A Fireside Chat with Dr. Patrick Williams

Are you reserving parts of you?

Pat's Ponderings - Are you reserving parts of you?

My wife and I just returned from a ten-day trip to Costa Rica, spending five days at an eco-lodge in Montezuma (http://www.elbanano.com) We were there during their "green" season, which also means rainy season. But hey, …it IS a rainforest.  What a relaxing, spiritual, reflective, rejuvenating place! Costa Rica is about 75% protected forests and the National Resource Defense Council (NRDC) recently designated Costa Rica a world BioGem in honor of the efforts made to protect more than 500,000 species of flora and fauna found in Costa Rica.

There are 13 BioGems throughout the Americas, but this is the first time that an entire country, instead of a region, has received this recognition. So while that is impressive and should be a model to countries everywhere in the world, how does that relate to the world of life coaching? 

Here's how: How much of yourself, your energy, your resources are you protecting?  How much of YOU are you wasting, misusing, or depleting?  We are a system just like a rain forest, and we also coach our clients to move toward optimal living  that requires a commitment and an  understanding of the value of personal reserve.

Countries, national parks, and cities often have places called preserves. Think about that word.  Preserve in coaching could mean the act of pre-serving – or creating a designated way to save your energies and human resources so that you are ready to serve when you are called. So preserving is actually preparation for serving in whatever way you are called to in the life you live.

Coaching is a service industry and you must have the resources to serve.  We as coaches must engage in and value self-care as way of life, and encourage our clients to do the same.  We cannot live fully if we are living unconsciously and wasting the resources (from our SOURCE) that are God given.

You may be inspired to visit Costa Rica because it is very unlike anyplace else. There are no high-rise hotels, none of the cookie-cutter resorts you see elsewhere. Every eco-lodge and hotel is unique to Costa Rica (with few exceptions) and the country is not being ruined by traditional tourism, yet it's tourism that supports the biodiversity preserves. Costa Rica tourists must see, feel, smell and touch the beauty by being willing to be wet, hot, drive on bumpy roads, and hike trails in the middle of jungles, waterfalls, rainforests, and beachside villages. They must be willing to tour places that are often not easy to get to – yet this is the only way to witness nature's majesty in this unique country

But my ponderings are not intended to be a commercial for Costa Rica. I have traveled to many beautiful places of nature around the globe; but this one left me inspired in a new way – seeing the earth as it was centuries ago – alive with volcanoes, rich soil from earthquakes, and a  land that breathes spirit and inspires me to do the same. I am not the same person as I was before these ten days in Costa Rica. 

I encourage you to pick a place where you can be so rejuvenated. It could be near where you live – a state park, a preserve, a botanical garden – or maybe it's many miles away.  Wherever it is, go there – be unplugged from cell phones, computers, television – and listen to nature, it has much to teach us…

As always.

Dr. Pat

Patrick Williams Ed.D., MCC
Chief Energizing Officer, ILCT
Department Chair, Professional Coaching, International University of Professional Studies
Author: Becoming a Professional Life Coach. Therapist as Life Coach, Total Life Coaching,
Law and Ethics in Coaching
Recipient of Global Visionary Fellowship for Non Profit www.CoachingTheGlobalVillage.org

our economic crisis as recalibration

our global economic crisis is a necessary recalibration of our purpose as evolving homo sapiens( meaning beings with knowledge...duh!!!) that goes beyond greed and conspicuous consumpton

Dr. Pat on Hay House Radio

Tune in to listen to the following ..if you cant make it, listen to the archive at a later time :))

http://www.hayhouseradio.com/episode_preview.php?author_id=178

The Law of Attraction?

There is more to optimism, than the clichés about the law of attraction.

A lot of folks talk about the principle of attraction…but the last six letters are ACTION. Coaches must do the things that will attract new clients. We cannot simply wish for clients or intend that they will show up.

This is where the idea of flow comes in again, when the coach gets in the flow of meeting people, being visible, requesting referrals, being specific about marketing, or focusing our efforts—only then will opportunities come our way. Only then will we earn what we are worth as coaches, as human beings.

The (Subconscious) Belief That Making Money by Coaching is Bad.

