Bring your best self to light - October 2008
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Make hope stronger than fear...
We are living in turbulent times at the moment. And as with all turbulent times, it's very easy to get sucked into doomsday sayings and hysterical fearmongering. But is's now more than ever that we need to stay calm and think clearly. It's important to remember that there is a whole industry built on our fear of what might happen..here are some thoughts to help you through this troubled times. And before you mutter to yourself about what would she know...I don't have a steady job and I've had to contact suppliers who have not paid me since August...so there is a squeeze on!
- This too shall pass. The crisis will pass and things will be different but it will pass...so what can you do for yourself to remind yourself of this? Remind yourself of your own resourcefulness, think of other difficult times you got through..times that were hard at the time..but might have been the making of you..
- Is it real? Over the last few years in Ireland, we've had property prices resembling phone numbers and Monopoly money. People have seen the value of their houses skyrocket...but it meant nothing unless you wanted to sell your house (or buy another one). Equally in these times of falling prices...how much have you really lost?
- Money is not your supply. Byron Katie has some wonderful stuff around this. You are NOT your money...instead of seeing this as a chance that you might end up (a la Bridget Jones) dying alone in a flat ate by Alsatians :-) ....why not work on seeing how you can change your spending patterns by only purchasing those things that are definite YESES and choosing to defer those that are "nice maybes"....you could use this as a useful exercise to get really discerning about what really brings you joy and what is you buying into the collective says you should have. Also, why not bring your children into this? I found that explaining to my son that we would have to defer certain things was actually OK when we explained to him that we were all letting go of something..
- Get creative - is this what I really want?: so how can you serve better in these troubled times...this may be a call to get more creative in how you market or how you do your job...or maybe this might be the time when you need to step back from your career/business and ask yourself if it's what you really want and really take the time to ask yourself if your ladder is against the right wall.
- The premium of Calm clear thinking: Whatever you think of Nicolas Sarkozy he is certainly modelling confidence and leadership for us now. So in your workplace/business how could you model confidence, intelligent leadership and clear calm thinking...how could you respond intelligently and thoughtfully instead of in a kneejerk reactive way? Remember how Rudy Giuliani inspired his fellow New Yorkers after 9/11..how could you do that in YOUR workplace/life?
- Limit your exposure to negativity: Let's face it, negativity is a part of life. But let me ask you this? How much publicity has the fall in the price of oil got? How much space has been given to the better than expected results from Google? How much space was given to Warren Buffett (one of the richest men in the world) comments about NOW being the time to get into equities. I mean in Ireland bank shares are now cheaper than bookmakers (Paddy Power!)...It's about what you focus on. Avoid watching the news all day every day (actually how about a media fast for a week?) Do not get engaged in conversations with people who are actually quite gleeful about the downturn...proves they were right all along...listen politely and move on.
Take Action!
- Take the time to identify, focus on and be grateful for what IS working in your life.
- How could you serve as an inspiration rather than perspiration :-) to the people around you at home and work?
- What could you let go of in your spending that is not really enhancing the quality of your life...remember you can probably get it back again if you want to...
- Use this time to step back and see what you want to keep and let go of in your life and business...
Now What coaching? - Week 3- Most limits are self-imposed
This 12 week programme (can be done over 6 months) is designed specifically for people who are at a crossroads and who have no idea what to do next. It focuses on the WHO as much as the WHAT and makes sure that you are very clear on the reality of various career options/choices you look at. If you know someone who has recently been made redundant and doesn't know what they want to do next...this programme could be ideal for them. You can read full details at: http://www.annewalshcoach.com/now-what-coaching.html
I thought for fun...that over the next 12 months I would outline the steps in the Now What process...and you can even play with it yourself if you choose..In Week 1...the focus was on getting clear about what you HATE about your current situation...In Week 2, "With every gain there is a loss". This is about saying goodbye to your current situation and identifying what you can take with you e.g. skills, life lessons. It's what Laura calls "Mourn the package". She also suggests that you design your ideal day (why not have a go at that and see what elements you can incorporate this week!)
In Week 3, the programme takes a look at the beliefs that hold you back e.g. it takes money to make money, I'll always have to do work I hate..etc. There are some powerful exercises around surfacing the beliefs holding you back, looking at where they come from and identifying more productive ones e.g. "I can make a good living doing what I love " and don't forget consciousness shifting is a really powerful way to do this!
Have fun!
Consciousness shifting
This work is both very systematic and intuitive. Its fundamental plank is
kinesiology (using the body as a compass...know your gut feeling?..it's there
for a reason!) . I'm often genuinely humbled and delighted by the benefits
people get..although there are people it just doesn't suit...and hey, that's
fine too! Different strokes for different folks!
