Introduction 1
About This Book 1
Conventions Used in This Book 2
Foolish Assumptions 2
How This Book is Organised 3
Part I: The Basics of Life Coaching 3
Part II: Your Life Coaching Journey 3
Part III: Focusing on the Elements of Your Life 3
Part IV: Working with the Themes of Coaching 4
Part V: Creating a Harmonious Whole Life 4
Part VI: The Part of Tens 4
Icons Used in This Book 4
Where to Go from Here 5
Part I: The Basics of Life Coaching 7
Chapter 1: Introducing Life Coaching 9
A Brief Definition of Life Coaching 9
What Life Coaching is Not 10
Living Your Best Life 11
Getting ready for change 12
Presenting the passport for your coaching journey 14
Choosing Life Coaching for Long-Term Results 15
Tuning In to Your Inner Coach 16
Introducing your split personality! 16
Giving yourself the gift of your own good opinion 17
Turning up the volume on the voice of your inner coach 18
Having a coaching conversation 19
Identifying Your Current Priorities for Coaching 20
Chapter 2: Deciding What You Want to Take from Coaching 25
Assessing the Benefits and Challenges of Coaching 26
Attaining goals 26
Achieving balance 27
Finding purpose 28
Changing your mindset 28
Growing through self-awareness 29
Enjoying the journey 29
Considering the challenges of coaching 30
Deciding on a Coaching Method 30
Finding the right coach 31
Considering co-coaching 35
Deciding to self-coach 36
Making a Promise to Yourself 37
Checking out your current life conditions 37
Framing your coaching promise 38
Chapter 3: Preparing for Coaching 39
Getting Ready for Your Coaching Session 39
Beginning Your Coaching Journey 40
Seeing the big picture 41
Packing your survival kit 42
The stages of your journey 43
Knowing Where You Are on the Road 44
Marking Your Progress 45
Using milestone goals to celebrate success 45
Giving yourself a pat on the back 47
Choosing people to cheer you on 47
Anticipating setbacks and relapses 48
Keeping a record 49
Painting a picture 49
Part II: Your Life Coaching Journey 51
Chapter 4: Becoming Your Best Self 53
Considering Your Unique Gifts 53
What do you do really well? 54
How do you do that thing you do? Boosting your competencies 55
Noticing Your Preferences 58
Looking out or looking in? 59
Finding your behavioural styles 60
Adding new behaviours 64
Chapter 5: Choosing Your Beliefs 67
Understanding How Your Beliefs Shape You 67
Where do your beliefs come from? 68
What are your beliefs? 69
What do your beliefs give you? 70
Changing Your Beliefs 72
Reshaping a limiting belief 72
Getting under the skin of your most stubborn limiting beliefs 73
Learning to Manage Your Fears 75
Identifying fears that drive you and fears that block you 76
Recognising your fear foes 76
Minimising your fear foes 78
Chapter 6: Discovering the Values that Motivate You 81
Navigating with Your Own Coordinates 82
Reading your personal road map 82
Knowing what your needs are 84
Getting Clear on Your Values 86
What are your values? 87
Reflecting on your values 91
Sorting Through Conflicts of Motivation 92
Looking out for your heart's desire 93
Dealing with changing priorities 94
Chapter 7: Stocking Up on Powerful Questions 95
Delving into the Power of Asking Questions 95
Heeding hesitation 96
Confronting confusion 97
Fighting frustration 97
Don't Get Stuck Asking the Wrong Questions! 98
Asking the Right Questions 99
Moving down the funnel 99
Finding your most powerful questions 101
Listening to the Answers 102
When you don't know the answer 102
Tuning into energy levels to find the answers 103
Chapter 8: Taking Stock of Now 105
Practising Awareness 105
Taking short cuts without cutting corners 106
Balancing assets and liabilities 106
Redefining success 108
Focusing on outcomes 110
Tapping into Your Intuitive Self 112
Trusting your gut feeling 112
Living with a light heart 113
Cultivating a relaxed focus 113
Knowing What You Really Want 114
You don't have to have what you've always had 116
