Greetings All —
Sometimes one of the toughest things to do as life coaches is to practice what we preach. While we strive to help clients achieve balance, embrace their dreams, find creative solutions and overcome fear, sometimes we have to remind ourselves to check in on our own lives.
It is this kind of self-examination that led me to thinking I have something to express outside of my existing blog. Hence, the creation of my new blog — www.theuniversalflow.blogspot.com — which is scathingly honest and has a spiritual bent. Check it out and if it moves you, please pass it on!
My mother called me last weekend to tell me Scott Baio has a life coach. Apparently he so badly wants to know why he’s 45 and single that not only has he hired one, but he’s opted to air all of his dirty laundry regarding this topic on a reality show.
I know you’re laughing out loud right now, thinking I’ve lost my cotton-picking mind. But here’s why I’m writing about it — you never know where you’re going to get a dose of inspiration. The life coach tells Mr. Baio he needs to stay celibate for eight weeks and my first thought is that’s a crazy action to assign to a client. I mean, my clients come away from our sessions with tasks like making phone calls, doing research, writing lists.
Hmmmm. That sounded boring even as my hands went over the keyboard to write it. Dull, dull, dull. Maybe we need to shake things up a little more, whether being guided by a coach or doing a little self-coaching. One of my current clients got jazzed about a dormant book idea from an out-of-the-box exercise I gave her, an exercise she admits she was reluctant to do. Her openness and trust led to a breakthrough in her writing life.
I recently attended a writing workshop where the facilitator fired exercises at us like a drill sargeant. Name the protagonist in your novel. What is his or her goal in the book? What is the opposite of that goal? Now write a paragraph with your protagonist experiencing the opposite of her goal. Boom, boom, boom. And I did it all with butterflies in my stomach. And it transformed my manuscript.
Pushing our limits might get tedious every day, but surely we can find ways to make this work for us so we get extra juiced about something in life on a regular basis.
Seriously, aren’t you just dying to know if it works for Scott Baio?
JOIN ME:
If a few hours of exploring writing in a relaxed atmosphere sounds heavenly, consider my upcoming workshops called, Writing: Luxury or Necessity? These are intimate and space is limited, so please reserve your spot in advance. For more information click here.
COOL THINGS MY FRIENDS ARE DOING:
Karen Parziale is a certified feng shui practitioner who offers a variety of services for your home and life. Contact her for more info at Kmparziale@aol.com
Robin Maggi is participating in the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer in the fall and has a lofty goal! If you’re looking to write a check for a good cause, this is it.
