Posts Tagged ‘coaching’

Occupational Hazards

Written by Jennifer on 6th August 2010

I listen. A lot. But professionally, it’s more than listening. It’s about creating a space that’s all about the other person and being present to their needs and wants.

Recently, I’ve begun to notice that I’m doing this personally. It can be hard for me to assert myself in a conversation the way other people do. I often wait to be asked what’s going on as opposed to launching into the story of what’s going on for me. I hold back. It’s like I reflexively keep the focus on the other person.

So when I was out for a walk with one of my best girlfriends last night, I found myself continually asking questions, listening, empathizing and offering feedback. I wasn’t being a coach, per say, but I also wasn’t being a friend: I wasn’t giving her the chance to ask follow-up questions, to listen, to empathize, to offer me feedback.

As the evening wore on, I began to notice that I was feeling distant and uncared for. Which is precisely when I remembered that few people care about me more than this friend and that I had the ability to ask (implicitly or explicitly) for what I wanted! So at the first opening, I took a deep breath and launched into a long story about my week. And then I launched into another about a personal problem I was facing.

By the end of the night, I had experienced all the intimacy and care that I had wanted. It was available to me the whole time. I just had to reach out and take it!

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Posted in inspiration | No Comments »

Your True Story: A Pilot Coaching Program

Written by Jennifer on 26th July 2010

Stories are everywhere.

There is the story of your day, your week, your first love, your career, your professional development, your body. Since the beginning of time, we have been making sense of our world through story and we use stories every day to inspire us, hinder us, explain ourselves, understand difficult concepts and more.

At this very moment, you are in the process of writing your own story.

Because your story is integral to how you experience yourself and your world, I am SO excited to be launching a pilot coaching program to help you create your most powerful and authentic story!

Click here for pilot program details.

After you read the program details, my guess is that you’ll quickly have an inkling if this is the right program for you. The following list of reasons might also help you decide:

  • You’re feeling stuck
  • You keep experiencing the same problem over and over again
  • You have similar symptoms in many areas of your life
  • You’re ready to take a truthful look at your situation and take action based on what you discover
  • You have the time and energy to devote to a powerful, life-changing process
  • You want structure and end dates
  • You always wanted to experience coaching
  • You like significant cost-savings without a decrease in service
Keep in mind that this pilot program launches in August and that I’ll only be signing up participants (who are getting a deep discount!) through the end of this week. If you are ready to craft your own true story, schedule a time with me to talk. I would LOVE to support you in this process!

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Posted in coaching | 2 Comments »

Career Seeking = Research

Written by Jennifer on 6th July 2010

Every once in a while you encounter someone with a whole lotta gumption. You know the type. Someone who really takes the bull by the horns and gets after what she wants.

Olivia Lindquist is one such person. In the midst of a career search while teaching English in Korea, she dropped me this note:

As I’ve been working on my grad school applications due this fall, something was keeping me from being fully invested. Finally I realized that going to grad school for English literature, even though it’s absolutely something I want to do, feels like closing a door on the possibility of pursuing a career in holistic health.

So Olivia decided to figure out how teaching English and a career in holistic health might work together. She’s in the midst of an interview series, bringing to her blog readers the responses from several women in different, related fields. I – representing coaches worldwide (okay, maybe I’m just representing me) – recently responded to Olivia’s questions which she posted last week. If you’re interested in learning more about coaching as a career from my perspective, click the image below to read the full interview.

Additionally, tool around Green Junkie Living. There are other careers highlighted and you just may find some answers you’re looking for. If nothing else, I think we can all learn from Olivia and her gumption. She wants something. She’s not exactly sure what it is. And instead of sitting back and hoping it magically appears, she’s taking an active, holistic approach. She’s asking herself the hard questions. And she’s asking others, too.

For Olivia and all you other career seekers out there: may you uncover what you already know.

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Posted in career, coaching | 4 Comments »

The Joy Equation: An Interview

Written by Jennifer on 18th May 2010

I know a lot of amazing, inspiring people. People who live openly, honestly and with passion. People who are making a significant contribution to the world.

In this post, I’m sharing with you a recent interview with one such person – a Ms. Molly Hoyne – who happens to run a super cool organization in Seattle called Stratejoy. If I lived there, I’d do my best to spend a lot of time with Molly, where we’d undoubtedly drink margaritas and talk about the crazy gift it is to be helping others live life on their own terms.  I’m choosing to share Molly with you here for two reasons:

  1. She’s bound to inspire you. Seriously.
  2. She’s offering something amazing right now.

This offering is called The Joy Equation: A 30 Day Guide to Living Life on Purpose. Especially if you’re experiencing a quarterlife crisis and you’re a woman, I think you might be interested in hopping on over to this page for some more info.

For now, let’s get on with the interview. Friends, meet Molly. Molly, meet Friends.

Jennifer: First of all, could you share a bit about yourself?

Molly: I’m Molly. I live in Seattle. I love to travel and take baths and wear costumes and and partake in naked adventures and have wicked smart conversations about the meaning of life/business/saving the world. I’m getting married in August even though I refuse to plan my wedding. I’m taking off in an RV for a year in September. Here’s my life list.   Here’s a 7 minute video of my story. Here’s my business.  That is all.

JGB: Your new guide, The Joy Equation, is all about living life on purpose. Can you say a little bit more about what that means?

MH: Living on purpose means making deliberate choices about our personal resources – our time, money, energy and love. I think it’s fairly easy to get stuck living on autopilot, doing something today just because we did it yesterday.  Sometimes autopilot is useful- it helps take the guesswork out of making every little decision. Wake up = brush teeth.  Or drink coffee in my case!  But living a life? I think we need to stop and take stock on a fairly regular basis.  What am I doing with my time?  My money?  Why? Am I loving it?  Suffering it?  Am I making conscious choices or just taking the easy road?

