Thursday, May 31, 2007

All My Bags are Packed...

Yes, I am getting ready to spend some time off with family and friends. We plan to swim, visit the zoo, look at vacation homes (just for fun!), eat healthy and I plan to walk! Yes, I am walking now and although not quite as fast or with the same gait I used to have, I am thrilled to be walking and celebrate this every day.

I know that when I get off the rest of my medications, which I am planning to be off before the end of June, I will be able to lose the weight gain which the medications have caused and also able to be more focused.

Today my physical therapist said, "your Achilles rupture was a blessing"... she was referring to greater problems I might have had in my leg... and while she was thinking about the physical part of the blessing I was thinking about the true gifts.

New friends, re-connection with old friends, clear business focus, time to write, very, very deep soul work, learning how to slow down and be still, seeing life from a new perspective and letting go.

I live now in true flow... each thing comes in and out and I let it be.

Life in this way is more joy-filled!

So, I may not be posting for awhile as I plan to fully connect and be with my friends and family and will be leaving on a jet plane soon!

Terri Levine, PhD, MCC
www.CoachInstitute.com
www.TerriLevine.com

Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Coaching Basic Skills: Responding

The coaching skill of responding is really one that is an art. It is a way of hearing what a person says, fully and deeply, and then relating what was said back to the client's personal core. When the coach responds the client then knows they have been heard deeply and understood.

Because responding is more of an art than a coaching skill it is more difficult to teach. What the coach must do to respond is to first tune into the coaching client as they listen with a quiet non-judgmental mind. When I teach coaching skills to new coaches I always talk about connecting in from the heart and listening with the heart and I say to the coach, "respond from your heart... trust your inner voice..."

My goal in www.CoachInstitute.com is to provide professionals with a comprehensive coach-training program that recognizes and builds upon their existing skills and expertise to help them quickly and easily learn coaching skills and successfully transition into the coaching field.

Terri Levine, PhD, MCC
www.CoachInstitute.Com

Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Coaching Skills You Need To Know: Reflecting Back

Reflecting back is a time-honored communication skill. Reflecting back means the listener fully listens and tunes into a speaker and then explains what they heard not only from the words but from underneath the words - from the feeeeeeeeeeeeeelings. After a person reflects back, the speaker can then clarify what they wanted to say or check that what they did say was what the listener got.

Before you reflect back it is important to quiet your mind (we have a GREAT visualization tool for this at www.CoachInstitute.com). The listener then tunes in and focuses on the type of language the speaker uses, the feeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeelings beneath the words and they hear the information with no reaction.

When the speaker is complete, the listener then shares what they heard, in a charge-neutral, non-judgmental way. After the listener shares what they heard they check in with the speaker by saying something like, "Do I get this right?"... or "Is this what you meant?"...

Reflecting back is not about debating what the speaker said. Reflecting back is a way to gain clarity.

Wouldn't it be cool if some readers posted what they heard me saying?

Terri Levine
www.CoachInstitute.com
www.TerriLevine.com

Friday, May 25, 2007

Executive Coach Fired Up on Speed!

Yep, I feeeeeeeeeeeel like I am fired up on speed! I have a client from a large corporation who set 16 goals to achieve in 90 days and we had to create speedy results for him to keep his position. We cranked out sessions, shared emails and faxes and 63 days later he met every goal! He jazzed me and fired me up.

What an awesome executive to have the honor of coaching! We are now working on really lofty goals (in a slower time frame) and we are amped up! I am so turned on when I coach executives who really are serious about business goals, being successful and creating profits!

I am craving another executive to coach who has me at full coaching speed. Don't forget I am a race car driver and the feeeeeeeeeeeeeling of speed is what I need!

Ok, I am in the car waiting to drive!

Terri Levine
www.TerriLevineCom
www.CoachInstitute.Com

Thursday, May 24, 2007

Free Coaching Tip: Hearing Without Reacting

Wanted: People serious about coaching business leaders and managers to create more profit and more success! This tip is for them and as I was sharing this with my business clients I decided to share it publically as well.

