Julia Stewart Coaching

Julia Stewart Coaching Has Moved

2009-03-31T17:57:00.003-05:00

We've consolodated our blogs and moved them to the School of Coaching Mastery site. Several new posts are waiting for you now. In fact, there's a lot more going on there. If you've subscribed to us in the past and liked what you read, then you'll probably want to change your subscription to the Coaching Blog.

technorati claim

2009-03-20T15:54:00.000-05:00

Technorati Profile

Best Copywriting on the Planet

2009-02-18T14:00:00.003-05:00

I sent today's "newsletter" from Woot! to my friend, Mattison Grey, just a few minutes ago, with the comment, "Best Copywriting on the Planet". Now I see that "Woot" is in the top ten keywords

on Google, today. That sort of web status usually goes to people standing on airplane

wings in the Hudson River and professional athletes who confuse Tic Tacs with steroids, not some lowly ecommerce

site.

I rest my case.

DO NOT DELETE, jscoach!

Read this Woot newsletter and watch your dreams come true - ignore it and you will meet terrible misfortune! Veronica L. of Riverdale, Ohio received this message, failed to read it, and died of natural causes a mere 58 years later! In contrast, Joe B. of Wilmington, Delaware read it voraciously more than two times, and soon received a promotion to Vice-President! Before you click "delete", ask yourself: would you rather be DEAD or VICE-PRESIDENT? Your future could depend on it!

Recessionary Wooting Report
Like everybody else, we're waiting for our business to collapse and force us back into exotic dancing. But to our immense relief, lately a lot of woots have been selling out way earlier than we expected. You've bought 10,000 Ion USB turntables, 18,000 LED booklight three-packs, 25,000 USB Bluetooth dongles, 7,500 Kodak Digital Picture Frames, 1,000 Recaro child car seats, and 17,155 Powersquid two-packs, almost all before breakfast on their respective days, according to the stats on the first page of each sale's discussion thread. Whew! Guess we can leave our pasties in the closet for now. Just goes to show, you have to get up pretty early to beat the hordes of slavering deal-psychos Woot attracts every single day. (And don't forget about Sellout.Woot, where the deals are just as good, but come with a little more elbow room.) In these tight economic times, we'd like to thank you for letting your debilitating shopping addiction go untreated.

Woot's Twitter Feeds: Now with ThumbSuck™ Technology! Are you following us?
Wondering what's for sale on Woot right now? Why bother typing a long, cumbersome URL likeifyouwanttoseewhatsonwoottodayitwouldbeeasiertojusttypewoot.com when you can just followtwitter.com/woot? It's your gateway to amazement, if you're amazed by a single-line post announcing each new Woot sale. You can get the same buzz in different flavors from the wootwineand wootshirt feeds, now with live updated avatars illustrating the current product. We call that ThumbSuck™, and it's especially useful for shirt shoppers. And don't forget the wootoff feed, which springs into action with product updates for every sale during Woot-Offs. Now all we have to do is settle on an awkward portmanteau name for our Twitter feed. Twittoot? Twootter? Twiot?

Shirt.Woot: One Millionth Shirt Sold
You sell a shirt, you sell a couple more, you sell another 999,997 shirts, and pretty soon you're talking serious numbers. Shirt.Woot just pushed its one millionth shirt out the door. The odometer rolled over at 8:25 AM on January 30, 2009, when Alberto of Houston, Texas ordered a single Sun Wukong shirt. That's one shirt every 48.24 seconds since Shirt.Woot launched on July 22, 2007. Hey, Guinness: who do we have bribe for you guys to add an Online T-Shirt Sales section to your record book?

Ever Bought A T-Shirt Designed By Somebody On Star Trek? You Wil.
Speaking of Shirt.Woot, noted actor, author, gambler, blogger, and android Wil Wheaton adds ''t-shirt designer” to his CV this Thursday, and it's all going down at Shirt.Woot. This is like a true-cross thing for hardcore geeks (like us), except that Wil himself will never have laid eyes on your actual shirt, much less hands. But still. As for the design, we don't want to give too much away, so we'll just thank Wil for rolling the DICE with us to release this to-DIE-for tee.

Just What You Need: Another Stupid Blog To Look At
If you've been by Woot lately, you may have noticed something new (besides our stylin' new site design, we mean). We're actually using our blog page to - get this - write a blog! And our literally dozens of loyal readers couldn't be happier. From our monthly greeting cards to our original Valentines, to our trips to the Consumer Electronics Show and Toy Fair ‘09, to our daily links to thesublime and the disgusting, the Woot blog is free to enjoy, but worth at least twice as much in entertainment value.

Wine.Woot Community Update
While the other dot-woots bustle with the hustle of a million sharp-elbowed loud-mouthed plebeians, the mood over at Wine.Woot is entirely more refined. Our wine site continues to feature two winery- direct deals per week, in its own unhurried way. For a break from the greasy, sarcastic nerds (like us) who dominate the rest of the Woot empire, look for the weekly member-initiated Cyberpub thread in the Wine.Woot forums. And don't miss our new guest blogger, Scott Harvey of Scott Harvey Wines, as he takes you inside the grape. The (gasp) mature, intelligent conversation at Wine.Woot is almost as refreshing as the vino itself - and you can take part even if you're in one of the grinchy states that don't allow online wine sales.

And if you're still reading, congratulations! Your life will soon be blessed with an embarrassment of riches, mostly in the form of remaindered and obsolete consumer electronics! We'll let you run along and sign up for all of those Twitter feeds now. We have a feeling you're going to need them soon.

May every junk email in your Inbox be as awesome as this one -
Woot.com

Prosperity Affirmation

2009-02-07T11:31:00.004-05:00

The following prosperity affirmation was sent to me by "Prosperity Guru", John Moore, and it's attributed to Joe Vitale. The directions say to "read aloud every day for 30 days", but why limit yourself to that? If economic news is getting you down, this is a nice antedote. Anyway, sticking your head in the sand is not a solution.

Prosperity Affirmation:

I am the source of all wealth. I am rich with creative ideas. My mind abounds with new, original, inspired thoughts. What I have to offer is unique, and the world desires it.

My value is beyond reckoning. What the world needs and desires, I am ready to produce and give. What the world needs and desires, I recognize and fulfill. The bounty of my mind is without hindrance or limit. Nothing can stand in the way of my inspired creativeness.

The overflowing power of God life energy overcomes every obstacle, & pours out into the world, blessing & prospering everyone, & everything through me.

I radiate blessings, I radiate creativity, I radiate prosperity, I radiate loving service. I radiate Joy, Beauty, Peace, Wisdom & Power. Humanity seeks me and rewards me. I am beloved of the world.

I am wanted wherever I go.

I am appreciated. What I have to offer is greatly desired.

What I have to offer brings a rich reward. Through my vision the world is blessed. Through my clear thinking & steadfast purpose, wonderful new values come into expression.

My vision is as the vision of the mighty ones. My faith is as the faith of the undefeatable. My power to accomplish is unlimited. I, in my uttermost God Source, am all wealth, all power, all productivity. I hereby declare my f i n a n c i a l f r e e d o m , NOW and henceforth forever!

And so it is! - Amen

www.SchoolofCoachingMastery.com

Google Crashes: The Day the Web Stood Still

2009-01-31T10:18:00.007-05:00

Okay, I'm not proud of the fact that I Google search while I eat breakfast on a Saturday morning. Actually, I was reading the NY Times online when I came across a great quote by Pat Quinn, the new Governor of Illinois: "You want to know my philosophy? One day a peacock. The next day a feather duster." Naturally, I wanted to tweet it and then well, one thing led to another...

Today Google is the feather duster. Every site you search on Google this morning comes with a scary warning: "This site may harm your computer." Nobody would visit a site with that kind of a warning from Google! I suspected something was really off, so I searched a couple of other sites, including mighty Google, itself. Guess what? Google's site may harm your computer also!

I tweeted about it and got lots of feedback. Yes, everybody's getting the same message. Is Google broken or has it been hacked?

Is this the cyber version of the movie, "The Day the Earth Stood Still"?

It would be a fun adventure if the message wasn't coming up for my sites as well. We can all watch our statistics hit the toilet today!

Anyhow, I want you to know that I visited my site www.SchoolofCoachingMastery.com and it didn't hurt my computer. Plus, our tuition reduction ends at midnight, tonight.

How To Get Me To Follow You on Twitter and Keep Me Following

2008-12-12T12:18:00.008-05:00

Everyone's well, you know, all a twitter about Twitter these days.

Definitely it's the hottest social media for 2008. Why? Because it's quick and easy to participate in this massive online cocktail party, especially if you like accessing social media via you smart phone. Twitter works with SMS (text) in a way that email and Facebook just don't. It's a very very cool way to connect with your peeps, er Tweeps!

Sorry, Twitter engenders lots of word play! Read entire post at the Coaching Blog.

The Rise of the Machines: How the philosophies of a physicist, a wizard and a serial killer warned us of this financial crisis

2008-10-12T09:56:00.005-05:00

Is intuition the only tool we have with which to transcend machines? Read this NY Times Op Ed piece by RICHARD DOOLING: The Rise of the Machines

Being or having a coach without training is like flying a plane without flight school.

2008-10-06T12:58:00.004-05:00

I don't usually promote other people's coach training, but Mattison is in a category by herself and the manifesto, below, is worth considering for any one who uses coaching skills. Or anyone thinking of hiring a coach.

Begins Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Coaching Tools at Work
Professional coaching tools for results driven professionals

Coaching in the workplace is all the rage, that is for sure. But do you know what you are doing? Is the person who is coaching you trained? Being or having a coach without training is like flying a plane without flight school. You wouldn't do that would you? Of course not. You wouldn't even consider it. So why are you coaching without any formal training? 20 years of experience in anything does not qualify you to coach. Get the tools you need so you know what you are doing. I promise, if you think you know what you are doing, you are exhibiting non-coach thinking. Coaching is not managing, accountability, telling, advising, mentoring, fixing people, solving problems, persuading or influencing. If you are doing these things and calling it coaching that is akin to trying to take off or land a plane without training. Coaching Tools at Work is the premier coaching skills training in the country and is the same curriculum that is taught at the University of Houston. This program will give you the professional coaching skills you need to really know what you are doing and move your career forward.

Want to do it? Click here to register
Register before October 7 at NOON at recieve $75 off.
Use coupon code 75offctaw

The Ant and the Grasshopper: Post-Modern Version

2008-10-06T09:35:00.004-05:00

POST-MODERN VERSION:

The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away. Come winter, the grasshopper is out in the cold and the ant's mortgage company has announced that due to ants not paying their mortgages, the company is about the go bankrupt and needs the government to use ant-taxpayer's money to bail it out. CBS, NBC, PBS, CNN, ABC and FOX provide pictures of foreclosure signs in front of homes across America and trigger a nationwide financial panic that causes the ant to lose its job. Now the ant's home is foreclosed and ant's family is out shivering in the cold along side all those shiftless grasshoppers. To pay for the bailout, the government moves to slash assistance for the homeless, which warms the ant's little heart, until he remembers he's homeless, too. America is stunned by this development. How can this be, that in a country of such wealth, this poor hardworking ant is allowed to suffer so? Where will this crisis end? What will our leaders do?

