Leaders are like Ninjas...

Q & A What is Whole Person Design (WPD) Coaching?

2009-11-03T08:07:00.000-08:00

"I've missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I've lost more than 300 games. Twenty-six times I've been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life... and that is why I succeed." ~ Michael Jordan

"That which you persist in doing becomes easier to do. Not that the nature of the thing itself has changed, but that your ability to do it has increased!" ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

"No pressure, no diamonds." ~ Unknown

Yesterday, I found myself explaining Whole Person Design Coaching, in detail, to an online forum to which I had offered reduced price coaching services to facilitate my need for hours for my certification.

While I would like to pretend that I was shocked at the misconceptions of what coaching is, I found myself having to verbalize what I have learned about and applied to coaching in the last few months, it was really good for me! The experience cemented in my head that I DID absorb the material and I DO know what I am doing. It flowed like water from a spigot. I am on the right road.

I have summed the thread into a Q & A for all of our clarity, now mind you these are actual questions from real people with unedited answers. :)

Q: What the hell do coaches do, if they don't give advice?

A: Coaches engage you in a discovery process to look at all aspects of your life, work with you to define your values and use tools to unearth your resources (your tool set and strengths you tap into to function). Then once goals are determined (by the client) then the coach works with the client based on their world, values and resources to plot strategic, sustainable and ecologically sound solutions move the client toward their goals. We do this by uncovering hidden area and blind spots through the coaching dialogue.

This is a Johari window:

It's a visual representation of the coaching process. Upper left corner is where you are on the surface, it's the part you openly own to the world and yourself. The upper right corner is where the coach engages the client in questioning and feedback, otherwise known as the "coaching intervention cycle" to bring the blind spots related to your goal to the surface. The lower left window would be your hidden truths that are subconscious that are released through the coaching process and finally that bottom right hand window is venturing into the unknown for the client and the coach, bringing it all together and it is the power in this last window which allows the client/coach team to devise solutions to the client's goals.

Q: Will I have superpowers when this is all done?

A: No, no super powers. That being said, some of the things people do take away from coaching are clarity about their situation or life, skills that they can implement in the absence of a coach, a better understanding of their values and resources. The client is completely responsible for what they get out of their unique coaching relationship.

Q: How do you go about getting certified? What are you getting certified in?

A: My certification that I will obtain at the end of November is my C.P.C. (Certified Professional Coach) through the Baraka Institute. It consists of 60 hours of class time, 10 hours of field work and a written and verbal test, this puts me in line to get my ACC (Associate Credentialed Coach) through the ICF but I am skipping ahead to the PCC.

My PCC (Professional Credentialed Coach) certification is through the International Coaching Federation (ICF). Of 4 credentialing bodies in the coaching world, they are the largest. In order to get my PCC, I will go through 125+ hours of class work, 750 hours of field work, have 2 letters of recommendation and take oral and written exams to obtain. Heavy duty stuff! :)

Now let me say, there are no regulations in the field, YET, just about anyone can hang out their shingle as a coach, but we see the writing on the wall that the government is going to step in and regulate this industry, therefore we are heavily regulating ourselves in preparation.

If you are truly interested in becoming a coach, I suggest working with a coach and please contact one of the staff @ http://www.barakainstitute.com/index.shtml and let them know you are interested in becoming a coach. Tell them Laura sent you.

Q: Can you link me to your regulatory board's ethics standards?

A: http://www.coachfederation.org/about-icf/ethics-&-regulation/icf-code-of-ethics/

Q: I always thought that if someone had the ability to coach others in such a positive out put way, to go on to succeed at whatever they may want in life. Why don't they coach themselves into being a millionaire?

A: Some people do coach themselves into being millionaires by targeting the market that can pay them $500-$1000/hr and writing books and such. Even coaches use other coaches to get further as it is a powerful tool. Eventually you can mostly self coach which is where I was when I joined the program, however because this is new to me, my coach has been helping me wrap my head around it all and hone in on my concerns.

I don't want to make a million dollars a year, I'll just be happy helping people (my mom says it was what I was meant to do and I agree with her) who want change and want to actualize positive goals. At one point I was going to go into social work, but then I realized that I wanted to work with people in a forward motion, not analysing their past.

No one here is offering the "million dollar cure" in fact, coaching is only as good as what the client puts into it.