Coaches are servers, healers, helpers, teachers. 

By virtue of being in this profession, money is too often a very low priority for coaches.  And worse off, there are many coaches who cannot get past the fact that making money and being of service are not at odds with each another. 

We must overcome deep-seeded beliefs about not being worthy to earn a great living or that somehow it's noble to be broke. 

We must embrace the fact that as the quantity and quality of our coaching increases, so does our income, which is a good thing!

We can combine our general sense of optimism with a more holistic relationship to money to generate new ideas and greater expression in how we navigate the turbulence in our culture.

Lack of Sales & Marketing Experience and Desire

Something to consider:

 

Most coaches deplore selling and marketing, especially selling themselves.  They got into coaching to serve and help people reach their goals and dreams.  They didn't realize that building and sustaining a business (and thus making money) has more to do with their ability to market and sell.  "There is a direct correlation between the most financially successful coaches and those that embrace sales and marketing,"  says, Michael Charest (of Business Growth Solutions).

 

Does this sound like you?

The Meaning of Money

Rethinking how we relate to money can be a huge eye-opener for some of us and lead us in new directions. Where money is concerned, are you an optimist (always trying to see bright side of a situation) or a pessimist (generally seeing the negatives in any situation)?

If your reading this, chances are good that you are an optimist. Coaching is certainly an entrepreneurial occupation, and as we all have learned at one time or another, the returns fluctuate between a trickle and a flood.

Currency as the word we use for money derives from a Latin word that means to run or flow.

Just as a river must keep flowing—else it gets clogged and stagnates—it is circulation that keeps it vital and flowing.

If our intention is to hold onto money and hoard it, we are stopping its circulation and that of our life energy as well. This way of seeing money moves beyond the economic idea of money as a tool of commerce and toward a more holistic vision of currency, the flow of energy.

PACA: Celebrating 10 Years of Dedicated Service

      

The Philadelphia Area Coaching Alliance invited me to be the keynote at their GALA. They kicked off a year of new community coaching events with a fabulous party! Happy 10 years PACA, and many more!

             

   

Coaching by Phone! Said Coach I Am.

With apologies and appreciation to Dr. Seuss

 

I coach by phone said Coach I am

I’m a coach, I am I am!

 

I can coach you from a beach.

I can coach you within reach.

I can coach you with bad hair.

I can coach you anywhere.

 

I can coach you internationally

I can coach you somewhat fashionably

I can coach you without borders

I can coach you without orders.

 

I could coach you from a boat.

I can coach you in a coat.

I can coach you from my car.

I can coach from near or far

 

I can coach you from my camper.

Even travel does not hamper

I can coach your every movement

I can coach toward life improvement.

I’m a coach said Coach I AM.

I’m a Coach – I AM.  I AM!

 

I can coach when you’re remote.

I can coach you and not gloat

I can coach you in my home.

I prefer to coach by phone.

 

I can coach and be real funny.

I can coach about your money

I can coach about your life

And even coach you and your wife.

 

I can coach from Pennsylvania

I can coach from Cartagena

I can coach at Beaver Creek

I can coach you week by week.

 

 

I can coach you toward new visions.

I can coach you through transitions.

I can coach you with emotion

I can coach across the ocean.

 

_{Written by, Dr. Patrick Williams}

Life Coaching: The Profession

I am proud to be one of the pioneers of the coaching industry and  to be creating coach specific training for adult learners with graduate degrees and/or experience professionals in human service capacities.

The CNN article, ‘Getting Unstuck: Does your Life need a Coach?” is one of the few accurate summaries about coaching.

As an original charter member of the International Coach Federation (ICF), I understand the importance of certification and regulation for this young industry. As the subject of the coaching profession evolves and we receive more global input, I find it reassuring to know that the Coach Approach is deceptively a simple process yet one with nuances that come with experience. I wish for everyone in all parts of our world, to have a chance to experience it. Coaching conversations empower the one being coached and allow the person doing the coaching to stay focused on what the speaker/coachee wants to say, create, and accomplish. In my lifetime, I have seen countless times how coaching has helped many lead a more purposeful life.

I am proud to be an active part of the coaching community.