Tag: coaching

November – Guest Post, Debbie Hollingsworth

Claire1 Comment

It is with great pleasure that I introduce this next Guest Blogger to you.  Her name is Debbie Hollingsworth and she is a wonderful friend of mine and Strategic Business Partner.  Debbie is an outstanding Executive Coach and Leadership/Management Trainer but she also has a special talent for writing poetry, which I only fairly recently found out.

Debbie Hollingsworth
Debbie Hollingsworth, Business Mentor and Professional Coach

Here is a little more about Debbie (extract from her Website):

What should I know about you?

I have been a professional coach since June 2006. I work with executives, business owners and their teams. I also work with private coach clients in aspects of their personal lives.

What did you do before you were a coach?

I ran my own travel business, before that I managed other peoples and before that I travelled the globe as a sales executive and trainer.

 How did you become a professional coach?

The story how I found out about the coaching world is a little long to tell here, but if you want to know I will share that with you sometime!

I have been a professional coach and trainer since 2006. I trained with a global business coaching franchise and also as a life coach. I left the franchise in 2009 to focus on developing my own business and products.

Why are you a coach?

Being a coach is my way of making a difference in the world. I have never experienced job satisfaction in anything I have ever done to the same extent that I get from coaching people. Nobody ever came up to me when I sold holidays and said “Debbie, that trip to Barbados changed my life”. But they do say that about the work I do with my clients now.

What life experiences have you had?

I have been impacted by adoption, been married, divorced and remarried, faced infertility
issues, failed IVF, started two businesses and coped with more changes in my life than most before the age of 40!

What is your mission?

When working with anyone, whether it is 1-1 clients or groups, it is vital to me that change happens and there are positive results.

Not all results are tangible, as some are behavioural changes that must happen first of all. I have a mission, that as many people that I can influence, awaken to themselves and all that they are capable of being, doing and having.

To help people take full ownership of their lives and responsibility for their outcomes. That we focus only on what we can influence, not on what we cannot. That we realise that anything is possible.

My role is to help others to become aware of their obstacles so that they may be worked with and around, not always taken away but sometimes so.

As I said above, Debbie also writes beautiful poetry and below is one of these poems:

Debbie and Sam
Debbie and her Dog, Sam

The Girl With Cornwall Hair

 Who is she? Her over there, running free, running wild

Who is she? That girl in the flowing skirt, with roses in her hair

Who is she? She runs with the wind, without any care

Who is she? Sand between her toes, a smile, a laugh, a giggle

Who is she? Spinning like a wooden top, time standing still for her

Who is she? Her long, curly locks billowing behind her in the cool breeze

She is me, though I rarely feel her, see her, know her or be her

She is the girl with Cornwall hair.

Copyright Debbie Hollingsworth, 2013

Thank You

I would like to personally thank Debbie for sharing her wonderful creative talents with us here on this Clarabelle Blog, I am delighted she wanted to share her work with us.

If you wish to contact Debbie, you can do so, as detailed below:

Website:      www.debbiehollingsworth.co.uk

Email:         Debbie@debbiehollingsworth.co.uk

Facebook:  www.facebook.com/debbiehollingsworthcoaching

Linked In:   http://www.linkedin.com/pub/debbie-hollingsworth/6/58b/a50

Twitter:       https://twitter.com/chaostocontrol

If you would like to be a Guest Blogger on this Clarabelle Blog then please do let me know on the comments below and we will discuss it further.  I look forward to hearing from you.

Love, Clarabelle

How To Know What You Want?

Claire5 Comments

Coaching Tool

In my day job when I am coaching I often work with people on how to identify what they want in life.  This can be a difficult one for some people because it isn’t always obvious for them, for many different reasons.

There is one coaching tool that I use which often gets great results for the person and I would like to share it with you here today so you can try it, if you wish.  I call this the “What I Want” Table (see photo below).

Take a blank piece of paper (see photo below) and head it up “What I Want“.  State underneath this what life area you want to focus on for e.g. “Health”.  Draw a table with two columns.  On the left hand column, write the heading, “What I Don’t Want” and the right hand column, write the heading, “What I Want”.

People struggling to identify what they want in life often find it easier to start with what they DON’T want in that area of their life.