President Bush spends 2 minutes on TV announcing that there is a crisis. John McCain insists the economy is strong and deregulation is still the way to go. Both (along with Democrats) sign a bill to give nearly a trillion dollars of tax-payers' money to bailout all those "unregulated" banks and mortgage companies.

MORAL OF THE STORY:

Emails like this can be slanted to mean anything the writer wants you to believe. This one may look familiar to you. It's simply been edited away from its original Republican-slanted view. These stories have circulated snail mail for decades and now make the rounds of email inboxes with the same old recycled stories, like the Democrats will raise your taxes and the Republicans will burn your books. Sound familiar?

Don't be stupid enough to base your vote on rumors. Take the time to get the facts.

In the United States in 2008, it is critical for you from be a well-informed voter.

And there's no excuse for you be an ill-informed voter.

Open Copyright, Julia Stewart, 2008

Anyone may use this text in its original, un-edited form with full attribution.

How are Coaches Responding to the Major Problems of the World?

2008-07-19T15:48:00.006-05:00

A few days ago, I asked the Ad Hoc Committee at School of Coaching Mastery, If You Had Only 4 Years to Save the World, How Would You Coach Differently?

Read entire article at the Coaching Blog.

Al Gore: We Can Solve It 7-17-08

2008-07-18T16:02:00.000-05:00

If You Had Only 4 Years to Save the World, How Would You Coach Differently?

2008-07-11T15:18:00.006-05:00

If you had only 4 years to save the world, how would you coach differently?

I’ve been asking myself this lately. Why? Well, apparently some very smart people think we really DO only have four years. So I’m passing this question on to coaches with a sense of urgency.

If the window of opportunity to save the world from disaster is only 4 years, what does that mean for coaches? What would you do differently? What ARE you doing differently?

Okay, you’ve probably read, heard or watched movies about 2012 predictions. Some come from ancient wisdom traditions. But did you know that leading scientists agree that we have reached the tipping point with the environment and that we must take drastic action now? And that mass starvation, drought, killer hurricanes and tornadoes, massive wild fires and “500 year floods” are just the early warning signs.

Trust me, I’m not going into a panic over this, but I’m also not foolish enough to pretend it isn’t calling to me. But exactly HOW are coaches being called? What unique gifts do we have to offer? What will it take to mobilize us?

I’m asking, because these questions impact the choices that I make for School of Coaching Mastery.

As you probably know, I believe coaching has emerged at this time for good reason. That we’ve here to help facilitate a transformation among humans. Did the time line just get a whole lot shorter?

If so, then how can SCM turn out coaches who are ready to have the necessary transformative conversations with people who need to change – and do it a LOT more quickly?

Your thoughts, please: As a talented coach and a responsible human being, what and how would you change what you do as a coach, if you had only 4 years to help save the world? What and how would you change if you were a coaching school?

Please post your comments below.

We Need a New Word for Art

2008-05-02T12:50:00.003-05:00

In the 70's to the 90's, I considered myself an "artist". Occasionally, I would overhear complaints that art was degenerate. Eventually, unhappy with the lifestyle, I left the world of art. Happily, I discovered "coaching", which is far more fulfilling!

Since then, I've grown increasingly disinterested in the art world. It seems to have little to say or add to my life.

Today, I got an email plea to sign a petition to prevent an "artist" from starving a dog to death as part of a gallery show. The email stated that the "art" had already been presented before, with the medium, a stray dog that was tied-up in a gallery without food or water until it died. Even though the email contained several convincing pics of an emaciated dog with well-dressed patrons sympathetically looking on, I checked www.snopes.com to see if it was real.

Snopes calls this story, "Undetermined", because those connected with the show now claim the dog was well-fed at night, but ran away. Sounds like, "We lied before, but let's see if you're dumb enough to believe us now." Either way, they're lying.

Degenerate doesn't describe it. Pathetic? Depraved? Sociopathic?

Whatever it is, today, I'm done with "art".

I still have friends who do beautiful work, but if I were them, I don't think I'd want to be associated with much that passes for art. These are creative people, why not call what they do something else? (I'm half-serious, here) For me today, Too-crappy-to-care-about sums it up. Sorry!

I admit to indulging in a fantasy of Tony Soprano (a fellow animal lover) getting his mitts on this guy. Funny, how one act of cruelty makes us want to be a little cruel, too. All the more reason to ignore.

Remembering something about how the art world works, I suspect the artist and gallery owners were cynically hoping the notoriety they got from this would ultimately make them rich and famous. "All press is good press." But who they are is irrelevant.

Please do sign the petition here. Then go shake off the crappy energy of this story by doing something good for an animal.

The Biggest Opportunity in the World

2008-04-13T16:04:00.004-05:00

How do I know I am blessed and wealthy? Because I can afford to believe that climate change is our Number 1 problem in the world. In the long-run, the larger scheme, etc., it is way bigger and potentially more devastating than the economy, the war, human rights, health care and all else combined (as huge as all of those really are). If I were out of work or fighting in Iraq, no doubt, my point of view would be different. Lucky me.

However, Climate Change is discussed less than 1% of the time in presidential politics. Not good. (Can you say, Armageddon?)

Is this the end or is it just a really big opportunity? Did greatness end with the Greatest Generation, or are we up to a really great challenge?

To find out more, visit: wecansolveit.org, view Al Gore's New Thinking on the Climate Crisis or watch the following brief clip:

If I Were Coaching Hillary She'd Win in a Heartbeat

2008-03-07T18:26:00.010-05:00

It occurred to me a few weeks ago, that if I were coaching Hillary she'd win easily, but I didn't really get it until I heard myself say it out loud.

It's really true. I know what the crucial ingredient is that she's missing (And Barack seems to have it in abundance) and it's really something we all have (including Hillary) and it's quite easy to express - but only if you know how.

It's one of the key things I do for clients with my coaching and if Hillary asked me to help her with it, I could bring it out of her in minutes (this is not my ego talking). And it would be available every time she speaks. Imagine Hillary making speeches that are as moving as Barack's.

There would be a seismic shift.

I don't know if Barack always had this ability, or if a coach helped him with it, but what I'm talking about is the same quality that Reagan had and Oprah has. It's sometimes called 'charisma' and I used to think it was something only the lucky few possessed. It's not.

You were born with it and so was I.

This is the real reason people flock to Barack's rallies. Maybe they like his message, but his message is not really new. In fact, it's pretty similar to Hillary's message. It's just so much more inspiring when he says it. There's a very specific reason for that.

The reason I'm so confident that this is the crucial ingredient is that Hillary expressed it right before the New Hampshire primary (when rumors of her demise were a bit premature) and the voters immediately swung back her way.

Remember the infamous "crying" scene? Cynics accused her of manufacturing tears to get the sympathy vote, but tears had nothing to do with it. In that one moment, Hillary spoke from the heart about why she wanted to serve. She expressed her passion for making a difference and her lifelong career as a servant leader. She wasn't manufacturing anything. She was expressing her Personal Greatness. New Hampshire voters got it and voted for her overwhelmingly and thereby embarrassed virtually every political pundit in America.

That's Greatness.

The difference between me and the average voter is that I not only feel Greatness, I know what it is, where it comes from and how to elicit it from my clients. It's actually quite easy.

If you're a good coach, you know how to do it, too.

Now the election is complicated, of course. But Hillary's biggest threat is that Barack expresses his Greatness via the spoken word. We don't really know if he expresses it by doing great work, because he really hasn't done anything, yet. Hillary has and that's why she would win if she could just get past those frozen smiles, carefully crafted statements and those dratted 5-Point Plans.

Hillary also suffers from Good Girl Syndrome, but that's another post.

And of course we are at the stage of the election where mud slinging reigns. Today, the day of the Mississippi primary, the NY Times ran a piece that compared Hillary's red phone ad to the Ku Klux Klan. Talk about fear mongering. So much for the new clean politics we were promised by Barack.

And prejudice is an issue on both sides. Bill Maher, whenever he makes fun of Hillary, says, "I'm not sexist." (Me thinks he doth protest too much.) But it was on his show that I first heard of the poll that says twice as many Americans would refuse to vote for a woman than for a black man. Most of us are past this, but not all of us. Greatness however, overcomes prejudice.

Seth Godin says Hillary will damage her brand if she doesn't give up quick. What brand is that? Surely it's not her Comeback Queen brand.

If both sides keep getting dirty, both will suffer, but Barack more than Hillary, because his brand is specifically based on a new clean approach to politics. (Just watch what's happening to another politician who ran on a "clean politics" platform, Elliot Spitzer. Once you say it, you'd better live up to it.) Hers is based on being a smart, tough broad who just keeps coming. (Jon Stewart calls her the Terminator!)

If Hillary learns to express her inner Greatness, there's no stopping her, because it takes a lot of time to develop experience and Greatness, as important as it is, can be had just in an instant.

The reason people are so attracted to someone who's expressing their Personal Greatness is because they start to slip into their own Greatness, as well. It's contagious and it's intoxicating and it helps us be better people. We DO want a President who inspires us to Greatness!

Anyhow, that's just how powerful masterful coaching can be. It can change world history in a moment by shifting just one client. Cool, huh?

So Hillary: I'm available. Want to win an election?

Coaches Have Ultra True Fans

2008-03-05T09:47:00.005-05:00

Kevin Kelly's blog, The Technium, gets referenced a fair amount on the blogosphere and for good reason, he's quite insightful. Today, Seth Godin directed me to Kevin's latest, True Fans, about how a good solid living can be made with just about 1,000 people who really believe in your work. Now Kevin is writing about how artists make it, but what he says is rather familiar.

Most coaches thrive and prosper with perhaps an even smaller number of fans. I'd call them Ultra True Fans...Read entire article at the Coaching Blog.

Should Coaching be Free?

2008-02-25T15:52:00.007-05:00

Notice how certain memes seem to be on everyone's mind at the same time? Makes you wonder. I read the Wired article on Chris Anderson's book FREE! last night and in my inbox this morning was TrendWatch's Free Love article. None of the ideas in either article were really new to me, but they did spark several new inspirations, so that's pretty cool.

Learned a couple of new words: Freevertising and Freeconomics (not the book, the phenomenon)

Basic idea: Business is quickly moving toward $0.00 for everything. Great news for consumers, eh? So how do you make any money?

Read entire article at the Coaching Blog.

If Your Coaching Business is a Little Slow, Follow Seth Godin's Advice

2008-02-22T15:40:00.006-05:00

I'm a subscriber to Seth Godin's Blog, because he's a great writer and really "gets" the whole "marketing with integrity" thing that is the only way to become a successful coach. I wish I had written the following post that he wrote for real estate agents. Only I would have written it for whiny coaches during the last recession, when a lot of them needed to hear it...

