When I am coaching I like to take my clients backwards and then forwards to their future. I invite them to enter a virtual time machine: my coaching ‘Tardis’ if you like – and I first invite them to seize the controls and take it back 10 years. And then I ask them, “How would you have introduced yourself ten years ago? What are you doing? Where are you living?’ What do you want for yourself ten years on? How would you describe your life looking forwards 10 years?”

And then I bring them back to the present moment. This useful first step helps people to see the difference between their aspirations and their reality. They are able to reconnect with their ideals and their ambitions – and to reflect on where their choices have led them. 

Then I invite them to travel forwards, to 10 years into the future. I ask: ‘What is your life like? Where are you living? How do things look? Who are you associating with? Do you own any properties? What car do you drive? Is there anything that you would like to do in the next 10 years? Anything you would like to be? Anything you would like to have?’ 

For some people the aims will be value-driven and idealistic; for others, material gain will be important; and others will be planning to have children and build a family. There are no right or wrong answers – this is simply a powerful way to get people to think about and really focus on what they would want in the future. 

To achieve anything in life you need adopt the right behaviours. 

Everything we Think affects what we Say and what we Do. Everything we Do will depend on who we truly want to Be. By adjusting our thinking so that we are living as if our future is happening NOW – we will adjust the decisions that we make on a daily basis – and are much more likely to make that goal a reality. 

I always say that if you get the Do and the Be right, the Have should follow. 

As Steven Covey says ‘Begin with the end in mind’ 

TIME TRAVELLER’S TIPS FOR SETTING YOUR GOALS FROM THE FUTURE: 

1. Be clear, clarity is the key to success. Know what you want and why you want it.

Many goals are not achieved because they are too vague. ‘I want to go on holiday next year’ is unlikely to become a reality. Other questions need to be asked to gain clarity: Where? With whom? To do what? For how much? When?

Africa? Great. But where in Africa? An adventure holiday? Sounds lovely – but what kind of adventure? If you get stuck – get some advice. Talk to people. In the case of a holiday it could be advice from a travel guide, a web page or a travel agent; in the case of a business start-up it may mean joining Business Link or speaking to others in the same industry as you. Once you know why and where you are going – then you can take the actions necessary to get you there.

2. Dream big, reach for the moon if you don’t reach the moon at least you may land among the stars.

Dreams will only become reality if you take steps to turn them into practical actions. Taking action takes time and planning: and it takes no more time to plan a big outcome than a small one. So – when you are mapping your vision – take it as wide and broad as you can imagine it to be. See how large your comfort zone is at present and where it might extend to in the future. Decide where you are aiming for now – but keep your future possibilities in view too.

Thinking back to that African adventure: you might begin with a package tour to the Gambia but have in mind a train ride across the whole continent. Anything is possible if you begin to live as if your future is happening now.

3. Create a vision board with everything that represents your end goal, pictures, power words and phrases.

The mind is stimulated by all our senses. Images, words, sounds, flavours, touch – all of these will reinforce the messages we send to our brain. Africa becomes more tangible if you start to surround yourself with images, music, foods, patterns and fabrics from the region. A business dream will become more of a reality if you begin to read business magazines, watch business programmes, put images of the material goals that you want to achieve on your wall, have your business plan on your wall – and so on.

Whatever your personal dream or vision – surround yourself with whatever inspires you to achieve it. Change it over time so that it is always current and reflecting the true nature of your ambitions. As the saying goes: ‘Be careful what you wish for – you might just get it!’

4. Imagine you are being interviewed for a TV show or magazine after you have achieved your goal. The interviewer asks you, how you did it. What attitudes and behaviours contributed to your success?

Each of us is a ‘self’ expert. We know our strengths and our weaknesses. It can be helpful to do a stock check of skills to see what is driving you forward and what is holding you back. Are your fears getting in your way? Face them head on and if necessary get some professional advice or training in that areas. You will be surprised at how quickly the getting of experience can make fears a thing of the past.  My friend and mentor Peter Thomson once asked me the following questions, why not ask yourself right now….

What do you need to START doing?

Take action? Set achievable goals? Monitor your progress? Seek advice? Get a makeover? Get a mentor? 

What do you need to STOP doing?

Procrastinating? Living in the past? Having regrets? Blaming others? Putting yourself down? 

What do you need to do LESS of?

Spending? Watching TV? Eating junk food? Putting everyone else’s needs ahead of your own? 

What do you need to do MORE of?

Networking? Socialising? Saving money? Planning? Taking action? 