Complete the left hand column first for e.g. what you don’t want to think, feel, do and experience in this specific area of your life and then write down the contrast of that on the right column, i.e. “What I Want”, i.e. what I do want to think, feel, do and experience.

This is a really simple but effective process in helping you identify what you want by thinking about what you don’t want first.  It can make identifying the “What I Want” process a whole lot easier for you.

What I Want Coaching Tool

Your BIG Why

It is also really important to have a big enough reason as to WHY you want to achieve that goal in the first place, why is it so important for you to achieve and it must also be in alignment with your core values.

If you are struggling to think about what you want in life, please try the above process and let me know if it works for you.  This process really works for me and for some of the people I coach but it is important to know that we are all different and just because this process works for me it doesn’t mean it will work for you.  But hey, I say, please give it a go and tell me what you think.

Much love to you today,  Clarabelle

Mission Statement

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October – Question of the Month

Claire2 Comments

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Welcome to October’s question of the month post.  At the beginning of every month I like to pose a question for you to contemplate and I will also share my own answer to the question for you.  October’s question:

Question:

Now that we’re in the the final quarter of 2013, it is good to reflect on your achievements of the year so far.  What are you most proud of achieving this year so far?

Answer:

This is a difficult one to answer for me because I honestly feel there are so many things that I am proud of achieving this year so far and a lot of it is not always immediately obvious to the outside world because a lot of it is related to self mastery, understanding oneself, become true to myself and being the person that I am and that I am becoming.

If I had to choose one I would definitely say it is related to moving forward with my singing/songwriting career.  I have such passion and soul connection to this ambition. This year so far I have taught myself how to play the keyboard, created 9 instrumentals and written 25 original songs over a 6 month period.

Everything related to me moving forward with this part of my life feels like a miracle to me, it was as if it came out of nowhere but it was a childhood dream deeply cemented in my heart.  I do truly believe that if I didn’t start this blog in April last year, I am not sure if the singing/songwriting would have unleashed itself so quickly, or even at all!!  It is as if this blog was the planting of a seed “the new me” and every blog post has nurtured that seed to grow, develop, flourish and blossom.  This blog I am so very grateful for, this blog was certainly last year’s number one achievement by far. 🙂

Reflection 

It is good to reflect on your past achievements and I would encourage you to answer this month’s question and also take time to celebrate your achievements.  After all you did it and you deserve it, you deserve the happiness it brings you.

Now, that we’re into the last quarter of 2013, make it the greatest three months of your life, I know I am.

Much love to you today, as always, Clarabelle.

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How to Plan Your Life?

Claire1 Comment

Life Planner

Most people spend more time planning their yearly holiday/vacation that they do their life.

What do I mean by life planning?

I believe it is about YOU exploring some of the the following things:

  • Looking at want you specifically want from life.
  • What experiences you want to have?
  • What contribution you want to make?
  • Identifying and understanding your core values.
  • Living your life in alignment with your core values.
  • Aligning your goals and desires to these.
  • Making a plan of action on how you are going to achieve that.
  • Putting the plan into action i.e do the “doing part”.
  • Measuring progress along the way.
  • Celebrating successes.
  • Reflecting on your learning experiences.
  • Continuously developing and implementing feedback.
  • Reviewing and fine tuning your goals along the way.
  • Setting an appropriate timescale for achieving these goals

Some of you may not know this, but I am a fully qualified Coach (Executive, Life & Career), I have had my own Coaching, Leadership/Management Training and Human Resources Business since 2008.  I work with clients in business and privately on the above stuff, I also do tons of work on this myself for my own self development.

If you don’t make a plan or set goals for yourself it can be really easy to “just drift by”, like a cloud in the sky and sometimes helping other people to live out their dreams more than your own.  I am all for helping people with their dreams but this should not be at the detriment to your own self.

Take some time today to think about what you REALLY want from life and how to live your life more in alignment with your core values.  When you do this you will be moving more towards long term life fulfillment rather than just quick fixes and short bursts of happiness.

Maybe just maybe your were meant to read this post today and maybe just maybe it will inspire you to take that first step towards living the life you truly desire and truly deserve. Don’t be a drifting cloud in the sky, be that SUN shining bright and full of forever happiness.

