Success In Coaching: October 2014

Thursday, October 30, 2014

Don't Talk - Get to Work

"In all labor there is profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty."

- Proverbs 14:23 / NASV

We live in a day when people always feel rushed and overwhelmed with the workloads they face. There are those who cry out for shorter work weeks, more pay, time management classes and less stress. We also live in a time when we are workers (no matter if you are an employee or the owner of the company, you are a worker) waste more time than ever before. According to an article in Forbes Magazine, March 21. 2013 by Susan Adams, titled, How We Waste Time at Work, 43% of the time wasted is from just talking.

Yes there is a lot of time waste surfing the internet or social media, but most of the wasted time is just chatting here and there and not really working. As coaches we think, "Talking is my job, it is what I do." and you are right. However, helping people to achieve their success and common chit chat are two very different thing.

Let us always remember that we as Christians should always be held to a higher standard. This does not mean we are unfriendly, but it does mean we have a job to do and we should do it to the best of our ability. Save the chatting for off hours or break times and when it is time to work, work. Once time is lost, you can never regain it. The conversation can always be restarted later.

Always remember that you matter to the world. God placed you here to make a difference and that difference is good. You possess the qualities of a real success-minded person, which are to: Be your best. Love God. Have good manners. Discover the unknown. Change the world.

John Patrick Hickey is an author, speaker, and Life Coach. To read more from John Patrick Hickey or to get his books, training and book him to speak to your church, business or group, visit our website at http://www.growthcenter.net or www.johnpatrickhickey.com. © 2014 John Patrick Hickey

Tuesday, October 28, 2014

The Best Man/Woman Wins

"Do you see a man skilled in his work? He will serve before kings;

he will not serve before obscure men."

- Proverbs 22:29 / NASV

I had a man I was coaching who wanted to advance in his career. His desire was to have a better position at his company and get more pay. When I asked him why the company should promote him and pay him more, his answer was, "Because I have been there for so long." I know that seems like a good reason to many, however, it is not. If you want more you have to be worth more.

Here is a reality of the work place, if you only do what you need to do, you will only get paid what you need to be paid. Success-minded people know that they have to develop themselves, not just their jobs to be successful in anything they do. Here are a few things to do to make yourself more valuable to your employer.

Learn all you can

Be a constant student. Know all you can about your company's product or service. What can you learn that others may not know? Know all you can about the company, how does it run and what are the goals.

Bring new ideas

The person who brings the greatest value to a company is not just the one with something new to do but the one who can make things better. What do you do in your personal job that you can develop and make better, more efficient and more productive? Start with you and soon you will be leading others.

Be a positive force

As someone who has been an employer and manager, I can tell you the last thing your leaders need is someone telling them what is wrong. Be the person who sees what is right and how to improve on the what is already good. The key is how you, as a success-minded person, sees things. Rather than saying, "We need to correct this" you can say, "Here is how to improve this". Slight change in words but big change in thinking.

Thursday, October 23, 2014

Doing a Good Job for God

"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for man."

- Colossians 3:23 / NASV

For some reason, social media, like Facebook, opens a door for people, even Christians, to complain and moan about everything. One of the top topics of complaints are people's jobs. This is curious to me. For one, we live in a time and in a country that no one should be working at a job they hate. I don't want to hear excuses about the economy and not enough jobs. People can find work if they desire to hard enough, and if you don't like what you do, do what you like.

As Christians, I believe that we should see work differently than un-believers. We are not working for man, we are working for God. It does not matter what you do or how hard you work, you should always strive to be the best because you serve the best. God deserves nothing but excellence from us.

So how do we deal with jobs we do not like or that we feel are unpleasant? Here are a few tips that can help you love your job.

Do your best

When we give a job our best (no matter what that job is) we will feel good about the job. People love to feel they are good at what they do, so the better you do it, the better you feel.

Learn all you can

The more you know the better you will be. Learn all you can about the work you do. Not just what you need to know but all you can. Become an expert and you will in time be recognized as an expert.

Do it to please God

When we deliberately work to give God our best, we feel better about what we do because we see it as a gift, not a chore. God is pleased with a good job, no matter what the work, He expects us to do it for Him and to be an example of excellence.

Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Living the Good Life

"Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody."

- 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12 / NASV

Why do you think we have come to a time when so many people are unhappy, living lives of disappointment, brokenness and ungodliness? It is easy for us to shake our heads and blame it on sin and their forgetting God, but what do we do when that person is us? The truth is, so many live broken lives because they have forgotten how to live the good life.

We as Christians are here not just to tell people about Jesus but to show them Jesus. Being a godly person is more than going to church, saying grace before meals and not going out on a drunken terror. We are to be an example of what it means to be a Christian and how it is possible, even in this broken and sinful word, to live a life that is good, wholesome and right.

Christians face two problems here, one is that we really do not believe that it is possible to live a good, wholesome, and enjoyable life that is right and good. It is a nice idea; and we will talk about striving for it, but we too think it is a make believe, Ozzie & Harriet kind of idea. Secondly, because we do not really believe it is possible we talk more than we act. As Mark Twain said, "When all is said and done, more is said than done."