Read entire post at the Coaching Blog.

Should You Become a Coach In an Economic Downturn?

2008-02-17T16:24:00.012-05:00

Is it or isn't it? A recession, I mean? How many thousands of hours of airtime have "pundits" used up analyzing our economy and still we don't know if it's the Big R or not?

All that professional fretting can sure make a new business person nervous! And those of us who've been at it for a while are concerned, too. On the other hand, any time there is a shake up of any sort, new opportunities pop up. The fun of being in business is watching the landscape change and noticing the next big windows of opportunity before everyone else does.

A freaky economy brings plenty of opportunity. So call me perverse, but I'm having fun ;-)

Read entire post at the Coaching Blog.

International Coaching Week: World's First Coach-a-thon

2008-02-07T17:31:00.000-05:00

2008 Coach-a-thon
FREE Professional Coaching

In Celebration of International Coaching Week Greystone Guides is sponsoring a 24 hour Coach-a-thon. 12 coaches from Houston and around the country will provide free coaching for 24 hours straight from February 15 at 9am-February 16 at 9am.
For more information and to register click here:
Greystone Guides Coach-a-thon

Please share this event as you see fit. We want to coach people from all over the world and need your help to get the word out.

Useful & Timely

Coaching to Clarity on
Great Day Houston

On January 11, 2008 Mattison and two of her clients appeared on the morning television show Great Day Houston. The topic was How to Have an Amazing Life. Whitney talks with Laurie and Tandy about their amazing businesses. Mattison does a live coaching demonstration with Jo Sue and shows you what creating clarity means.
Watch the Show Here

Healing Rhythms

2008-01-15T14:24:00.000-05:00

Can computer software give you a spiritual experience? Strangely, yes!

You probably know all the benefits. Research shows meditation promotes greater physical, mental and emotional health, as well as happiness, better concentration, less stress, etc. It even helps to eliminate disorders such as hypertension, asthma, insomnia and Alzheimer’s. In fact, some studies show it can help your mind evolve up to two levels, according to Integral Philosopher, Ken Wilber.

And I haven’t even mentioned the spiritual benefits!

All this in mind, I tend to regard meditation as just as vital to wellbeing as going to the gym, so when my lifestyle changed recently in a way that seems to have wiped out my meditation practice, I started hunting for new ways to bring it back into my life…

But it still wasn’t happening!

I finally settled on a choice that may seem a little ridiculous: I bought a computer program to help me meditate ~ and it works! Created by the Wild Divine Project in partnership with Sounds True, there actually are multiple products, but the one I bought and use daily is called Healing Rhythms. The program combines meditation exercises (and some intriguing games) led by several luminaries including Deepak Chopra, Andrew Weil and Dean Ornish; with a biofeedback connection to help you learn to relax, focus, energize, etc. You can use it in 5-minute chunks or sit for longer periods. For me, it means I can quickly shift into a more coherent state rapidly as needed. Very handy if I’ve just been though a stressful event and need to shift into greatness for a coaching session or teleclass.

Healing Rhythms also claims to heal various conditions. I’m using it to overcome my post-holiday sugar cravings and it has virtually eliminated them. Losing weight is suddenly easy for me.

I believe in this product enough to become an affiliate. If you want more meditation in your life and you need a tool to help you maintain your practice, this could be it! Find out more here:

Healing Rhythms: Biofeedback Training for a Happy Mind & Healthy Body )

Is the Window of Opportunity Closing on Your Dream of Coach Certification?

2007-12-28T22:07:00.001-05:00

Today I got a call from a coach I knew years ago. He was trying to access the IAC website to finish their online certification test on the old Proficiencies before it’s taken down on January 1st and wondered if he still had time to get certified.

Yes, there’s still time – three days... Read entire post at the Coaching Blog.

North American Union: Is It Crazy to be Concerned?

2007-12-12T09:54:00.000-05:00

Al Gore Wins Nobel Peace Prize

2007-10-12T08:43:00.000-05:00

Just read a New York Times article that says Former Vice President Al Gore has won the Nobel Peace Prize along with a United Nations committee on climate change. (NYT pic above, Cornelius Poppe/European Pressphoto Agency)

Go Al!

This blog is mostly about coaching and coaches, so I shy away from my political opinions, but I revealed in my last post that Mr. Gore is still my first choice for President of the United States. No one who is officially running comes close to having his vision, experience, integrity and ability - and we know he can win!

I guess the real question is: Since, in the seven years since Al Gore won the popular vote for the American Presidency, he's made millions of dollars, won the Nobel Prize, as well as an Oscar and an Emmy; so does Mr. Gore even want the White House, anymore?

If he really wants it and has the courage to take it on, then he's the guy to lead us in the next eight years.

Mr. Gore is enjoying his Personal Greatness and perhaps the perfection in the 2000 campaign is that the intervening years of atrocious leadership have helped the world - and hopefully the US - to catch up with his vision. Maybe now's the time.

If you think so, go here http://www.draftgore.com/ and sign the petition.

Copyright, Julia Stewart, 2007
All rights reserved.

Have You Seen My Country?

2007-10-10T16:43:00.001-05:00

You may be seeing flyers like this in your local coffee shop or grocery store. More and more of us are wondering what happened to that great country we grew up in and we're looking for it.

Today we have Republican leaders that are either complete idiots or the Devil incarnate ~ or both. And we have Democrats who wimp out on any issue, if they think it will compromise their approval ratings. Some choice!

Some days I wonder if democracy even works, anymore. And no, I don't have a better alternative. But I'm fed up with politicians who just don't get it.

A few folks got together and created http://unity08.com
for Americans who have had it with devisiveness and want solutions that work. I heard about in on the Stephen Colbert show. Much as a love Stephen, he's not my first choice for President. (Are you listening, Mr. Gore??)

Today, Unity '08 launches its "Have You Seen My Country?" campaign. http://unity08.com/takeaction/mycountry
Hence, the flyer. They want members to spread them around. I spend more time on my computer than I do at the coffee shop (I bet you do, too). So here you go.

Hmm, what if we find our country, notice she's changed and discover leaders who get it? That would be something we could unite over!

Copyright, Julia Stewart, 2007
All rights reserved.
www.yourlifepart2.com

Pangea Day: Tell Your Story

2007-09-14T12:21:00.000-05:00

Coaching Groundwork

2007-06-28T20:10:00.001-05:00

Where do you go if you're curious about coaching? If you want to find out what coaching skills are about? If you want to discover if coaching is the profession for you? I designed Coaching Groundwork for people like you...

Read entire blog post at the Coaching Blog.

Going Back in Time and Striking Gold

2007-06-14T14:58:00.003-05:00

While researching "distinctions", an important coaching tool, for a recent class at the School of Coaching Mastery, I decided to go back in time and find the original Thomas Leonard Distinctionary. Most people don't know this version exists or think that it's gone, but there's a nifty little web archive known as... Read entire article at the Coaching Blog.

Thomas Leonard's Clarifiers

2007-06-06T10:40:00.001-05:00

Great coaches know the value of a well-placed either/or question. I learned what a huge upgrade this type of question could be while studying with (the late) Thomas Leonard at his Graduate School of Coaching.

One evening, in a class called The Clarifiers, I volunteered to coach. (Always volunteer in class. You'll learn ten times more than everyone else.)

I was given five minutes to coach, using just five of the following list of 15 clarifying questions, nothing else. The "client" (another coaching student who had a genuine problem she wanted to solve) made a huge shift in her thinking and at the end of five minutes, her problem had been eliminated. Wow!

Masterful coaches have tools that eliminate the need to figure out, work hard, take responsibility for, or solve their clients problems. Their skills do the work for them. At the School of Coaching Mastery, coaches learn these tools and how to use them masterfully. We have our own list of either/or questions, but in case you're interested, here are Thomas':

1. Urgent or Important?

2. Addressed or Avoiding?

3. Accurate or Interpretation?

4. Open or Resistant?

5. Internal or External Reference Point?

6. Want or Could/Should/Need?

7. Opportunity or Possibility?

8. Source or Symptom?

9. Opening or Share?

10. Response or Reaction?

11. Create or Eliminate?

12. Problem or Concern?

13. Present or Past?

14. Acceptance or Resistance?

15. Toward or Away From?

Clarifiers Copyright, CoachVille, 2002 (Used with permission)

Another great source of enlightening either/or questions is Debbie Ford's book, The Right Questions.

Copyright, Julia Stewart, 2007

http://www.yourlifepart2.com

Puppetji vs. The Secret

2007-05-28T20:16:00.002-05:00

Top Ten Worst Reasons to Become a Coach and Ten Clean* Reasons

2007-05-17T18:19:00.001-05:00

People ask me every week to help them become coaches. I always want to know their real reasons for joining this fantastic profession, because over the years, I’ve seen a lot of coaches who had a miserable time building their businesses. Very often those coaches had fallen prey to one of the following misconceptions about coaching (which are frequently perpetrated by coaching schools – even the ones that are accredited.)

Read entire blog post at the Coaching Blog.

Encyclopedia of Life

2007-05-09T15:40:00.000-05:00

A tool for saving the planet by sharing the information we have about every species with everyone via the world wide web. Visit here and watch the movie: http://www.eol.org/home.html

What could be more inspring than life on Earth?

5 Keys to Mastery

2007-05-08T10:01:00.000-05:00

School of Coaching Mastery

2007-05-03T09:21:00.001-05:00

Okay, there it is. The new School of Coaching Mastery logo. Putting it out here on my blog is an announcement of sorts. SCM has been a kind of brain child for several months. Maybe longer. I think it was gestating for a couple of years, while I was saying, "I don't want to start another coaching school, there are too many out there, already."

I didn't choose SCM though, it chose me... Read entire blog post at the Coaching Blog.

If It Is Broken, Please Fix It

2007-04-30T10:48:00.000-05:00

Virginia Tech: A Dumb Question Might Have Saved Lives

2007-04-18T14:17:00.001-05:00

An article in this morning's New York Times about the massacre earlier this week at Virginia Tech reminded me of the importance of not making assumptions.

Read entire blog post at the Coaching Blog.

New Ted.com = Social Networking for Thinkers

2007-04-16T08:01:00.001-05:00

The new Ted.com membership site launches today. Same incredible content - still for free - only now you can talk back. This brings their famous conference to your desktop/laptop/PDA in web 2.0 fashion...

Read entire post at the Coaching Blog.

Are You Worth More Than a Latte?

2007-04-05T16:34:00.002-05:00

I coach incredible people. Most of them don't know how great they are until they've coached with me, but all of them are amazing and once I've unleashed them, there's no stopping what they can accomplish!

We frequently have conversations about about money. How much should they charge their clients? How do they ask their boss for a raise? I have these conversations with my coach, too.