Much love to you today, Clarabelle

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“No TV….Weirdo”

Claire19 Comments

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Coaching

I was coaching a client in July 2011 and she was talking about not having a TV anymore, there were lots of positives coming from this discussion, so much so that when I went home that evening I didn’t want to have a TV anymore either, so I got rid of it, that very day.

Positives

I must say, this has been one of the best things I ever did and so many positives have come from me not having a TV.  I started to read more books, make more time for exercise, visit people more, talk to friends on the telephone, research into subjects I was interested in, focus more on developing myself and my business and one of the best positives was then having the time to start this Clarabelle blog and post on a regular basis.

Weird

When I made this decision the people around me thought I was being “weird”, some of them still do. The first thing people usually ask me when they come into my home is “Where is your TV?” and now I very proudly say I haven’t had a TV for over 2 years and I love not having a TV.  Usually this is followed by “Really, well what do you then with your time then?” and I very happily tell them all the positive things I do which grow me as a person, maximise my wellbeing and build my relationships with other people, sometimes I will even refer them to this Clarabelle blog.  🙂

Self Development

I am not saying that not having a TV is for everyone, it just really works for me, I live myself and prefer now to read a good self development book rather than watch a drama on TV.

All in all a very good decision for me and the positive outcomes have been tremendous.

Below is a picture of my living room, living happily without a TV. 🙂

Clarabelle's Living Room
Clarabelle’s Living Room

You may want to keep your TV for various reasons but maybe you could consider reducing the time you watch it, for e.g. 1 hour less per day, that will then give you an extra 7 hours per week to do something else you may not have time for right now!!  Just a thought 🙂

Wherever you are today, whatever you are doing, I do hope it is helping you to move closer to your goals.  Lots of love to you today, Clarabelle.

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The Power of Visualisation

Claire13 Comments

The power of visualisation

I love using the power of visualisation, I feel it is a very beneficial exercise to apply when you want to distance yourself from a current problem, so as to help you find the solution or if you want to think creatively about your future self.  Here is a visualisation exercise that I came up with that really helped me to look at where I was at, what I was doing and what needed to change (if anything).  I would recommend you have some quiet time and space to do this exercise effectively, you may also wish to have a notepad and pen available, so you can record your thoughts, feelings and any action points you may want to take from doing this exercise.

Imagination

Imagine yourself looking down on yourself from above, like having a birds-eye view of what you are doing.  See yourself right now going about your business, look at how you operate, who you talk to, where you go, what your routine is like, what daily rituals you have and even listen to what you’re thinking and communicating.  Now I want you to look at the things that are serving you well and think about why this is and in contrast to that I want you to think about the things that you are thinking and doing that are not serving you well.  Let me give you an example:

Map

When I did this exercise a few months ago, I looked at the places I was going to, I then drew out a map of this on my notepad, I didn’t like what I seen because I had got into the habit of going to the same places and never really getting out of a 50 mile radius from where I lived……that really made me think and immediately I got to work on making choices and decisions that would change that for me.  This then led me onto exploring new places, meeting new people who inspired me and from that I started doing some things a little differently which have served me very well.

Challenge Yourself 

So today I want you to challenge yourself to do this visualisatoin exercise and step out of who you are and take a birds-eye view of you living your life.  If you don’t like what you see, take a note of what you want to change, what you want to do more of, what you want to do less of, what you want to say ‘yes’ to and what you will say ‘no’ to.  Take the time to reflect on it all because by applying these new insights, it could just be the turning point you need in your life right now.

Not happy?  I challenge you to make the change today.

I hope you take the opportunity to try out this visualisation exercise and I would love to hear what new insights you got from it.

Much love to you today,  Clarabelle

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Guest Blogger – Amy Rew

Claire2 Comments

Welcome to this month’s Guest Blogger post from Amy Rew.  Amy is an inspiring business woman and wonderful friend of mine, she also has a special talent for writing poetry from the heart.  I am sure you will agree her creative writing is indeed a beautiful work of art.  Also, Happy Birthday today Amy, wishing you a beautiful day.

