It's Not Just Athletes That Need A Coach

There was a time when if you had a coach... you played a sport. Basketball, football, baseball etc.; coaches were for athletes. Today coaches are not just for athletes. Tony Robbins, professional coach, speaker, best selling author of "Awaken the Giant Within" has coached actors, entrepreneurs, CEO's, politicians and presidents of countries and has been credited with having started the industry of life coaching. Now there are schools that teach the art of life and business coaching. There are great coaches all accross the country and there is probably one in your town or city.

The idea of having a personal life coach or business coach is becoming more mainstream and lots of people are taking their lives and careers to the next level with the assistance of personal coaching.

Personal business and life coaches are a great asset to those who wish to live more effectively, efficiently and with more joy and harmony.

To help answer a few of the questions that people tend to have about the benefits or process of working with a personal coach I spoke with business owner, speaker and personal coach Kay Wilson and here is what she said:

(D)Why would someone hire an executive coach?
(K)Because of a strong desire to make rapid progress. A coach is able to help the client see patterns and make connections that enable conscious creation – the creation of what the client consciously wants. Whether it be improving the managerial relationship with subordinates, or improving public presentation skills, the coaching process accelerates change.

(D)What can a coach do for me that I can’t do for myself?
(K)If the coach is able to develop a relationship with the client, the coach can notice things the client isn’t noticing and reflect them back to the client. People get stuck because they are blind to an aspect of their situation. A coach works with you to get some insight and help you take the blinders off.

(D)How does coaching work?
(K)Coaching is a relationship in which the coach is devoted to the development and progress of the client. Through a series of coaching conversations or exercises, the coach is able to draw out of the client what the client wants and values. Next, the coach works with the client to develop strategies for obtaining what they want and typically a goal will be set with a deadline or time frame. The coach then serves to hold the client accountable for taking on manageable tasks to get into action. Clients report that they made rapid progress through the trust and openness of the coaching relationship.

Kay Wilson is an attorney, coach and motivational speaker. She coaches executives and professionals to help them increase effectiveness and play a bigger game. For more information about Kay Wilson and Business coaching check out http://www.blogger.com/www.KayWilsonCoaching.com


Looking for Success? Balance vs. Harmony

More and more people are looking for success in all areas of life, personal relationships, financial and business. This is where a coach is key. Granted success means different things to different people so when I inquire further a lot of people tell me that they want "balance". Ah, balance. Dictionary.com defines balance as a state of equilibrium or equipoise; equal distribution of weight, amount, etc. The battle to equilibrium between good & bad, the yin & yang, the elusive 50-50 meaning the perfect blend of work and personal life. I have great got news for you...it doesn't exist so you can stop looking. Think about it, there is always a sacrifice; work, money, family, personal time. We are always choosing in favor of what is priority for us in that moment.

If you think about it, this should start bringing you more peace and happiness right away which, is ultimately what we want when we search for balance. Basically I'm saying your normal, be happy. Now I know what I have just said goes against what many others believe is possible but don't misunderstand me. Although a perfect 50/50 balance may not realistic, you can have "Harmony". You can have joy in your life at all times. You can have good healthy relationships, financial and business success, health and personal time. But because one of these areas in your life always takes priority, rather than balance you can have harmony.

Dictionary.com defines Harmony as a consistent, orderly, or pleasing arrangement of parts; congruity. Consistence, order and congruity thus every part of your life working together to serve another part all in harmony. This means the absence of guilt that your not spending enough time with your family. You won't feel disconnected and stressed at work and you'll have enough personal time to renew and recharge.

Bigger is Better

One thing Kay Wilson mentioned that is BIG, literally, was playing a "bigger game". From past experiences and what I see in too many lives is people playing small. Playing "Big" means expanding your comfort zone, taking risks, working towards a goal that may seem impossible at first but doing it anyway. Playing big may be scary at first, that's natural. We all experience fear, a lot of people have this lofty notion that having major talent or success means the absence of fear but that's not the case. They Act "in spite" of fear! People who are truly talented and successful have simply learned to deal with the fear and figured out how to overcome it. This is another area where a coach is great.