There's a big difference between how much you think you can get and how much you really want. And I'm not just talking about money... Read entire post at the Coaching Blog.

Give Responsibility a Chance

2007-04-03T10:29:00.000-05:00

Here's a moving blog post from Martin Dewherst's blog at Zaadz: http://penny-on.zaadz.com/blog/2007/2/give_responsibility_a_chance

It's about a program in development called the GSR Project, based on existing work going on with youth services in the UK, that will link with probation services and NGO's working in Africa and beyond.

Funding is being accepted via The Penny On Trust and the Saharawan Aid Trust, both of which are supportive of this project.

The solutions to our world's problems become very clear when we stop thinking in the old ways and begin seeing with new eyes.

This is an awesome example.

BUSTED!

2007-04-02T11:07:00.001-05:00

Ah personal development can be soooo exhausting! And personal development pros (Like us: Coaches, no?) can be sooooo full of it! :-)

Read entire post at the Coaching Blog.

Do you Get Paid to Plerk?

2007-03-28T15:19:00.002-05:00

Cool new word: Plerk. The combo of play and work. Reminds me of my definition of work : Problems as playthings or Having fun playing with problems... Read entire post at the Coaching Blog.

The Evolution of Certification

2007-03-28T13:41:00.001-05:00

The Certification Preparation course at the University of Houston's Executive Coaching Institute last weekend was a transformative event - not just for the participants, but for Mattison and me! Twelve coaches spent 24 hours together over three days, teasing out the meaning of "great coaching" and courageously stepped up to the plate again and again. It takes heart to do that and when you bring together fearlessness, generocity and a love of coaching, you get magic...Read entire post at the Coaching Blog.

What's the Real Secret Behind Attraction?

2007-03-17T14:26:00.000-05:00

Attraction is everywhere you look these days (must be because it's soooo attractive!) Oprah says she's been using it all her life. Larry King wants to know more. Bill Maher calls it 'quackery' and Roseanne Barr says: If Attraction is so effective, how come we can't make the war in Iraq go away?? (Oh, Roseanne, that's not the way it works!)

The real question is: How DOES it work??

The Secret has a brilliant marketing strategy that has helped it reached critical mass in a matter of months AND it doesn't tell the whole story. Not surprisingly, the makers of The Secret are planning to produce more books and films later, which will reveal more details, a little at a time. More power to them! I believe this is the leading edge of a major paradigm shift in the West.

One of the reasons the Law of Attraction doesn't work for some folks is that there are other Laws that work in concert with it. Most people have way too little information to put it all to work effectively.

Wise men from Saint Mark, to Norman Vincent Peale, to Thomas J. Leonard, have been telling us about these laws for years, but most of us weren't ready to hear.

Maybe you are ready, because you're reading this post!

Have you noticed yet, how Attraction works in your life? It's not magic. I've been using it in my own life, with my clients and recently, in a teleclass program with my colleague, Donna Steinhorn and the stories that I hear from clients and participants are extraordinary! Relationships, opportunities and even money seem to show up like magic - only it's not magic - it's Attraction!

One thing I know about Attraction is that its power is multiplied when people get together and use it. Something about sharing and communicating helps us process out the old ways and fully 'get' the new - and something else happens: A momentum picks up and each person starts experiencing synchronicities that we could never have predicted!

The interesting thing about Thomas Leonard's Principles of Attraction is that they bring together those other Laws that I mentioned, like the Law of Cause and Effect, the Law of Right Action and the Law of Circulation, into a living structure that helps you shape your life naturally in the direction you really want. That's their power and there's nothing 'woo woo' about it.

For a long time now, I've wanted to put together an Advanced Attraction Coaching Group for people who've already studied the Law of Attraction and the Principles of Attraction, so they can synthesize what they know into a powerful strategy for creating what they really want in life, business, relationships and themselves. I can help people get more out of Attraction!

For instance, one thing the Principles of Attraction lack is focus. They are a brilliant evolutionary habitat, but until you've mastered them, you may not understand how to use them to get what YOU really want. And the problem with most Law of Attraction programs is they are TOO focused on managing thoughts and feelings and most people get frustrated and discouraged long before they attract what they want - and quit.

That's where I come in. I've learned how to take the clarity and focus of the Law of Attraction and support it with the powerful systems of the Principles of Attraction and I then I coach people to co-create amazing new realities.

If you're interested in this new way of coaching, email me about it.

I already have clients who are interested in the new group that I mentioned, but I have room for more. If you're curious, let's talk and find out whether the group program is a fit for you. (I'm not going to try to 'sell' you on this program. I'll just help you find out if it's right for you.)

If you're not a 'group person', but are curious about one-to-one Attraction Coaching, we can set up a complimentary session and see if we 'click'. I'm confident you'll get value from it.

Here's a comment I got recently from someone who tried a complimentary session with me:

'As a result of my coaching session with Julia I saw with an extremely empowering clarity what I need to do to have the career and life that I want. Thank you Julia!'
- Tom Robinson, Life Coach for People Living with Chronic Illnesses

If you're open to it, I'd love for you to fill out a feedback form after trying my coaching, to help me continue growing as a coach.

And even if you're not looking for any coaching right now, please do drop a line and tell me what you're experiencing with Attraction. I'm always thrilled to hear from my Fellow Attractors! ;-)

By the way, if you're new to Thomas Leonard's Principles of Attraction, click here to receive the free ecourse, "The 28 Principles of Attraction by Thomas Leonard". You'll get one inspiring and helpful article per week for 10 weeks.

Email me here for more information on Attraction Coaching.

Keep Being Great!

Copyright, Julia Stewart, 2007
www.yourlifepart2.com

Coaching 2007: The Industry Is Headed In Completely the Wrong Direction

2007-01-02T17:57:00.001-05:00

OK, my coach put me up to this. But it's true.

The Coaching Industry is headed the wrong way. Not coaching, mind you, the industry.

It blows my mind that coaches who should know better don't get this. Maybe it's time I let you in on it!

Coaches like to think they're all on the leading edge, that they know stuff the rest of the world doesn't get, yet. We're oh, so precious about what we do.

Don't get me wrong. Great coaching is incredible. That's why it's so surprising that so many coaches don't see what has happened...Read entire post at the Coaching Blog.

Client Attraction

2006-11-14T17:25:00.000-05:00

I shudder whenever I hear a coach talk about 'prospecting' for clients or when they refer to a potential client as a hot 'prospect.' Doesn't that turn the person into an object? Not pretty. I think a better approach is to view everyone you meet as an amazing person who doesn't need you, yet to whom you can give a gift. Is the gift an Attraction principle? No. An offer for free coaching? No. A business card? No. A patient ear? No. Rather, the gift to give a person is themselves. If you can point out something about them that they've forgotten or never knew, you've created a gap that they can grow into. Now, I'm not talking about complimenting or acknowledging a person, because that's usually manipulative. Instead, I'm talking about becoming the type of person who -- AS A MATTER OF COURSE -- points out something positive about the person. In other words, become that type of person, instead of using this as a marketing or emotionally-hooking technique. See the difference? Here's an example of what I'm talking about. Instead of saying, "I like the way you talk," you'd say something like "You have a compelling way of speaking." Instead of saying, "You're obviously very successful," you'd say something like, "You handle your success very graciously." Instead of saying, "I'm sorry to hear that your business isn't doing well right now," you'd say something like "I can only imagine the amount of stress you're under right now." In other words, get what the person is feeling and empathize with them in this 'advanced' way. Or pick up something unique or special about the person and point that out. So, you're stating the obvious without puffery, yet it's a different thing than the person has probably ever heard before. THAT'S what gets their attention and THAT'S what will attract them as a client. AND, if you do this with EVERYONE because it's the type of person you are, you WILL get more clients. And how do you become this type of person without it being an act or performance? --You'll naturally become this type of person as you integrate the Attraction Principles. You will become generous because you can afford to be. -- Thomas J. Leonard

Can Advertising Be Conscious?

2006-10-21T14:35:00.000-05:00

Hey - Long time no post! Just wanted to share this, tho! It's from the conscious advertising agency, "the experiment". Do you think "conscious advertising" is an oxymoron? Well, that is just sooooooo 20th Century!
For the curious: check these questions: http://www.the1101experiment.org/intro.html and view these cool videos: http://www.the1101experiment.org/

Are You a Tourist in the Land of Coaching?

2006-07-17T15:34:00.002-05:00

Are You a Tourist in the World of Coaching or
Do You Own a Piece of the Landscape?

FIND OUT WITH THIS FREE ASSESSMENT!

Instructions: Check each box where the statement is completely true. Add up the total number of checked boxes. Are you exactly where you want to be?

Read entire post at the Coaching Blog.

Do You Suffer From Boomeritus?

2006-07-13T15:00:00.000-05:00

Watch the video here:
http://www.andrewcohen.org/notes/index.php?/weblog/blog/boomeritis/

Do you agree it's a problem? Do you have it? Do you care? Just curious.

Please Help Me Save the World!

2006-07-02T22:01:00.000-05:00

This post first appeared at http://juliastewart.zaadz.com/blog.

Hello Kind Zaadz Friends -

Recently, my coach and I did some work on my “game” in life (aka purpose, calling, why I'm here on Earth) and it became clear that I've beeen playing way too small a game, which is called coaching!

My real game in life, the thing that truly lights me up, is Saving the World!

That's why I'm attracted to Zaadz, that's why I study Spiral Dynamics and that's why I became a coach.

I am a coach because I believe Coaching can Save the World.

But being a coach is not all that I'm here to do. I am an evangelizer for coaching, because I know how powerful it is.

You may not agree with me. You may even believe that the world doesn't need saving, but I have unique gifts that only I can share with the world and those gifts are needed in order for the world to reach its highest potential in the coming years and I express these gifts through coaching and through teaching others to become masterful coaches.

And I've watched my clients and the clients of my students become transformed. This transformation not only makes the impossible possible, it is infectious! A ripple effect happens and many more people benefit and are inspired when one person is masterfully coached.
Awareness is spontaneously raised. It's like a chain reaction.

These people go on and BE and DO things that make the world better for people and make people better for the world. If the world is in trouble, then this is one extraordinary tool for creating solutions!

How can you help? Please help spread the message that coaching can save the world. Tell the wonderful people that you know, who have so much to give, but may not know how, that they can be helped to be and do and give (and have) far more by working with a coach.

Tell people who have a desire to help others that they will be able to do so much more powerfully when they know how to coach.

If you help light up even one person who wants to know more about coaching, there is lots of info on the web for them, but it can be confusing and overwhelming. If they need someone to talk to, I can help them. Please send them to http://juliastewart.zaadz.com/ or to my pod, RADICAL Self Care. I have powerful tools and I know where they can find more - and many of these tools are free.

My purpose in life is to spread the value of coaching to millions of people and thereby transform the world. Please help by emailing this post to anyone who needs to read it!