Amy Rew
Amy Rew

Amy Rew has trained to Post Graduate level within the field of clinical hypnotherapy and psychotherapy. Amy is a member of the British Society Of Clinical Hypnotherapy. 

Using a blend of clinical hypnotherapy, cognitive behaviour (CBT) and neuro linguistic programming (NLP) along with life coaching, Amy works with her clients to help focus motivation, increase confidence and generally optimise and unlock each individual’s personal potential.

Before training to become a hypnotherapist and life coach, Amy worked for over 10 years within the entertainment and fashion industry giving her great insight and experience into issues relating to confidence building, performance anxiety and self body image.​

After working with a number of clients recently who wanted to overcome challenges that were essentially related to past experiences that had resulted in limiting belief patterns and self abandonment, Amy felt inspired to write the following poem along the lines of facing ones fears and realising that we are our own best friend.

Best Friend

I’ll stay with you now
I won’t leave your side
Nowhere to run
Nothing to hide
Catching the moment
Slowing down time
I’m all alone
These emotions are mine
Drying the river
Turning the tide
Breaking the chains
So these worlds can collide
As we hold on so tightly
To illusions gone by
But Live for today
With no worry or sigh
Stay with me now
Cause there’s nowhere to go
Play the best friend, lover or foe
Jester magician
With all tricks of the trade
Hold on to him tightly
till he starts to fade
Oh mirror mirror
what do you show
I see what I want
I don’t know if you know
Make an impression
lets make it the last
Tie to the sail
And stick to the mast
The question’s the answer
The start is the end
You won’t fool yourself
But it’s fun to pretend
Stay in your shoes
Don’t leave your canoe
Create the next step
You know you can choose
Like ships on the ocean
Thieves in the night
Silent and strong
Set sail for the light

Copyright Amy Rew, June 2013

A very special thank you to Amy for sharing this beautiful and touching poem with us, I am very grateful that we got to share in its magic.  Love, Clarabelle

Your Life

Claire11 Comments

Your Life

As some of you may already know I have my own Professional Coaching Business, Murray People International Coaching, www.murraypeople.com. I set up the business in 2008 after a wonderful career as a Human Resource Professional and now nearly 5 years later, it is still growing strong…I love coaching.  I mainly coach Senior Executives in Global Companies but I also do private one to one Career and Life Coaching, I am fully certified as a Professional Coach.  I really love working with people and seeing them achieve their goals in life.  I deliberately make a real effort to continually develop myself everyday so that I can use my learning in my one to one sessions with my clients, I know the better that I can become, then the better I will work with them, and the better they will become and get the results they want.  Every new coaching tool I learn for clients, I also apply to myself, this helps me to personally evolve and increases my self-awareness.  So lately I have been asking myself my own questions about my life, here is the question I asked myself recently:

What do you want your life to be/look like one year from now?      

So, of course, I went to work and I looked at each area of my life and in great detail wrote down what I specifically want my life to be and look like one year from now.  I absolutely loved this process.  I looked at the following areas:

  • Health
  • Environment
  • Money
  • Career
  • Intimate Relationship
  • Fun
  • Family & Friends
  • Leisure & Activities
  • Personal Growth

Three pages later and I had a wonderful vision of where I WILL be one year from now because I believe that will happen for me, because I WILL make it happen for me.  I have a very good track record, I was thinking of goals I have set myself in the past and fully committed to and I can honestly say I have achieved every single one of them, so this gives me an abundance of self-confidence going forward.

What About YOU?

If you want to make positive changes in your life, I would totally recommend that you sit down quietly with a notepad and pen or type on your computer/iPad and answer that question for yourself:

What do YOU want YOUR life to be/look like one year from now?

What you do after that is your choice, I read my list every morning, so I can get my specific goals embedded into my heart, mind and soul and this helps me to become super focused in achieving that for myself, sometimes without even trying.  You see it is like programming my brain to focus on achieving that for myself, so my everyday choices and decisions are in support of those life goals.  I am super focused, laser focused, fully committed and fully passionate about making these goals happen for me.  I want the same for YOU, I want you to have a better life, I want you to have everything that you have ever wanted, I want the BEST for YOU, I truly and honestly do.  It’s your life, GO GET IT!!  (I think I may make that my new slogan!!)  

