Success Express Coaching - Business Services and Coaching

Personal Coaching Produces Powerful Results!

Lately everyone is talking about coaching, from Oprah, to business owners, to your neighbor. Over the last 10 years, professional coaching has become quite a phenomenon in the personal development arena and with good reason. Many people today seek out this powerful and innovative resource to help them live a more deliberate life, make the most of any situation and take steps to live their dreams.

If you haven't heard of coaching you might be wondering - what the heck is it? Whether clients choose coaching for business or personal reasons, this dynamic process facilitates learning on a deep level, improves performance and enhances the overall quality of life. Quite a big promise huh?

Here's how it works:
The coach works in partnership with the client by following this basic five-step process:

Clarify and select a direction or goal
Formulate a plan of action
Break down tasks into manageable steps
Identify and eliminate obstacles
Follow through with support and accountability

Regardless of the topic or goal, whether it's personal or for business, the methodology remains the same.

Why does it produce such incredible results?
Coaching unlocks the client's full potential and empowers you to achieve your goals. People can make amazing progress because they have chosen the goal and co-created the steps to get there. Working with a coach will:

Speed you forward to find greater personal and professional satisfaction
Help you push past fears and eliminate obstacles
Achieve the success and life you desire on any level

Your coach stands firmly in your corner, cheering you on, sticking by you through thick and thin and believing in you totally. That kind of support is something many of us rarely experience on a regular basis.

What is it really like?
Coaches are trained to listen at a very deep level and will ask a variety of thought provoking questions to help you better understand yourself and gain greater clarity. The relationship is customized to meet each individual's style and specific needs and is fluid enough to respond to changes as they occur. The client is responsible for setting the agenda and the coach makes sure you stick with it. The process isn't always serious either - many coaches pride themselves on finding the fun aspects of any situation.

How does coaching differ from counseling?
Coaching and counseling are very different. With coaching there is no therapeutic agenda and you are considered to be a whole, creative, resourceful person. The practice focuses on the present and plans for the future, rather than resolving issues from the past. Coaching helps people discover solutions based on action steps that can be taken today and tomorrow and draws on their full potential.

What are the benefits?
A coach works with you as a partner to explore opportunities and accelerate your progress to successfully achieve your goals. The key is self-empowerment as you:

Cut through confusion to gain clarity
Remove blocks or limitations
Improve motivation and follow through
Get inspired and learn to trust your own wisdom
Feel more fully alive and vibrant
Get feedback from an impartial observer
Focus on your own agenda
Receive on-going support from a professional

Need a few examples?
Case studies can make coaching more understandable.

1) Career
Susan came to me at a critical point in her career. She had just been given a poor review that totally surprised her. Never having received any feedback from her bosses, she assumed she was doing a good job. But, she was shocked by the bad review because she was being judged against standards that were unknown to her and it was her first review with the company. To top it off, management had decided to bring in someone above her to take over some of her responsibilities.

Needless to say, Susan was angry and felt that she had been treated extremely unfairly. Yet her attempts to discuss this with her boss yielded very little. She was caught in a terrible bind between wanting to quit immediately to save face and having to stay to support her family.

Through the coaching process, this client did some truly amazing work. She came to terms with the real alternatives before her. Susan could remain angry, bitter and resentful, knowing she had been wronged. She entertained thoughts of making her new boss's life miserable as a means for revenge. However, with time Susan recognized that these options would ultimately work against her.

As she continued working through the situation, it occurred to Susan that there might be a benefit to getting along with and liking her new boss. In fact, maybe he could lessen her workload and allow her to spend more time with her family, which was extremely important to her. A miraculous shift took place with this realization. Susan actually enjoyed her new boss, befriended and learned a lot from him and started leaving earlier to spend more time with her kids. In the end, Susan managed to turn her worst nightmare into a highly workable situation that was actually an improvement over her earlier circumstances.

2) Spirituality and Health
Dean wanted to better integrate his spirituality with his physical life to improve his health and overall wellbeing. For him, this meant he wanted to be more mindful of his eating patterns and to make healthier choices. Working together, we created a morning ritual for Dean that involved lighting candles and reciting prayers that he wrote himself to help him begin his day with greater awareness and carry that mindfulness through out the day. He was quite pleased with the results and his health improved as he made better choices on a more consistent basis.

3) Finding Love
Melissa deeply desired a meaningful relationship that could lead to marriage. Having been out of circulation for two years, she felt there were no single men available and certainly couldn't imagine how to meet them. She felt stuck and hopeless.

We worked together to help her recognize the limiting beliefs that kept her single, created techniques to open her heart to love again and reconnect with her own, alluring feminine energy. She had lost touch with a lot of these things due to her success in the business world which required her to adopt assertive male behaviors. Her business skills didn't translate well to the dating world.

Melissa had been closed off from her feminine nature for quite some time without even realizing it. Once she opened her awareness to this, she made a bold decision to open herself up to the opportunities that the universe provided. Amazing things began happening as she got out there, started dating, met a wonderful man and has been in a relationship for 7 months. In her words, she was lucky enough to find a, kind, romantic, creative soul who brings her roses weekly and tells her often she is wonderful. Her romantic outlook has shifted 180 degrees.

4) Overwhelmed By Life
Carol was overwhelmed by her life. She's married, has two kids, owns a small shop and teaches Sunday school at church. She felt like a failure because she couldn't seem to get everything done, never mind take care of herself. What really makes her feel good is to practice yoga at least five days a week. But she felt she had no time to waste on yoga when the kids had to get to school, employees needed instructions, and errands had to be run. In addition to her already hectic day, Carol wanted to cook a nutritious dinner and spend some quality time with her husband in the evening.

Through coaching, Carol came to realize that leaving herself last actually impeded her ability to get things done. She was exhausted and had little energy left for when things didn't go well. She decided to slow down, and gave herself permission to start her day with yoga. As Carol continued to honor herself, she noticed her energy increased and she actually got more done in less time. In making herself a priority, Carol understood how critical it was to take care of herself first, so that she had the energy and desire to take care of others. She was totally thrilled with the results and everyone benefited.

These four examples illustrate the wide range of goals that can be achieved through coaching. The process requires a client's commitment and there will be work to do. But coaching also involves coming up with systems that match your unique style. And the rewards are well worth it.

Here's how to get started:
There are loads of websites that list coaches and provide detailed profiles. Pick a coach based on his or her area of expertise, and be sure to consider if your personalities are a good match. You can ask for a free sample to make sure there's a fit. Most coaching is done over the telephone, so you are free to choose from coaches all over the country.

If you are ready to explore more of what life has to offer and would like some support, then coaching can be a great way to go.