Thank you so much!! XO
take great care, Julia

By the way, if you don't already know about Zaadz, it's a fantastic social networking site for people who want to change the world and even tho it's still in beta, it's gaining thousands of new members each month. It has the energy of the early Coachville. Please join me there at http://juliastewart.zaadz.com and join my pod, RADICAL Self Care.

Do You Know About Dropping Knowledge?

2006-06-17T17:53:00.000-05:00

Coaches may love what they find at DroppingKnowledge.com

Living Library
Created by the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI), the dropping knowledge Living Library will be a groundbreaking, easy-to-use forum of ideas, inspiration and information, open to the entire world. Supporting multiple thematic threads and viewpoints, this web-based platform will support an interactive dialogue among dropping knowledge users, one that is continually progressing from questions to discussions to solutions for the future.
Incorporating both features familiar to internet users and entirely new functions, the Living Library will preserve and structure its content according to a conceptual topography - or 'ontology' - of 25,000 themes and issues, collected over several decades by the Union of International Associations. Offering user-friendly search and 3-D graphic navigation facilities, as well as a built-in interface for locating content by asking questions in natural language, the Living Library will evolve in accordance with user-participation, prioritizing its accumulating content according to thematic relevance, level of traffic generated and a user-driven content-rating system.
Linking to a wealth of information and knowledge-resources across the web, the Living Library will serve as a powerful and ever-expanding portal of digital-age wisdom.

From Outsourcing to Crowdsourcing to Othersourcing

2006-06-15T12:36:00.000-05:00

There's nothing like reading a few forward-looking magazines, like Wired, The Futurist, and Scientific American to get me going!

So I've noticed a trend in today's - and perhaps tomorrow's - work force. Away from us - to them.

Start with outsourcing and it's evil twin, offshoring: the practice by companies and organizations of hiring outside help to get specific jobs done. It saves money, hassle and often gives the job to those who are prepared to do it best.

In the case of offshoring, it sends the jobs over seas to countries that have previously been locked out of the prosperity loop. And leaves many Americans out of a job - and starting their own businesses. We all know this story.

Then there's crowdsourcing. This has been around a while, too, but it's growing into a world-wide business phenomenon that may also result in even more people - including those who are paid to think - losing their jobs.

Coaches who are reading this blog probably first encountered crowdsourcing with Thomas Leonard's R&D Teams. The idea was to get your best customers to join your R&D Team and tell you what they want to buy from you - basically give you ideas on what to create next. Pure genius! Not only does it save time, money, & effort, but almost guarantees success, PLUS (note: this is a BIG plus) it creates huge buy-in. ("Ideas are like children. Everyone loves their own, best." - Chinese Fortune Cookie)

Well, crowdsourcing is on steroids now, to the point that "the crowd", who have been contributing their ideas as a hobby, may eventually put themselves out of work.

Probably the best example right now of crowdsourcing is Wikipedia. (I just copied this definition of "Wiki" from the site: A wiki (IPA: [ˈwiː.kiː] or [ˈwɪ.kiː] [1]) is a type of website that allows users to add, remove, or otherwise edit and change all content very quickly and easily, sometimes without the need for registration. This ease of interaction and operation makes a wiki an effective tool for collaborative writing. The term wiki can also refer to the collaborative software itself (wiki engine) that facilitates the operation of such a website (see wiki software), or to certain specific wiki sites, including the computer science site (and original wiki), WikiWikiWeb, and the online encyclopedia Wikipedia. The word wiki is a shorter form of wiki wiki (weekie, weekie) which is from the native language of Hawaii (Hawaiian), where it is commonly used as an adjective to denote something "quick" or "fast" (Hawaiian dictionary). As an adverb, it means "quickly" or "fast".)

The "wiki" movement is similar to the pro/am movement that certainly describes coaching: People contributing their skills for fun and often hoping to make a few bucks, too. Open source, is another example, such as Linux and .LRN. There are a number of coaching organizations that are relying on coaches to contribute their ideas for free in order to create content and all this is great. So great that what you know is no longer a commodity, because people can get it, wiki wiki, for free.

Hmph! That means that more jobs, including those that so far, haven't been vulnerable to offshoring, may be disappearing - knowledge-based jobs, like teachers, trainers, researchers and consultants. The good news for coaches is that one thing people can't get from the crowd is coaching - yet.

Enter...Othersourcing, the practice (not new) of turning over jobs to machines. Need an accountant? Get Quickbooks. Need an assistant? Get a Blackberry. No sooner have the jobs left our shores, then they've left the physical planet. Some of those forward-thinking mags I mentioned are predicting that, because left-brained jobs will pretty much disappear from the developed world, right-brained work is where all the action will be: communicating, relating, influencing, inspiring, intuiting, etc., will be the new hard skills. (Hmmm, these are the areas where supposedly women outstrip men. Does this mean women will waaay out-earn men in the new Century??)

It all bodes well for coaches, who master all of the above, because nobody can build machines that do what we do, can they?

Not yet, anyway.

Some of the things they're doing with artificial intelligence and robotics, weaving in emotion and sensors that pick up our emotions suggest otherwise. It may just be a matter of time.

Would people go to an AI coach? Would they get anything out of it? Wouldn't they prefer being coached by a human? Who knows?

What if AI coaches are actually better then human coaches? (They could be really good at getting their egos out of the way....)

My point is that technology tends to follow need. If future standards of living dictate that more people need coaches for less money, the technology will be developed. Our success could lead to our demise, or our freedom. Depends on how you look at it.

Today I was talking to a brilliant coach, who mentioned that she outsources her problems to spirit. What an incredible concept: Godsourcing. (Or is it just Sourcing?)

Technology is marching on. (Actually, Ray Kurtzweil says it's increasing exponentially. The "march" is approaching light-speed.) This will create new problems or opportunities, depending on your focus.

Perhaps the only thing we really will have over machines in the future, is our souls.

Then what will we all do for work?

Play.

Copyright, Julia Stewart, 2007
www.yourlifepart2.com

Do Coaches NEED the Blues?

2006-06-10T16:00:00.001-05:00

Recently, I decided to further my Spiral Dynamics training by taking a graduate course in it at Adizes Graduate School with Marilyn Hamilton.
I'd already gottern certified by Dr. Don Beck in SDi Levels I&II. In addition, I have a coroporate Peoplescan account, with which I can test people in their vMemes with many of the official instruments of measurement for Spiral Dynamics. (If you're curious and would like to take any of the tests, please email me at coach@yourlifepart2.com. I also do SDi coaching for leaders.)

Anyway, while I was studying with Marilyn, I happened to mention that I had found from administering the Values Test to coaches that they consistently score very low in the Blue vMeme, which represents absolute or moralistic values, such as those found in the traditional religions. She mentioned that people with too little Blue often encounter integrity issues, such as bankruptcies and other problems...

Read entire post at the Coaching Blog.

Are You Ready To Be Featured on Oprah?

2006-05-02T14:08:00.000-05:00

Ever dream about being on Oprah? What coach hasn't! And some cool coaches have appeared on her show over the years. (I actually decided to become a coach after watching Cheryl Richardson on Oprah several years ago!)

Obviously, it helps to be an author, if you want to be featured on the Oprah show. You've got a book out, already, you say? Hey, that's a great start! But what does it take to actually get on the show? Take this quiz at the Big Bad Book Blog to find out.

Copyright, Julia Stewart, 5-2-05

www.coachingconfab.com

The Liberation of Fully Alive

2006-05-02T11:00:00.000-05:00

Hey. You may or may not know about the wellness program that I designed for CoachVille called the Fully Alive Makeover Program. It has been one of the communities that made up the Schools of CoachVille's 1,000 hours of coach training. I based it on the work that I do with my wellness coaching clients and of course, since I trained at Coach U and CoachVille, it was influenced by the work of Thomas Leonard.

Anyway, my deal at CV was that I would get a percentage of the profits generated by the community and by sales of the SOC in exchange for sharing my work with them and I got the cool title, "Visionary Coach", to boot. The profits were to be paid for life (and paid to my daughter, after I'm gone). Well the profits have been pretty skimpy and since I officially left CV last year, they've been zero, so I recently asked CV to take down Fully Alive. The good news is, they've agreed!

After May 5th, Fully Alive will no longer be available through CoachVille. I know SOCers have been attending the classes, tho taught by Community Coach, Adela Rubio, who has valiently carried on. I don't want anyone to miss out, plus I'm used to getting $zip for Fully Alive, so what I've decided to do is run the entire program for FREE.

Today, May 2nd, is the first class that I've done on this subject for 10 months. It's a new class, tho, on "The Inner Body", a cool concept that you can read about in Eckhart Tolle's book, A New Earth. This particlular class is aimed at coaches, because it's scheduled as part of the Confab (Plus if there was ever a group that needs to upgrade its self care, it's coaches!) tho the program is for everybody.

I'm thrilled to have Fully Alive back. It was languishing in obscurity at CV and the material really is important, especially for coaches. And selfishly, I'm looking forward to getting back into my natural habitat, which helps me make healthier choices for myself. (My recent trip to NY & NJ was celebration of over indulgence from champagne to bon bons and everything in between. Celebrations are fabulous and getting back to self care is a relief!)

If you'd like to stay informed about free classes coming up via the Fully Alive Wellness program, sign up at www.fullyalivewellness.com Adela and I will be teaching.

See you there!

Copyright, Julia Stewart, 2006

www.yourlifepart2.com

Vote for the Webby Awards

2006-04-18T13:41:00.000-05:00

Featured in Blogwild

2006-04-13T18:01:00.001-05:00

Hey! I got this little graphic from Andy Wibbels, today. Cool. He used my blog testimony in his newly released Blogging Bible, BLOGWILD! Basically, I talked about how this blog attracts new coaching clients to my business. (Very cool. Check it out on page 138.)

Read entire post at the Coaching Blog.

Koans to Live by If You're Thomas Leonard

2006-03-07T16:38:00.001-05:00

The Zen of Attraction by Thomas J. Leonard

I developed these 14 koans to help me get more space so that I could better apply the 28 Attraction Principles and Practices of the Attraction Operating System. Note: You can take these literally, figuratively or as a place to come from in your dealings. They are simply what works for me...Read entire post at the Coaching Blog.

A Stolen Season

2006-02-22T12:57:00.001-05:00

If you read the ACE Newsletter then you may have noticed my article titled, "Notes From Here". I mentioned that I was enjoying a "stolen season" (Thank you, Mr. Shakespeare) in NYC for 71/2 weeks. How funny to be home already since moving just last October. It underlines an epiphany I had about a year ago: That I'm a citizen of the planet, not a particular locality. It doesn't matter where I live, so why not be close to family and save on living expenses? NYC just happens to be one of my favorite places to be.

So here I am living out of a suitcase, while doing a little coaching gig for Fitness Magazine and conducting the rest of my biz via cell phone and laptop...Read entire post at the Coaching Blog.