A coach can help you recognize when fear is a factor and how to handle it. Often when we feel like there is nothing more we can do or we've tried everything , a coach will ask the right questions and offer guidance that could help you find an inner strength you didn't know you had or an answer you wouldn't have seen otherwise.

Playing bigger is important. We can be better to our families, ourselves and do more for the world when we play bigger. If you get use to thinking bigger and acting bigger it will become a habit and then one day you'll realize you're truly making the most of your life and then everyone wins.

Playing bigger is a self-less act. If you're a giver and have a philanthropic nature, than think about how much more you could give as a multi millionaire. If you're a business owner think of how many more jobs you could create by growing your company beyond what you think is possible. If you're a real-estate agent think of how many more people you can get into homes helping them fulfill their dreams.

Another key about playing bigger is that when you shoot for the moon, even if you miss you'll land amongst the stars. Remember this, failure doesn't exist, there is meeting your goal and then there is just an opportunity for learning and personal growth. Not achieving a bigger goal just gives you a chance to learn a bigger lesson which, you will certainly find helpful the next time you play big. Because what doesn't kill us makes us stronger; cliche' I know, but it doesn't make it any less true!

Get a coach

Different coach's have different methods and styles in which they work. A lot of coach's have a niche' where they specialize in a specific area. There are spiritual coaches, personal life coaches business coaches and more. If you wish to accelerate growth in any area working with a coach can be just what you need. Accountability, suggestions and clarity, inspiration, personal discovery and much, much more; all of these are things a coach can help you with. When looking for your coach I would suggest you interview a two or three and find one that suits your needs and you feel compatible with. Your coach is someone you should feel very comfortable with allowing you to be truthful and open and allowing them to help you as much as possible. To find a personal coach you can call Kay Wilson (see link above) or check out this site http://www.ipeccoaching.com/.

This post and the next post is dedicated to the memory of Lori Woodhouse. Lori was my life coach for over a year. I learned so much from her and am forever grateful for the opportunity I had to work with her and be blessed by her wisdom and light. Lori passed away suddenly on December 17, 2007. Lori was much loved, and she is sorely missed.

Peace & Prosperity,

Dallas M Cyr

What lights your fire?

I am of the humble opinion that if everyone in America, or the World for that matter, woke up in the morning absolutely thrilled about what they did for a living, the World would be a much happier place! In this weeks message you will find out why living your hearts desire is so important and examples of people who are living and have lived their passions successfully despite obstacles. I'll also give you the right questions to ask and great resources so you can find out what you were born to do and how to live a life of passion.

It's so Important to live your life doing what you love:

If we all lived lives of purpose, in careers that "lit our fire's", satisfied us and stretched our limits I am convinced life would be better in many ways. You would be happier more often. You would serve others in more ways and do so with a joyful heart. Living a life of passion would improve your mood through out the day thus having a direct affect on your immune system and health. Stronger immune system equals better health, better health means less sickness and disease.

Many doctors will tell you that your attitude will have a direct affect on your immune system. Dr. Bruce Fife C.N., N.D., a certified nutritionist and naturopathic and author of "What You Eat May be Killing You" (I know scary title but what he says makes sense:) he says, "Develop a positive mental attitude. Your mind and your attitude have a great deal of influence over your health. If you are determined to improve your health and believe you can, you most likely will get better. You have to have faith and think positively. Our mental attitude affects the immune system. Believe it or not, if you think you can recover from illness, your immune system actually works better. Negative feelings depress the immune system."

What better way to maintain a positive attitude, than to do what you are specifically designed to do! Live every day doing only the things that truly "light your fire". Live doing only the things your passionate about.

I believe you and everyone in the world is uniquely created to do something in life that only you are designed to do. Sure there are other Electricians, Realtors, Financial Planners, Artists, etc... but there is only one that is best suited to work with your clientele, only one that thinks the way you do or works the way you do and that's...YOU. You're unique and talented and the world needs what you have to offer.

