Thursday, June 30, 2005

Employment Outlook

On June 2, 2005 Monster Employment Index showed the job market improved in May 2005. This is a continuation of the 12-month trend we have seen.

As a coach to many people in the financial industry I noticed that finance and insurance was up 29 index points.

When you hear people speak of the job market and the grim stories you hear, I say, grab the data, and get the facts. Any story can be made worse by the press and others.

Always seek factual truth vs. coming up with truths based on what you hear or what others say. The truth IS in the numbers.

Enjoy the good news and always focus on what IS working vs. what is wrong!

Terri Levine
http://www.coachinstitute.com
http://www.terrilevine.com

Wednesday, June 29, 2005

My Daily Blissful Wakening

Several years ago I collaborated on a workshop with a wonderful healer who trained folks in Osho's Dynamic Meditation. I simply loved the process of doing this "Chaotic" Sun Rise Mediation and have stuck to it for years.

This single daily action awakens my spirit and amps up my energy and allows me to rid myself of any negative programs or stories. To realize the power of this mediation, you really need to engage it daily for 30 days.

This is unlike any other meditative process I know. The Washington Post said, "Osho advocated meditation for everyone, but his technique was revolutionary, beginning not with stillness and silence but with energetic activity to release pent-up energy and emotions, leading to a state of calmness in which meditation can flourish."

The meditation has five stages going from Becoming the Breathing, Chaos, Hammering "HOO", Freezing, and finally dancing in celebration.

It is my daily practice and I wanted to share that mediation can be what YOU make it.

Terri Levine
http://www.coachinstitute.com
http://www.terrilevine.com/

Tuesday, June 28, 2005

Hiring a Career Coach

With so much change in the workplace and downsizing and demands from our jobs, it is no wonder people are flocking to coaching. People in growing numbers are seeking the advice and services of career coaches to guide them in job-hunting, starting their own business and improving work and life skills.

Career coaching is a booming field as coaches are specifically trained to assist workers by using assessments, asking probing questions and having a clear process for career change.

In the US alone there are well over 10,000 personal and career coaches (according to Career Development Quarterly) and that is up ten times from the mid-90's and still growing.

If you want a jump start on your career and finding a career coach, go to http://www.workyourselfhappy.com/ or email terri@terrilevine.com and she’ll send you a FREE ebook version of the bestselling book, as a Blog reader.

Thursday, June 23, 2005

The Top 10 Ways to Get Unstuck

What do you do when you're mentally "stuck" and can't seem to solve a problem?

1. Journal about the situation.

2. Talk about it aloud with someone who is objective (like a professional coach).

3. Take a walk.

4. Diagram all possible solutions.

5. Create absurd solutions.

6. List every possible solution and then highlight the ones that make any sense.

7. Forget about it for 24 hours.

8. Use the creative side of the brain and draw or paint.

9. Write answers with the non-dominant hand to engage the opposite side of the brain in the process.

10. Visualize the outcome with all solutions and see which one works.

Terri Levine
http://www.terrilevine.com
http://www.coachinstitute.com

Tuesday, June 21, 2005

Arnie the Attraction Magnet

"Arnie" is a superstar-coaching client who I have had the privilege of coaching for almost 8 years. He is part of my Mastermind Coaching Club and a bright, fun, articulate and kind person.

He has used the Laws of Attraction, since "fighting" me a bit when I first taught them to him, to create a business bringing in about $578,000 this year in revenue; a new home; a vacation where he takes his wife, 2 sons and their wives and 4 children to Paris and London for 2 weeks; and also bought himself his dream car, a Porsche. I call him "The Attraction Magnet"

Today he had a not quite right show up by having his oldest son get laid off, on top of a major health crisis for this son's child. He was sad and feeling pain and fear.

I reminded him that things come to him; get attracted to him, when he is feeeeeeeeeeeeling best. That when he focuses his attention on what is working and what is right and spends his energy pulling in thoughts about more of what he wants vs. thinking about what he doesn't want, he creates his life experience.

I got him back to the present moment and asked him what he is grateful for right now. He gave me a list of more than 29 things. I also asked him to share with me for 3 full minutes, what IS working and going right and to be fully aware of everything he could think of. At the end of about a minute he stopped and I encouraged him to keep going and he did -- even past the 3-minute mark!

By the end of the session, he was back!

I believe, and the Universe has granted me buckets of evidence, that we get what we focus on. When Arnie focuses on being open to receive more of what he wants, he'll get it!

Monday, June 20, 2005

Successful Sherry

On a call with my client, "Sherry" she asked me tell her what I saw, as her coach, that made her successful. Sherry is trying to understand what her skills are so she can train and hire others in her department (Organizational Coaches) so they will be superstars, too. What a powerful question from a fabulous client and executive coach!


What I see in Sherry is that she spends her time developing others and deeply caring for others. She also has a friendly upbeat, fun personality. She is positive and invigorating to be with.


Sherry is also a deep, tuned in listener who can hear well underneath the words to discern what people are feeling - not just what they are saying. She has her own personal "baggage" well handled and by working with me as her coach, she has "put her own house in order" to be fully open to others.


