to care about attaining or maintaining their health through exercise and that’s their agenda as far as being there goes.
On occasion, despite this not being one of ‘those’ kinds of gyms, I notice that I’ll be on a stationary bike or elliptical machine going at my pace and then someone will get on the machine next to me. My response is not conscious. I automatically pick up my pace a little. It could be that my other than conscious wants us to show off a little at how good we’re getting. Maybe it doesn’t want to be out done.
Conversely, I have also noticed if I get on a machine next to someone, they’ll often do the same thing. Most people have a high desire for competition. This drive may or may not be something we embrace. I’m a competitive person who embraces it. As a sales person I loved challenging myself using other people’s records as benchmarks. I would constantly challenge myself to double or triple what the other sales people around me were doing.
As resources become limited, competition escalates. Watch any show about animals and how they compete for water and food and mates. In the U.S., especially, we have managed to build our entire economy on the survival of the fittest. We don’t care about trade or cooperation, but compete for recognition, for money, for mates, for parking spots, for first in line. Ironically, when we’re done competing out in the real world, many of us enjoy watching other’s compete–sports, game shows, reality contests, beauty competitions. WE LOVE A GOOD COMPETITION.
My observation at the gym showed me that competition can be a huge incentive for self improvement. If I frame it as such, I can convince myself that by working out harder, showing them what I’m made of, I win. And really, everyone wins. We’re all in a context where we are doing ourselves good (unless fanaticism plays a role and injury strikes).
So how can this base instinct be used most effectively for selling our products or services? Well, we see it all the time. . . two gas stations across the street from each other with slightly different prices, the lower of the two deciding to take that much less for the product. I’m not suggesting you lower your prices by any means, but through framing, we can show ourselves, our products, our services, as the answer in the minds of our affluent prospects and clients. ‘I am by no means the cheapest, and in fact, I may be one of the more expensive realtors, but you really do get what you pay for.’
What is your relation to competition? Do you embrace it or shy away from it?
About the Author:
Kenrick Cleveland teaches techniques to earn the business of affluent prospects using persuasion. He runs public and private seminars and offers home study courses and coaching programs in persuasion techniques. Don’t reprint this exact article. Instead, reprint a free unique content version of this same article.
Image by ?????? ???????™ ~ in london via Flickrby Donald k Aniston