5. Identify who can help you and who you may need to avoid

People are more willing to help others to achieve their goals than you may imagine. If you know someone who has the skills to help you – approach them and ask them for their advice. Find a mentor, who can help you in an objective way, and will shortcut your route to success. Identifying who you need to avoid can be one of the trickier ones. Are there people close to you who undermine your ambitions? Who are happy to have you stay the way you are because a change would threaten their status quo? At the end of the day, the only person who knows what is right for you – is you. Others will catch up with you eventually if they care about you. Be brave, follow your dreams and start living today as if they are already a reality. 

Now -  step back inside that time machine and think back from the future to the first thing you did that set you on the right track towards your goal. What was it? Be very clear and precise about it and see yourself doing it. 

Begin it now and take the first step into a future you can be proud of.

Written by Bev James, Managing Director The Coaching Academy

Earlier this year, the world’s first ‘virtual divorce’ thrust an intriguing debate into the limelight when Amy Taylor ‘divorced’ husband David Pollard after she discovered him cavorting with a prostitute in virtual reality game Second Life. The couple spent so much time playing the game, that when she found him at the computer watching his 3D character having sex, she considered his online infidelity as real as if it had taken place in the bricks and mortar world.

Sceptics view dealings in such online games as a poor substitute for ‘real life’ interactions. Yet the impact of virtual worlds cannot be underestimated. So far, over 15m people have established avatars in Second Life alone, with membership increasing by around 70,000 people a day. In June 2009, market research firm Strategy Analytics predicted global membership of virtual worlds would increase from 186 million today to 640 million by 2015 (as reported in Virtual Worlds News).

That’s a staggering one hundred million people per year, creating characters for entertainment, engagement and business. Online multiplayer gaming such as Xbox LIVE is also increasing in popularity, allowing people from across the globe to interact in real-time. We’ve even seen the first ‘virtual murder’; a Japanese piano teacher was recently arrested on suspicion of killing her ‘virtual husband’ after becoming enraged when he divorced her unexpectedly in an internet game.

This explosion of growth raises some interesting questions about the nature of relationships in cyberspace – and virtual worlds are just one part of the ever-expanding, sophisticated world we inhabit online. From Match.com to mysinglefriend®, Sugardaddie.com to ratemybody.com, the digital environment plays cupid for a vast array of relationships. To some extent, email and texts have replaced the love letter, instant messaging has become a substitute for telephone calls and social networking is now key to social contact. These days, we’re just as likely to give potential dates a poke on Facebook, Skype Chat them up or tweet sweet nothings to attract their attention.

Clearly, many of us now view the internet as crucial to modern-day communication –and not just in our personal and social lives. From a professional perspective, the web – and Web 2.0 in particular – has fundamentally changed the way we do business.

The way we meet and interact online with people from across the globe is now myriad, and for every sort of reason known to humankind, including love, lifestyle, social interaction, sex, friendship, and business. With over 40 million members, business networking tool LinkedIn demonstrates the internet’s importance to how we make successful contacts, while socially and for business we meet people and connect on Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and the like, and we use email and instant messaging for work just as much as in our private lives.

In marketing and media terms, the explosion of online communications has come as both a blessing and a challenge. In publishing, it’s little surprise that media use via the Internet is displacing traditional forms such as printed newspapers. In the developed world, we now get an increasing amount of our news and entertainment online, and education via mobile phones has really started to take off in developing worlds, such as Africa, a trend that is bound to increase the following the landing of the fibre-optic undersea cable at Mombasa on the East African coast earlier this year.

Marketers continue to spend more online than on traditional channels – . As we discuss in ‘WTF Can Social Media do for Your Business?’, Forrester Research’s recent five year forecast predicted that by 2014, 21% of marketing spend in the US will be on interactive tools and services. Overall advertising in traditional media will continue to decline in favour of more effective online methods – with social media, email and search highlighted for particular growth. Basically, if your business isn’t using these tools (or you haven’t got time to implement them properly, in which case talk to us) you are going to lose out because we now truly live in the world of the virtual consumer, where most purchasing decisions are oinfluenced by what peers say online.