May every thought that you think today, be in support of a better you and a better life for you, lots of love, as always, Clarabelle.

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The Extra Mile

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The Extra Mile

What does it mean for you, to go that extra mile?

The work I do, it is very important to me, I love to go the extra mile and I am always thinking about how I can advance others.  Let me give you an example of how I went the extra mile this week.

I was asked a couple of weeks ago to do a half hour talk on Executive Coaching to a large Banking Organisation.  This was a marvellous opportunity for me to talk about something I am very passionate about.  I had to focus the talk from the ‘Coachee’ perspective.  So rather than me just turning up on the day and sharing a few of my own thoughts on this, I decided to “go the extra mile”.

What did I do?

I coach a lot of Directors and Seniors Leaders in Organisations so I decided to ask them what they thought i.e. “How do you get the best out of your coaching sessions?”. From the 25 people I asked, I got 20 fabulous detailed responses.  I then collated and analysed all the feedback from these clients and produced “practical application” hand out notes for the people I was going to talk to, including 50 Top Tips!!  I also approached another Coachee that I worked with in the Banking Organisation last year and asked her if I could share her coaching success story and I was delighted that she was happy for me to do this.  I then created a presentation entitled “The Coachee’s Story” based on her coaching experience and positive results.

Advancing Others

I wasn’t expected to do any of the above, I wasn’t specifically asked to do that, but I wanted to give new participants on the coaching programme the best information I could offer them.  Before I prepared any of the above, I said to myself “How can I advance these people in this short talk?”.

I did the presentation yesterday and I feel it went down very well.  I was happy that I did some special research for the talk and I feel I gave people a great start going forward. This for me was “the extra mile” stuff.

I share this with you today, because I feel if you can make a good effort at going the extra mile for people it will not only satisfy and fulfill you from within but it will also really benefit and advance others.  It also makes you a really good role model for others, they see you going the extra mile and they want to do that too.

What does going “the extra mile” mean to you?

Wishing you a wonderful day on “the extra mile”.

Love Clarabelle

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How Do You Know You Are Growing?

Claire11 Comments

A Question for You to Ponder

Welcome to my monthly post, where I post a question for you to answer (I will share my answer with you too). You may not wish to answer straight away, you may wish to contemplate the question for a few minutes/hours/days or even a couple of weeks.  You don’t even need to post the answer on here, but it would be nice if you would and share your answers with others.  So here is your question for this month:

How do you know you are growing?
How do you know you are growing?

How do you know you are growing?

Here is my answer:

  • I have a greater sense of self-awareness and I practice mindfulness.
  • I am having different kinds of meaningful conversations with different people from around the world.
  • I am deliberately learning every day – educating myself on personal mastery, business, love and life fulfillment.  
  • I welcome a broader range of learning and I am open to new ideas that inspire my imagination and creativity.  
  • I am sharing my learning, every day.  
  • I am progressing towards my goal achievement – I see and feel the results. 
  • I am committed to making me a better me and I am enjoying the NOW.  
  • I am always moving outside of my comfort zone into my learning/stretch zone.  
  • I dare to dream and have big plans for the future.  
  • I practice courage every day and see the value in being brave, facing my fears and getting on with life.  
  • I am grateful, so very very grateful for everything I have in my life right now – my health, my home, my happiness.  
  • I help people, more than I ever have, I make time to help people because this is what I love to do.  
  • I sing, I dance, I run in the rain, I laugh, I cry and I don’t hold onto the sweet memories of the past, they are very special however there are many more special moments to be enjoyed now and in the future.
  • I love and I have an abundance of self-love.
  • I pray, for self and for others, this brings much peace to my heart and mind.
  • I am not frightened anymore to show my vulnerable side, I see this is a real strength.
  • I know I am stronger, I feel stronger, I look stronger from the outside and inside.
  • I am positive, optimistic, enthusiastic and full of energy….I know my heart and soul is alive.
  • I am excited about life now and all that could and will be.
  • I am making music, writing songs and the child in me is smiling.  
  • I am becoming me, nothing more, nothing less and it feels so good.
  • I believe in me, I have faith, I am truly unique.
  • I believe in YOU, you are all of the above and more.