What is your idea of coaching? How do you feel about coaching? What makes a great coach in your mind's eye?

Hedonism

2009-10-15T10:25:00.000-07:00

he•don•ism
n.
1. Pursuit of or devotion to pleasure, especially to the pleasures of the senses.
2. Philosophy. The ethical doctrine holding that only what is pleasant or has pleasant consequences is intrinsically good.
3. Psychology. The doctrine holding that behavior is motivated by the desire for pleasure and the avoidance of pain.

Hedonism is one of my favorite words. It’s also one of my favorite philosophies. Some days, I can’t seem to wrap my head around why anyone would not think hedonism is fantastic, and then I remember that not long ago, I believed that hedonism was wrong and that to engage in it was slothful.

Hedonism wasn’t wrong, I was.

Hedonism’s history has been cursed, since the time of the ancient Greeks, by biased assumptions that hedonism was purely the pleasure of the flesh or advocating “sinful” behavior.

Hedonism is derived from the Greek hedone, meaning ‘sweetness’, ‘joy’, or ‘delight’, and refers to theories about the nature and function of pleasure. How could a word whose meaning includes: sweetness, joy and delight possibly be a bad word?

From the time I landed my first job at Dominos Pizza until I was laid off from my IT Manager position in 2007, all I did was go, go, GO! And GO I did. I accumulated material possessions, debt, fatigue and a metabolic disorder. My entire life revolved around work and what my boss thought about me. I was so driven that I could not see the damage I was causing my body or my loved ones. I was a GO machine. And then, one day, I had nowhere to go.

In my haze of spinning around in circles for two weeks figuring out where the job I put in 50+ hours a week for the last four years went, I bought a book. The Hedonism Handbook: Mastering the Lost Arts of Leisure and Pleasure by Michael Flocker. Now, I found it on the end cap of the humor section at Powell’s Books but for me, it should have been in the self help section! I had forgotten how to laugh at myself.

“…a strange and disturbing epidemic seems to have gripped our nation of late in the form of a most ludicrous assumption: “If you avoid all things pleasurable, you will live a long and happy life”. But can happiness really be found scampering along a treadmill in a smoke-free environment, palm-pilot in hand, chasing after the capitalist ideal? Are sixty-hour work weeks, bulging stock portfolios and a packed agenda the keys to the good life? I think not” ~ The Hedonism Handbook: Mastering the Lost Arts of Leisure and Pleasure by Michael Flocker

Well said, Michael. I could not agree more. Where did we lose our motivation to do joyful things simply for the joy of it? What beliefs do we hold which are holding us back from achieving pleasure and in turn happiness?

My belief that if I worked myself to death, increased my rankings in the corporate “rat race”, made a bunch of money and then, well I’m not sure what would come next as I never got to the making a bunch of money part, would somehow equal happiness.

Working myself to death + Higher status at work + Money + “?” = Happiness?

No.

What makes me happy? Being in the company of my friends and family, playing out in the wild, road trips with my husband, continuous learning, personal growth work and facilitating other’s happiness and success. That is what makes me happy. Was I doing ANY of those things while operating under my assumed formula to happiness? No. Why did I keep doing it? Just as Michael Fowler stated, that is the resonating message in society. If you are not kicking butt, 24/7, you are a loser.

So, I picked up the Hedonism Handbook, approaching it with a measure of reluctance, in the end, I embraced it completely. What a treasure. I was able to allow myself the freedom to feel pleasure, something I had categorically denied myself for the previous 10 years.

With my new found freedom I simplified my daily routines to facilitate adventure, pleasure and relaxation. I didn’t feel guilty lazing around in bed all day, eating real butter, or taking a luxuriously long bath. I found that the more I allowed my self to be driven by the procurement of pleasure instead of fleeing from pain, the more I loved life and myself. I began to embrace my humanity, flaws and all. I lost weight, felt better, spent a lot of nights out in the wilderness in a tent and had a great sense of overall wellbeing. Being a hedonist became part of my essence.

Being human, the societal messages do sink in on occasion and I need to remind myself that being happy about who I am , what I do and how I spend my time is valuable to me. I find myself caught up in another sort of race now, a race for my dreams and even in a race to actualize your dreams and goals; you can forget yourself in the process.