You're creating your future now 116
Visualising your whole-life goals 117
Placing your whole-life goals on your horizon 118
Chapter 9: Exploring Your Options 119
Moving from Problems to Possibilities 120
Avoiding the 'yes, but' game 120
The desert island scenario 121
Assessing Your Stock of Resources 122
Building supportive networks 123
Increasing your resources 123
Expanding Your Range of Options 124
Developing a creative approach 125
Playing with unlimited options 126
Choosing the best fi t 128
Chapter 10: Planning Effective Action 131
Smarten Up Your Goal Setting 131
Putting theory into practice 136
Smartening up to lose weight 138
Matching Your Options to Your Goals 139
Setting milestones for your journey 139
Taking baby steps 140
Keeping Your Promise to Yourself 141
Thinking like a hero 141
When life gets in the way of living 142
Exploding the myth of will-power 143
Dealing with jealousy from others 144
Part III: Focusing on the Elements of Your Life 145
Chapter 11: Career and Work 147
Assessing Your Attitudes to Work 148
Playing your part in different work roles 148
Balancing your different roles 148
Setting Your Work in Context 151
Making a conscious choice 151
Evaluating your job 152
Making adjustments at work 153
Improving Your Current Job 155
Keeping your focus 155
Dealing with negative situations 157
Finding Your Dream Work 158
Knowing your job-search goal 159
Working the market 160
Using your networks 161
Getting Recognition for Your Work 161
Getting feedback 162
Promoting your personal brand 163
Looking to the Future 164
Chapter 12: Money, Wealth and Abundance 167
Defining the Role of Money in Your Life 168
Being Financially Secure 169
Drawing up your financial ground rules 169
Developing your financial survival plan 171
Living Your Chosen Lifestyle 172
Counting the true cost of your lifestyle 173
Permitting yourself to be rich 174
Cultivating a Feeling of Wealth and Abundance 175
Giving It All Away 177
Chapter 13: People and Relationships 179
Enjoying Loving Relationships 179
Creating a relationship with yourself 180
Finding your soul mate 181
Building and maintaining a strong partnership 182
Deciding to leave a relationship 184
Nurturing Family Bonds 184
Setting family ground rules 186
Giving and Receiving Friendship 186
Maintaining lifelong friendships 187
Staying open to new friendships 189
Building Productive Networks 190
Widening your circle of influence 190
Getting into the networking groove 191
Taking a role in your world 192
Chapter 14: Physical, Mental and Emotional Well-being 193
Choosing Your Health Goals 193
Defining your health goals 194
Digging deeper into your motivation 194
Looking After Your Body 196
Avoiding illness and disease 197
Filling your body with the best fuel 197
Avoiding sweat and tears: Finding the best exercise for you 199
Building energy, strength and fitness 200
Taking Care of Your Mental and Emotional Well-being 202
Managing your emotions 202
Getting out of getting into a state 204
Developing mental resilience 205
Chapter 15: Developing and Growing 207
Thriving on Learning 207
Being your best 208
Harnessing your brain power 209
Playing in the Game of Life 211
Benefiting from a playful approach 212
Making the most of your leisure time 213
Getting in Touch with Your Spiritual Side 215
What is spirituality for you? 215
Accessing your spirituality 216
Exploring spirituality through coaching 217
Part IV: Working with the Themes of Coaching 219
Chapter 16: Attracting the Life You Want 221
Mastering the Art of Acceptance 221
Letting go of resistance 222
Being present 223
Wanting What You Have 226
Practising gratitude 227
Tuning into your positive emotions 228
Chapter 17: Coaching Yourself to Happiness 231
Discovering Your Happiness Formula 232
Getting into the flow 232
Delving into positive psychology 233
Identifying the elements of happiness for you 235
Discovering Optimism 239
Taking charge of your mindset 240