Growing up your parents reassure you that you can do anything you want! Your parents tell you, you can be an astronaut, fireman or a doctor; anything they say. And then as adults we lose site of that yet nothing has changed, YOU CAN BE ANYTHING! Your current situation OR your past has Nothing to do with your future and who you choose to become. You limit You. No matter what has happened to you in the past, what your age is, what your current career is, none of that is actually holding you back from living your ideal life and living your passions. Don't get me wrong those may be obstacles In your life or things you use as excuses to why you can't live the life you want to live but again, really, at the core "You Limit You". The only thing that has changed since you were a child and your parents and teachers told you that you could be anything, is your attitude, your belief in yourself.

In my life I have struggled through many situations. As a child in school I was bullied, my Dad moved away when I was eleven years old, I suffered with depression for a while in my late teens and early twenties and I have been poor, I mean really broke. Trust me there is more but my point is not to highlight my struggles, it's to say "I have been there" but I never stopped searching for answers, ways to improve myself, examples and stories of people who went from failure to success, rag to riches and there are tons of those stories.

Here are just a few examples of people who live their passions dispite adversity:

Grandma Moses - who was told as child she couldn't paint because the family couldn't afford it. She was told that she was meant to work on the farm and have a family but not to become a painter. When her arthritis wouldn't allow to work the farm or embroider anymore, at the age of 75, she began to paint. Shortly after she became wealthier than ever before and gained fame and notoriety for her art. She died at the age 101. She lived 26 years following her heart and living her passion.

Steve Jobs - Founder of Apple computer, here is a 14min. clip of a 2005 commencement speech Steve Jobs gave that tells his story. He can tell his story better than me. Listen for the part where he says, "He trusted it would all work out"... because "IT" did! In fact he was fired from his own company, yet him and Apple are back on top. **WARNING, THIS CLIP COULD AND MAY CHANGE YOUR LIFE** (right click and you'll be able to open the clip in a seperate window) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1R-jKKp3NA

Tom Cruise - Tom and his family grew up very poor. They traveled allot and he never spent much time in one school. Tom struggled with dyslexia growing up and never did well in school. He put his attention on sports until a knee injury derailed his hopes of an athletic career. He joined a monastery thinking priesthood was what he wanted but that was not for him. Although he had acted in a few plays in high school he had no formal training. With determination and his mothers support he decided to pursue an acting career and you know how that turned out.

And the list goes on and on and on and ... you get the point.

One of the problems I see is that our school system doesn't support the idea of living your passion and following your heart. Thank goodness for college drop outs like Bill Gates and Kanye West, who follow their dreams and change the world. I'm Not advising that kids drop out of school, I am suggesting there should be a class, as early as 1st grade, where children are taught to discover their passion in life, to listen to and follow their hearts and then to make a good living doing whatever it is they're born to do. This process should be repeated all the way through college. Instead of this ideal we get trapped early in life working for a paycheck. We get stuck. As time goes on we get more discouraged and start to believe we can't make a living doing what we love and that is not true; we've just never been taught how. The book Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki is a great book that helps people deal with the fear of failure, how to build wealth and how to avoid being trapped in what Robert calls "the rat race".

Learning to find your path and live your passion:

If all of this makes sense so far but you are just confused to what you're really meant to do in life OR you know but you need the courage, confidence and know how to live it; here are some answers:

1. Ask questions -Turn off the T.V. or radio and ask yourself:

What do I love to do? What excites me?

If I new I couldn't fail what would I attempt to do?

What would I be willing to do for free?

What has happened in my life that I could help others learn from?

What business owner, actor, singer politician or leader do I admire and respect?

When you ask these questions listen in peace and quiet to the answer and then write it down, With Out Judgement! Write down whatever comes to mind. Don't question your answer, don't judge your answer and in no way limit yourself ...Just Write.

