Tomorrow’s
Life Coach
Volume 4 Issue 1 - January 2005
In This Issue: Coaching and Life
Satisfaction
Tomorrow's Life Coach is a professional
monthly online journal of the Institute for Life Coach
Training that nourishes the intellect, intuition and
inspiration of the personal/business coaching community.
TLC continues to gain in popularity among diverse
coaches and is highly recommended by Peer
Resources:
"One of the best free newsletters,
Tomorrow's Life Coach consists of well-researched,
informative articles on a variety of key topics for
coaches. While a publication of the Institute for
Life Coach Training, many of the articles are written
by other well-known coaches."
Upcoming
Classes at ILCT
Foundational Courses
Coaching Tools and Skills
Practice Building Courses
Coaching Applications/Specialties
Additional classes, details and online
registration at our course
section. Some schedules may change; check listing
or contact Edwina Adams, Administration/Registration,
at edwina@lifecoachtraining.com.
Pat's
Ponderings
Update and News from the President
As this newsletter issue is the first of the new year, I wanted
to take this time to update our alumni, students and Tomorrow's
Life Coach readers on good news about our Institute, which reflects
on the growth of the coaching profession worldwide. ILCT continues
to offer life coach training with world-class and certified faculty
for our Foundational Life Coach Course and our Advanced Classes.
These advanced classes continue to evolve in diversity and depth
to support your coaching business through niche development or personal
development.
Coming up in 2005:
My second book, coauthored with LLOYD THOMAS, is now out! Its title
is Total Life Coaching: 50+ Life Lessons, Skills, and Techniques
to Enhance your Practice and Your Life. My previous book, Therapist
as Life Coach: Transforming your Practice (with Deb Davis), continues
to sell well and will be translated into Korean, Turkish, and Russian
this year.
Also, I have also been honored by
being chosen to give a keynote speech in Denver to Career
Masters Institute (www.cminstitute.com)
on Saturday April 17, an all-day Institute to the Employee
Assistance Society of North America (www.easna.org)
in Chicago on May 5, and a keynote presentation in Brisbane,
Australia for the ICF conference in September 2005 (www.icfaustralasia.com).
ILCT is growing! We are now training six professionals in Korea
to complete our certification program and then we will open ILCT
ASIA. I am co-teaching that group with Marilyn O'Hearne, MCC. Lynn
Meinke, PCC and I are co-training a group of 25 professionals in
Istanbul in March 2005 with plans to co-operate a life coaching
academy in Turkey. And one of our students is planning on opening
ILCT ITALY in 2006.
"No Matter Where You Go, There You Are: Bringing Yourself
to Marketing" is my topic as guest marketing expert
on February 15 for the Client Compass Coaches' Marketing
Club (www.clientcompass.com/ASKPat.htm).
I'll share my approach to marketing as "stop being
a secret" and ways to increase visibility, credibility
and connectivity to gain clients and build a referral
based business.
WOW! What a busy and exciting year
this will be!
This all bodes well for all coaches and the evolution of our profession,
as indicated by all corners of the world continuing to see the power
and practicality for coaching in many, many applications.
Happy Coaching!
Pat
Patrick Williams Ed.D., MCC
Chief Energizing Officer, ILCT
Department Chair, Professional Coaching
International University of Professional Studies: "Get
a PhD in professional coaching from a reputable university without
walls. Go to www.iups.edu...the
quickest and least expensive way to achieve a PhD in professional
coaching."
Editor's
Pen
Time magazine's cover for the January
17 issues states: "Special Mind & Body Issue...The
Science of Happiness." Isn't it interesting that
although happiness is a pivotal component of being human,
sometimes people are either indirect or unaware of the
influence of it? Our feature article this issue focuses
on happiness and how it relates to coaches, clients
and the coaching process. Thanks to Bud Clarkson for
the tip about Time and for his article! What is your
opinion about the deliverable of "achieving happiness" to
your clients? How are your beliefs about happiness contributing
to your well-being and effectiveness as a coach? Great
thoughts for beginning a new year!
"There are two ways of spreading
light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects
it." ( Edith Wharton)
May coaches continue to spread the
light,
Annette
Annette A. Miller, MBA
Editor, Tomorrow's Life Coach
Graduate, ILCT
Member, ICF, IAC, CCN
President & Executive Coach, LifeSync Coaching®
amiller@lifesync.com
www.lifesync.com
Authorized Affiliate, Extended DISC® - the
world's fastest growing assessment system
Certified Birkman® Consultant - providing
deeper insight into your being
The idea is to balance
our perspective and get the full picture.
