Personal development is a journey of courage and commitment.  It’s a journey that never ends and it requires maturity to take 100% responsibility for all areas of your life including your thoughts, emotions, achievements and wellbeing.

Personal development or self-leadership is hard work and requires you to take a deep look at yourself, really knowing who you are on the inside and then getting your external reality to be congruent with your inner self.  When you are congruent with your inner being you will confidently challenge and overcome negative feelings such as  guilt, blame and shame because you will see them as opportunities for evolving as a human being.

The overall goal in personal development is to achieve outstanding effectiveness while maintaining internal balance where your thoughts, feelings, actions and skills are all working together to create the life you truly desire.  It’s the never-ending journey of life and requires a great deal of time, patience and consistency.

There are no quick fixes in personal development. For lasting change to occur limiting beliefs and decisions or undesirable habits and patterns must be transformed at a cellular level otherwise you will keep experiencing similar events.

There are many tools and techniques available in the personal development field and my suggestion is if you are really looking for deep transformation, try something that will extend your comfort zone, allow you to expand your awareness and fully support you in your evolution and not revolution.

The Transformation Experience is about taking charge because life is full of problems and opportunities! Some problems are minor concerns that arise during routine daily activities while others can be major hardships that can keep us distracted and lacking in energy for years.

Everyone has problems in some area of life, relationships, finances, home, health and work.  In addition to that there are always the normal demands and frustrations of daily life such as meeting deadlines, children issues, traffic hold-ups, increasing cost, and mounting bills. As soon as one problem gets resolved, a new one comes along.  That’s the truth and that is the nature of life.

By applying transformation techniques, we can quickly transform what is a negative situation into an opportunity simply by changing our perception.  This then allows us to direct our energy to what is really important in our lives and empowers us to make decisions, take action and enjoy the results instead of wallowing in a negative frame of mind.

So what are transformation techniques?

There are many powerful techniques available. From my research and experience most of them involve asking quality questions, ones that challenge the mind and enable us to see a different view of the situation.

The Transformation Experience is a one day program where you can experience these questioning techniques with a professionally trained facilitator.  The benefits include:

• bringing more heart and soul into your space
• enhance the quality of personal relationships
• build confidence and personal magnetism
• enjoy greater energy and vitality
• transform worry, anxiety and guilt into healthy productive actions
• increase mental effectiveness
• improve self-worth

Click here for more information on this one day program in Canberra and Adelaide.

Christopher Howard provides two and half days of exciting content and cutting edge mind technology. You will get to experience life changing inductions that will help you transform your thinking to that similar of successful entrepreneurs, business people, elite athletes and high achievers. For more information, click on the banner



If you were busy during the start of the 2010 New Year and didn’t get to writing down your goals then don’t worry because the New Moon phase is here now in Australia and offers another intense time for setting goals.

Consider writing one, if not three goals in each of the 7 areas of life:

1. Financial
2. Mental
3. Career
4. Family
5. Social
6. Physical (including health & wellbeing)
7. Spiritual

Rules for goal setting

Setting goals is much more than making vague, wishy-washy statements like ‘I will expand my business’. If you are serious about goal setting it means creating a written plan that includes reasonable and measurable long-term and short-term goals. It means making them SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, timely) goals.

Specific

Your goal needs to be specific. It needs to be succinct, clearly written and include as much detail as you can put in a nutshell.

Measurable

To be effective goals need to be measurable so you can see progress and know when you have achieved them.  Using words like ‘better’, ‘shorter’ are not measurable so you need to think of incorporating measurements such as time, weights and measures into your goals. For example setting a goal to lose weight is not measurable but writing it in terms of I reduce my weight by 10 kilos is measurable.

Achievable

Ensure you goal is achievable and don’t set yourself up to fail and don’t make it too easy that it’s not motivating. Incorporate a level of challenge into your goals and if you are energised by the goal and can honestly visualise yourself reaching your goal then it’s bound to be achievable.

Realistic

Do you have the knowledge, skills and resources to reach your goal? If not, perhaps your first step is to gather the necessary information you need to make this goal realistic

Timely

Setting a deadline for achieving you goal provides the necessary tension to give you the motivation and energy.  The time frame you decide on for achieving you goal should be realistic.  Reducing your weight by 10 kilos in 10 weeks is realistic but in 3 weeks is not only unrealistic but also unhealthy.

Bringing energy to your goal setting

This is the exciting part.  Bring energy and emotion into your goals.  Visualise them, see, hear and feel every detail as if you have already achieved the goal. See yourself in the picture and notice the colours, the shapes, the distance between things, hear the sounds, know what the noises represent and experience the positive sensations of achieving your goal and living with that achievement.  Really experience what it feels like and connect with that feeling often.

The Authentic Self is the core of your being. It is often referred to as the true self, real self or essential self as distinguished from the self you usually present to the world. It is the self you were born to become, the self you would be if your character were not distorted by conditioning and projections from external authorities. It shines in your values, your sense of purpose and your drive to express yourself authentically throughout your life.

