Personal Life Coaches

• Do you ever get distracted?
• Do you ever mean to do one thing and then find yourself doing another?
• Do you ever lack concentration?

If you can say no to any of the above - CONGRATULATIONS! You are fairly unique.

There are not many people out there who are truly able to fully concentrate for any length of time. Research shows it is only between 1-3 % of the population. Could that be the 1-3 % of the population who truly make it in life?

Would you agree that it would be of the greatest value if we learned how to concentrate? The amount of focus you have on your important tasks determine your success. To make a true success of anything you must be able to concentrate your entire thought upon the idea you are working on. The person that is able to concentrate utilizes all constructive thoughts and shuts out all destructive ones. The greatest man would accomplish nothing if he lacked concentration and got distracted from his main objectives.

Yet we all know that in order to accomplish a certain task we must concentrate on it. So it is of the utmost value to learn how to concentrate especially when working on a new idea or a new business. As soon as we are laser focused we will move forward but if we are wishy washy and half hearted nothing will happen except frustration because so much valuable time has passed without seeing results.

Let me repeat: To make a success of anything you must be able to concentrate your entire thought upon the idea you are working out. Do not become discouraged, if you are unable to hold your thought on the subject very long at first. There are very few that can. It seems a peculiar fact that it is easier to concentrate on something that is no good for us, than on something that is beneficial.

This tendency is overcome when we learn to concentrate consciously. If you will just practice a few concentration exercises each day you will soon develop this wonderful power. Success is assured when you are able to concentrate for you are then able to utilize for your good all constructive thoughts and shut out all the destructive ones.

Have you ever made a decision to do something - could be in your work, hobby or family life and then set out to do it with the unwavering belief that it will happen? You probably have but in case you do not remember let me give you an example. When I started the Achievers Toastmasters Club I was laser focused because I really wanted a Club that stood for all the positive things Toastmasters offers. The first Club I had belonged to had turned bitchy and unpleasant and I did not want to be part of it anymore.

After making the decision to start a new Club I did not take No for an answer anymore. My only thoughts were on how to get the right people to join and I did everything in my power to achieve that. Within 6 weeks we were chartered and should you ever come to the Costa del Sol, you must visit The Achievers TMC because it really stands for the positive, learning environment Toastmasters International propagates. The Club is now more than 7 years old and even though our members change (and I left the country) the vision I had of the Club has not changed and it can be felt at each meeting.

It is of the greatest value to be able to think only that which will be beneficial; that which you really want and not how to avoid what you don't want. Did you ever stop to think what an important part your thoughts, concentrated thoughts, play in your life? We are wonderful creatures, but we must continue to train and develop to reach our goals. Anything can be accomplished by every man if he can be awakened to do his very best.

That is why Anthony Robbins talks about "Awaken the Giant within" but the greatest man would not accomplish much if he lacked concentration and effort. If you study success you will know that people with very bad grades in school have achieved incredible things. You will have read the stories of the timid young man who became a powerful entrepreneur even though outside his field he is still shy. Dwarfs can do the work of giants when they are transformed by the magic power of great mental concentration. But even giants could only do the work of dwarfs when they lack this power.

We accomplish more by concentration than by knowledge; the man that is apparently best suited for a pposition does not always fill it best. It is the man that concentrates on its every possibility that makes an art of both his work and his life. As in all other good things in life your real advancement will come from your individual effort.

Therefore make a plan each day of the most important tasks that will get you where you want to go - set clear priorites. Make this time a time in which you will not be disturbed by phone calls, meetings, children, spouses or your favorite telenovela. This time is only for you and your goals. Depending on how good your power of concentration already is start with a minimum of 30 minutes and work yourself up bit by bit. Find out what your best time of day is to concentrate.

For me it is first thing in the morning, for one of my best friends it is in the late evening. Use that time to move you forward - towards your dreams and goals.