Sustainable goals, mindfulness and a general awareness of your state are essential to maintaining a balanced and healthy life. To me, a balanced and healthy life is a happy life.

Take time out for you today, stop “shoulding” all over yourself for a half hour, an hour or even 15 min if that's all you have and just do what you want to do in that moment. Don’t forget to enjoy it. Be a happy hedonist!

Be the change you wish to see in the world

2009-10-09T12:17:00.000-07:00

“When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace.” ~ Jimi Hendrix

While I was reading Facebook this morning, a lady who I respect immensely, made the comment that "... if the politicians on the hill could just stop bickering, that we could realize peace and prosperity within our country" in reference to Obama’s award of the Nobel Peace Prize. I agree with her completely and it woke that hamster up who’s been sleeping at the wheel in the ol’ brain.

What’s stopping us?

It seems like every day, I hear at least one person comment on our politicians and how we should just “wipe the slate clean and begin again”.

What’s stopping us?

I think we all need to ask ourselves the question of: “If I don’t agree with my government, what can I do?” “What should I do?” and finally, “What am I willing to do?”

All too often in our society do I see that as a mass, we feel impotent and act impotent, however we are given the gift by our Constitution to vote, to be a government “Of the people, by the people and for the people”. Why are we impotent?

Because we allow ourselves to be.

Be the change you wish to see in the world, and person by person we can make a difference.

Allow your change to be infectious! Demonstrate love, understanding, patience and a willingness to work together. This is a great time of learning for America, we can be the change we wish to see in the world, we can’t just talk about it, we have to live it.

Right Road

2009-10-06T17:54:00.000-07:00

There are some people who live in a dream world, and there are some who face reality; and then there are those who turn one into the other. ~ Douglas H Everett
Have you ever had one of those days where the world seemed different? A difference you can’t quite put your finger on? The air is crisp, fragrant; you notice it’s coolness on your breath, it refreshes you. The sunrise has added a few more colors to her palette and the world vibrates joy.
Those have been my days.
Last Wednesday found me at the Baraka Institute, a wonderful learning institution which gives the gift of an amazing coach training to their students. It has been so comforting to be surrounded with such intuitive and kind people. The instructors are amazing and I haven’t learned this much about myself in only a week, since I went to R.Y.L.A. in 2001. Shift happens.
What just blows me away is how amazing I feel. What a wholesome career coaching is! What a noble profession to help others bring abundance, wealth, happiness and achievement into their lives. To share our intuitive gifts and understanding of our own humanness to facilitate change and engage with another human being in a dance of understanding, rapport and trust. To foster accountability within ourselves, to ourselves.
Yesterday, I filed my Articles of Organization, obtained my Tax ID #, Portland business license and a business checking account. I accomplished a lot. This was a huge step for me. Secret Ninja, LLC is real now. This feels great. This is the right road.

We're off to see the wizard....

2009-09-26T20:41:00.000-07:00

Success is a journey, not a destination. The doing is often more important than the outcome ~ Arthur Ashe

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. ~ Lao Tzu

The one thing all famous authors, world class athletes, business tycoons, singers, actors, and celebrated achievers in any field have in common is that they all began their journeys when they were none of these things. Yet still, they began their journey. ~ Mike Dooley

Let your mind start a journey through a strange new world, Leave all thoughts of the world you knew before. Let your soul take you where you long to be. Close your eyes let your spirit soar, and you'll live as you've never lived before. ~ Erich Fromm

Well here we are at the beginning of my my blog, but not the beginning of my journey, not by far, oh no.

My journey started long before. My journey started the day I realized that I was not living my life. I was a zombie, going through the motions. You know the routine; you work a job because you have bills to pay. Does it satisfy the pocket book? Well I'd like to hope so, but does it satisfy your soul? No, each night you return home more tired than the last.

It happened on a July day when I was filling out my semi-annual review for my "day gig" I still hold onto to pay the bills. I had to rate myself in a variety of areas such as customer service and so on. I pulled out my review from six months prior to review my goals as to address how I have met them when it struck me.

The company I work for doesn’t value what I feel are my strengths.

The company I work for doesn’t recognize the skills in which I have spent years honing and have been recognized for in the past.

My values do not align what the values of the business I am working for.

WHAT AM I DOING HERE?

Oh yeah, the steady paycheck.

Well, not any more! Here I am… and I’m going somewhere, starting now.