The Consummate Coach

2005-12-04T13:06:00.001-05:00

This is a phrase that Donna Steinhorn and I came up with the other day and I've been thinking about it ever since. It has a nice ring, but what does it mean, really? What would make a coach a consummate coach? What accomplishments would such a coach have under his/her belt?

For that matter, what would constitute an "accomplished coach"? I like both of these phrases and think they might describe useful benchmarks for those of us who are committed to excellence. You know, there's the "being" aspect of excellence, but there's the "doing" part, too. I think benchmarks are useful in measuring how we're doing.

I think Consummate Coach includes Accomplished Coach, so I'm going to throw out some ideas for what I think it might mean to be accomplished. I'm curious if you agree...Read entire post at the Coaching Blog.

Constructive Dissatisfaction

2005-11-14T19:26:00.001-05:00

Hey, I'm way overdue posting to this site. My apologies! A lot has happened, though, since my last post. Donna and I hosted our first ACE Live Event in NYC, which was a great success. Plus, I moved to Missouri. (Talk about a change of venue!)

Some things are still the same, though: like my subscription to FastCompany. In a recent article, Michael Eskew, CEO of UPS mentioned the importance of "constructive dissatisfaction" in running a successful company. He says complacency is the enemy...Read entire article at the Coaching Blog.

What Does Coaching Excellence Mean to You?

2005-09-11T12:40:00.001-05:00

ACE is ramping up with some cool developments for October. We plan our site launch and first live event in NYC next month. We're making the case for coaching excellence. For me,

Excellence = Success.

Maybe it's not quite that simple, but when you take all the skills a successful coach has, from coaching skills to marketing skills, you find that the more excellent the skills, the more success the coach is likely to enjoy.

Yes, I know, even a mediocre coach with great marketing skills can be successful. But an excellent coach with great marketing skills will trump the mediocre coach in the long haul...Read entire post at the Coaching Blog.

Now What?

2005-09-06T06:34:00.000-05:00

On August 28th, I posted an optimistic message about the opportunities that are opening up as a result of the chaos at CoachVille. I'm able to be optimistic, because I accepted months ago that CoachVille might very well go belly up. ("I feel so much better, now that I've given up hope!") When unrealistic hope is gone, we can focus on what reality really can bring us!

Now that it seems to be happening, I have good days and I have sad days. (And sometimes I have pissed-off days!) I can imagine how it feels to people who are just beginning to realize what's happening. Fear, outrage, confusion, etc., are swirling about the coaching community.

This past week, as I watched the mass evacuation of New Orleans, that beautiful city where CV had its last annual conference, I couldn't help thinking of how ironic it is that CV seems to be drowning and people are escaping from it, too. It sure puts into perspective how small a problem CV is. We certainly haven't lost everything the way the citizens of NOLA have.

Never-the-less, I think it's time for Confabers to talk. So that's our subject in the Confab later today.

Copyright, Julia Stewart, 2005 www.coachingconfab.com

Donna Steinhorn Leaving CoachVille

2005-08-31T07:51:00.000-05:00

Now that Donna Steinhorn, Executive VP of CV and Dean of SOC has sent her farewell email to the CV Team, I expect a major shake up at CV. Donna has been the engine that drove CV for two years and for most of us, the glue that kept us loyal. People like me have already quit, discouraged by the chaos of the company.

I'm proud to be partnering with Donna, Heidi Costas and others on ACE: The Association for Coaching Excellence. You can sign up for information at www.acecoachdirectory.com. Donna's other projects are here: http://www.coachingtosuccess.com/projects.html

I'm curious to hear reactions/responses on Donna's leaving from members of this blog...

The Best of Times and the Worst of Times

2005-08-28T13:46:00.001-05:00

I thrive on change. And for that reason, I have a special fondness for transitional periods (a.k.a. chaos). It's one of those things that I've learned not to overindulge in, like caffeine and alcohol, because it's so draining, but I must say I do enjoy it, now and then!

The coaching industry seems to be in a transitional period, right now. Rumors are flying and alliances are forming. I can't remember a week when I've had so many coaches call me up or email me just to say "'zup?"

The thing I like about transition is that it's ripe with opportunity. If you're a quick mover with a creative eye for the future, this is your time...Read entire post at the Coaching Blog.

The Biology of Success

2005-07-30T11:36:00.000-05:00

If you're a member of CoachV-L, you may have already read this post. Most others in this blog have never appeared anywhere else.

Here are a few thoughts on who become successful coaches and who don't. There doesn't seem to be a formula. We all do it differently, just as we all define success differently.

The real difference may lie in our relationship to success. In fact, intriguingly, the difference may be biological AND your environment influences it!

Research shows that both humans and animals conserve their energy according to their life conditions. If resources are short, many animals go into hibernation. If they're losing in the pecking order wars, they become more docile, resigned to their lot.

Meanwhile, animals who experience an abundance of resources or who have experienced some success, when competing with their peers, become more energetic and assertive. Their bodies are flooded by hormones that literally change their brains!

This is Neo-Darwinism, how the fittest survive. Turns out that the term, "fittest" is relative.

This happens among humans, too. It has its negative side in politics when revolutionaries become the new oppressors, but there are positive results, too.

One positive example might be the exuberance of Thomas Leonard. As his success grew, he became progressively more productive.

Here's another possible downside. I think many coaches, as they try to grow their businesses, become overwhelmed, then discouraged, then resigned. That process literally and biologically reduces the energy available to them to do whatever it takes to become successful on their own terms.

Those coaches who maintain a high level of focus, encouragement and optimism, also maintain the hormonal levels that give them the energy they need to keep going while they grow their businesses.

What makes the difference? Well, since we're human, we can choose to create the difference.

Here's how your environment can help. You can design it so that it's full of people who can give you this kind of energy, by giving you a sense of abundance and accomplishment, who can help you access the abundance of resources available to all coaches and who will champion you and challenge you to keep going.

You can see where I'm going with this: Make sure you're getting great coaching. Coaching businesses are extremely difficult to build and yet, many coaches, who are no better equipped than you are successful. Give yourself the environment that you need.

You become who you hang out with. Hang out with people who are successful. Get coached by a genuinely successful coach, who knows how to get there. Keep your day job, so you don't fall into scarcity thinking. You get the idea.

I heard Thomas say, at a Certified Coach Intensive, that not every coach would be able to have a full practice. I also heard attributed to him, at Coach U, a draconian formula: Ten in, one out. Meaning, of every ten people who entered Coach U, only one became a real coach.

I think coach training and mentoring have improved since then and that the odds are getting better. In the meantime, though, I recommend that you decide to be one of the coaches who makes it.

Commit yourself to success; do what it takes to surround yourself with an environment that will evolve you into a successful coach!

My students and mentees know how much I emphasize championing as a mark of an excellent coach. (And still most of you don't champion enough!) Great coaches literally help clients transform into successful people.

Copyright, 2005, Julia Stewart www.coachingconfab.com

Jealousy With a Halo

2005-07-25T07:54:00.000-05:00

There's a great quote by H. G. Wells that you may have heard before. I came across it again, recently:

"Moral indignation is just jealousy with a halo."

Boy, is that ever true and have I been guilty of it, sometimes! Actually, it's something that most coaches are guilty of on frequent occasions, especially when it comes to each other.

Coaches know that everyone is doing their best (Or, as they say at CTI, "Nobody gets to be wrong.") and we usually remember this when we're with our clients, but we can be a bit judgmental when it comes to other coaches.

Especially if we're feeling slighted or overlooked, while someone else is out there basking in the limelight.

Here's the phrase that I most often hear: "So-n-so is so out of integrity!" That's coach-ese for, "I'm passing judgment on this person, but I want to sound enlightened while I do it."

We're the community that believes that integrity always comes first. Unfortunately, we tend to remember that most when it comes to other coaches. What we forget is that it's our own integrity that we need to mind, not someone else's.

I have to admit that I've used this phrase, myself, so I'm not exactly guilt-free. (Ouch! I hate it when I'm flawed!)

But like most negative energy, it's easier for us to feel it when it's aimed us. When we're the ones doing the aiming, it actually feels pretty good!

That's how I became aware of the phrase, "So-n-so is so out of integrity!" because occasionally, that phrase gets aimed at me! Do you hear the moral indignation in it? When it happened I thought, "Well that's pretty judgmental!" Which, of course is just another judgment, but it gave me the opportunity to feel right, again.

I don't know about you, but I don't want to go through life wearing a "jealousy halo". The problem is that the line between discernment, which is vital and judgment, which just keeps us stuck in our egos, is so faint that we often cross it before we've realized it.

It has to be in order for us to continue going around in that fog called, I'm-right-and-they're-wrong, which clouds our reality but feels oh so comfy to our egos.

So the answer is, no doubt, to get our egos out of the way, but that's easier to say than to do.

They've been trying that in the field of psychology for decades, but have you ever noticed the number of pejorative terms that have filtered from psychology into modern usage? Terms that originally had the neutral tone of professionalism, like moron and idiot, have become common playground insults.

And then there's the ever popular, "So-n-so is so neurotic!" Yep, I've used that one, too.

And some folks have created rules that can help get the ego out of the way like, focus on the action, not on the person. In Christianity that translates into "Love the person, hate the sin."

I think regardless of the rules and words we use, egotistical judgments can easily creep into our comments and the people we're aiming them at will notice it before we do.

Judging others comes out of feeling bad. It's a way of off-loading our bad feelings and it creates a nice little fiction for us: "I'm just fine, but So-n-so has problems!" We feel better and make up a story to support why we feel better.

So if we don't dump those feelings on others, what do we do with them?

We can acknowledge our feelings. And experience them. It feels bad to be left out, just like it feels bad to be judged. End of story.

That's discernment. It has integrity and it is enlightened.

When your true feelings have fully registered with you, they will move on. And the information that you receive from your true feelings will help you create a life you really want.

Copyright, 2005, Julia Stewart www.coachingconfab.com

Eyes Wide Open

2005-07-24T15:30:00.000-05:00

It occurs to me that someone might read into some of my posts and get the idea that I have regrets about working for CoachVille. Nothing could be less true!

I mentioned to one of my friends recently that now that I'm no longer at CoachVille, with what I know and who I know, I'm poised to do my best work in the coming years. It's a delicious place to be and I'm so happy to be where I am, right now!

I went into CoachVille with my eyes wide open and I considered all my options. I checked in with my intuition and I followed it. Things didn't always work out the way that I hoped, but the benefits were tremendous, anyway. I'm well known, now and I have a healthy following. (Chances are, you wouldn't be reading this, if you didn't know me through CoachVille.) I have some very important-sounding Grand Pooh-bah titles and, yes I leverage them all I can! Last but not least, I'm a far better coach, mentor, teacher, certifier and business person, because of what I learned at CoachVille.

I think of working at CoachVille like advanced training. It's kind of like a post-grad internship! You don't do those things for money.