Effective, happy people are in touch with things that don’t
work well.
They also notice when life is delivering the goods on time.
from Human Being by Dave Ellis and Stan Lankowitz
What
Makes People Happy?
There is an emerging objective and scientific answer
to the question, “What makes people happy?”
Why should coaches care about this?
You implicitly promise your client that you know the route to happiness
and success when you call yourself a “life coach”. After
all, can you imagine a football coach who doesn’t know how
to define a touchdown?
So, in a word, in your opinion, what does make people happy?
There is fuzzy thinking around the coaching world in relationship
to that question and that’s not good for the coaching profession.
We need to know for sure exactly what people need to do to be happy.
Your personal answer to “what makes people happy?” will
be impacted by your own life experience and your worldview/philosophy/religion,
of course. I totally respect that in regard to you as a coach as
well as for each of my individual clients.
However, the very fact of human diversity makes objective information
just that much more valuable. So, here is some recent science that
can help us become more effective coaches.
Richard A. Easterlin of the University of Southern California published
a study entitled “Explaining Happiness” in an on-line
journal (http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/full/100/19/11176)
sponsored by the National Academy of the Sciences. Easterlin explains
that the fields of economics and psychology both currently present
theories of happiness. (We are referring to what psychologists call “subjective
well-being” and what public policy researchers call “life
satisfaction”.)
In the case of economics, the prevailing theory is characterized
by Easterlin as “more is better”. In other words, the
theory is that people will become happier as they become wealthier.
In the field of psychology, the currently prevailing idea is “set-point
theory”. For each individual, according to this theory, there
is a biological and personality determined “set-point” of
happiness. Events may temporarily raise or lower an individual’s
happiness level, but eventually the person will adapt to the new
circumstances (positive or negative) and return to the “set-point”.
Easterlin does not address coaching in his study, but here are the
implications for coaches of each theory. Obviously, if the economic “more
is better” theory is correct, coaches should promote consumerism
and economic advantage. Our job would be to help people achieve
economic attainment goals. If set-point theory is correct, coaching
is futile or, at best, might speed the process of adaptation and
return to the set-point.
Easterlin’s new study challenges both these theories. His
research followed “cohorts” of subjects over their life
cycles from 1972 through 2000. His conclusions:
More money doesn’t make people happier because of a phenomenon
he calls “hedonic adaptation.” I call this the “carrot
on a stick” effect: people who attain higher economic levels
also raise their expectations of how much money they need or want.
There is a famous anecdote in which a billionaire is asked, “How
much money does it take to be happy?” He replies, “Just
a little bit more.” According to Easterlin, that is the case
exactly.
A second major conclusion is that the desire for health and social
connection (two consistently reported correlates with life satisfaction)
do not adapt across the life span. In other words, people are always
happier when they have better relationships and better health. Easterlin
summarizes his conclusions this way:
“Each individual has only a given amount of time to allocate … most
individuals spend a disproportionate amount of their lives working
to make money, and sacrifice family life and health, domains in which
aspirations remain fairly constant as actual circumstances change,
and where the attainment of one's goals has a more lasting impact
on happiness. Hence, a reallocation of time in favor of family life
and health would, on average, increase individual happiness. “
Here are seven implications in all this that I see for the life
coaching profession:
1st, we should challenge client’s assumptions that economic
attainment goals will improve their life satisfaction. They may
achieve more status, comfort, wealth and a short-term “buzz” of
satisfaction. They will not become happier.
2nd, we should advocate two key areas of goal attainment: intimate
relationships, particularly in the family; and health and fitness.
Success in these areas will make our clients happier.
3rd, a powerful coaching tool, along with the concept of “margin”,
is the “time budget”.
4th, coaches must become subject-matter experts in fields that are
relevant to strengthening families (such as communication skills,
etc) and attaining health and fitness.
5th, coaches should also understand techniques of goal attainment.
6th, coaches should take an interest in educating the public about
the science of life satisfaction.
7th, the coaching profession should not be “value-neutral” in
regards to consumerism and materialism; the scientific fact is that
these philosophies and life styles, although culturally accepted
and recommended, are counter to the life satisfaction of our clients.