Today is your day! Use it wisely
Love Barbara
http://www.trainingvisions.com
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© Copyright 2009, TrainingVisions. All rights reserved.
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Labels: beliefs, concentration, focus, goals, plan, success

When Leonardo da Vinci drew the first helicopter everyone laughed about him. Such a flying machine was beyond anyone’s imagination. Today nobody even looks up when a helicopter passes. We are so used to them.

Can you imagine life without running water, electric light, telephones, or cars? What seems completely normal today was still a dream only short while ago. We have thousands of examples like paper, pens, books, trains, planes, skyscrapers, computers etc. etc.

Any invention was first a dream, an idea that eventually was turned into a reality. Just look at Thomas Edison who apparently tried and failed over 10,000 times before he finally had developed the light bulb.

What do the above examples show us? That things which may look impossible today, are very feasible tomorrow. It also means that whatever big dream you might have is do-able. Or is it?

Just imagine for a moment what life would be like if you had reached everything you have ever wanted. Wouldn’t that be wonderful?

Or maybe you are one of the many people who don't know what they want. I mean really want. Do you have a "dream" that makes you come alive, the makes your eyes sparkle and look forward to the day? A big dream, an enormous goal, your personal Mount Everest. Do you have a dream that seems impossible today but that you truly want to reach however difficult?

Look at history and KNOW: What might seem impossible today can be reality tomorrow.

Make the impossible possible!
Love
Barbara
www.trainingvisions.com

Labels: development, impossible, possibility thinking, possible

I get asked: “How can I be successful?” all the time. One of the first things is to stop wining and complaining and instead search for solutions and take action. On my last flight back to Spain I found a good quote by Edward E. Hearn in my monthly Toastmaster magazine. It describes beautifully what I mean. It says: “Everybody has problems in life. But the real key to life is not crying over your problems. The key to life is overcoming problems, and bouncing back from them!”

It is what I keep telling my assistants. DON’T FOCUS ON THE PROBLEM, FOCUS ON THE SOLUTION!

Let me give you a few typical examples from my travels in Ukraine. The last time I was there I needed to change my international flight and once that was changed I needed a flight from South Ukraine to Kiev to catch my new international flight. 2 Assistants were supposed to take care of that and let me know in the morning what time I was leaving. At 08.30 am I was packed and ready to leave. 9.30 came and still no flight confirmations. I called my assistant. She said they were working on it and that she will call me as soon as she knows the details.

By now I knew I could not catch the morning flight anymore so I relaxed and started to work on a couple of articles but when it turned 11.00 and I still had no news I called her again. She said it is impossible to change my flight so they are trying to buy a new one but the price was over 1200 Euros for the one way and they could not buy the ticket because they did not have sufficient funds. “Why didn’t you call me?” I asked. “I did not want you to think I can’t do this”, was the answer. “There is nothing wrong with not being able to do something. But there is everything wrong with not admitting to it and therefore not getting things done”, I said. “Time is getting precious as I need to be in Kiev by the evening.”

It was 3 hours from my house to the local airport and still no solution in sight. I asked my assistant to come to where I was staying and that we would find a solution together. Meanwhile I looked for a number for the Alitalia office in Kiev. Unfortunately their website was down so I searched for any Alitalia office anywhere and I found a number in Rome. By this time my assistant had arrived. She told me she had called Kiev airport but there was no Alitalia office there (which turned out not to be true) She also said she had spoken to Alitalia in Italy and they had told her my Internet ticket could not be changed. I could not believe that and called the number I had found from Rome. They passed me on to Alitalia reservations department who changed my Internet ticket within minutes. All I had to do is pay 50 Euros penalty. My assistant watched me with amazement. She could not believe that I had solved the issue within minutes that she and another girl were not able to find a solution for all morning.