The reason I sometimes mention my ups and downs at CoachVille is because: A. Up until a few weeks ago, they were a major part of my life. B. Coaches learn from each other's experiences.

I'm honored to have worked with so many great people at CoachVille and I'm excited about moving on!

The Ways of Memes and Genes

2005-07-23T10:51:00.000-05:00

All the hoopla over a small article in a recent Coaching Insider is kind of amusing. The article quotes a memo from an un-named source from the Tom Stone camp as saying something that implies that Tom Stone won his lawsuit against CoachVille over who owns the Core Dynamics.

As an "insider" at CoachVille, the story I heard was very different! Not surprising. People tend to put their own spin on stories to save face. Most of us never really hear the truth.

CoachVille recognized that Tom Stone was a major contributor to the Core Dynamics. No question about that. And the Core Dynamics is unquestionably a work of collaboration. There are elements of Thomas Leonard's "Absence of" work, as well as completely new language crafted by Dave Buck and the CoachVille R&D Team. As a contributing member of that team, I attended the calls that developed much of it. The resulting Venn Diagram, which sums up the entire philosophy in an elegantly simple graphic, has CoachVille's stamp all over it. You can still find it on the Core Dynamics Coaching homepage, here.

And of course, it was Kerul Kassel who actually developed the Core Dynamics into a coach training program with teleclasses and learning guides.

The judge who presided over this case didn't rule on it. I generally avoid repeating hearsay in my blog, but I want to share what the judge supposedly said to Tom and Dave with you, because it delightfully relishes the reality of this situation:

"You two are going to have to work out an agreement between you, because no jury is ever going to understand what this stuff is about!"

Neither side "won."

So what's my point here? Stories are just stories. Our egos love them. They give us a chance to judge who's right and who's wrong. (Usually, we're right and "they're" wrong.) And they certainly are entertaining. Without them, what would we think about? Whether you believe my version or someone else's really doesn't matter.

I think the larger meaning here is about greatness vs. smallness and, in an intriguing way, the dynamics of genes and memes.

The collaboration that produced the Core Dynamics was an act of greatness that required cooperation and synergy from the minds of numerous individuals. Each contribution added a crucial element, without which the perfection of this theory, one of the most sophisticated in the coaching industry, could not have been possible. This is an example, I believe, of what Andrew Cohen would call "Supermind".

Greatness happens in the communication of ideas. We can't hoard them and be great. And once you share your ideas the Universe will do what it will with them.

Here's where genes and memes come in. Most folks know about genes. They carry our DNA and replicate and evolve the human race and all other life on this planet. They are an extraordinarily powerful force!

Their conceptual equivalent are memes. (Find out more about genes and memes in Howard Bloom's The Lucifer Principle. It's a great read.)

A meme is like an idea. It could be a melody or Marxism. Once it's released into the world it replicates and evolves on it's own. The originator has no control over it. And in fact, given that all ideas evolve from previous ideas, there is really no such thing as an original idea, anyway. This is how culture evolves. Ultimately, all memes belong to the human race.

In fact, the idea of ownership of a meme is a little like Casanova trying to control his sperm after having sex with a thousand women. Who should get pregnant? Who's genetic material gets to mingle and replicate with Casanova' genes? He can't control that. All he really can do is keep his pants zipped!

I think Intellectual Property laws are a little like Casanova trying to control his sperm. They give the illusion of ownership and control. (Hmm, the "illusion of control", isn't that idea somewhere in the Core Dynamics?) But they really are an artificial form of control. What would happen if we didn't have those laws? I don't know, perhaps memetic chaos. Then again, perhaps we would have more opportunities for the kind of greatness that results from a collaborative supermind!

The Core Dynamics is a meme with input from many sources. But IP law says that "authors" can claim ownership. Because there was no clear agreement between Tom Stone and CoachVille on what each side could do with the Core Dynamics, the lawsuit pulled both parties down into a petty disagreement. Greatness became small.

The people who were teaching the Core Dynamics at CoachVille, including me, received letters from Tom's lawyers threatening to sue us, also. Since we were on the profit sharing plan at CoachVille, the expense of defending CoachVille's right to use the Core Dynamics came out of our pay.

Unless you're as big as Disney, IP lawsuits cost more than they gain. I wrote Tom's lawyer and told him I thought Tom was making a big mistake. My guess is he realizes that, now.

So I must admit, I'm ambivalent about IP laws. That said, I will dutifully put my "Copyright" at the bottom of this page, just in case! (In case of what? So I can sue somebody?!)

That leads me to one more amusement, that the Insider is printing stories about somebody suing CoachVille! ;-)

Copyright, 2005, Julia Stewart www.coachingconfab.com

Sparkling Fresh

2005-07-17T11:06:00.000-05:00

I've been listening to some great coaching, lately! And it seems to be getting better and better! In both my Seven Secrets of Certification and Coaching Improv classes, as well as my Triad Mentor Coaching groups, coaches are stepping up courageously and coaching with brilliance and generosity.

I mentioned to my friend, Barbra Sundquist, the other day, that when I was a student coach, I used to hope that I would be able to coach one day at the level of my mentors. Now, just a few years later, my students and mentees are coaching at that level!

I always believed in Thomas Leonard's Proficiencies, but I didn't expect them to change the quality of coaching this fast!

I feel proud and humble, at the same time. Proud, because I'm one of the teachers/mentors/certifiers who have learned how to help coaches master their skills. Humble, because it's a huge honor to work with such talented people.

Barbra and I have been working on a project for some time, which we call SparklingFresh: The Sound of Great Coaching. It's function will to be to give you a chance to hear how masterful coaches do what they do and to learn their techniques. We're pretty excited about it!

If you'd like to know more, you may want to volunteer to be one of our beta testers in the near future. As a beta tester, you'll be one of the first to find out how to become a SparlkingFresh Coach, which we think will be quite a distinction! Our website is in progress, but if you'd like to take a sneak peek, go to: http://www.sparklingfresh.com To apply as a beta tester, send an email to support@sparklingfresh.com with "Beta Tester" in the subject line.

Copyright, Julia Stewart, 2005 www.yourlifepart2.com

The Servant Entrepreneur

2005-07-12T12:29:00.001-05:00

Most coaches are attracted to coaching because they want to help make the world a better place. They love people, want to help people have better lives and often see their coaching work as a kind of spiritual practice. It's a way of giving and receiving, all at once. Very fulfilling.

Do you believe coaching is a spiritual practice?

Something else that makes coaching particularly attractive, is that it promises to be a lucrative career. Most of us are thrilled to discover that there is a profession where we can be the givers that we like to be and still make a six-figure income. Or seven figures, even!

Giving, helping, spiritual fulfillment, plus lots of money; that's an intoxicating combination! It's even a little addictive...Read entire post at the Coaching Blog.

The Truth Will Set You Free

2005-07-10T16:46:00.000-05:00

Phew! Back from a week's vacation and everything looks brighter and more exciting!

People have been asking me why I left CoachVille at the end of last month. A few have mentioned that I was one of their favorite teleclass leaders and that they'll miss me. And a lot have signed up for my mailing lists. Really gratifying. And touching.

As for why I left, it was a slow, tough decision, but definitely the right one for me, right now. And the reasons are varied and complex. I'll just mention the main ones, here.

If I had to distill it down to energy management or money management, I'd have to say energy management is the real reason I left. One thing I've learned, for sure, from designing the Fully Alive Community for CV, is that energy management is one of my prime objectives in life. Managing my own and teaching others how to manage theirs. It's called Radical Care.

That said, you can't ignore money in life (and especially in business) and money was definitely a deciding factor for me.

When CoachVille Communities launched last year, a team of of intensely loyal CoachVille employees and members, including me, set about to "save" CoachVille, which had suffered some terrible financial blows in the interim between Thomas' ownership of the company and Dave's. The Pioneer Coaches, who launched the communities and taught the classes, agreed to work for a percentage of the profits, which were slim at the time, but which we were confident, would rise eventually.

It was a huge job. We had to recreate the website practically from the ground up. I was putting in 30-40 hours per week on CoachVille and a similar amount on my own business, which was what was supporting me. Not surprisingly, a lot of mistakes were made. I still cringe when I think about it! Obviously, that couldn't continue for long, so we started bringing in Assistant Community Coaches, volunteers, who could help us. And our work load became far more sane.

I was so enthusiastic (or crazy) in the beginning, that I worked on five different communities in the first six months before I settled on the CoachVille Coaching System and Fully Alive. (The others were Core Dynamics, Personal Environments, and Teleclass Leaders.)

I must say, working so hard has a way of forcing you to grow - fast! I wouldn't know what I know now any other way and I'll always be grateful for the opportunity. But hard work leads to burn out, too.

Making radical changes in a company is dangerous. You run the risk of alienating your loyal customers and you don't know if new customers will like you, either. It usually takes time to know whether the changes you made are going to be a success or a disaster. During that time, you may not be profitable.

CoachVille really had no choice but to change for a variety of reasons (I'm not going to go into them here). The jury is still out on whether the new CoachVille will be the huge success most of us think it could be. We've doubled the membership and the number of daily hits to the website. Plus, the company has had some recent financial successes and those may signal a turning point toward success, but suffice it to say, so far the profits have been disappointing.

For the past several months, CoachVille hasn't been able to pay its instructors and loyal as I am, I need to work for a living. I love what I do and I don't mind putting in a lot of hours, but it's not a hobby.

Actually, my objection to working for free for CoachVille goes deeper than that. I have a problem with a for-profit company whose employees (most of them) are working for free, especially when that company is trying to teach other professionals how to have profitable businesses. CoachVille just isn't walking its talk at the moment. I know they're trying their best, but there's still a disconnect.

I think that so many Community Coaches working for free for more than a short time just allows CoachVille to play small. I'd like to see the company borrow money or bring in investors to help it meet its shortfall, while it's on the road to becoming sustainably profitable, again. That would give the management team the breathing space to focusing on long-term success instead of short-term profits.

Feeling as I do has caused CoachVille to become an emotional drain for me. I needed to disconnect to protect my energy. I'm still a Certifier (and I get paid for that!), but other than that, I'm free to concentrate on my own projects and that's really exciting!

Well, this is a pretty revealing post! CoachVille may not appreciate my telling its business, but it's my business, too. Plus, coaches are asking and I think they deserve to know.

I launched the Confab last Spring with the challenge, to myself and members, to be "relentlessly constructive". For me, being open and honest is a big part of that. Not as a weapon, but as a tool for creating the world we want to live in. As Dave Buck once said, "The truth will set you free, but it may piss you off in the meantime!"

Another thing that I learned from Dave is that I'm a Manifestor, someone who is highly creative and productive and who is likely to insert my big foot in my big mouth from time to time. If I've done that today, my apologies!

(Update, 7-19-05: I just received an email from the CV accountant indicating that I will be paid for March thrugh June. Don't know what happened and I'm not going to speculate, but I'm glad to hear it!)

Starved for Inspiration?