She also catches on to information quickly, processes it and digests it fast. Sherry was also formal trained (proud to say, by my coaching kit!) and this training I believe gives her a leading edge. She is also open to learning from others and doesn't fight people trying to get her opinion across, but instead is open to other views and loves to hear differences and is willing to accept differences.


As I shared this with Sherry and we discussed it and created a way for her to look for superstar coaches to hire, I felt such joy in knowing Sherry and the honor of being her coach.


Terri Levine, Creator of the World Famous Coaching Kits, at:
http://www.comprehensivecoachingu.com/CoachingKitsold.htm

Thursday, June 16, 2005

Don Dumps His Diet

Coaching my client "Don" today he was frustrated by his lack of dieting results. He spent money on fitness equipment, shakes, herbs and other things, with little results.

I encouraged him during our session to take a non-dieting mentality. Don was open to receive this information and we coached on why diets don't work.

He said for him a diet is a short-term thing to do for a while and once he is done, he always goes right back to his full eating. He also said he hates not being able to eat his favorite foods and feels deprived and like he is punishing himself from being "bad".

We then talked about his work which includes lots of travel and business meals out. He said he feels it is super tough to diet when eating out so much and for sure the shakes he drinks don't work when he has to travel.

So, instead we co-created his own personal flexible eating plan that he felt he could eat for life, that included small amounts of all his favorite foods and worked for his travel schedule. He wanted to eat healthy for life, but never knew how. I shared the concept of no food is a bad food and how to create a feeling of allowing vs. disallowing.

We created an eating plan just for Don and he dumped the diet.

If you want more info on this philosophy go to http://www.createyouridealbody.com

Wednesday, June 15, 2005

"Connie"

Today, I am coaching my client, “Connie” and she starts asking me about becoming a coach. Now she is consultant for a big accounting firm and pretty burnt out on the travel, the demands, the hours and the lack of appreciation.

When we completed our session I began to think about who becomes a coach and I have noticed certain trends.

Consultants, whether in management or business, organizational, executive, marketing or professional organizers and others, are a great fit to move into coaching. They already have the background skills and experience. They love the high billing rate, few expenses, and find the work and clients more diverse and interesting. It is more comprehensive work or holistic where they can coach with their minds, body and spirit.

So, yes, Connie is a natural fit.

I also know that many coaches have a background as a speaker, trainer or educator and use their great skills sharing their expertise with clients.

Of course, all kinds of therapists (mental health, physical, occupational, speech, etc.) make perfect sense and have the background and find fewer hassles, no insurance to deal with or paperwork holding them back.

In fact, many coaches are ministers sharing their love of people and spirituality with others.

As I sat here I thought about the professional people like attorneys, chiropractors, doctors, accountants and others that become coaches. Many financial planners, as well. What a great way to add an income stream and do something else to broaden the work they do.

And managers and executives make stellar coaches using their skills in new ways and loving the ability to freely use their skills.

I personally have seen sales people and sales managers turn to being coaches and do very well at this field, too.

Anyway, I stopped to realize that my own client had no idea I had founded 2 coach training schools! I guess I need to share this more so people know more about the programs and can see if they are a fit.

Here are the links:
http://www.coachinstitute.com
http://www.comprehensivecoachingu.com

Thanks Connie for reminding me :)

Terri Levine

Tuesday, June 14, 2005

Sally Super-Seller

This client, “Sally”, is one of the most successful sales people I have ever met, trained or coached. She has been number one in sales for an international company for 3 years running and makes an incredible income and loves her work.

Today, in coaching her to coach her sales team, I worked with her on getting rid of any myths her team might have floating in their heads. The biggest myth, we agreed, is that the sales person might manipulate or force someone to buy something, so they get scared and back down thinking they don’t want to do that.

We agreed that they need to understand that people only buy when they really want to and that no matter what a salesperson does or says, a person won’t buy unless they resonate with the product/service. In addition, she felt her sales team gets scared of using the company approach to sales, which works so well. She says they fear it is trickery, which it is not. If the company has a system that works, which is does, Sally decided she’d coach them to use it and use it “their way” so it felt better for them.

I love how she is using the coaching skills she is learning!

Sally has turned from sales manager to sales coach and this is working well for her and her team. She is teaching people to enjoy sales more and to learn how to sell without-selling. Sally has been successful in teaching her team to use their personalities and be comfortable in finding a process that works for them.

Sally set an action plan to coach her team individually and was excited about creating super sellers like her.

For more about selling-without-selling see: http://www.selling-without-selling.com.

Friday, June 10, 2005

Loving Laura

All my clients seek to have healthy relationships with all of the people in their lives, from parents, to partners, to children, to co-workers and friends. There are some general guidelines for healthy relationships and today "Laura" and I were coaching on this topic.

The guiding principles we identified for all relationships all had tuning in deeply as their undercurrent. This means to deeply hear what the person and saying and more so what they are not saying and what they are feeling. It is about listening for the essence of their message and giving them your full and loving attention, as if nothing else mattered at all, just them. If you are too distracted by your own thoughts or what you want to say or by the TV, you are not tuned in and people don't feel connected to you.