But that’s not the end of the story. Now we needed the flight ticket from Sevastopol to Kiev for the afternoon. My assistant called the companies travel department and asked them to buy the ticket for me. As I still needed to speak with the TV producer we went to the office and once there wanted to pick up my ticket. But nothing had happened yet. They did not know how to pay it and again they did not call me. I told them to go to the accounts department and get the funds there. The girl went and I really thought that now all was in order but when it was time to leave, my limousine was there but no ticket. The girl was not back. When I called her she said accounts did not understand what she wanted and refused her the funds. One phone call later she had the money and we went to meet her downtown at the airline office to pick up the ticket. Again, the situation was solved once we focused on a solution and did not concentrate on the problem.

In many lives that seems to be the challenge. Most people concentrate on the problem and not on a solution. They look at the process and not beyond but if you stare at the obstacle instead of the overall objective, you cannot find ways to overcome obstacles and get stuck in the process.

Insights:

Always look at the big picture. Always keep the end result in mind so short term obstacles are nothing more than hurdles you need to take to get to the finishing line. For everything there is a solution. It might not be ideal and it might not be the direct line to the mark but as long as it moves you in the right direction it is much better than wining, complaining and hoping without taking action.

Labels: big picture, challenge, find solutions, focus, overcome obstacles, problem, solution

Last week at one of my workshops I asked who had a perfect life. Nobody raised their hand. I then asked the participants to describe their 'perfect' life. What came out were some vague ideas like:

• "I would have a perfect life if I had more money than I needed. “How much do you need and will that need stay the same as you earn more?
• "...if I live with my family in our dream home." What does it look like and where will it be?
• "...if I have lost all that weight and am more attractive to my partner again."
• "...if I had a job I loved"

You have probably heard about the movie 'The Secret'. They say for the Law of Attraction to work you need to ask then believe and you will receive. But how can the Universe give you what you ask if you are so vague, if you do not give clear instructions in what it is you want? In most cases it is already in this first part where we lose out. We do not ask clearly enough.

But that has another consequence. If we cannot ask clearly enough we also cannot believe 100 % in it becoming our reality because we cannot SEE it happening. It is nothing but a vague idea. And if the first 2 steps are not done properly we cannot go to the third, to the receive either, can we?

I know it is a very simplistic view of the Law of Attraction but it is what stops most of us getting what we want. We are not crystal clear about what it is. We cannot see our changed life in our mind's eye.

In order for it to work in our favor we have to visualize what our ideal life looks like in crisp, precise detail and watch our self in that movie. If we do that often enough, we can skip the willpower or positive thinking stuff, and get to our goals…without having to overcome enormous obstacles and struggles!

But, in all probability you only hope, wish, desire for a better life; for things to “get better”, or for you to “become rich”, "happier", or some other vague and non-specific goal. You have no specific, clear and unshakable vision of what “better”, “rich”, or "happier" means, and therefore cannot turn it into a mental movie you watch in your mind’s theatre over and over and over again.

One of the main principles we talked of in earlier posts is that your mind cannot distinguish an actual experience from a fantasy experience. And if you live the vision with great clarity and specificity in
your mind often enough, your mind becomes fooled into thinking you’ve already been there, done that and allows you to skip the struggle and get straight to the thing you dream about!

So, what can you do to start working towards the life you might describe as ideal?

First of all, you have to write down everything that a perfect life, as you define it, would
contain. Then, use this list to start day-dreaming a movie with you as the star, and the story board
containing all the things on your wish list. This is what I call your Vivid Vision.

Watch this movie of your ideal life over and over, every chance you get but especially before you get up and just before going to sleep. Watch it when you feel good and when you feel bad. No matter what goes on now, watch your vivid vision, your internal movie as often as possible because this is where the second step – the believe sets in. Do not be impatient. It will happen, it will manifest but not necessarily in the time frame you had in mind or in exactly the same way you wished for but happen it will.

You can build your life the way YOU want it if you take action!