Bud Clarkson is a coach, educator, trainer, business manager
and minister living in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He completed
the ILCT Christian Track program in 2002. More info at www.coachingforleadership.com and www.budclarkson.com or
at (423) 728-1022.
Live
a balanced life. Learn some and think some,
and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day
some.
Robert Fulghum
Wellness
Inventory for Body, Mind and Spirit
Dear Coaching Colleague:
As the founder of The Institute for Life Coach Training, I am always
on the lookout for programs and strategies that can benefit the
practice of life coaching. That's why I am excited to tell you about
a POWERFUL NEW PROGRAM that can help you build your practice and
help bring about extraordinary changes in the lives of your clients.
Please join me as I interview Jim Strohecker of HealthWorld Online Wednesday,
January 26 at 7 pm Eastern. Contact Mattie@lifecoachtraining.com
with WELLNESS INVENTORY in the subject line to get the bridge line
and pass code. More information about the program and this free
call are below.
The WELLNESS INVENTORY is an online, holistic assessment program
designed to determine your state of balance in 12 dimensions of
wellness - in body, mind and spirit. The program identifies the
key areas you are most motivated to change, guides you in creating
action steps, and provides tools to help you bring more balance
into your life.
Many of you are familiar with our life wheel (coaching mandala)
that we train our students in. The Wellness Inventory is an advanced
version that takes the life wheel to a higher level, providing incredible
data for your client. And now, for the first time, Life Coaches
may license this amazing program for use with their clients to help
amplify the effectiveness of your coaching work, through a SPECIAL
OFFER from the Institute for Life Coach Training.
This leading-edge program, currently being used at world-renowned
spas and other leading health and wellness companies, is now being
made available to Life Coaches at a special discount through the
Institute for Life Coach Training.
WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS FOR YOUR COACHING PRACTICE?
* Using as a marketing tool - a door-opener to build your practice.
* Using the assessment results to set the stage for a course of
ongoing coaching.
* Accessing a suite of coaching tools to facilitate a deeper 1-on-1
coaching experience.
* Determining your client's readiness for change in 12 areas of
their lives.
* Helping clients transform valuable insight into results-oriented
action.
* Tracking your client's progress in meeting their goals over a
period of time.
* Supporting clients in creating desired changes in their life.
* Increasing client retention
* Creating new profit centers
* Using as the centerpiece of your own wellness program to market
to companies.
Go to this website for client benefits, key features and a special
licensing offer for our graduates: http://wellnessinventory.net/group/instlifecoach.asp.
JOIN A SPECIAL TELECONFERENCE CALL TO LEARN MORE
Join us on Wednesday January 26 at 7 pm EST (6 pm CST,
5 pm MT, 4 pm PST) for a one-hour teleconference call on the special
Wellness Inventory licensing opportunity for ILCT graduates and
students. The call will be led by Jim Strohecker, President/Co-founder
of HealthWorld Online, and co-developer of the online Wellness Inventory
program with wellness pioneer John Travis, MD, MPH, and yours truly,
Pat Williams, CEO of the Institute for Life Coach Training. We will
be presenting the full opportunity and taking your questions. We
look forward to an exciting call. Please contact Jim Strohecker
at 310-823-9553 or jim@healthy.net for
the phone number and pass code for the call as well as for a guest
login to be able to experience the full Wellness Inventory program
prior to the call.
To your success,
Pat Williams, CEO
Accelerate
your coaching skills and business growth
through ILCT's courses for professional coaches
Tsunami
Relief Team
Looking for licensed psychotherapist
volunteers to join Circle Of Health International's
emergency tsunami relief team in Sri Lanka. Field experience
in disaster and emergency situations required. Volunteers
are unpaid and need to fund their own airfare, visa
and immunization costs. If interested, please contact
Sera Bonds at 512.517.3220 or sera@circleofhealthintl.org.
For more information about Circle of Health International
please see our website, www.circleofhealthintl.org.
Donations can be made online as well. We are in need
of cash and frequent flyer mile donations over 60,000.
Tomorrow's
Life Coach™
Patrick Williams, Ed.D., Publisher
Annette Miller, Editor, annette@lifesync.com
© 2004 Institute for Life Coach Training
www.lifecoachtraining.com
Phone: 888-267-1206
info@lifecoachtraining.com
If you wish to use any of our
content in a newsletter, magazine or other media
(whether public or internal), please request permission
from the editor.
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