You can have the life that so many of us desire. The instructions are there in God's word. We can live lives of love, peace and contentment. It is not what we don't do that makes the difference, it is what we believe and do every day. Don't sell yourself short and think the good life is a myth, show the world it is a reality in your life. That will say far more than your words ever will.

Thursday, October 16, 2014

First Things First

"Finish your outdoor work and get your fields ready; after that, build your house."

- Proverbs 24:27 / NASV

It is exciting to start your own coaching practice. You have a desire to help others be the best they can be and to fulfill their purpose from God, just as you are doing by helping them. However, it is far too easy, and too often done, to put the cart before the horse. Before you start your coaching, there are a few things you need to be sure to do.

Get the training you need

You may be very gifted in talking with people and helping your friends, however, that is not the same as coaching. Coaching should not be taken lightly. You are stepping into people's lives and what you say and do can lead them to success or failure. Get the good training you need.

Don't give up your day job

Once you start coaching you will need to work it around your work schedule, not your work schedule around your coaching. Few coaches earn enough to make it their living. If, in time, that happens, well and good, however, do not put yourself into financial distress so you can call yourself a coach.

Seek the guidance of the Lord

Coaches should pray and pray often. I have talked with far too many coaches (same problem pastor's have) who feel they are so busy they have no time to pray. If you do not have time to pray, you do not have the power to do anything else.

Get a coach or mentor

Seems odd to tell someone who is going into coaching to find their own coach, but it is something to truly consider. Just as others need you as a coach to help the work through decisions and directions in their life and career, so you too need this help with your own. None of us can do it all on our own, we need each other to succeed.

Tuesday, October 14, 2014

The Oldest Occupation

"The Lord God took man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it."

- Genesis 2:15 / NASV

We all have hear the standard thought that the sex trade is the "oldest profession" in the world. That is untrue on a couple of points. For one, man started working before sin entered the world; and second, man's work was in the garden. So I guess we could say that farming is the oldest profession.

The point I wish to make is that we were all created to work. Work is not a punishment or result of the fall from grace. Work was given to man in paradise and it was a joy to him. So it can be for us today. Working, or earning our living gives us a sense of fulfillment, purpose and contribution. No one likes to feel like they need to be taken care of. This is why those who are unemployed suffer depression and the feeling of being worthless.

Here is the good news, you are not worthless, you have great value to those around you and mostly to God. Just because you may not have employment right now does not mean you cannot work and contribute. Your abilities are within you, not in the work you do. Find what your gifting is and get out and use it. You can find a job, you can make your own way, you can create your own work.

Remember that you are of great value. The world needs you. You were created for such a time as this. Never buy the lie that says you have to surrender to the circumstances you are in. God gave you work as a gift. Use that give and God will do the rest.

Thursday, October 9, 2014

He Really Understands

"For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin."

- Hebrews 4:15 / NASV

One of the tricks that the enemy of our souls uses most often, and quite effectively, is that of making us feel alone. How many times have you heard someone say, "But you don't understand what I am going through."? People tend to think that no one has ever been through quite what they have been through and no one really understands the troubles they've seen (sorry, couldn't resist).

The truth is, the human experience is very common and most people do understand your struggles. More importantly however is the fact that Jesus understands. When I first became a Christian and struggled with old temptations, I felt that God could not want me because I have such sin in my heart. Then a loving friend pointed Hebrews 4:15 out to me and everything changed. I not only had hope but I had my own understanding.

This verse showed me two very important things: One was that if the Scripture was true (I knew it was) then Jesus faced the same temptations as me. The very same ones. The second thing was that He faced them and did not sin. That told me that being tempted was not sin. The accuser of our soul will tell us how bad we are because we have been tempted. Jesus tells us, "I understand and you have not sinned." He also tells us that because He was not overcome by temptation, we do not have to be either. That, my friend is wonderful news! I love the words of Billy Graham who use to say, "You can't keep birds from flying over your head, but you can keep them from making a nest in your hair."

Thursday, October 2, 2014

Get Some Rest

"So there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God."

- Hebrews 4:9 / NASV

Have you had a client (or maybe yourself) who was doing their best to achieve all they felt that God wanted them to do but felt like they were going nowhere? They have worked hard, kept focused and did what they needed to do, but did not feel they were any better off. In fact, they feel depressed, unfulfilled and discouraged. The answer may be as simple as the fact that they are tired.

We all remember the story of Elijah (1 Kings 19) and how after he overcame the prophets of Baal and out ran a chariot and saw God do great things, he just wanted to die. It is not a case of depression or even discouragement, it is just exhaustion. As said by the great coach, Vince Lombardi, "Fatigue makes cowards of us all."

There is a time to rest. Do not be so concerned about your success that you wear yourself down. The best advice you can give to anyone is, eat right, and get plenty of rest. When you are tired and feeling down, get some sleep. Always remember, tomorrow is a new day, fresh and ready for your use.