Build your dream story board and play your internal movie because if you procrastinate and leave it until you have time or whatever other excuse you come up with now, your dream life can never happen. So, no more reading about it; you know more than enough. Get yourself a pen and paper and start writing your story board, start seeing your life movie and DO IT NOW!!!

You are the Star!

Happy Manifesting

Barbara Hofmeister

www.trainingvisions.com

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Labels: better life, goals, ideal life, law of attraction, LOA, mind movie, perfect life, The Secret, visualize, vivid vision

I always say that you can only go as far as your confidence let's you. Apart from the obvious what do I mean with that?

In the film the Secret it is said that the Law of Attractions works as follows: ask - believe - receive. Which part of these 3 steps do you think is our biggest challenge? The believe part of course.

We normally have no problem asking and when we get what we want, we also have no problem receiving but we do have a big issue with believing. And it is here where we also have our challenges when we set goals.

So let’s look at some scientific facts to help understand the reason why so few of us reach the goals we have set for ourselves. Scientists found that only 2-4 % of what we do actually comes from our conscious mind. This is where our willpower and persistence originates from. But 96-98 % of what we think and do comes from our non-conscious. Most people do not achieve their goals because their 2-4% willpower and persistence against an overwhelming 96-98% is just not strong enough. We are driven by our non-conscious mind or as it is called in neuroscience our implicit memory system.

Let me explain. Our implicit memories are locked in our subconscious. They consist of memories necessary to perform events and tasks, or to produce a specific type of response or emotion. Driving a car becomes an implicit memory once it has become automated but these implicit memories cannot be looked up or remembered so we cannot use them for conscious actions or reasoning.

That is why the “believe” part of the Law of Attraction is so omni-important. As soon as we truly believe that we can achieve/be/have whatever it is we desire, the emotion, this feeling of ‘knowing’ that it will happen, will actually help us make it happen. It activates the 96 - 98 % non-consciousness to act in our favor. And when that happens we become truly unstoppable!

So instead of beating yourself up when you do not reach your goals find the WHY you want to reach it. Find the true reasons, the ones that get you exited and your blood boiling and focus on that. If you believe you can achieve - you will! If your why is strong enough, the how becomes easy.

Happy achieving!
Barbara
www.trainingvisions.com
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Copyright 2007 TrainingVisions - All rights reserved
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Labels: confidence, conscious mind, goal achieving, goals, implicit memory, law of attraction, persistence, subconscious, willpower

"You will never change your life until you change something you do daily." - Mike Murdock

As you are reading this I know you are willing and ready to change some things in your life but as we all know alone it is difficult. That is why life coaching is so extremely successful.

When I first had a life coach - and yes, I still have one - I started just for fun to see how it worked. I wanted to know what the buzz was all about and Oh boy did I realise what a great help a coach can be.

You see to change our habits and the believes we have grown up with takes more than just an idea, a self-help book or good intentions. It takes true commitment and continuous reminders of that commitment. That is why AA and Weight Watchers work. They are asking people to make, sometimes drastic changes in their drinking or eating habits and support them in their weekly meeting.

Life coaching is similar. Your coach is your partner in the change process. She/he will support you, remind you, prod you and mastermind with you each step of the way. They will help you get unstuck and keep you moving forward.

Sometimes it takes only a few coaching sessions and you have overcome whatever obstacle was in your way and can now continue by yourself - you are unstuck! Other times you might make it a longer relationship because there is more than one area in your life that you want to change; that you want to improve on. You decide! After all it is your life, isn't it?

It is an undebatable fact that life coaching works extremely well as long as you have the right coach. I suggest to try a couple before you start. Most of us offer a free introductory session.

Give it a go - life will never be the same!

To your unlimited success

Barbara Hofmeister

www.trainingvisions.com

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Copyright 2007 TrainingVisions - All rights reserved
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Labels: change process, coach, commitment, life coach, life coaching, self help book

Often people are better at coming up with excuses for not doing things than with ideas on how to do things.