As BazaarVoice reports:

•  Online social network users were three times more likely to trust their peers’ opinions over advertising when making purchase decisions. (”Social Networking Sites: Defining Advertising Opportunities in a Competitive Landscape,” JupiterResearch, March 2007)
•  Two thirds of UK social networkers (66 per cent) are more likely to buy a product as a result of a recommendation, compared to 52 per cent of non-social networkers. (Royal Mail’s Home Shopping Tracker Study, September 2007)

These stats are even more important now than when they were discovered two years ago because 2009 was the year that social media truly went mainstream, allowing people to do what makes them feel most comfortable – trusting people ‘like them’:

•  One small e-retailer, AlpacaDirect.com, found that letting customers post reviews directly onto the site led to a 23 per cent increase in sales on reviewed items.
•  Customers who browse ‘Top Rated Products’ pages spent 19 per cent more per order on Bass Pro Shops’ site and 63 per cent more per order from PETCO, according to data provided by the retailers.
•  Another PETCO number: allowing shoppers to sort products within a category by customer rating led to a sales increase of 41 per cent per shopper.

We only need consider our sphere of influence when making purchasing decisions. We research online, bank online, shop online, book holidays online. From branded emails and online customer service to consumer feedback, staff training and social media activities, brands have countless opportunities to form relationships and start a two-way dialogue in new and often unexpected ways. And not just from our laptops, computers and mobile-enabled netbooks either.

As I reported in 2007 in WTF magazine, the Japanese have long been using mobile phones to make purchases using virtual currency, and the trend has continued and expanded with iPhone apps like Redlaser, which allows you to scan a barcode and tells you whether you can get it cheaper elsewhere, as well as, apparently:

• Check online prices for a DVD player.
• Scan films at the store and beam them to your TiVo.
• Scan a book and check for reviews.
• Scan the milk and add it to your grocery list

Ok, yes, that is US-side, but increasingly t rends are global, not just US based, and the swing in power and influence from West to East is becoming ever more marked as we move in to the 21st century. For marketers such as ourselves who ride the trends and tap into the zeitgeist, the possibilities are endless – and a lot can be achieved, even globally, with minimal budgets so long as you are clever and consistent. Built around two similar sounding words, the recent ‘Compare the Meerkat’ campaign used an effective and quirky viral concept to boost brand awareness, drive traffic and enable cost-effective search. A series of excellent digital executions include YouTube clips, a Facebook page and amusing Twitter feed, along with a full spoof microsite. The campaign’s success is evidence that by adopting an integrated approach driven by personality, brands can maximise the potential for engagement.

For charities too, the online world has tremendous power to influence through the ability to form relationships with people on an individual basis, on a mass scale. In essence, so-called ‘virtual interactions’ can make a real tangible difference to people’s daily lives. By using Twitter as a driving force for event organisation and providing information on Facebook pages and Vimeo’s video community, Twestival was able to provide clean water for over 17,000 people earlier this year. This is just one of many examples of social media’s power to drive change by appealing for people to join together.

It’s clear that in developed and developing countries, the online world has penetrated every part of our existence. From Facebook to LinkedIn, email to ICQ, all are controlled by real people, with real feelings, instincts and motives. Our lives and relationships are a complex series of online and offline interactions – and we can no longer see the virtual and real worlds as separate spheres operating independently. We live our lives in a post-digital age; the Internet is no longer an alien concept to be dabbled with on occasion, but something that pervades our entire lives from top to bottom.

My eldest, for example, was home with period pains recently while I was working in London. I wasn’t physically present, but I might as well have been as she maintained a constant conversation with me and whinge at me pretty much on an ongoing basis… How? Via Facebook, of course, and MSN on our two netbooks.

And the rise of reality TV in all genres, for example, is a guilty pleasure that is doubled when, like immediately following Xfactor last night, when the whole nation landed on to Social Media simultaneously (all the main terms were trending on Twitter within minutes) to discuss it, debate and rant about it, and, most importantly, make sure their views were very clearly heard by Simon Cowell!

Degrees of separation? No, we’re heading for total integration, as virtual and real come together and blend to make one multi-dimensioned world.

Written by Claire Burdett – The Media Marketing Co

If you find people glazing over at networking events when you tell them “I’m a coach“, you haven’t found your coaching niche. When you find it, and you tell people what you do, their eyes will light up and they’ll say “That’s me! I need some of that!” or at least “I know someone else who needs some of that!”. And you’ll get work as a result.

Many coaches have heard of the benefits of clearly defining their coaching niche, and yet so many are afraid to narrow down the group of people they work with, for fear of losing potential work. Well here are 4 good reasons why defining your niche will get you more, not less work.:

1. If you want clients, you need a marketing strategy. This means you need to build relationships with potential clients, and if you try to appeal to everybody, you’ll appeal to no one. Once you identify the group of people you want to work with, and the problems they have, they’ll say “that’s me!” when they hear you talk, or see your marketing material. And you’ve taken the first step in building the relationship.

