When Life Hits a Bump

When Life Hits A Bump - guest article by Trevor Emdon

There's an old Chinese saying that goes, "The road before you is clear. Why, then, do you throw rocks in your own path?"

Good old sages! They think they're so smart. (Well, they were, probably). But regardless of how they got there, those rocks and bumps in the road still have to be navigated until we learn to stop throwing them! If indeed we turn out to be the rock thrower at all!

So what do you do when life hits a bump? As I see it, you've got a handful of choices. Which do you choose most often?

a) You throw your toys out of the pram and protest loudly that your life just isn't working.

b) You seek all the sympathy you can milk from it.

c) You retreat for a while into quiet contemplation until a new solution pops up.

d) You seek out someone who's overcome a similar bump and ask them how they did it.

I imagine we both know quite a few people who'd opt for a) and/or b). They, of course, won't only not solve your problems, they'll just give you high blood pressure and perhaps even earn you the label "loser" for your reputation. But since you're reading this post, I can safely assume that a) or b) wouldn't be your choices.

I freely admit I used to choose those. The world had to conform to my ideas or it was wrong! All I had to do was persuade about five billion, nine hundred and ninety nine thousand, nine hundred and nine other people to see things my way, and I was home and dry!

These days, I'm more mellow and less proud. Perhaps that's because I have less time left than I had when I was young and impetuous. If I'm going to get the world moving, I finally realised I don't have to reinvent the wheel.

It's not only not shameful to ask for help. It's a requirement if you're going to live to your fullest. You simply don't have time to solve all of life's tribulations on your own if you're ever going to fulfill your dreams. Option c) is certainly useful and will sometimes work. But option d) is where I'd go first.

You can find such help from books, maybe a Youtube video or another website, or, of course, a real live coach.

But until we get to Chinese sage-hood, I'd remind you of one important thing. Both you and I have less time left than we did yesterday.


About the author: Trevor Emdon, aka the "Wizard of Wisdom" writes and creates, (from his very soul), self help and law of attraction programs, such as "Stop Worrying And Grow Rich" (http://tinyurl.com/yacj92n) one of his most popular, as it is about how to attract money.

Career change resources - using social media

Here are some useful links to information on how to use social media for your career change.

1) Improving Your Job Search Through Social Networking: http://bit.ly/2NiEvK

2) CNN Money writes "Facebook your way to a new job?" http://su.pr/AVzCHg

3) Three Tips for Social Media Management: http://su.pr/1aixlx

4) Article about someone getting a job through Twitter: http://bit.ly/uxzQh

5) Great advice on tweeting for job seekers: http://ow.ly/vFUm

6) Two lazy LinkedIn invitations that can Burn Bridges: http://ow.ly/vukz

7) What you say online IS your personal brand! http://su.pr/1iGGBR

8) 100 Twitter feeds to help you land a job: http://bit.ly/r1cF8

9) Book - "How to Find a Job on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, and Other Social Networks" by Brad and Debra Schepp. http://tinyurl.com/yhxt6eh

10) Top 3 Reasons People Don’t Use Social Media for Job Search: http://ow.ly/zQJZ


Follow me on Twitter for more career resources, tips and quotes! http://twitter.com/MyCoachJackie

Have a great weekend!

Jackie

Coaching Resources - the 3 levels of coaching

Coaches - what do our clients want from us? Sometimes the brief is straightforward –a client wants a job promotion or to de-clutter their house, and we will work with them to find a technique that they can use and to develop a plan of the steps they need to take.

But so often there is more to it than that, and our clients actually have deeper needs, which they may not have realised or articulated, and which require different interventions than pure goal setting. The client may have fears around achieving the promotion and the clutter in the house may be a symptom of some other issues. The coach who focuses solely on having the client set some goals and feels a failure when this doesn’t happen or the client subsequently takes no action, may have missed the ‘other stuff’ – the area that I call ‘coaching for the soul’. My coaching supervisor once described this as the columns supporting the bridge that spans the gap between where the client is and where he or she wants to be. Nice analogy!

I discuss this with all the coaches I mentor – it is so important! In his book Supercoach, Michael Neill writes about the three levels of change. When I read this, I realised that this elegantly explains what I have been talking about in the mentoring sessions and applying in my own coaching.

Michael calls level one ‘traditional’ coaching and it’s about ‘change in a specific situation’ or getting ready for a particular event. This can be straightforward goal setting: to succeed at a job interview, run a marathon or communicate a difficult message to a member of staff. Coaching at this level may be structured around the GROW model, and the result is the client having a step-by-step plan for getting from A to B (building the bridge), and/or a specific technique for a specific situation.

Level two involves working in a specific life area, such as sales, presentation skills or confidence. The client will take away a range of strategies, and maybe increased skills, which can then be applied throughout that area so they are more effective and successful in a variety of situations.

Level three is my ‘coaching for the soul’ level, which Michael Neill has named ‘global change’. This level involves transformation for the client; new perspectives and different ways of seeing themselves. The client will be exploring the way they are being in the world, and their relationship with themselves. It’s this work - which brings about personal insights, increased self-awareness, and a shifting of beliefs - that can be truly life changing, which will have a long lasting, profound effect on every area of the client’s life.

Why do I think it is so important to understand these different levels? Firstly, to be aware that clients have different requirements – some will just have a clearly defined goal and require an action plan, and that’s fine; others do need to deal with the obstacles and limiting self-beliefs. Secondly, it is so that coaches can see that they haven’t failed if a client leaves without a tangible goal – the new self-knowledge they have gained may be of much more value to them and will have an ongoing, positive impact on their lives, and those around them.