Here is a more recent testimonial:
"Hi Anne
Thank-you once again for a truly fantastic session. I feel as though I have had a real breakthrough already and what's more wonderful is that I know that the process is not yet complete! I am really looking forward to having a dialogue with money, I'm sure we can be friends and I'm planning for us to have a chat tomorrow. I hope I'm not taking the analogy too far but it's really helping me to think of money as a person.
I'm also emailing to let you know that I had an enquiry about coaching today - this from a profile I have had on a website for months with zero response! I cannot help but feel this is directly related to our work yesterday. Thank-you, thank-you!
Oh and it wasn't just flattery when I said I will be back for more - the session has made me realise that there are other areas of my life that could do with the consciousness shifting treatment!" Elisha Dawson
As I promised last month, there are now recordings of the work available at
http://www.annewalshcoach.com/consciousness-shifting.html
You can download them and use them over and over again. In one session, we work with a person's poverty consciousness and in the other we help clear another's fear of making sales.
3 for 4 deal - only until 31st October 2008
If you book 4 sessions in advance (cost of €260) I will give you one free. Therefore the cost to you will be €195. But I'm only holding this offer open until 31st October. Once you have booked the block of sessions, you can do them when you want to.
Wouldn't this be a great opportunity to really zap an area that's draining your energy...?
If you are interested, contact me and we'll take it from there.
You can also book a once off session (cost €65) using this link:
Click here to book a consciousness shifting session
Stars under the Cobblestones - multi-cultural skills for teachers and trainers. (www.unec.eu.com )
This project has come to an end. However, it has won two European prizes:
Example of best practice for evaluation:
"One key factor helping the project team to achieve what it has achieved, was and is the innovative Evaluation approach used in the project. Instead of a split of external and internal evaluators, UNEC has formed an evaluation team composed of two internal and one external evaluator, who are working together as a team, ensuring that the external evaluator is fully informed about the project advancements and shortcomings, while the internal evaluators always have a �neutral� opinion as a reference point. This innovative approach has caught the attention of the experts reviewing the progress report of UNEC, which by the way has been approved almost without further recommendations"
Bronze award for Mobility!
Get Perspective – Mobility broadens Horizons" was the motto of the conference in June 2008 under the Slovenian presidency. Mobility within the Lifelong Learning Programme contributes substantially to bringing this motto to life and to giving an additional impetus to creativity and innovation in the European Education Area.
During this conference outstanding mobility activities from the European programmes Comenius, Erasmus, Leonardo da Vinci, Grundtvig and Languages were honoured. For each category the three best projects were presented with an award.
UNEC has been considered as a “best practice” in mobility and received a bronze Lifelong Learning Award during a ceremony held on 13 June 2008 in Ljubljana-Slovenia.
This course is ideal for people who find themselves working as teachers/trainers in a multicultural environment and want to learn quickly how to work more effectively in that environment. You will leave the course with a toolbox of exercises which you can implement immediately and clear steps on how you can work more effectively with multi-cultural groups. You will also gain exposure to one of Europe's lesser known languages!
If you wish to attend this course and avail of grant funding, apply to your local national agency before 7th January 2009. (In Ireland, this is www.leargas.ie ) Dates have not been set yet for 2009 but if you are interested, you can register your interest here.. www.unec.eu.com
Recommended - what I'm reading/watching
DVD - North Star Navigation workshop by Martha Beck : I got this little gem on Ebay (and yes it was a bargain, and yes it has been really enjoyable!). Martha Beck is one of my favourite coaching writers: intelligent, witty, deliciously self-deprecating and always doing new stuff. This is a recording of a workshop she did in Alternatives in London and in it she speaks about recognising your inner voice (North star) and ways to get to the place of true wisdom. She also uses kinesiology to test for true/false (sort of like CS...but we do it a bit differently) and she provides some interesting tools. Wonderful inspirational stuff.
TV: Who do you think you are? I watched the English version of this on TG4 (a seriously guilty pleasure as it was on at 10.30 am when I'd rarely watch TV) and am now really enjoying the Irish version. It was fascinating to see how many surprises there were for people...not just in crimes surfacing but also in identifying why people acted why they did.
Friend of the Devil by Peter Robinson: First of all, this is NOT Peter Robinson the Loyalist politician! I've really got into this crime series (Chief Inspector Banks novel) as it follows the characters over a number of novels so there is the delicious interweave of personalities. The writing and plots are solid and believable. This novel is about the murder of an apparently innocent quadriplegic and the murder of a young student in backstreet labyrinth. They turn out to have surprising connections...a good solid read.