2.  You want potential clients to take action after they read your website, or other marketing material. If you can demonstrate you’re an expert in their problem, they’re far more likely to answer your call to action if they feel you are the best person to help them. You can’t be an expert in everything, choose your niche area and become “the xxx coach”

3. If you know who you want to attract, you can start to go where they go, and this means you can find out what their problems are, and start to provide solutions that they need, NOT what you think they want ( a common mistake made by so many coaches).

4. Once you define your niche, do some research and check it’s a viable one: if you get this right then marketing becomes easy. And who doesn’t want that?

There are so many good reasons to define your coaching niche and not a single one I can think of not to. So have a brainstorm, get some ideas down on paper, and make the decision to decide on yours.

By Nic Bird

Life Coach Jenifer Harper shares her thoughts on why, NOW, at the age of 70, she decided to take up the idea of becoming a Professional Coach…

Dear Kris 

Just some thoughts, some more connected than others, on why, NOW, I decided to take up the idea of being a Professional Coach. 

First thought:  the Free Two Day course attracted me because I was, just past 70, at yet another point of change and thought I could use what was on offer to realign and focus some of my urgent options that were still a bit hazy and indeed felt overwhelming.   There isn’t a point at which life stops offering choices, or barriers, and it’s daft to get old without getting crafty.  It takes better technique to cope with obstacles and after a rather long life planning mostly for others it seemed a good point to spend some of that thinking-time on me. 

So I came along just for the stimulation, to pick up some tips, but the revelation over the two days was that here was something I recognised as already potentially in place.  In the exercises we did together, in twos, or threes,  I got such positive feedback from my fellow potential coaches that I thought, “Yes, this is using stuff I’ve done, or experienced, in a new, fresh way, that lets me support and stimulate others without having to go over, or even refer to, my personal life experience.”  I have absolutely no experience at all of business but one of the exercises, working on someone’s business plan, showed me how powerful the GROW method is, and how even in unpractised hands it can clearly work, and help.   

Not all of us more senior students have boundless energy and fitness and one of the most powerful side-effects of working through the study materials, the DVDs and the Accelerator Days, has been a huge boost of positivity.  This comes from recognising how much of the thinking chimes in with parts of one’s life that one has, frankly, forgotten, or never properly evaluated.  We just don’t give ourselves enough credit; achievements can slide out of mind, and one of the most attractive elements of coaching for me is the joy of reflecting back to someone else just how much he or she has already done, and can do.  It’s good to be listened to attentively by someone without any agenda save that of coaching you to use your own capacities to the full and achieve that dream.  

Have I mentioned that it is also fun?  And that I can do it sitting down?  And that the Coaching Academy, like my fellow aspiring coaches, seems totally age-blind?  

True, there is a great deal to study and absorb, and put into practice, as there should be when preparing to lend a hand with someone else’s life and dreams.  It’s a serious job with so much potential, and other coaches are generous with their time both as Coach and Coachee.  I think what I enjoy most is the feeling of doing something useful that looks forward to success, for my client, of course, and deep satisfaction for me. 

I hadn’t expected to find a niche that feels such a good fit and also offers a realistic opportunity for varied work on a professional basis. 

Jenifer Harper

Kris Robertson, UK’s leading Coach Mentor/Supervisor and Operations Director of The Coaching Academy shares his top 5 Coaching Questions:-

 1.  What else? 

For me probably THE most powerful of questions.  The beauty is both in its simplicity and the suggestion in the question that there IS something else.  Far more powerful than the closed version ”Is there anything else?” which I often hear on practical assessment calls.  The difference simply that the ‘What’ prompts the brain to search and find, whereas the ‘Is there’ results in either a ‘Yes’ or a ‘No’, often with very little need for thought.  Repetition of this question yields the best results. 

2.  If you could wave a magic wand? 

A fantastic way to bypass any obstacles the client may have in mind when considering the options available to them.  Great for clients who often edit their options or who struggle thinking of a range of different possible ways to approach their goal. 

3.  Tell me about a time in which you have completed something similar to this before. 

A great question to help the client identify the strategies they have used previously which have been successful from which you can then ask ‘What went well?’, ‘What did you learn as a result of this?’, ‘How might you go about things differently this time?’ etc.  Really useful to help your client identify the evidence that they have that they CAN be successful this time.  Avoid closing this question down by asking ‘Have you ever…?’ 

