Achieving great things

John, someone who's attended a couple of my life coaching workshops, phoned me this week to let me know about his latest achievement. He'd just completed his first 'fun run' - exceeding all his expectations. He was on cloud nine telling me about it.

A little over a year ago John had been overweight and struggling with severe health problems. After years of feeling below par, a depressing social life and definitely lacking confidence, he'd decided to take matters into his own hands. He'd come to a couple of my workshops to start to build his own self-belief and he'd taken up regular exercise. Then he'd set himself the target of completing the fun run for charity. Along the way he'd started a blog to record his training activity and his preparation for the run.

Through his training he's now trim and fit. He's made new friends through his blog and his social life is on the up and up. His achievements mean his confidence has never been better. And the race itself has resulted in him really believing in himself, achieving something he never could have guessed he'd ever achieve, and he's even raised more than £600 sponsorship for sick children. Fantastic!

In John's own words, he now gets "so much of a buzz out of life".

It never ceases to amaze me - and give me the hugest sense of pride - at the brilliant things people I've worked with succeed in.

John started with small steps towards his goals - to get fit, increase his confidence and his social life - and has more than succeeded already with all of them.

After the fun run he told me "You can achieve things if you really put your mind to it. You've just got to take some risks in life."

I couldn't have put it better myself.

Well done, John!

The power within

A client of mine sent me a lovely quote this week. I want to share it with you:

According to legend, the musk deer spends its life pursuing an erotic aroma. It hunts through the forest day and night, hoping to find the elusive source of this enchanting perfume. Never does it realise that this is what it carries in its own glands! Whether or not this is strictly true, it is an image that neatly reflects an all-too-human tendency. We identify some emotional or material need and move heaven and earth in our effort to fulfil it. We imagine that someone or something will bring us the satisfaction we crave.......you have the power ..... don't give that away. You haven't got a 'problem', you have an incredible opportunity.

I think it's all too common that we go through life ever searching for that 'holy grail'. The thing that will make us feel truly happy and fulfilled. We wait for things to change for the better. We put off things thinking 'if only....', or 'when such-and-such happens...'.

Thing is, life goes on. We can either grab that life with both hands and do something great with it, or we can continue waiting and searching.

Many of us deny the power we have within ourselves to satisfy ourselves. We often have all the resources we need to have a truly great life. Yet we don't even notice.

I have clients who believe that if they find the man or woman of their dreams, everything will turn out roses. They fail to realise that the person they have to fall in love with first is themselves. Then they can build relationships based on love and giving rather that need and taking.

These same clients often don't realise how great a person they already are. How many skills, talents and gifts they have that they can use and share to live a fantastic life. They trip themselves up and limit the possibilities in their lives by not recognising and using what they already have.

Incredible opportunities can open up if we only realise what we already have within ourselves.

So what power do you have to help you live a fabulous life? And how and when will you use it?

Doing too much

A client of mine was telling me how she was looking after her ageing father and his partner, whilst supporting her daughter with her ongoing health problems, struggling with a painful back, looking for a new job, and dealing with the fall-out following the death of her husband.

So many of us seem to juggle many balls at once. We are often very good at it - supporting others, sorting things out, making things happen, dealing with our responsibilities.

But it all takes its toll if, at the same time as looking after everything else, we don't look after ourselves.

It was hardly surprising my client was suffering from a bad back.

Dealing with so many stresses, without attending to our own needs, can result in anything from sleepless nights to over-use of alcohol or other stimulants, to health problems such as poorly backs, indigestion, and headaches, to feeling far less focused and effective.

All of these signs tell us quite clearly we are doing too much - and forgetting ourselves in the process. Ignoring these signs can lead to chronic stress and breakdown.

A bit of TLC or ourselves can go a long way. Far from being selfish, it can mean we achieve much more, and are better able to help others.

So, if you're juggling too many balls, or maybe struggling with headaches or a bad back, perhaps it's time to listen - and put yourself and your own needs first for a bit.

If you enjoy reading this blog and would like further tips to help you make positive changes in your life, sign up for my free report 'How to Jump Start Your Life' and newsletter - see the subscribe box on my website.

Trains and training

I visited London by train a few days ago.

That was a challenge! First there was the 'how to find a ticket for under £100' challenge. Then there was the 'how to get to London when your train's been cancelled' challenge. And finally the 'how to stay cool when your train back home is cancelled too' challenge (that last one was the hardest!)

Suffice it to say, I did get there and back despite cancelled trains for under £100.

Thank goodness I did, because I was visiting the capital to undertake some training in a unique career change coaching programme I'd invested in. The programme had been gathering dust on my bookshelf for some months, awaiting the moment when I use it with my clients. But I'd never felt sufficiently empowered to use it effectively without being 'walked through it' first.

Fortunately the opportunity for training in the programme came up and I grabbed the chance. And what a fantastic opportunity it was! A room full of coaches all eager to introduce this great programme to their clients and keen to learn the ins and outs of what it has to offer. I was exhausted by the end, yet felt to have gained the confidence and knowledge I needed to launch the programme for my own clients.

Fascinating. I could have rolled out the programme as one of the services I offer some time ago. Yet never felt fully confident in doing so - I didn't really feel to have the in depth knowledge and understanding of the programme required to be truly effective in delivering it well with my clients. I'd found a stumbling block that I needed to overcome.

With the excellent training I received, my confidence was boosted and I felt empowered to be able to offer it as another high quality element of my coaching.

Take a look! It's a great process for enabling people who want a change of career to take a step back and discover which career will be exactly right for them and then develop a plan to make that a reality.

Meantime, I'm sitting tight for now at home - no more cancelled trains for me!