How Running Made Me A Better Coach

~a personal story~

I am set to run my first half-marathon in 2 days. I'm a smidge intimidated at the thought of joining the crowd of 'real' runners and full marathoners, but at the same time I feel confident about completing the race.  I WILL finish. And in two months

Cultivating a Daily Success Mindset

What one skill do all successful people, all around the world, and all throughout time, have in common?

Whether they realize it or not, they all are masters at visualizing their success.  They routinely envision successful outcomes--and most often expect nothing else. Their words likely match their thoughts, but they may have also mastered the art of not telling everyone how confident they are.  If you could tap into the minds of the top tier of successful people, you would find

Getting Started: From Intention to Reality

So you want to make a change.  The "pain" of your current situation has caused you to want something different.  You may exclaim, "That's IT!  Something needs to change with this.  I am going to______."

Congratulations, you just initiated a new goal! Even if it's not new.  What counts is that you feel motivated and intend to do something to change your current situation.  Yep, it's that simple.  You said you wanted to change, but do you really think of it as a goal?  Probably not- until you've written it down, talked about it with a few people, maybe posted it on Facebook, or acknowledged it as something you want -it doesn't feel like a "goal."  However, realize that you told yourself and anyone in earshot that you have an INTENTION.  You can choose to make it a goal (or not).  Why did you say it, if you didn't really want to make a change on some level?  So now what?

That spark of motivation, no matter how small, can be leveraged to pull you through the first couple of challenges...but to make it all the way you must ensure first that you set the right goal for YOU, for right NOW.

Do You Really Want It?
There are some key differences between goal setting and goal ACHIEVING.  The most critical difference is that Goal Achievers have set the right goal: not just any random intention becomes a goal worthy of focus and effort.  Do you really want it?  When you think about actually achieving your goal, it should scare you a little bit, and excite you a lot. If it's not the right intention-come-goal, then don't worry about it.  Think about what you DO want.

Peacefulness: Week 10

Peace, Tranquility, and Relaxation.
Aaaaaahhhhh.

(Read about the 13 traits)

Yeah, there is some irony that I am writing this on a Sunday at about 9pm and I am committed to getting up at 5am for the gym. But well, since I own my business I also completely own my schedule and I can work whenever I like. And I can relax whenever I like.

My strategy this week is to incorporate some relaxing moments and/or tranquil thoughts daily, as well as try daily meditation Monday through Friday. This is the part where I tell you that I am a bit A-type and most of my life did not know how to truly relax, and clearing my mind is pretty much impossible.

Since becoming a coach, I have learned the power of the mind and have tackled many things I once thought impossible. Therefore, I am giving meditation a real honest-to-goodness shot this time. I have also learned the power of relaxation (even if I still have to set the timer to truly let myself relax- freakish, I know!), and of visualizing events and images for things I would really like to see happen. So I am excited to embrace this right now, plus it fits oh-so-nicely with one of the books I am currently reading: Eat Pray Love, and she is in India at the Ashram...

I still have a bit of a mental hurdle regarding the meditation, but I discovered that there are many forms of meditation and that pretty much everyone struggles initially - so it just takes practice. I also am thoroughly sold on the benefits.

So- here goes: I, Heather Legge, of Envision Success Inc, commit to posting my progress on this little relaxation and meditation journey of mine this week (and to catching up on past posts soon). Stay tuned!

Monday update: I recited several times "Om Namah Shivaya" aka "I honor the divinity that resides within me." It was definitely peaceful. Although I am honestly not feeling the mantra as just saying it, I know there is value in simply concentrating ones thoughts and voice in one direction.

Tuesday update: WOW, a VERY productive last few days. That's the good news. The bad news is that I've been staying up late and getting pretty caught up in " Get Er Done" mode, and I skipped the gym this morning in favor of sleep, didn't eat well, nor did I experience any tranquil thoughts since Monday update above. OK, wait - YET. I will make some time before bed to breathe, think calming thoughts, and do a 20-minute guided relaxation before sleep. Aaaaahhhhh, I feel better already.

Later update: I turned it around over the next few days and was able to embrace Peacefulness more fully. I found myself much more aware of my ability to be more relaxed, peaceful, or tranquil in just about any situation. Next round, I would like to sign up for a meditation class and force a bit more growth in this area.

Intention: Week 5

Post 5 of 13 traits. Read more.

Intention, ah...I can't help but think of the phrase, "The road to Hell is paved with good intentions." For some reason, this has been a staple phrase in my subconscious for many years.

So we can state that intention is not enough; we have to follow it up with action. But how? I am a big proponent for what is called "inspired action." In other words, when you know what you want, you will know what to do. It's when your intentions are not very clear that actions too are muddied.

My expected focus for this week was to visualize desired outcomes (much more) for lots of things: my business, proposals, projects, clients, transactions, and even conversations. ie, What do I want this person I am meeting with to experience today? As much as I teach my clients this technique, I can't claim that I am applying it 100% of the time either, and I was happy to give it some extra attention for a week.

The technique involves thinking about, articulating, and then pretending it's really possible---whatever outcome you'd really like to see. As an example, I asked a client Wednesday what she would really like to happen during an event she was co-hosting and she starting talking about it, and as she was explaining to me during her session, she was defining it for herself. And it was cool!

One reason this works so well is because once you articulate what it is that you want, then you will see opportunities differently, you will make different assumptions, you will use different words and interact differently with others. In short you will make those teeny-tiny decisions differently that you are confronted with a thousand times a day and will create the situation as you'd like it to happen. Long term, this means better results.

So yes, as expected, a lot of awesome stuff happened this week!
I'm back to journaling nightly.

And now for Communcation...