Hearing without reacting is one of the key skills a business leader, manager, internal coach, HR director and anyone in business, needs to master.

Hearing without reacting means you listen with no judgment.

I know I hit this last blog and yet it is still up for me today as I find myself working with small business and large corporations on this same topic.

If you want to be a person who hears neutrally, you must set aside your agenda, feeeeeeeeeeelings, ideas, thoughts, right and wrongs and listen with compassion and for people's gifts.

You will find people are brilliant and are unique diamonds if you allow their gems to be discovered.

Terri Levine
www.TerriLevine.com
www.CoachInstitute.com

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Hearing Without Reacting?

I was doing a live coach training last week and as I was teaching hearing without reacting I observed people reacting as I was sharing this information with them. Hearing without reacting is one of the most valuable skills a coach learns. As coaches we hear without reacting which means we don't judge anything a client says to us - not at all. We don't wear the judgment robes and we don't decide if the client is right or wrong, at fault, or not at fault, or good or bad.

We accept the client as they are and what they say as what is for them.

When thinking about life coaching or business coaching understand that we as coaches do not fix people or groups of people. Our role is to hear neutrally where the coaching client is and where the coaching client wants to be and then to co-create ways to assist them to get to where they want to be in their life and/or work.

New life and business coaches share with me that letting go of reaction and judgment is tough. I agree. As humans we have been hard-wired and conditioned to believe our thoughts are "right". Giving up our attachment to being right takes practice.

If you are considering becoming a life coach or business coach or if you are a personal or professional coach now, I encourage you to quiet your own thoughts and your own mind. (We have a great excercise we teach our students at www.CoachInstitute.com for this!).

As you listen, focus only on your coaching client and tune out everything else. Fully accept that the clients values and goals will be different than yours.

If you do any personal or business coaching or have thought about training to become a life or business coach, the skill of hearing without reacting is key.

I encourage people to use this skill with family and friends as a side benefit, too.

Deeply tune in, hear without reaction and you'll be ready for more coaching skills and tips!

Terri Levine
www.TerriLevine.com
www.CoachInstitute.com

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Awaken Your Inner Coach

I believe within each of us lives our authentic core selves. I also believe we have forgotten that person and we have come to live filled with shoulds and have to's. When I am coaching clients I assist them to reclaim their power and to get to know themselves really, really well. They find their inner coach and connect once again with their core being. Through this process I call Soul Coaching, they detoxify their bodies and minds and open up their spirits and souls to their inner coach! From this balance of body, mind and soul connecting once again, my clients harness the deeper power they hold within. Life coaching is soulfully satisfying.

Terri Levine
www.TerriLevine.com
www.CoachInstitute.com

Monday, May 21, 2007

Profiting in Business: Business and Executive Coaching for Your Organization?

Coaching is happening in organizations around the world. Organizations that are small as well as organizations that are Fortune 100 companies all benefit from corporate coaching. When a business has an executive coach for their leaders, their leaders shift from managing and they start coaching which yields better outcomes. The business has greater profits as employees become more productive when coached.

When the organization embraces corporate coaching the employees learn coaching skills as well as the leaders and the entire team collaborates towards corporate goals.
Corporate coaching is necessary to achieve the results companies want and executive coaching paired with corporate coaching has shown highly effective outcomes and long term outcomes for organizations.

The principles of a program like this are what I shared in my bestseller Stop Managing, Start Coaching. The program has been used with over 100 small to large businesses and has rave reviews.

My goal is to co-create better outcomes for people and companies around the world.
Work can be joy-filled and when employees feeeeeeeeeeeeeeel good, they produce results and are happy to do so!

Terri Levine
www.TerriLevine.com
www.CoachInstitute.com

Thursday, May 17, 2007

Become a Life Coach and Find Romance?

Yes by becoming a life coach you just might find you fall in love with yourself more, you have more love for others, you become more attractive to others and you have more friends, and more loving relationships.

I know that when I decided to become a life coach I had more time to just "be" with myself and to get more familiar with my positive aspects. I also had more self confidence and self worth. I liked myself more and took more time to care for myself.

