Posts Tagged ‘discovery’

Bruno

Pepper

Today, my dogs got out and they bolted! They took off into the hillside to chase some deer and I didn’t see them again for 3 hours. They came back thirsty, tired and smelling of rosemary (which is better than they smelled when they left). They are totally fine. But, I wasn’t. I was beside myself with worry and rearranged my schedule to attempt to find them. And I learned some things.

• Sometimes, you just have to run yourself silly after your dreams even if you can’t catch them. It’s all about the thrill of the chase, the exhilaration and what you experience and learn about on the way.
• Sometimes, you need to jump up and take advantage of an opportunity immediately or it will run off without you and you might not get it back. When my dogs broke out of the house (yes, broke out – one of them can open unlocked doors), I saw them make a break for it. I chased after them for about 5 minutes and then I gave up. I could see where they were on the hillside and I was going to be late for a conference call, so I went and called in. By the time I got back outside with my phone, they had disappeared and disappeared good.
• Sometimes it is better to be late or to reschedule than to let your life get all out of proportion. Instead of being late or canceling my call, I toughed it out for a while – while my dogs ran unsupervised through the hills. If you give up (after 5 minutes), it will make catching up later a lot harder. I searched for them for an hour in the hills after that, to no avail.
• Searching, worrying and running all over the place telling everyone you know that you need help doesn’t always yield results. In this case, I finally ended up coming home and getting on the phone with a client and my dogs just walked back into the house like nothing had happened that a long drink of water and a good long nap couldn’t fix.
• Sometimes a long drink of water and a good, long nap is exactly what is needed.
• The biggest lesson here for me is about being busy and active and taking action. I’m always the girl who takes action and takes care of business. If there is a problem, I’m going to fix it. What I am realizing is that many things don’t need to be fixed or worked on, but left to sort themselves out (like teenagers). Sometimes, it is more important to have faith that things can and will work themselves out without my input and that my most important contribution is to make sure there is a safe, loving environment to land in when the day is done.
• And, finally, gratitude. I am grateful that my dogs are home, that my husband is safely delivered to NYC, that my kids are all tucked in their beds and that my life is good. I am grateful for all my friends and neighbors that were real and sympathetic and supportive and told me the truth rather than what they thought I wanted to hear. I am grateful for these lessons today, because I am sure I will need them one day when the stakes are higher.

I was totally inspired when I watched this. Dave’s enthusiasm is captivating. I loved his honesty about his failures and what he learned along the way. It calls me to step up into my life and do bigger work than I am doing!

It seems like it is the eternal quest of mankind to search out the meaning of life. The first step is to search for, find, or define the purpose of your life. A fine point here is that there is no right answer any more than there is a wrong one. The meaning of your life is what you say it is. Your purpose in life is what you understand it to be. Use one or more of the following meditations to contemplate your purpose in life:

Imagine yourself at your 90th birthday party. Your friends and family and everyone whose life you have impacted in any way are gathered to honor you. They take turns telling stories and sharing how you made a difference in their lives. What do they say?

Imagine that you have just been given a free billboard on the busiest stretch of the 405 freeway. Thousands of people pass by it every day. You have the opportunity to impact these people in any way you would like. What would you put on the billboard? What is the message that you want to convey? What is the impact you want to have on the drivers as they see it?

Imagine you have discovered the technology to reengineer all of the metal detectors in every airport in the world. They will do their original job, but they will also change people’s lives in a fundamental way. You get to program the metal detectors and decide what change people will experience. They will not be harmed in any way, but they will act differently, speak differently and relate to the world in a different way. What is the experience that people have as they walk through the gate and what do they now know that they didn’t know before?

These are just a few questions for you to consider as you explore your purpose in life. Schedule a sample session with Carrie to explore further or to look at what’s next.

How is life coaching different from therapy, consulting, sports coaching or having a best friend?

Life coaching is not and should not be confused with therapy or counseling. A life coach assumes that you are creative, resourceful and whole and that you have all the answers within your reach. Life coaches do not deal with “issues”, the past or understanding human behavior. One of the foundational beliefs of coaching is to coach the client, not the problem. The real purpose of coaching is to “close the gap” between where a client currently is in their life and where they want to be. One of the gifts a coach brings to the coaching relationship is the belief that the client can get where they want to be AND beyond. Coaches generally hold a bigger vision of a client’s life than the client will and a coach will call the client forth to step into their potential.
Coaching and consulting are often used interchangeably, especially in business coaching. Again, the coach assumes that you have all the answers within you or within your reach. A coach will help you discover what it is you want to learn, but will not normally teach it to you. A consultant will teach you tools to use in your business or in your life, and may or may not coach you in their use. A coach will help you use the tools and resources you have and that you learn to their best effect in your life. While a coach does a lot of teaching, they are really mentors rather than teachers. If you want to learn marketing tools, hire a consultant. If you want to start using the marketing tools that you have learned from the last five workshops you went to, hire a coach.

Life coaching and sports coaching both focus on principles like going for goals, being your best, practice, team work and accountability. The main difference is that life coaching is helping look for the win-win situations and solutions in your life as opposed to the win-lose situations and solutions. Sports coaching is generally competitive, while life coaching is cooperative. The best sports coaches actually coach to these differences and achieve amazing results with their athletes and teams. Youth coaches that stand out especially tend to be focused on developing people, not just athletes.
A best friend should not be your life coach. Even life coaches have best friends and their best friends do NOT want to be coached by them. A best friend listens to your stories, colludes with you, and puts up with you no matter what. A good life coach won’t do any of these things. A good life coach is going to help you shift into personal responsibility, growth and learning and action. A life coach will ask you tough questions, provide meaningful distinctions and push you to your limits and beyond. A life coach and a best friend both want what’s best for you. Have both a life coach and a best friend.

Carrie Kish is a life coach and leadership trainer who specializes in coaching women entrepreneurs, especially coaches, and leadership training for corporations and teens. For more information, visit www.CarrieKish.com or call 661.255.2100.