2005-06-26T05:54:00.001-05:00

OK, I'm re-inspired to the max.

Just attended a one-day seminar with the EnlightenmentNext people in NYC with Andrew Cohen, their founder, and Dr. Don Beck, the world's expert on Spiral Dynamics. This, following a 5-day intensive certification program with Dr. Beck in Boston, at Andrew's center, there.

I've been checking these guys out for a while and every time I go deeper and come out even more excited about what they're doing...Read the entire post on the Coaching Blog.

You Gotta Have Faith

2005-06-24T13:02:00.001-05:00

It's a common fact that people who pursue their dreams often lie awake at night worrying about their finances, so instead of experiencing bliss they experience extreme anxiety.

People who follow more practical pursuits by pursuing a profession that pays well for instance, even if they don't love it, often have fewer financial worries, but less satisfaction. Ironically, they don't experience security either, just dependence on the company or system that employs them.

Neither group is free.

The Dreamers have a lack of financial freedom and the Practical People have a lack of personal freedom. Both problems are the result of mistaking ourselves as the providers of success in our own lives...Read the entire post at the Coaching Blog.

Did Coaching Go Mainstream Without You?

2005-06-05T16:10:00.001-05:00

I've been at odds with all the experts on this one for years and I read it again in Andrea Lee's book, Multiple Streams of Coaching Income, recently (which I recommend, btw).

Everybody who knows anything about coaching knows that coaching hasn't gone mainstream, yet, but when it does, it'll be really BIG. Have you heard that one?

Guess what? Coaching already went mainstream!

How do I know? Read entire article at the Coaching Blog.

Got Biz?

2005-05-22T13:30:00.002-05:00

I think one of the toughest businesses in the would to build is a coaching business. I know this flies in the face of what your coach training school may have told you, before you signed up. I know that the story that I was told was that coaching businesses are easy to start and inexpensive to maintain, that you can name your own hours and make a six-figure income while working part-time. That you get to model "life balance" for your clients and you can fill your practice in as little as three months. ("Cool!" I thought.)

Actually, all of the leading coaches that I currently know about are working 12-16 hours per day, sometimes, seven days a week! Is that crazy, or what?

Why is it so hard to build a successful coaching business? Read the entire article at the Coaching Blog.

REALL Marketing for Coaches

2005-05-21T15:07:00.001-05:00

Well, our Confab meeting with guest mentor coach, Barbra Sundquist, on "Do Coaches Need to Get Real?", was very high energy! There are a lot of smart coaches on the calls and they're not shy about sharing. Barbra didn't get to talk as much as we expected, but gracious as she is, she recognized that it was a great call, anyway! (If you're not a member, yet, go here: http://www.coachingconfab.com. You can also access the free recording of the call and previous calls, there.)

Several callers mentioned my recent post, "No Wonder Clients Aren't Buying", so the call became a discussion on marketing; what works, what doesn't, and what's just plain repugnant. I'm getting lots of feedback on that post and on the Confab meeting. We've really struck a nerve in the coaching community! Read entire post at the Coaching Blog.

No Wonder Clients Aren't Buying

2005-05-16T14:40:00.000-05:00

I still watch 60 Minutes every Sunday night, if I can catch it. Last night, they had a feature called, "BS Rules". It was tough, because they couldn't actually say the word in the title.

"BS Rules" was inspired by an unexpected bestseller by, Harry G. Frankfurt, a distinguished professor of philosophy at Princeton University. ON BULLSHIT is a serious philosophical work that normally would only sell a few hundred copies, but the title has struck a chord with so many that it's selling hundreds of thousands.

Hey, it struck a chord with me, too!

I've specifically thought about this in regards to coaching. (Well I do sort of have a one-track mind.)

I've been meaning to write about this subject since the first day of the CoachVille Annual Conference, when Dave Buck got up and asked, What's wrong with coaching?

Without stopping to think, I spontaneously wrote in my notes:

The hype has separated us from our souls.

I stared at that for a few seconds and forgot to listen to Dave, anymore. The hype is killing us, quite simply.

What hype? Marketing hype! Branding hype! Advertisements disquised as newsletters! Products that will make coaches money! Yadyadayada!!

Geeze! I'm so sick of hype, I'm choking on it. And hype goes deeper than that, too. It shows up in promises that aren't kept, even though you meant well. It shows up in products that are designed according to what the market is buying, not what people want. It shows in compromised integrity. It shows up when you strive to get people to buy, rather than attract them, because you have something they really want. In other words, hype is BS.

Coaches mean well. They're just not thinking at a high enough level to attract clients. No wonder people aren't buying!

We're operating at a paradigm level that's no higher than (or even lower than) most of our potential clients. The materialistic/entrepreneurial/corporate mindset that has dominated American culture for decades is in decline. Corporate refugees, victims of downsizing, burned consumers; those people don't want more of the same. They've had it. Coaches need to be operating at a higher paradigm then that, in order to help them shift to a new way of thinking. That's what coaches are for! Not to insert them in our product funnels and squeeze more and bigger dollars out of them.

Why should people trust us with their lives, their dreams and their futures if they feel like our first motive is to make money from them? Most people live in such a climate of mistrust that if they sniff even the slightest bit of an agenda, they become suspicious. Not a good place for our coaching clients to be coming from!

So how did we get here and what do we need to do about it? Well, Thomas stretched out thinking. Remember that? And coaching was growing, then. Then we lost Thomas. Since then, lots of coaches have tried to step into his shoes, but none of them are thinking like Thomas, yet. They're striving, instead of attracting and they're becoming less attractive, as a result.

It wouldn't hurt to go back to some of the old Thomas material, like Irresistable Attraction and place our faith in that. Only let's don't stop there. The world is still moving forward and Thomas can't keep leading us. Look for new voices and new ways of thinking. Look outside the coaching industry for inspiration. Watch what's going on in the world and notice where it's heading and where it's been. Coach the present and future, not the past. Start leading, yourself.

And stop trying so hard!

Most coaches come into the profession, because they're not BS artists. They care about truth and other values. How silly to train them to BS their potential clients.

If you want to actually attract clients, Fresh Thinking Rules.

Under-Capitalized

2005-05-08T17:30:00.001-05:00

This is a problem that can be so painful, that coaches don't like to talk about it.

Under-capitalization.

Fancy term for, "You don't have enough money to make it." Read the entire article at the Coaching Blog.

The Most Saturated Market in the World

2005-04-26T08:12:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, one of my mentees commented that there seem to be an awful lot of certifications and programs for coaches, out there, and that it's hard for a coach to know which are really important to pursue and which aren't.

I agree. There are so many coach trainings, marketing programs and certifications on the market, that coaches aren't just overwhelmed, they're confused - and broke!

And still more products for coaches to buy are rolled out practically everyday.

This points to one of the biggest bad habits in the coaching industry, right now: the tendency to market to other coaches. The cause is pretty simple: we know what matters to us and we know how to communicate with each other. It's a natural! The problem is, most coaches don't have thriving businesses, yet, and buying more products tends to keep them in the financial red.

This produces the proverbial snake that swallows its tail. Not a sustainable industry practice!

And I'm a mentor coach, so I'm guilty!

I sometimes wonder if this hybrid of professional/entrepreneur doesn't just present a massive integrity problem for coaches. Coaches aren't supposed to be experts, the client is the expert, right? And yet, we present ourselves as experts in our marketing materials. This confuses everybody - including us.

Slippery integrity kills coaching. And it could kill the coaching industry, too.

When you're presented witht the next great program that's going to finally make you a successful coach, ask yourself if that's really true? Do you really need it and how can you find out? And always bear this in mind: Coaching businesses are businesses. They create products to make profits. Is the program you're about to buy designed to make you successful or make the seller money?

The best ones will do both.

You need to be able to make a clear assessment of what you need at every step along the way to your ideal coaching practice, so you know what you need to buy.

And you need to ask a lot of questions about the programs you buy, like: What is their track record? Do they have success stories? Do they have statistics on the success rate of people, like you, who buy? What's the reputation of the seller? Is it sterling? Don't just rely on a big name; ask people what their experiences have been.

If the program is just based on a cool new theory, it may still be worth checking out, but expect to pay less, if you're an early adopter.

This is a tough challenge for me. I want to be part of the solution, not just be adding to the problem. I've considered getting out of the mentor coach biz, because it's such a depressed market, but this seems to be my calling.

I don't have all the answers, yet, but I'm willing to name the problem. My goal is to find ways that help coaches get from the tourist stage, where they just want to buy and experience all the cool stuff out there for coaches, and help them to have their own thriving businesses. That's the only way coaching will survive.

I'm wondering what your thoughts are.

Copyright, Julia Stewart, 2005 http://www.yourlifepart2.com

How to Create Programs that Rock!

2005-04-20T12:56:00.000-05:00

Hey - If you missed the 1st or 2nd Confab meetings, the recordings will be posted on my website in the very near future. http://www.coachingconfab.com Watch for an announcement, when they're ready. In the meantime, I want to thank Heidi Costas for sharing her wisdom with us, yesterday. We talked about why some programs sell and others don't and what the market seems to want, right now. Click on "comments" at the end of this post to see Heidi's Five Key Points for Programs that Rock. ;-) Julia http://www.yourlifepart2.com

Are You Stuck in the Green Meme?

2005-04-18T07:14:00.001-05:00

I've been fascinated by Spiral Dynamics, lately. It's a theory of human development that helps to explain people's paradigms, both individually and culturally. (You can read a brief synopsis of it in Ken Wilber's A Theory of Everything, or the whole enchilada in Spiral Dynamics by Don Edward Beck and Christopher C. Cowan.)

This theory neatly explains why people think what they do and why there is so much disagreement about values in today's world - and it's weirdly color coded...Read the entire article at the Coaching Blog.

Inspiration is for Amateurs

2005-04-17T14:26:00.002-05:00

"Inspiration is for amateurs. The rest of us just show up." I heard Chuck Close say this the other night on a PBS interview. It pricked my ears, because inspiration is a big part of what I do as a coach. It's for amateurs? But the more he talked, the more I agreed with him. Listening to Close took me back to my years of training in the arts... Read the whole article at the Coaching Blog.

Copyright, Julia Stewart, 2005 http://www.yourlifepart2.com

Don't Stop to Play Tiddlywinks 'til You've Finished Up in the Birthing Room

2005-04-16T11:42:00.001-05:00

Great conversation in our first Confab! It left me with lots to think about ever since. I'm honored at the amazing group of coaches who have subscribed, so far, and can't wait to get back together with you! I already feel like twice a month isn't often enough, so I decided to set up a blog, so I'd have somewhere to go when the mood strikes. Originally, I'd planned a newsletter for this group, but a blog fits the conversational style far better. With a group of coaches this experienced and talented, the posts are bound to be mind-bending...Read entire article at the Coaching Blog.

Congratulations!

2005-04-13T06:55:00.000-05:00

Looking forward to some way cool confab conversations here!

Heidi