I also opened up to people more wanted to know them and understand them and be with them. I attracted new friends, new community and even new hobbies in addition to my life coaching career.

My marriage became even stronger as I had more time to be with my husband. And without the everyday stress from a JOB and doing the work I really loved from my home, I was able to be more focused on him and our marriage. I got more compassion and more patient, too.

So if you want more loving, life coaching may just be your ticket!

Terri Levine
www.TerriLevine.com
www.CoachInstitute.com

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Finally A Coaching Program For People Who Want Coaching But Not a Coach

Ok, you know life coaching is what you need... you don't have the time, you don't feeeeeeeeel comfortable with a life coach... you keep making excuses... you can't afford it, etc.

Now you can coach yourself and be your own life coach!

Do you have issues with work/life balance?
Relationships?
Parenting skills?
Sticking to commitments?
Staying focused?
Knowing what you want from life?
Identifying your life purpose?
Knowing your life's work?

Working on one coaching area has a ripple effect and will improve your life and work in many areas.

Yes, you can coach yourself!

If you work through a coaching program and are willing to learn more about yourself and make real changes in your life then you coach yourself.

If you are ready to discover yourself and coach yourself to having a fuller more joy-filled life, just post here and I'll show you how!

Terri Levine.
www.TerriLevine.com
www.CoachInstitute.com

Wednesday, May 09, 2007

Coaching Saved My Life

Before I became a coach my life was very different than it is today. It was filled with stress and tension and lack of ease and flow. I was pushing, I was struggling, I wasn't eating right and I was barely sleeping. I was on a downward spiral and didn't even feeeeeeeeeel like I had a life. Somewhere I lost life and just became a doer of tasks.

When I discovered life coaching I said, "I need a life so a life coach just might do it!". I hired my first life coach to help me feeeeeeeeeeel alive. We began the life coaching focusing on work-life balance. Later we focused more on whole life success. My life coach helped me create a successful life overall and I got my life back!

Through life coaching I discovered hobbies, adventures, dreams and passions and became alive and vibrant. I found time to be with those I loved and I created new friendships and new organizations and communities to play with. Without life coaching I would have continued
on a downward spiral feeeeeeeeeeeeeling lost and dead.

I am grateful to my life coaching and for the profession of life coaching.

Terri Levine
www.TerriLevine.com
www.CoachInstitute.com

Tuesday, May 08, 2007

Imagine A Coach Like Judge Judy?

When I was about to become involved with a corporation to provide coaching leadership lessons, the CEO kept claiming, "I am a coach, too". I am guessing he took his coaching lessons from a Coaching for Dummies book because he reminded me of Judge Judy! He was harsh and scared the rest of the leaders and they tried to avoid him.

When I suggested that coaching was about being positive and supporting people, he claimed, "That is personal life coaching and not what I need to do with my team". He believed he was the expert coach in this situation and so I decided to walk away from this leadership coaching project.

I only work with organizations and people who want coaching as a way of life and want coaching lessons to create more success. I use a lot of techniques and theories from positive psychology and believe that each person's self is always to be maintained and never to be broken down. I see life in a positive way and people in that same light.

At the company I am referring to above they claimed they wanted coaching to teach their leaders new skills that would drive people towards success once they learned coaching skills. What I found is the Judge Judy approach was far from coaching and I was not going to change the CEO (who claimed he was the expert coach) to become a person who had skills in coaching and understood what coaching really was.

Monday, May 07, 2007

Filled With Joy

I had a wonderful weekend visiting my niece and her family and NY state this weekend followed by a visit with my nephew and his girlfriend at college on the way driving back home.

It was fun being with family and my great niece and nephew are so much fun to be with and to watch grow!

I got to see Isaiah play softball (he is 8) so that was fun to watch as he and the other kids are still learning the skills of the game! He got on base all three times, and so that was exciting!

And then I got to see Melody (4) in gymnastics! It is remarkable what a child that age can do!

I got home late and before bed was feeeeeeeeeeeeeeeling so grateful about the gift of my weekend that I snoozed off with happy dreams.