4.  What will be the impact of things staying the same? 

A challenging question which helps your client consider the implications of not taking any action.  Helping raise their awareness and increase their motivation to take action in order to avoid the consequences of inertia.  Also a useful question to ask as occasionally it helps a client realise that actually, they don’t want the outcome they have suggested enough, or they are content with their current situation.

 5.  What have you learned from this session? 

I always think it is a positive and professional way to end a coaching session with a ‘wisdom-accessing’ question along these lines.  Plus, as an assumptive, it suggests that the client HAS learned something.  For me, it then makes it far easier to finish by asking for a referral or booking my client in for a further package of coaching sessions once they have had an opportunity to talk through the fantastic outcomes they have taken away from the session. 

Happy Coaching!

Mark Lane seeks advice on selling your goods and services to potential customers with help from Chamber members. As a junior journalist working on trade magazine more than a decade ago, I was once asked to accompany one of the advertising sales team -let’s call him Jeremy – on a ‘pitch’ to a prospective client – who we shall call Mr X.

This was, potentially, a major booking and it was hoped that my presence – a member of the editorial team – would show Mr X how serious we were about his business.
We arrived at Mr X’s office and Jeremy began a long and rambling pitch as to whyMr X should book a series of adverts with the magazine. Ten minutes in, Mr X began to
look bored. He tried to chip in with some questions but Jeremy evaded them. He clearly had his own agenda and wasn’t going to budge from it. Sensing this, Mr X switched
off completely. Then, after 15 minutes, he sat up, called an abrupt halt to the meeting, and asked us both to leave. Bizarrely, Jeremy continued with his presentation, seemingly oblivious to outside interference. Eventually, in what was one of the more surreal incidents of my publishing career, myself and Mr X had to usher Jeremy out the door, virtually man-handling him.

Now, I’m a writer by trade but even I know there are better ways of pitching to a client than this. In the pressure to earn his commission, Jeremy broke every rule in the book. But how could he have handled this situation differently? And more generally, what is the most effective way of making a lasting impression on a client or audience?

Heather Martin is a business development executive with Datek Solutions. They provide Synergy services in the UK. Like many companies, she uses Thames Valley Chamber events regularly as means of marketing her company. She says: “We use effective networking as part of our overall sales and marketing strategy. “However, giving an effective and memorable pitch at any networking event takes planning and practice. The biggest temptation is to always try to say too much – ignoring the often unwritten rule of exceeding the time allowance. This is unfair on the other contributors who have complied with this request – but can also backfire since it looks unprofessional and the audience in my experience, just switches off.”

Offering her own advice on making an effective pitch, Heather says: “I try to make my pitch memorable and sometimes even entertaining. The use of a prop is good, and always a help. It could be an up to date and accurate statistic, or a newsworthy topic that can link to your business product/service. Wherever possible, and appropriate you should incorporate a call to action. Most of all, you have to be yourself and be comfortable in the style which comes most naturally to you.”

To go back to our friend Jeremy for a moment, the biggest mistake he made for me was being completely oblivious to his client. Now he may well have taken this to extremes but this issue – the one of not really attempting to understand your audience – is a common mistake.

Ian Hewitt, a business development partner at Vantis, stresses the importance of researching your audience. “Know their likes and dislikes and tailor your presentation accordingly; for instance, not everyone loves PowerPoint,” he says. “Be flexible and adapt to client/prospect feedback during the pitch.”

Ian also suggests that AVpresentations are kept short and relevant to the client/prospect. “Give examples your audience can relate to,” he says. Ian’s suggestion on keeping things short and relevant is, in essence, textbook marketing. In an era when we all have so much information fighting for our attention, a long, rambling presentation will soon have an audience looking at their watch or taking a few sneaky glances at their Blackberries.

With this in mind Tim Holton, marketing manager with Uniq Systems, makes the case for the ‘elevator pitch.” He says: “In these times of potential information overload it is essential that sales messages are concise and resonant. The apocryphal tale of the shared elevator ride with the CEO presenting a chance for the enterprising person to present their credentials is now more relevant than ever. “Indeed the ‘elevator pitch’ becomes increasingly important when it is used as the basis of understanding for the entire value proposition. Chunking messages into manageable amounts so that they remain pertinent and important to the audience is the pre-requisite whether that is through face to face contact, marketing collateral or the various forms of presentation media and social networking channels.”

Okay, then. We’ve spoken of the need to understand your audience and to put over your message succinctly and in a palatable format. But how do you really engage with them – how do you grab their attention and keep it? How do you differentiate your business in a competitive field?

