Put me in Coach!

I suppose this could be considered another slacker update, but I haven't exactly been slack! It's been crazy busy these past weeks...busy but amazing.

I recently learned that even for the most organized person, 3 to 5 major priorities at one time is A LOT...I could fit ALL of my organizational skills under my baby fingernail, and I have three on the go...day job, business and coaching. It's a very good thing time management is one of the major components in my coaching program!

The first two weeks in the program I covered modules on determining a life purpose (more challenging than I thought!). It didn't come to me at first, it's a lot easier said than done, But I scratched something down that I thought would do, and the idea was to keep looking at it and thinking about it until is almost magically transformed itself into something that really spoke to me and matched what's in my heart as my life's purpose. I was a little doubtful that it would happen, but I committed to have faith to this program, so I went with it. Well it happened! How exciting it was when it just popped into my mind! It wasn't even worded quite right, but it was there and it just needed some tweaking...now I have the wording and the intent and it seems to be something perfect for me, and I LOVE it! In fact, I have it typed up with a pretty picture on it, framed and sitting on my night stand so I look at it every day! ever thought about the actual PURPOSE of your life? It's a very humbling exercise.

I have also worked on visualization, meditation and focusing on success instead of failure. I am learning to change my language to change my life. We don't think about it, but the words that come out of our mouths or cross our minds become the way we feel. It's all been very powerful.

This week's module is on time management. OY! I have been reading for many years...before I started school for sure. I've been a broadcaster for the better part of 20 years, and I have many books in my little home library that I have read many times. So I opened this week's assignments assuming I would be able to read them...happens all the time! Guess what...did...not...compute. It could have been written in German and it would have made as much sense to me. I don't even know how to explain it. It was almost as though the words were trying to come off the page but they were only hitting me in the forehead...they were not making it into my brain. I stared blankly at this weeks assignments many times, and nuthin! It was very strange.

One of the many wonderful things about this program is the availability of a coach through a resource line during the week...so I took advantage of it to get some help. My wonderful coach Lisa walked me through the exercises, and without being a bit condescending, she held my hand and explained everything like I was a six year old, and that's exactly how I felt! It worked though and I have since finished my work for this week.

I learned some great lessons this week. Primarily that the hardest lessons are going to be the ones that help me most. Clearly I needed A LOT of help with time management. I have also learned to block out my time. There's nothing wrong with writing "down time" in your planner if you have a hard time keeping things organized like I do. I have to learn to write everything down when I think of it, which means developing the habit of keeping my day timer with me at all times. Sounds simple to some I assume...not so much for me. I lost my damn day timer for two weeks! Mostly because I hadn't found the TIME to unpack my suitcase after my last trip out of town! Yeesh...I have so much to learn.

So far this coaching thing has made some pretty astounding changes in the way I think. I am working on making those changes part of my everyday life. It's definitely challenging and not for the faint of heart. You have to really want to change to open your mind to this stuff. It was the commitment I made to myself and my coach when this all started. I'm only a month in, and I have to work on keeping that commitment every day...but really, anything worth having is worth working for, right.

I want to share one exercise I have started doing every day. It's a little hokey, so read this with an open mind. It's called the "Mirror Exercise". A very scientific name! At the end of each day, I look in a mirror and tell myself how much I appreciate all of the good things I have done that day and talk about all of the successes of the day. It doesn't matter how big or how small. Whether I completed a huge task I have been procrastinating on for weeks or I let someone go in traffic...every positive thing about the day over which I had even the smallest bit of control goes into the mirror. When I am done reviewing the day's successes, I say "I love You" and I go to bed. Give it a try if you feel inspired to do so. You are likely to feel a little silly talking to yourself in the mirror the first couple of times, but after you get the hang of it, I can almost guarantee you will feel more peace in your mind when you go to bed, you will likely sleep better and have more peaceful dreams! It's very powerful!

The times, they are a changin'. Stay tuned for more updates! And thanks for reading!