Terri Levine, "The Soul Coach"
www.terrilevine.com
www.coachinstitute.com

Thursday, May 03, 2007

Magnetizing An Abundant Life

Last night I was interviewed by 2 real pros and they were challenging me and questioning me about the magnetizing process. By the end of the call I proved to them that magnetizing works and that it goes with the Law of Attraction and the Law of Resonance.

To me abundance isn't just money. It is everything from love, health, friendships, joy etc. To have a juicy and full life means, to me, that you are abundantly living and have let things flow into you and you have no struggles and don't push against things.

When I share with people how to magnetize, the immediately increase flow and that flow can be in the form of money, objects, people, things, experiences, etc. that deeply fulfill them.

I will be doing some live magnetizing as part of an EXTRAordinary workshop I will be conducting with Joe Nunziata. If you want more information on some of the concepts of spiritual success you can get a lot of information from www.spiritualsuccessworkshop.com and if it resonates I'd love to be with you in person!

Terri Levine, The Soul Coach
www.TerriLevine.Com

Wednesday, May 02, 2007

Thinking of Mother's Day

As I am thinking about Mother's Day I have a mix of joy and sadness. I think it is wonderful that we honor and celebrate our Mother's. At the same time I am sad that my Mother is no longer here on this planet in her human form. Even though it is going to be 11 years on May 18th that my Mother transitioned, I still feeeeeeeeeeeeeeel like it was today. There is the sense of loss and grief that has quietly remained with me.

I know my Mother is where she is to be and I am where I need to be and I accept this. Yet, the loss is always there.

I hope if your Mother is with you here and now, that you celebrate her every day and not just on Mother's day.

I honor and celebrate the life of my wonderful Mother, Helen Levine.

Tuesday, May 01, 2007

Fun Weekend!

This past weekend I went to visit my niece and her husband. Friday night none of us could decide where to have dinner so we finally picked a cheap buffet with a salad bar and by the time we all decided it was late. The place was almost closed up before we left.

Then when we got back to their home and my husband, Mark, found a public auction that had some of the cheapest and silliest stuff I have ever seen. We laughed over the ridiculous items people were selling.

Saturday my niece, Rachel, and I got up early and took a walk around her neighborhood. The sun was shinning, it was getting warm and the birds were singing. Her neighborhood is beautiful so we enjoyed the walk until we saw a HUGE snake on the road that had been run over:(

Then we got Mark, to join the two of us in going to the outdoor market and also in getting me shoes that I can walk in as I can't wear most of mine any longer due to my Achilles injury. He enjoyed the market and got some purchases and I am sure he wasn't thrilled with shoe shopping!

We dropped Mark off to have lunch with Rachel's husband, AJ and the two of them went for BBQ which they love and then went to the Truman Library (and were finally kicked out as they wanted to close). They both seemed to really enjoy it.

Rachel and I began our shopping mission and after hours and hours we finally landed on something.

We got back to her home and sat on the steps outside talking and later remembered we were suppossed to be making cupcakes for AJ's birthday.

Dinner was an experience. We went to the Cheesecake Factory and they had an hour wait and I was starving. While waiting we got to see all the kids in their prom attire who were waiting to dine there, too. The dresses were really puffed out and the girls seemed to all be quite large. It was strange.

During dinner Rachel and I became giddy. We laughed all the way home.

After dinner, Mark went back to work with AJ and then the two of them went shopping for foods for tailgaiting at the Indy race on Sunday. Rachel and I put the auction on again and fell asleep on the sofas!

Early Sunday AJ was shopping again. We packed the Explorer and we were off to the race!

At the race they had dogs to adopt and I fell in love with a dog named Maude. Her brother Harold was at the kennel. I couldn't transport her home though:(

We got a lot of sun and enjoyed the race.

We had dinner and again I crashed when we got home.

Monday morning Mark and I prepared to leave and Rachel took us to the airport.

The weekend was so much fun. We laughed a lot and embarrassed AJ by singing Happy Birthday while tailgaiting!