Performance coach Patrick Bird suggests engagement is key. Engagement, he argues, is as much about the delivery as the message itself. Let’s turn this question around then. How can you tell if your audience is becoming disengaged?

Patrick, a body language expert, says: “[a disengaged audience] will manifest itself in a number of ways; looking out of the window, checking their Blackberry, folded arms, crossed legs, hands moving to the face and head showing signs of frustration. Watch out for clusters of gestures that mean the audience are disengaged, folded arms may just mean they are cold!”

Finally, then, in terms of steps that can be taken to engage an audience, Patrick says: “Take a purposeful, upright and open stance; if you are going to use a gesture make it count, no loose hands or unnecessary movements that detract from your message. “Speak from the heart and not from the slides. Remember not to turn your back on the audience. Breathing from the diaphragm will help support your voice and changes in tone. “Be aware of signs that the audience are engaged through the questions they ask; the nodding of heads in agreement to points,  relaxed open body language – and, of course, a smile.”

Dorothy, an inspirational role model…let us learn from her…

In the book ‘Whispering in the Wind’ [John Grinder and Carmen Bostic St.Clair] the view is propounded that there are no preset beliefs or knowledge that are necessary for NLP to be effective and that the only true measure of NLP is whether or not it actually works.

Although Dorothy in “The Wizard of Oz” had absolutely no knowledge about NLP, her choice of action and the results she achieved demonstrate just how much more fulfilling life can be when the principles of NLP are applied. Her story is an outstanding example of many of the NLP presuppositions in action.

Of all the movies I have seen’ The Wizard of Oz’ is definitely one that stands out from all the rest. From an early age I have loved everything about this movie, the music, the magic the characters, the atmosphere and the overall good feeling. I still feel good simply by thinking about it.

When I was younger I enjoyed the film for all the reasons I have described however nowadays I enjoy it just as much, but in a different way. I now see that there is so much more to the movie than most people would first think.

The ‘Wizard of Oz’ is an inspirational story of vision, optimism, hope, belief and determination. It is a story that we can all learn much from.

Let us look at Dorothy’s story:

Dorothy found herself in a most awe inspiring situation. Her house had been blown away and she found herself in a strange land with no possessions except for her dog. Dorothy had to take responsibility and decide – to let the situation get her down, give up and feel sorry for herself or use the experience as a springboard to do something really amazing. Dorothy chose the latter option: she made the empowering choice to be courageous and to open her mind to all possibilities.

Dorothy met a good witch called Glinda who told her about a wizard who had the power to do many things.  His name was the Wizard of Oz. The good witch told Dorothy that she must follow the yellow brick road if she wanted to see him. Dorothy knew that if she really wanted to change her situation she must do something different from what she had ever done before.  She decided to set herself a clear goal which was to go to see the wizard.

Dorothy’s journey

Dorothy met three very unusual ‘characters ‘on her journey – a tin man who didn’t have a heart, a straw man without a brain and a lion with no courage. They had real issues. They did not feel very happy with the way they were and desperately wanted things to be better.  Dorothy understood their predicament  and had absolute respect for their ‘models’ of the world .They all went on the journey together.

On the way to see the Wizard, Dorothy and her three new friends encountered many obstacles but rather than becoming negative she learnt from the experiences and never ever gave up. Throughout the journey Dorothy proved to be a most inspiring and motivational role model. She  had  absolute clarity and certainty about what it was she wanted and what she visualised as her eventual outcome.  

Dorothy maintained a strong belief in herself and in the Wizard’s ability to help them find a way out of their situation, she firmly believed that the wizard would not let them down.

We must learn from Dorothy

Dorothy had many unique  resources already within her which came to the fore as a result of the situation in which she found herself She proved herself to an amazing communicator and understood that  everyone has a different ‘ map ‘of the world.  Dorothy was wonderful and wise, optimistic and open minded and had a zest for living. She also had a positive wizard to believe in and who gave her reassurance.

Dorothy is a true example of someone who knew exactly what her outcomes were, why she wanted to achieve them and who made empowering decisions to do whatever it took to achieve them. Dorothy had a positive attitude which gave her three companions the hope to carry on in their quest to find the Wizard She was entirely opened minded and flexible about everything she experienced.

Let us learn from the power of a Positive Wizard

 In the film ”The Wizard  of Oz” the wizard turned out to be just an ordinary person but  Dorothy , the lion  with no courage, the scarecrow  with no brains and the tin man  with no heart totally believed that he  could give them whatever they wanted . In reality the wizard simply empowered them to believe in themselves, find their inner strengths and do the best they possible could.                                                                                                                                                

Empowering lessons to be learnt

We must become aware of the amazing power of belief and the importance of having a positive wizard to inspire and empower our lives.

