Archive for Coaching Tips
Are Your Beliefs Slowing You Down?
Posted by: | CommentsIf you’ve read my last few blogs, you may be wondering what energy drains have to do with my specialty, beliefs. Let me explain…
Your ever-lengthening to-do lists and unfinished projects represent more than just behavioral issues. There are beliefs in place that have been maintaining your behaviors. These beliefs include the criteria you use to determine what you are going to do—and what you aren’t. Evaluating these criteria will help you prioritize and get things done.
For example, if you are sorting through a stack of papers on your desk and come across a graduation announcement you kept from months ago, do your beliefs support a better-late-than-never philosophy, or do you believe it’s too late to do anything about it now? Either way, you need to make a choice: do something today or let it go forever. Knowing your beliefs about such items can help you process them much more quickly in the future.
Other beliefs that affect your ability to work through your to-do lists and finish projects are those related to delegating. Are you able to give up control and let your helpers do things their way? I’ve been known to say, “You can ask me to do something or tell me how to do it, but you don’t get both.” Hire those who know what they’re doing, and only interfere if their way of doing it affects your business.
If you are ready to eliminate the energy drainers in your life, begin by attending to one or two things, and enjoy the sense of accomplishment that comes with each. Ultimately, these small things can add up to major problems—or major victories. Take care of small things in a consistent way and prevent big problems. People who are really successful have these habits in place.
Are you ready to put your beliefs to work for you and achieve some major victories this year?
P.S. Do you want to share this article? Please do, but be sure that it remains intact and includes the following bio.
About Terry: Terry Hickey, M.S., is a Certified NLP Professional Coach, Business Trainer and Consultant, a Certified Master Practitioner of Neuro-Linguistic Programming and the co-owner of NLP Advantage Group. His monthly e-zine, Belief Change Alchemy, offers coaches, entrepreneurs and leaders strategies for abolishing limiting beliefs that interfere with success, ultimately replacing them with life-changing, empowering beliefs. His tips and strategies can help you launch yourself into the future you want NOW. http://www.terryhickey.com/
Start the New Year with a Shorter To-Do List
Posted by: | CommentsIf you read my last blog, then you’ve probably been thinking about the energy drains in your life. Now that you’ve identified them, what are you going to do about them?
To get your year off to a good start, you need to tackle your energy drains NOW.
Starting with the “immediate” stuff right away, take care of those things that are niggling at your awareness. Consciously be aware of each so you can take care of it. If it’s a commitment to someone else, honor it right away. If it’s a commitment to yourself, honor it right away or renegotiate with the awareness that now you are only going to commit to those things you can and will do. This leads to the next step.
Think of something that you’ve completed or accomplished. How does that feel? Much better, right? As you deal with your drainers, finishing some tasks and letting go of others, you should experience a sense of relief with each accomplishment. Recognize the sense of completion and relief that comes with removing each energy drain.
Now, examine your beliefs that 1) everything has to be done and 2) that it has to be done perfectly. In order to work through existing energy drains and prevent new ones, you will have to let go of some things. Recognize what you’ve been taking on that you many not actually have to do. You can let go of some tasks because they didn’t really have to be done to begin with. Isn’t it a relief to start the new year with less on your to-do list!
Finally, do what it takes to prevent additional energy drains.
Make sure that you don’t continue to contribute to the problem. The more commitments you have hanging out there that you can’t get done, the worse it’s going to get. Keep in mind the old business saying: “Success is as much about knowing what to say ‘no’ to as what to say ‘yes’ to.” Know your priorities, and use them to determine when to say “yes” and when to say “no.” Consider every request for a commitment carefully, even seemingly trivial ones, because a commitment means that you are striking a contract with yourself or others for future action.
Once you successfully eliminate some of the energy drains in your life, let me know. I’d love to hear about it!
P.S. Do you want to share this article? Please do, but be sure that it remains intact and includes the following bio.
About Terry: Terry Hickey, M.S., is a Certified NLP Professional Coach, Business Trainer and Consultant, a Certified Master Practitioner of Neuro-Linguistic Programming and the co-owner of NLP Advantage Group. His monthly e-zine, Belief Change Alchemy, offers coaches, entrepreneurs and leaders strategies for abolishing limiting beliefs that interfere with success, ultimately replacing them with life-changing, empowering beliefs. His tips and strategies can help you launch yourself into the future you want NOW. http://www.terryhickey.com/
Are Energy Drains Sucking the Life Out of You?
Posted by: | CommentsIn my last post I described how my wife and I improved our office environment by removing clutter, reorganizing and repainting. The clutter was an energy drain, and addressing it made a big difference for both of us.
Identifying and removing energy drains is important to your business, your relationships and your health. Energy drains are the things in your life and environment that feel as if they are sucking the life out of you. Take a minute to think about something that has been on your to-do list for ages. How do you feel when you think about it? See, that is an energy drain!
Such drainers, or leaks, include the following:
- projects you’ve intended to tackle but haven’t,
- things you’ve been meaning to do but haven’t,
- cards you’ve meant to send,
- people you’ve planned to call, and
- commitments you’ve made but not completed,
Energy drains also include environmental and digital reminders of any of these things, such as clutter on your desk, stacks of paper to be filed, or an incomprehensible number of messages in your e-mail program.
As you’ve experienced already, just thinking about the leaks in your life can weigh you down. Dealing with several on a regular basis can be overwhelming. Seeing physical reminders of drainers in your home or office is also exhausting, and the outcome is costly.
Energy leaks can affect your ability to provide good services and to relate fully to those you care about. They can ultimately influence the way you think about yourself and lead to poor productivity or negative self-judgment. For example, as business professionals, we understand that it’s important to do what you say you’re going to do. What does it mean if you have so much going on that you don’t do the things you’ve promised? With energy drains, there’s a cost personally and professionally.
The first step to eliminating them is identifying them. For each sphere of your life, consider your commitments and to-do lists as well as the cluttered areas, literally and figuratively. Identify the problem areas so you can address each one individually.
How many energy drains can you identify in your life?
What are you going to do about them?
P.S. Do you want to share this article? Please do, but be sure that it remains intact and includes the following bio.
About Terry: Terry Hickey, M.S., is a Certified NLP Professional Coach, Business Trainer and Consultant, a Certified Master Practitioner of Neuro-Linguistic Programming and the co-owner of NLP Advantage Group. His monthly e-zine, Belief Change Alchemy, offers coaches, entrepreneurs and leaders strategies for abolishing limiting beliefs that interfere with success, ultimately replacing them with life-changing, empowering beliefs. His tips and strategies can help you launch yourself into the future you want NOW. http://www.terryhickey.com/