The Authentic Self is the ’seed’ that contains your potential. It is open and uniquely you.

The ‘conditioned self’ is made up of many different conditions that influenced your development such as parents, teachers, cultural and society expectations, much of what was learned in your early childhood and growing up.

Regularly connecting with the Authentic Self allows you to become aware of an unfolding purpose for your life and empowers you to make choices that will further evolve that purpose. You will be less distracted or blown off course by others unreasonable expectations or your own insecurities. Living with purpose and knowing and acting in accordance with your Authentic Self gives everything you do an added measure of stability, credibility and authority. When connected with the Authentic Self you communicate a powerful sense of inner authority.

There are several steps to bringing more of your Authentic Self to work:

1. Recognise the difference between your Authentic Self and your conditioned self
2. Stay connected to your Authentic Self as much as possible
3. Identify your unique set of values that support your Authentic Self
4. Identify ways to express your authenticity at work or find your purpose vocation

If we understand that life itself is an ever changing process, then we will feel connected to change rather than alienated from it. We will be able to sense the subtle winds of change and act accordingly rather than getting caught in a hurricane.

• This is what it means to participate with the change process.

• You feel at one with change.

• You feel yourself continually shedding the old to make room for the new.

In the busyness of everday organisational life we often get caught up in habitual ways of engaging in role.  There is little room for reflection about the stories we hold and how these impact on our behaviour and the social, physcological and political processes that drive organisational life.  Check this out – Shelley Ostroff, PhD is presenting her ‘Conscious Roles in Conscious Systems’ program in Melbourne Australia on 15 & 16 September 2009.

Conscious ROLES in Conscious SYSTEMS

Life coaching, transformation coaching, transition coaching is with every intention the same process.   Professional coaches are trained to help people really identify where they are  NOW and where they want to BE in relation to all areas of life; career, financial, health and physical wellbeing, relationships, family and friends, spiritual and fun and recreation. Professional coaches provide an environment where clients can express and empower themselves without feeling judged or intimidated, thus increasing self esteem and a sense of purpose.

Working with a coach will help clients clarify their values,  purpose, vision and goals and will support them in mapping out a strategy to achieve their dreams and desires. Different coaches use different techniques or models for coaching and all will agree that, regardless of the model, it is up to the client to take responsibility and action for their results.  Just like a personal trainer is there to support, encourage, motivate and keep their client accountable, so is a coach.  And it involves commitment, time and several sessions to achieve the desired results.

To achieve results, clients need an intention to change or want different results in some area of their life, a desire to grow and a commitment to follow through. The results will be a reflection of the effort put in over time. Attending coaching sessions and expecting someone or something else other than themselves to change will be disappointing. A coach can only coach the attending client who will be responsible for their own outcome.

To achieve the desired results it usually it takes several sessions working with a coach.  These sessions will included listening to the client’s desires, setting realistic goals and challenging their limiting beliefs and negative emotions to overcome much of what is holding them back in life.

Coaching is about supporting people to empower every part of their life and is not about the coach making decisions for them. Professional coaches develop rapport with their clients in a series of sessions, they ask quality questions to encourage the client to think outside the square, take them on personal journey of discovery to help them realise their purpose, vision and goals.

Clients do need to view coaching sessions as a personal investment in their future.  Sessions are scheduled several times per month to suit the individual client’s need and typically, they last for 60-120 minutes per session.

Trish, refers to her coaching sessions as a personal investment. She says “I can’t grow my business unless I grow myself and I need someone to challenge and support me through that process otherwise it is easy for me to kid myself.  Coaching helps me clarify my thoughts, dissolve the fear and anxiety I experience sometimes when I need to take on something new. It also helps remind me that I am more than my business and  so I can keep a balanced perspective on life. I always feel connected energised and passionate about life after my coaching sessions.”

TIPS for finding an ideal coach

• Check for experience and credentials
• Look for an ideal fit to suit your specific needs
• Interview or meet with  a coach prior to signing up to ensure there is good rapport

Are you READY, WILLING and ABLE to be coached?

Ask yourself the following questions:

READY?

Do I have time to invest in myself?

Can I make and keep appointments with myself to work on transforming my life?

Is there a discrepancy between where I am now and where I want to be?

WILLING?

Am I fully willing to do the work to get me where I want to go?

Am I willing to try new things even if I am not 100% convinced they will work?

ABLE?

Am I able to think critically about myself?

Do I have the patience to take consistent action toward my goals, regardless of how immediate the results are?

Do I have the support I need to make significant changes with ease (eg family, friends, colleagues, corporate structure)?

YOU NEED TO HAVE ANSWERED ‘YES’ TO ALL QUESTIONS IF YOU ARE SERIOUS ABOUT TRANSFORMING YOUR LIFE

Will Smith sends a strong message. This is about being different and making a difference. I hope you enjoy

I came across this video recently, and it really made my day.

I trust you will enjoy it…..