 Just like Dorothy, think of yourself as going on a journey the most amazing journey imaginable, the journey of your life, the journey that is your life. 

Remember that it is not what happens to you that matters but how you evaluate what happens to you, the decisions that you take and the choices that you make. Take a leaf from Dorothy and make positive and empowering choices which will enable you to obtain the outcome that you desire in every area of your life.

Was there a time when you once said ‘one day I am going to ….…’ and then didn’t get round to do whatever it was you said you were going to? Maybe that day has now come; when we set ourselves goals we face an interesting dilemma: do we make the goal small that it can be easily achieved or do we make it so large that it feels too big to conquer? When facing a career or lifestyle crossroads, there are numerous things to consider.

There are 4 cornerstones to job satisfaction:

1. Community – to feel that I am part of an interacting group
2. Worth – to feel that I am heard, appreciated and valued
3. Inspiration – to feel I am challenged and motivated into action
4. Growth – to feel that I am continually learning and developing

Mark each cornerstone out of 10 in terms of your current job satisfaction. What are the ratings telling you about what you need to do or where you need to go? It’s easy to forget the key principles of goal setting – even for those who are active in learning and development like trainers or coaches.

In selecting and defining our goals we should observe the 7 Wonders of Achievement:

1. Everything starts with a CONVERSATION and so the quality of that conversation determines everything. That first conversation might be with a boss, a prospective employer, a colleague, a friend or a loved one; or maybe it’s a conversation you need to have with yourself. “What conversation are you not having now that if you were to have could have a significant and positive impact on your life?”

2. Focussing on the benefits of the goal leads to a greater COMMITMENT and an unwavering determination to achieving goals. Patience, persistence and positivity can be a healthy mantra to add to the morning ritual. Abraham Lincoln experienced two failed businesses, a nervous breakdown and eight political defeats before becoming president of the United States in 1860.

3. An essential part of designing a goal is that it should present a CHALLENGE to the achiever. This is something trainers in The Coaching Academy will tell you a lot about on its coaching courses. If there is an insufficient level of challenge, motivation levels can dip; whilst if the goal is too overwhelming, panic can set in. So imagine a mid-point between ‘Comfort Zone’ and ‘Panic’ and ensure there is an element of ‘stretch’, so that you feel challenged although not overwhelmed.

4. The fourth wonder is the importance of visual stimuli and so a ROADMAP can aid navigation and provide landmarks to aim for. The insertion of rewards at each milestone can bolster motivation and increase the feel-good factor whilst breaking the journey into achievable chunks can reduce panic. Sometimes the path to the goal can be just as much fun as achieving the goal itself, if not more so.

5. Probably the most common appraisal and development tool in the corporate world is the SMART acronym. The goal should be specific; measurable; achievable; relevant; time-bound. No surprises here to include ‘Smart’ – the tool is a vital part of goal setting and acts as a great checklist.

6. The goal should be aligned to personal VALUES and also attuned to emotional needs. Without this alignment internal discord can weaken resolve and may lead to future conflict – internal and external. An example might be a person who values family time and chooses a career which involves frequent travel. Coach training courses at The Coaching Academy include a clear focus on goal alignment.

7. The greatest power a human being has is the POWER OF CHOICE and that we should never forget that there is nothing that we ever ‘have’ to do. You have the power of choice, doesn’t it feel great?

David Finney is managing director of The Energy of Conversation, a company dedicated to learning and improvement and providers of coaching & training services.

For more information, contact davidfinney@theenergyofconversation.co.uk

Coaching Academy graduate and Home and Office Organising Expert Rachael Ross helps people to escape from the clutter so they can get clarity on what they really want in life.

Being a Home and Office Organising Expert is a slightly unusual career and one that people seem fascinated by. Whenever I meet people for the first time they want to know what I do and usually, once I’ve told them, they say, ‘I (or my wife/my sister/my friend) could really do with your help!’

They usually ask me then how I became a Home and Office Organising Expert. In the beginning, I was never quite sure how to answer that question, other than to say that I really enjoyed helping people take control back from their possessions and seeing how their confidence and self-assurance improved as a result.