Could you one of those?

Jim Rohn said: "When your WHY is big enough the how becomes easy."
This means when your reasons why you need to do something are bigger than your excuses, you will make progress toward your goals. Logical, isn't it?

It also means you have to come up with the reasons why you really should accomplish something before there is time to come up with the excuses that will be holding you back.

You see, your subconscious is much more powerful than your conscious logical mind and it will work on achieveing whatever you give it to work on. In most cases we give it doubt, fear, scarcity, and other negative thoughts.

Let me give you an example. I was offered to buy a block of apartments for an excellent price last week. What made me doubt the uniqueness of the offer were the people it came from. I had gone through some bad experiences with them so instead of jumping at the opportunity I was very sceptical and doubtful for several days. In the end my business sense won but there was still a small nagging voice in my head even though I did very thorough research on the project. Of course in cases like this doubt and sceptism makes sense but it must not get to a stage where it immobilizes you.

If you give yourself great positive reasons why you want to achieve a specific goal, your subconscious will immediately take you at your word and begin working toward that goal. And it will keep working on that goal until instructed to do otherwise (and "otherwise" means those negative excuses sneak back into your thinking).

That is why you need to feed your subconscious carefully.

No matter what you feed your mind on it works incessantly on getting you the results it believes you want, and those are the thoughts that you planted into it. So take a minute, right now, and write down what it is you really want.

Write down all the reasons why you should have it and who and how it would benefit you and others.

If you go through these steps you've imprinted your positive thoughts on
your subconscious mind. But don't write out your excuses, they will come up by themselves more often than is good for you. Just focus on your positive reasons why and write those down to internalize them into your subconscious.

And then - Take action right now.

Take one first small step and experience how good it feels to move forward, to move towards your goal, without worrying about excuses or other roadblocks.

Did you take your first action? GREAT - you got your first result.

If you didn't - why not?
I will leave some space here so you can fill in your excuses...
...
...
...

Move in the right direction! As always, the choice is yours!

Wishing you a fantastic WHY

Barbara Hofmeister
http://www.trainingvisions.com

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© Copyright 2007, TrainingVisions. All rights reserved.

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Labels: doubts, fear, free weekly newsletter, goals, objectives, tips, Why

“I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by conscious endeavor.” - Henry David Thoreau


I often wonder when I hear the moaning and groaning of some people. Unless you give the conversation another direction it seems all they want to do is complain what is going wrong in their life, always putting the blame on others.

Sometimes we have to let issues that are eating us up out but it cannot be the main objective of a meeting with a friend and even less the objective of a coaching session. That is why I want to talk about gratitude because every one of us has so much to be grateful for.

For example:

- You have at least a decent education; otherwise you would not be able to use a computer to find this blog.
- You have a computer or the money to go to an Internet Cafe.
- Unless of course you read this at work or in school which means you can be grateful to have a job and/or to get an education.
- You are most likely to have a roof over your head and some food to put into your tummy.
- You probably have friends who love and respect you for what and who you are.
... the list can go on.

I have a very long list of things I am grateful for and whenever my life doesn't seem to play the way I want it to or if I feel a little down, I go through my list and my mood changes instantly.

At night before I go to sleep I say thanks for all the good things that happened on that day.

This morning I woke up to the most glorious sunrise. Can you imagine that I am grateful for that? You bet I am. It was a lovely gift at the beginning of the day.

There are so many, small and big, things we take for granted until we don't have them anymore. Just think of the way we treat our health most of the time - junk food, sodas, excessive sugar and so on.

Take a short time out and look at the people and things you can be grateful for in your life. Write your personal list and have it with you or close by. It will motivate and inspire you whenever you need some uplift.

Have a happy Day,
Barbara Hofmeister
http://www.trainingvisions.com

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© Copyright 2007, TrainingVisions. All rights reserved.

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Labels: complains, excuses, gratefulness, objectives

We all want to succeed but the majority doesn’t know how to clearly define success.