2. Take the passion test - Yup there is a test:

The test was created by Chris and Janet Atwood. They created a test to help you find your true passions in life and they have written a life changing book called, take a guess,... The Passion Test (did you guess right?) The test is easy and fun and the book is amazing with stories and suggestions to help you. Here is the link to their website where you can take the test and buy the book. http://www.thepassiontest.com/

3. Go to a seminar - Invest in yourself:

People will go to college and spend thousands but someone says "Seminar" and some people will think your crazy. In my experience I have learned a lot more about myself, life, and business at a 2 day or 4 day seminar then in four years 0f college. You heard me mention in my last message how amazing the "Life Directions" seminar by T Harv Eker and his company Peak Potentials is and that is just one of many created to help you live to your full potential. Below is that link one more time. The "Life Directions" workshop is amazing and it helps thousands of people find their passion in life and their life Mission. You will learn, grow and change for the better in a very fun and very supportive environment. There are many other companys that offer workshops like these, but these are the only ones I have personally experienced but take my word they're life altering.

http://www.secretsofthemillionairemind.com/a/?wid=472916

The End and Now it's Time For Action:

You have heard why it's important to do what you love to do and live a life of passion. I have shared with you stories of people who have overcome obstacles to make their dreams come true and I have given you tools to do the same. Unfortuneately words and resources alone will not help you or change your life but the action you take because of those words and resources will! SO What are You Waiting For?? Get up, get out and get busy. Go live your dreams!

***I leave you with this one last quote, It's powerful. I don't know the Author but here it is, the truth: "We Don't Succeed In spite of Our Obstacles and Challenges, We Succeed Because of Them."***

Write me and give me your feed back I would love to hear your ideas, how your living your passions or just thoughts on this weeks message.

Peace & Prosperity,

Dallas M Cyr

My Message to the world...

Don't Worry, Be Happy!

First, if your worried that means that you're concerned about the future outcome of something and doing that will only increase the chances of having a negative result. Two, worry is an emotion rooted in fear. Fear will not serve you. Some people think fear is a motivator and that it causes some people to take action. The action you may take might serve you, but that same action could also be taken with out the worry or fear. Third, worry is a choice! Never fool yourself into thinking you have no control over your emotions. Lastly, if you're worried that means you're not "present". You're not in the moment, instead your brain is jumping ahead to the "what if", the future, rather than being in the moment.

Next time you find yourself in a place of worry or fear...take action. I dare you to try and worry plus take action at the same time, it's impossible. What do I mean by take action? Take "right" action; something that will move you forward. Start writing a top ten list of your favorite things to do on a beautiful summer day or 5 goals you wish to accomplish this year and really give thought to what your passionate about. You could also watch a funny movie or put on some uplifting music, read a good book, go to the gym etc...

Here is an action you can take...WORK. Whenever I was down or worried about an outcome, a mentor of mine always told me, "work don't whine". As a financial advisor just starting out years ago I had some pretty discouraging days and my mentor would tell me to make phone calls to clients and prospective clients, and I would feel better. Of course it would be the last thing I wanted to do, but I knew he was right. Afterwards I always felt better, no matter what the outcome because while I was making calls the worry was gone and when I was done there was always something positive I could take away from what I did. Even if it was something small, like one of the people I spoke to was nice and gave me permission to call back

Worry is fruitless and life is meant to be fruitful at all times!

I attended a personal development workshop recently called "Life Directions" and to sum it up it's a very powerful workshop intended to help you find your mission or "Direction" in life. One of the exercises had us write a poem or song expressing what we feel is our message to the world. Here is my song, can you name that tune:

"Here's a little song I wrote, I'd like to sing it note for note
say don't worry, be happy.
Fear is nothing but anticipation of pain, don't let negative thoughts poison your brain
so don't worry, be happy.
for when you live your mission it's true, the vision of your life will come to you
so don't worry, be happy.
Don't worry about the "how" cause worry's bad for your health
and all it ever does is stagnate your wealth,
so don't worry, be happy"

I hope that you enjoyed reading my blog and received some value from this message. Please submit your comments I welcome your feed back. Also, if attending life changing seminars and workshops where you can learn more about living "Worry Free" and live to your full potential, is of interest to you, just click on the link provided below.

http://www.secretsofthemillionairemind.com/a/?wid=472916

Peace and prosperity,

Dallas M. Cyr