Laura committed to use her ears and her body to listen to her children and parents in a much deeper and loving way.

Additionally, not judging what you hear. Instead giving the speaker the space to express their own personal thought, ideas and opinions and even if they are very different from yours, accepting them and being open to hear them.

Laura said that she often jumps in and tells people her point of view and even argues it sometimes. Instead she is going to work on making her manager and her own employee's right!

Laura also said she often is guilty of getting into heated phone arguments with her ex-husband. She says they fight all the time and never agree on anything. The energy of this drags her down and drains her, plus she doesn't want her children to hear her anger. She decided to be less judgmental with him and to criticize him less as this didn't help the situation. Instead of threatening him and giving him ultimatums she was going to stop the game and just speak in the charge neutral way she had learned in coaching.

She felt these new skills would challenge her and make all her relationships stronger.

Terri Levine

www.coachinstitute.com
www.terrilevine.com

Wednesday, June 08, 2005

Couples Coaching

Let's call my real clients "Ken" and "Barbie" to protect their names and have fun :) They hired me as they are considering getting married within the next year and don't want to be one of the many marriages that ends in divorce. They want to have the skills to communicate and fully relate and to maintain those skills as they mature together.

Both of them come from a loving, caring and sharing place. They also come from homes where both their parent's have been divorced (Ken's twice). They are enthusiastic and optimistic coaching can help them.

Today we talked about how they handle their feelings. Personal responsibility comes before we can be a "couple". "Barbie" prefers to speak about things when she is upset and "Ken" prefers to shut down. Understanding that each relates differently was a great starting point for our coaching.

"Ken" committed that instead of withdrawing, he will work on speaking more when he is feeling frustrated, stress, worried or upset. "Barbie" said she'd listen more and talk less. They co-created this arrangement and both felt good about it and committed to this plan.

When asked about how they approach things that are different which might "bug" them, "Barbie" talked about when "Ken" didn't clean up his breakfast dishes because he was running off to work, and she often ends up doing this and doesn't like it. "Ken" said that when "Barbie" criticized him for making a mess, he felt like a small child and was angry and hurt. As they talked more about this, both agreed the way they criticize vs. make requests was not right. I taught them the coaching skills of being charge neutral and marking requests. They enjoyed this and committed to learning these skills.

If you want to learn coaching skills to create a better life, relationships or do your job better, go to: www.comprehensivecoachingu.com/future-coach.htm and grab your coaching kit right now.

Terri Levine
www.terrilevine.com
www.coachinstitute.com

Sunday, June 05, 2005

Living From Spirit Louisa

"Louisa" hired me as her coach to help her live from a more spiritual place. Her life has gotten full of clutter and has lost meaning, she says. She feels so busy with tasks and to do's, her focus has been away from being connected to the Universe and a Creator.

During our coaching sessions she shared that she drinks a lot of coffee each day and usually has a glass of wine when she comes home from work and then a high carb dinner. She decided to cut down on the coffee and alcohol and to eat more protein and high fiber fruits and vegetables, just to slow her self down and get back in touch with living more peacefully and joyfully.

Next, she was talking about the anger she has for her brother and has had for more than 20 years. I gave her an exercise for forgiveness and release that she committed to using right away. She is thinking about sending him a letter to let the past go as well. This will bring her more in integrity.

To feel more connected to each other, to the planet and to our experiences; trust is a bond that brings us together. She is going to think about whom she trusts, how she trusts, and how she trusts in the Universe as well. Louisa is starting an evidence journal where she will also notice what shows up when she comes from this place of trust.

And, we developed an EXTRAordinary self-care plan where each one, for one full day, 24 hours, midnight to midnight, she is going to forget about work, the do's, the tasks and focus solely on feeling good, enjoying living on this planet and feeling and doing what she loves.

Terri Levine

www.terrilevine.com
www.coachinstitute

Friday, June 03, 2005

Stressed-Out Susie

"Susie" has a full life. She just graduated with her Master's Degree in Psychology and at the same time is getting married in a month and moving from the east coast to the west coast. She is excited, happy and yet finds herself full of stress.

During our coaching we identified the stress as coming from her constantly thinking about things that "might" happen like: she might not find a job, something might be forgotten for her wedding, she might not like the west coast, she might forget to pack something important, she might not have money, etc.

We co-created a worry-less/stress-less plan. To begin the plan, each day when Susie thinks of thoughts that cause her stress, she is going to stop thinking about them and jot them down in a little journal she is going to carry around. She'll just jot down a real quick note. Then, once each day, at a set time, she is going to spend 20 minutes thinking and yes, worrying if she wants, about the things in her journal.

Next, for each item on her list, she is going to think about the worst thing that can happen and then what action she'll take if that happens. Again, she gets 20 minutes per day for this.

The goal? Have her begin to control stress by scheduling it and using her rational mind to remove it.

Terri Levine

www.coachinstitute.com
www.terrilevine.com