My interest in organising space really developed once I left Canada and moved to the UK (I was working for a Canadian airline and transferred to its London office). Growing up in Canada, I had been spoilt with the luxury of space: we had big homes with basements, plenty of garden space around the house and wide roads. My move to the UK soon made me realise how lucky I had been– suddenly, I was confronted with the space restrictions of a traditional terrace house shared with two flatmates.

After six years, the airline I was working for was in trouble – the office closed and I was laid off. It was time for a drastic change and I went back to college and studied fashion design. I began to really experience the benefits of getting organised. College was busy, stressful and so much more then colouring pretty pictures. My small flat was overrun with stuff – sewing patterns, sketchpads, a sewing machine, fabric, pens and anything that inspired my creativity. Unsurprisingly, my stress levels rose.

One day, I had a moment of inspiration and pulled everything out of the room, bought boxes, containers and labels and organised everything. The difference it made to my state of mind and to my study was amazing, especially as it resulted in a final mark of distinction. After college, I had my own jewellery business but the pull towards helping others to achieve the benefits of organising was too great and I started ‘Purely Peppermint’, so named because ‘the results will take your breath away’!

Quite soon after starting my business, I realised that the clutter and mess had little to do with the actual ‘stuff’ and more to do with clients’ internal issues. Around the same time, my mentor recommended coaching and the benefits it could bring my business. I looked into the various training courses and chose to embark on The Coaching Academy course.

I’ve found coaching to be such a great tool to have. It fits so perfectly into what I’m doing. When a client is struggling with getting rid of a particular item,
for example, we can explore why that is and free up any unhealthy connections with the clutter.

One of my personal goals for all my clients is to do so much more than de-clutter. I want them to learn better habits so they can stay organised, be able to let go of the guilt and fear that is so often associated with clutter and to be able to move forward with their businesses, relationships, and lives.

My working day varies quite a bit: it all depends on whether it is a writing day and I am in the office, conducting a telephone consultation or visiting clients. When I am visiting a client’s home or office there is not always a typical session but there are themes that run though a de-clutter day. We start off by having a chat, (coaching session) during which we investigate the problems. We examine how the clutter and disorganisation is affecting them, how their home or office became so messy and their reasons for wanting to do something about it now. From that information, we set goals and get stuck in with clearing and organising a space.

At the beginning of Purely Peppermint, I was only involved with one to one de-cluttering at a client’s home. Now with coaching, I lead training courses, offer telephone consultations and am currently writing a book on how best to work from home. Coaching has enabled me to expand myself and my business in so many more ways than I ever thought possible.

By Rachael Ross
Rachael Ross of Purely Peppermint is a Coaching Academy graduate who specialises in helping people organise their home or office through coaching, hands-on help and training. For more information you can visit her website at www.Purelypeppermint.com or email her at office@purelypeppermint.com.

I have been seconded from my role as student counsellor until the end of the year. If,  this new service to students is successful, there is the strong likelihood my position will be made permanent.

What an opportunity for me to demonstrate the benefits of coaching!

In the main I am seeing PHD and Masters students who present with difficulties in time management, self discipline and unnecessary distractions. Social networking seems to have a lot to answer for!

My typical day starts with me arriving at work at around 8.30am. I check my emails and respond to the enquiries from students wishing to know about my service. This can be a simple enquiry like “Can you tell me what Personal Performance & Development Coaching involves?” Or “Help! Save me from my PHD!”

I have an information sheet and Registration Form I send out to students.

My first coaching appointment is at 9.30am and as my service is a new one, I am seeing around four students a day for Intake sessions. This takes on average an hour. I tend to see students on a fortnightly basis.

There are thirteen Residential Colleges within the University of Otago and many of the Residential wardens are keen to meet with me to talk about how coaching can benefit their students. I will be “making the rounds” over the next few weeks to discuss how my approach to coaching undergraduate and post graduate students can support students to set powerful goals and commit to realistic action plans. I have been approached by our Maori Centre counsellor and the Pacific Island Centre administrator to explore how I may meet the specific needs of these students.

By lunch time, I am likely to have seen three students who present with a whole range of areas in which they feel coaching would help them. Poor time management and life/study balance are popular areas in which students plan to make changes.

Most students come motivated to change, some come expecting me to do the work for them. University students are a fascinating client group to work with, as not only are they trying to do well at university, they are in the process of developing from adolescents into the adults they want to become.

I tend to see two students after lunch and spend the rest of my working day with administration work.

My work is challenging, exciting and rewarding.

Brian Johnston
Personal Performance & Development Coach
University of Otago
New Zealand.

I can be contacted by email at brian.johnston@otago.ac.nz