Category Archives: Life Coaching

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You Have the Power!

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Most if not all of us have the tendency to allow words, actions and attitudes of others to influence our responses. At some point in life, we’ve likely blamed someone else for our response to a situation or a person. To be honest, I think most of us still do. We likely do this because it is our default response. It has been part of the human experience from the beginning.

Scripture recounts the first instance of people being held accountable for their choices, and their immediate response was to blame someone else for their choices. This story of Adam and Eve disobeying God in the garden is found in Genesis 3. The tendency to blame others for our choices is still very much a part of the human condition.

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Ditch the Balancing Act!

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Is work-life balance possible? If so, how does one go about achieving it?

For many years we have been hearing about the importance of work-life balance. Perhaps like many of you, for years I have tried to strike the balance and have not been able to do it.

Trying to manage your time in order to attend to all the different areas of life has been a lifelong battle for most of us. Many of us work too much and as result neglect the other areas of our lives, such as family, health, church, and/or friends. On the other hand, some of us give too much focus to our family, church or physical well-being and give the bare minimum at work.

How can we ease the guilt and frustration of trying but being unable to find that elusive work-life balance formula?

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Mindfulness

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We are living in a fast-paced world where it feels like we are constantly trying to catch up. This kind of living has brought much stress, frustration and discouragement. It is as if we are living on remote control. We are so busy trying to catch up that we seem to have no sense of the present.

Perhaps you have had this experience: You did something – and for a moment you have no recollection of consciously doing it. For example, have you driven from point A to point B, but then were a bit surprised to find you had actually arrived? Or maybe you took out the trash, but a bit later you go to take out the trash again, only to realize you’ve already done so!

Is there a way to regain control of our lives from the ultra-busy vortex we have been sucked into? Is there a way to live intentionally? How do we learn, or re-learn, to be present in the moment? How do we develop what some have termed mindfulness.

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Emotional Self-Care

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Emotions are a fundamental part of being human. Anger. Jealousy. Joy. Sadness. Grief. Contentment. Love. All of these emotions help you respond and interact with life and living. They impact how you think and behave.

To understand and appreciate the importance of emotional self-care you need to think about what life is like when you neglect your emotional health.

Emotional self-neglect will often result in you being held captive by your emotions.

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Essentials of a Healthy Team, Part 3

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Two weeks ago, we started a journey of looking at three essentials of a heathy team. The first two were respect and honesty. Today we look at the final principle: humility.

Ego-driven anything does not work well or last long. When egos within a team are competing for power and recognition, the team is unhealthy and unable to accomplish much. Such a team is comprised of persons looking out for their own interests.

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Who’s Afraid of Mistakes?

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“A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new.” – Albert Einstein

“It’s not uncommon to be afraid of making mistakes. We all make mistakes and sometimes the consequences are very unpleasant. That’s why we tend to avoid doing things that can make us fail.” SelfGrowth.com

Most of us fear making mistakes. And when we do make a mistake we often try to rationalize it. In reality, mistakes are a part of life. Therefore, we should not live our lives in fear of making mistakes; rather we should learn from them or we run the risk of repeating them. I know this is not easy. Society often encourages us to be flawless, if only in appearance. However, we will make mistakes and hopefully we can learn from them.

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Recycling Pain

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Recycling is a routine way of handling millions of tons of trash produced daily in this country, where the recycling rate continues to grow.

Did you know that God is the originator of recycling? Oh yes, He is and has always been in the business of recycling our pain.

Let’s consider the parallels between the process we go through to recycle our garbage and how God recycles pain.

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You Can Control Your Response and Attitude

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  • Your plane is delayed.
  • The person driving is front of you is being a jerk.
  • The cashier is casually conversing with the person in the line ahead of you and you are already running late for your doctor’s appointment.
  • You planned your daughter’s birthday party in the park with lots of activities only to arrive at the park and find that someone else is occupying the place you reserved.

These are only a few of the types of things we experience on a regular basis. And if you are having a really good day, all of the above could be happening that day!

The reality is that many of us allow incidents such as these to ruin our day – and possibly the day of those closest to us.

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How do People Feel in Your Presence?

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“We don’t usually remember what people said or what they did – however we do remember how they make us feel.”  – Maya Angelou

I recall while growing up I was often mindful of how the people around me made me feel. This was particularly true with adults. When some were around I felt safe and protected, while with others I felt vulnerable and afraid.

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Leading from Your Wounds

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Leaders lead from their experience and knowledge, which makes leadership both an art and a science. Many leaders are excellent with the science of leadership. They are familiar with the latest trends, models and research in leadership. They also know how to teach the science of leadership. However, where they often struggle is in the art of leadership.

The art of leadership is the part that is shaped and influenced by experience. One aspect of the experience that influences leadership is the wounds the leader has experienced in life.

We all have been wounded in life and will be again as long as we are in relationships. Whether or not we are aware of it or admit it, those wounds will influence how we relate to others.