We have talked about this before. If you don’t really know what you want you are highly unlikely to get it. You need to have real clarity about your intentions ... what it is you really, really want to experience in your life.


Most people desire to be rich. What does rich mean to you and why do you want wealth?

Years ago I saw a beggar in the streets of Sri Lanka and I could see from his eyes and his smile that he was rich – not rich in worldly goods but rich in true happiness and contentment. What type of wealth, what type of riches do you want and most importantly WHY? Apart from the obvious THINGS like dream holidays, a nice house or a new car but that is just a small part of wealth, isn’t it?

Why do you want wealth?

Do you want wealth in order to have lots of money in the bank or do you want it for the joy and freedom it gives you; for the experiences you can have because you are wealthy and don’t have to worry about tomorrow’s food or roof over your head? Give this a moment of thought.

Why do you really want wealth?

If people have everything they want, it is because they were very clear about what they wanted to experience. Everyone else who still feels unfulfilled, and this is about 99% of the population, needs to get true clarity about what they want to experience. Only real clarity is power.

Many people talk only about things, about the objects they want in their lives, like a beautiful house but in fact, what really makes people happy is the experience of living in that beautiful house.

Let me give you an example – I love sailing and have always dreamt of having a really sleek sailing yacht but I never bought one. First because I did not have the money and later because I did not really want the responsibility that goes with maintaining a boat. Still the yearning remained until I realized I want the feeling of absolute peace and oneness with nature that signifies sailing for me and I don’t need to own a yacht to have this experience. I can charter one whenever and wherever I feel like it. It is the experience of being on the sea listening to the water glide past and the sound of the sails that turns me on, that gives me this sensation of utter peace – not the yacht itself.

The strange thing is that if you focus on the object only, like the yacht or the dream home, you are actually limiting yourself because the strongest manifestation is through emotion, is through sensation, through the experience itself. The object is just the vehicle.

Unfortunately most people think the vehicle is what they want and therefore manifest that but what we really want is the feeling, the experience of peace, freedom, and joy. If we concentrate on that, we find that we are able to get these emotions in a variety of ways, and may have but don’t need to have the object itself to feel the satisfaction. If I had no money I could work on a yacht to get that feeling, couldn’t I?

Ask yourself what it is you really want? What do you want to experience in your life and then think of ways how to achieve that.

Happy experience,
Barbara
http://www.trainingvisions.com

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Labels: emotion, experience, feelings, freedom, happiness, peace, yacht

Last night I watched the film "Troy" on TV. I had seen it once before on DVD and the one scene that had stuck out for me was the scene where Brad Pitt sprang at the giant he was supposed to fight and slit his throat without a moment of hesitation. It had been the only way to win.

On the TV version they had cut this scene out. For me it changed the whole film. Why? Because I always try to learn something and the lesson I got from Achilles the first time I saw the film was

When you have made a decision to do something do it whole heartedly and without hesitation!


Of course I don't mean to slit anyone's throat - on the contrary but have you ever noticed that the truly great movies - the ones that become classics and usually are nominated for Academy Awards - have one thing in common?

Do you know what that one thing is?

They have unforgettable moments in them.

Seems obvious, yet these moments can be quite subtle - where we actually may overlook them, both in the movies and, more importantly ... in our lives.

What makes these moments so extraordinary is that they touch the core of who we are. They provide the shift we need in the right direction. They are wings for our spirits, for our longing to dare and move forward - out of our comfort zone and into that new space we might fear but at the same time want so much.

Look into the moments that stop you, become aware of why something failed and learn your lesson from it so that next time you will make a better decision and "go for gold" whole heartedly and without hesitation.

Life is great - if only we let it be!
Barbara
http://www.trainingvisions.com

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© Copyright 2007, TrainingVisions. All rights reserved.

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Labels: films, personal development, personal growth, self help, Troy