Practising the positive 240
Planning Your Happy Life 241
Making time to be happy 242
Keeping faith and focus on happiness 243
Chapter 18: Defining True Success 245
Knowing Your Value in the World 245
Adopting the personal qualities of success 246
Modelling excellence 249
Getting the Results You Want 251
Developing your inner success compass 252
Thinking Yourself to Success 252
Observing your thoughts 253
Creating positive outcomes 254
Chapter 19: Tackling Common Blocks 257
Kicking Procrastination into Touch 257
Getting to the root of why you procrastinate 258
Maintaining momentum 260
Sorting out wishing from wanting 260
Clearing Up Confusion 262
Knowing why you feel conflicted 262
Finding common ground for forward motion 263
Transforming Self-doubt into Self-esteem 264
Accepting yourself as you are 264
Knowing that you're worth it 266
Part V: Creating a Harmonious Whole Life 269
Chapter 20: Achieving Balance 271
Finding Your Balance 271
Integrating the Goldilocks theory of balance into your life 272
Checking out your daily energy balance 274
Centring yourself 276
Regaining Your Balance 277
Managing yourself and your time 277
Learning to love delegation 279
Choosing to let go 280
Saying what you mean 281
Managing Longer-Term Stress 282
Spotting your danger signs 282
Coaching your way through stressful situations 284
Chapter 21: Making a Life-Changing Decision 285
Knowing How Your Stage of Life Affects Your Attitude to Change 286
Recognising Your Need to Make a Radical Change 289
Moving from pain to pleasure and purpose 289
Noticing the clues in your emotions 290
Deciding to be your authentic self 292
Making Your Best Decision 292
Fixing it 292
Fleeing from it 293
Building on strength 294
Letting Go and Integrating the New 295
Working through the change 295
Evolving to the next stage 297
Chapter 22: Applying Your Coaching Skills More Widely 299
Thinking beyond Self-Coaching 299
Developing Key Skills for Coaching Others 302
Hear, hear! The art of listening 302
Building rapport 303
Using Your Skills Ethically 306
Developing a Coaching Role in Your Life 306
Coaching friends and family 307
Building coaching into your job 308
Part VI: The Part of Tens 311
Chapter 23: Ten Life Coaching Beliefs about Yourself 313
You Are Unique 313
Your Whole Life is the Canvas for Coaching 314
You Hold Your Own Agenda 315
You Are Resourceful 315
You Are Capable of Great Results 316
You Can Generate the Right Solutions for Yourself 316
You Are Free from Being Judged 317
You Can Make Powerful Choices 317
You Take Responsibility for Your Results 318
You Trust Your Senses 318
Chapter 24: Ten Questions to Keep Your Life on Track 319
What Would I Do If I Knew I Couldn't Fail? 320
Who Am I Becoming? 320
What Am I Doing Right Now to Honour My Core Values? 321
What Am I Settling For? 321
What is My Legacy? 322
Where Do I Focus My Attention? 322
How Am I Using My Gifts? 323
What Am I Holding on to That I No Longer Need? 323
How Much Time Do I Spend with People Who Inspire Me? 324
What One Thing Would I Change for the Better? 324
Chapter 25: Ten Daily Balancing Acts 325
See a Clear Vision 325
Take a Gratitude Tonic 325
Do a Kind and Thoughtful Act 326
Soak Up Wise Words 327
See-saw between Action and Reflection 327
Take a Deep Breath 327
Share a Smile 328
Give Yourself a Treat 328
Stretch Out 329
Get Natural 329
Chapter 26: Ten Inspirational Resources 331
Your Life is a Journey 331
Get Out of Your Mind 332
See Things as You Want Them to Be 332
Choose Happiness 332
Feast Your Senses 333
Value Your Life Experience 333
Poetry Creates Motion 334
No Place Like Home 334
Your Life is Significant 335
Let Your Inner Coach Come Out to Play 335
Appendix: Considering a Future as a Professional Life Coach 337
Getting Started 337
Considering Your Niche 339
Doing the Business 340
Marketing Yourself 342
Knowing your offering 342
Choosing the right marketing methods for you 342
Making Up Your Mind 344
Index 345
