Would you say you're living the life you want? How happy are you at your current life balance? And if there are areas in your life that may not be quite the way you want them, how prepared are you to change them? The Wheel of Life was developed by Whitworth, Kimsey-House & Sandahl and is in their book Co-Active Coaching. The wheel is a marvellous coaching tool to help us look at all the areas of our life: fun and recreation,

 » Read more about: Living by design or default – what have you chosen to do?  »

There's a road I drive past moderately frequently that about a year or so ago was closed because close by a bigger road with a slightly different route was built as its replacement. Whenever I drive past the closed road, even after all this time, my brain momentarily registers it as the preferred route before it registers the default position, the new road. It happened again the other day and it reminded me that:

 

 » Read more about: We’re all creatures of habit ­ but are they good ones? management coach wonders  »

It probably sounds ridiculous to say, but listening is easy for those of us with hearing, because we just do it, all the time, without consciously thinking about what we are doing. Yet, even though we may be going through listening process, are we really listening to what is being said? Studies have shown that most listeners:

1. Begin to formulate their response to what's being said almost as soon as the speaker begins speaking

2.

 » Read more about: Listening sounds easy but is hard to do, management coach believes  »

How do you cope with change in your life? Would you say you embrace change with enthusiasm or need some time to come to grips with it? There is no right or wrong way to cope with change and every person's way of dealing with it is right for them. One thing to keep in mind is that how we cope with change in our personal world is likely to be reflected in the way we deal with change in our working worlds.

 » Read more about: Change management occurs at many levels, personal trainer says  »

I've just finished a refresher teleclass on life planning. I particularly enjoyed the distinction made between intentional living (making choices about how we want our lives to be in areas of career, finances, health, friends and family, significant others, personal growth, fun and recreation and physical environment) and unintentional living (no conscious thinking and planning in key life areas). It certainly does make you stop and think and ask yourself "how do I want to live my life?"

 » Read more about: Life planning good to do, personal trainer believes  »

It can be easy to drift along in life especially when we finally achieve the dream job, the perfect house, the material possessions to fill it and have a rich circle of friends, family and acquaintances. Yet for many people, once these goals have been achieved life becomes empty. It could be said that the first half of our life is about acquisition ­ of status, qualifications, experience, material possessions etc ­ and the second half of our life may be more a search for real meaning and purpose.

 » Read more about: Meaning and purpose in our lives essential, management coach believes  »

Have you heard the acronym for fear? False Evidence Appearing Real and how many of us have been stopped in our tracks, because of it? Most people have fears of some sort or other, such as fear of being alone, of failure, of success, of changing jobs, or getting their needs met, yet not everyone lets their fears stop them. The key to working through the fear factor is to give the fears your full attention and consider exactly what it is you think or say about them.

 » Read more about: Fear stops and courage moves us forward, personal management trainer says  »