Pivotal Choices Coaching

Small Steps Lead to Pivotal Changes

Many people seem to think that a new year heralds a fresh start.

Not necessarily.

What are you doing now that you’d like to do more of?

It doesn’t take a major change; choosing small, but important steps, lead to pivotal changes.

What is a small step you can take?  Many people would say exercise more. 

If that’s a focus you would like to increase, how much do you exercise now?  How many times a week?  What if you raised that level just one notch for the next month?

Making this pivotal choice starts with your writing it down. 

Small, incremental steps amount to big, pivotal changes.  They’re realistic and easy to maintain.

What’s the small step that you’re willing to take?  And when will you that step? Write it in your calendar.

You can do this! 

Go my website (www.nwcoaching.com) and sign up for my Smart Tips newsletter. You will get the support you need and tips that you can use.  I'll also send you a bonus gift.

Happy New Year and thanks so much for reading my Pivotal Choices Coaching blog in 2007.

If you have a goal that you would like to work toward, contact me.  I look forward to hearing from you in 2008. 

I want 2008 to be a year of productivity and greater life satisfaction for you.

Warmly,

Nancy Whichard
Your Coach for Pivotal Choices and Change
nancy@nancywhichard.com
www.nwcoaching.com

Choosing to View Life through a Lens of Gratitude

I’ve always thought that I knew a lot about gratitude. Gratitude is one of my top five signature strengths.  I routinely send thank you notes for presents, and I feel grateful for what I have and for what I have accomplished in my life.

What else is there to know?

But a few nights ago I listened to a teleconference about gratitude, given by Deb Levy, an educator and a teaching assistant to Tal Ben-Shahar at Harvard.  Deb’s talk started me thinking how gratitude could play an even larger role in my life. 

Since the teleconference I have read more on the emerging research on gratitude and am amazed at the role gratitude can play in changing people’s lives.

What I have read tells me that gratitude is a choice.  And it’s not always easy to choose gratitude.  It demands that we acknowledge the gifts from others. That we view life through a lens of gratitude.

It’s easy to be grateful for the food we eat and the sun that shines, but to view life through gratitude means that being grateful replaces the feeling that we deserve all that life can give us. It replaces the feeling that we have suffered for everything that we’ve achieved. Or that we’re still a victim of some kind.

What choosing gratitude means is that we see ourselves as incomplete and in need of the help others have given us. 

So even though the number of people around my dining room table will be smaller than the number of guests my grandmother would have had at her Thanksgiving table when I was a child, I can choose a to be part of a very large community.

This Thanksgiving Day I will thank my husband and my children for all they have given me.  I am gladly and gratefully dependent upon them.

And I will thank the members of that community that I see in my mind’s eye for all of the gifts I have received—that community includes people from long ago in my life as well as people that I saw Friday at the office.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Nancy
www.nwcoaching.com

How to Act like an Extrovert and Put Yourself Out There; or, Business Calls Can Lead to Happiness

Are you paralyzed at the thought of making a call to market your services or to ask something of another person?

How about calling a contact, someone you’ve met at some point? 

Or do you do whatever you can to avoid all marketing calls?

I’m an introvert, and in the past I would rather do about anything than make a call. 

When I was training to be a coach, I was told to make cold calls to market my services.

The trainer told our class that the individual goal for each of us was to get x number (say 5) of “no” responses.

The assignment was just to make the call and had nothing to do with outcome.  That made the process easier. 

Positive Psychologist researcher Chris Peterson tells us that extroverted people are happier than introverted people.

Introverted people should be asked to do extroverted things. 

What this means for you is
     •   If you are asked to make calls, then you should find a way to do that.
     •   Ask the same of yourself.
     •   In a nutshell -- Ask yourself to do extroverted things.

Even if making calls is difficult for you, once you have done this extroverted task of reaching out to others, you will be glad that you did it.

See if this approach works for you:
1.  Take the pressure off—you’re not invested in outcomes.  Tell yourself that your goal is to receive 5 “no” responses to your marketing calls.
2.  Then ask yourself 2 questions
     a. “What does this person need?”
     b. “What do I have to offer that will solve a problem for this person?”
3.  Write a script for yourself.
4.  Tape yourself reading your script.
5. Listen to the tape and jot down key points that you are making; add missing points.
6.  Practice talking (not reading).
7.  Make the first call no matter how nervous you feel.  No dilly-dallying.
8.  Remember that this call will bring you one call closer to your goal of 5 no’s.
If you get a yes, what a gift!  That’s the prize in the Happy Meal box.
9.  Begin every call with a smile on your face.

When you finish, take note of how satisfied you feel.

According to Chris, you’ll be just as satisfied as if you were extroverted. 

Ready to Get Serious about Change?

Are you looking for what comes next in your life?

I have heard from teachers, professors, lawyers, corporate executives, executive assistants,
and they are ready for something new. They want a change.

And the good news is that change is possible.

What makes it possible is that there are some fantastic resources available.

One great resource is www.squidoo.com/mappingmidlife.

Asking the question “How will you map the second half of the journey?”
drsusan offers seven areas to consider:
1. What will my legacy be?
2. What meaningful work do I now want to do?
3. How can I fulfill my need to nurture?
4. How can I sustain meaningful relationships in my life?
5. How can I express myself creatively?
6. How can I meet my spiritual needs?
7. What surroundings do I want?

These questions slow you down and pin you against the wall, don’t they?

Would you like to pursue some of these questions?  I offer a free
sample coaching call.  It would be an opportunity for you to see if coaching might
be for you.

You can contact me through my website at www.nwcoaching.com.

I would also love to send you a copy of my free newsletter.  You can sign up for my newsletter at www.nwcoaching.com.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Life Comes at You Fast, But What to Do When It Doesn't?, or, Where Is Change Possible?

Life comes at you fast, or so says the commercial.  But for many people, life may have lost some of that zip.

Perhaps you feel the need for change, but you’re not sure where that change should be. 

Taking an overview of your life can be helpful. 

Try this exercise:  Draw a pie and divide it into several slices, each slice denoting an important area of your life, such as career, income, family, learning, fun, exercise, food.  Then rate each of those areas on a basis of 1 to 10, with 10 being the highest level of life satisfaction.   

If you are ambivalent about change, this exercise can be a good place to start. 

Are there any surprises here for you? You might choose one of the slices and think about what was behind the score you gave it. 

Looking at your life one aspect at a time can give you
1) clarity to see where change would be helpful and also
2) strength to set goals and take action.

I'd love to hear how this exercise works for you. 

If you would, take a minute to visit my website at www.nwcoaching.com and sign up for my newsletter.  I would like to hear your thoughts on what I should include--what would be helpful to you?