JGB: So is there an actual equation for joy?

MH: There is in fact!  I’m sure there are bunches of personal “equations for joy” but I operate with this one: Connect with Yourself  +  Define Success + Cultivate Powerful Habits + Commit to Your Happiness  = Authentic Joy.

Connecting with Yourself is really about clarity around your values and all the little things that make you feel alive.  Defining success comes down to declaring your own version of “making it” or what it’s going to take to rock your world. Cultivating Powerful Habits is the goal setting portion of the equation! We can dream and envision and set intentions all we like, but there is execution that needs to happen as well. And finally, Committing to Your Happiness means recognizing the importance of your own fulfillment and self-realization. We need to create and commit to our own happiness in order to be fully alive and present for everyone else in our life.

JGB: I know that this course evolved out of your own experience conquering your quarterlife crisis (QLC). What do you think brought you to the point of crisis?

MH: I think I ignored the little niggling feeling that “something feels off” for quite awhile before it hit “crisis” mode! After all, I was doing what I had studied in college, getting the proper promotions, kicking butt, making my bonuses…  But when I was really honest with myself, I recognized that I wasn’t fulfilled whatsoever and I had no idea what do to about it. I felt stuck. I was totally self-medicating with wine and constantly bitching about my job without doing anything about it. I was turning into someone I didn’t recognize!

I think I hit crisis when I realized that I was the only one who could change the direction of my life, but I felt totally clueless on how to start.  What direction did I even want to go?  How was I going to “start over”?  What if I failed?    

JGB: And now? How would you describe your life now?

MH: Busy!  And so full of the right things that I frequently find myself telling people I love my life. Which is ridiculously corny, but totally true. It’s been four years since I hit the worst of my QLC and in that time I quit the corporate world, spent 10 months backpacking around the world with my boyfriend, started Stratejoy, cultivated a meditation practice, got engaged, and dove headfirst into coaching/teaching/speaking about success on your own terms.

My life is a lovely reflection of my authentic self.  It’s a mishmash of ALL my interests. This year alone I will have performed in a burlesque show, attended a 7-day silent meditation retreat, bought a cabin in the woods on a river, partied in Vegas with a bunch of 20-something bloggers, taught workshops on both coasts, and made out with James Franco. (If anyone knows James, can you pretty please help me arrange that last bit?  Thanks.)

JGB: And now that you’ve discovered so many wonderful things about yourself and about life, if you could stand on a rooftop shouting one message, what would it be?

MH: This is Life!  Jump in!  Make it Count!

JGB: Thanks, Molly! I couldn’t agree more!

Don’t forget to find your way to Stratejoy’s website and check out Molly’s pay-what-you-can promotion on her guide, The Joy Equation.

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Posted in purpose | 5 Comments »

Day 29: Get There From Here (30th Birthday Countdown)

Written by Jennifer on 16th March 2010

As a countdown to my 30th birthday on March 18, I’ve committed to offering 30 people, things and experiences I want to celebrate from the last 30 years. Grab a piece of cake and enjoy reading!

Like most 20-somethings, I’ve spent a lot of this last decade figuring out what the heck I’m good at, what interests me and what I find to be meaningful. Also like most 20-somethings, I’ve done a lot of that exploration in the realm of career. I couldn’t be happier with where this exploration has led me.

Get There From Here – the name of my business (which I hope you’ve noticed, ahem) -is comprised of two integrated realms: coaching and entrepreneurship. I want to celebrate them separately in this post.

Coaching

In 2006 – days before I was scheduled to depart for Toronto to begin my coach training – I shot my own coach an email:

“Patt – Even if I decide I do not want to set up my own coaching practice after I get through the training, you really think the training itself will be worth it?”

Here answer was an unequivocal YES and she was right.

Not only did I not encounter a bunch of flaky, new-aged, very not-funny people, but I embarked on a process that has redefined the way I experience the world. Being a coach has enabled me to drop the judgment; I am attuned to what is said and unsaid; I know how to take good care of myself; I ask for what I want.

Then, of course, there are my clients. These days, with a flourishing coaching practice, I am particularly aware of the tremendous gift it is to partner with individuals to fulfill creative endeavors, identify new careers, enhance their effectiveness as leaders or build their own ventures. Some evenings after a long day of calls I will sit and stare at the wall, my eyes welling up, as I wonder how it has come to pass that I am possibly this fortunate to help others craft their own powerful life stories.

(My class at Coach University.)

Entrepreneurship

And then there is the business.

I became convinced in my early 20s that I must not like to work. What other reason could possibly explain my extreme dissatisfaction with every job I held? Turns out, there were myriad reasons, not the least of which was that I had a really hard time working hard for someone else on what it was they thought I should to in order that they might be successful. I didn’t like being a cog in a business I didn’t care about.

So after years of job hopping, I discovered coaching and decided to hang my shingle.

Being an entrepreneur isn’t for everyone. It is however, one of the shortest of short-cuts to personal and spiritual development that I have yet to experience or witness. Seriously. Like marriage (and like parenting, I imagine), it’s like this constant mirror hanging in front of my face affirming what is whole and highlighting what is broken. It’s painfully uncanny in it’s constant need to truth-tell.

Then there is just the fun part: The fact that this is something I created. That I can take my work in whatever direction suits me. That I don’t have to call a boss when I am sick.

At the end of the day, I am working harder than I ever have in ways that bring tremendous amounts of meaning to my life and apparent good to the world. Get There From Here provides an perfect umbrella under which I get to experience these amazing, amazing gifts!

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Posted in celebration, change, story | 1 Comment »

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