I think I can speak for many that a number of good intentions arise with New Years. I'll drop 10 pounds… I'll start to exercise more… I'll commit to meditation.... Stop drinking for a month... We’ve certainly heard them, perhaps made some and for some of us perhaps missed our target and fallen off the commitment by January 7th. I've never been a great fan of New Years resolutions because I think we commit to them at a poor time. Life is super busy, kids are at home for a few more days, friends are around, holiday cleanup starts and many of us are tired from the deviation of usual … [Read more...]
Let Me Tell You What You Need from Coaching
Oh my! Really? I just read an email basically telling me what I should want from a coach. While it had a few things I agreed with, I was fascinated by the approach of telling the consumer (me) what they needed and how they were going to get it. Now if this was a consulting firm, perhaps I would have been happier, but it wasn’t. It was however a great example of defining true coaching, or at least the co-operative model of coaching (or as Whitworth et al coined “Co-Active” Coaching). Yes, one should expect certain things from a coach like integrity, privacy, confidentiality, preparedness, … [Read more...]
Mediocrity, the Bane of Personal Growth
From last week’s blog I’m excerpting a paragraph from Stewart Emery with emphasis on a few sentences. “It’s remarkable how much mediocrity we live with, surround ourselves with daily reminders that the average is acceptable. Our world suffers from terminal normality. Take a moment to assess all of the things around you that promote you being “average". These are the things that keep you powerless to go beyond a “limit” you arbitrarily set for yourself. The first step to mastery is the removal of everything in your environment that represents mediocrity, removing those things that are limiting. … [Read more...]
Mastery for the Best Version of You
I love this passage so much that I am quoting it in its entirety. It reminds me that we are all born a winner. I’ve learned so much from Stewart Emery since the 1980’s and each paragraph speaks to me. Enjoy... “Mastery in one’s career and conscious growth simply requires that we constantly produce results beyond and out of the ordinary. Mastery is a product of consistently going beyond our limits. For most people, it starts with technical excellence in a chosen field and a commitment to that excellence. If you are willing to commit yourself to excellence, to surround yourself with things that … [Read more...]
WHO and Your Health
The World Health Organization defines “health” as "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being not merely the absence of disease or infirmity." Now I suggest health is not a state. It is not static, but a dynamic resultant process of optimal physical, mental and social well-being. Whenever we measure ‘health’ it provides a snapshot of only one point of time. When we measure multiple parameters of health through time we begin to assemble frames like a movie. Watching one frame of a movie does not tell you much about what will come next but a couple of hours of frames put in … [Read more...]
Future Thinking
Last week we looked at the salutogenesis model in medicine compared to the pathology model. If you missed it, go there now as this week is a continuation of that post. What we un-covered in that post is that we cannot study disease to create health. Let’s take a look at this model in a social context. When Mother Theresa was asked if she would participate in an anti-war demonstration, she was cited as saying that she would not join a march to denounce war. When asked why, she stated “I don't participate in anti-war demonstrations. I said that I will never do that, but as soon as you have a … [Read more...]
Salutogenesis: The Secret of Positive Change
"The Secret of Change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old but on building the new" ~ Socrates. It is my experience that we create and see more of something depending on what we focus on. If I ask you to think of a red car, it will pop into your mind. If I ask you to NOT think of a red car, well my bet is another red car just popped into your mind. What if I ask you to think about a blue bus, does your focus change? Yes, you are now visualizing a blue bus. In September, I attended a seminar on "Adaptability" in Chicago with much of the conversation focused on changing … [Read more...]
The Locum
I just finished two very different, yet similar locums over 6 weeks in the early fall. For those unfamiliar with the term, “Locum” is a coverage doctor who sees patients when their principal doctor is away. This is a relatively new experience since having my own practice and being in the reverse role of hiring locums for approximately 25 years. I am in an enviable position to be very picky in whom I cover, as I want well-established practices using technique styles with the primary focus in neurological or tonal models. I’m very confident in my skill sets to determine when, where, and how … [Read more...]
Healing Hurts
Relationships are funny things. Some are fragile and break from small, simple things while others withstand and hold steady against insurmountable odds. Like many, I have a few broken relationships. While the easy route is to point blame at the other party, the truth is that I need to look at my part, too. Taking responsibility to make amends from my end is what I am accountable for. I know I am unable to control the response of someone else and I also know my response is within my control. So relationships are relational. Each individual brings their own unique perspective and life … [Read more...]
Mastery
In the spirit of building The Best Version of You, this week is dedicated to evoking change in your life by helping you move to mastery. Read each question below, think about it and write down your answer. Repeat this anytime. 1) What would I love to master in your life? I’d love to master ________________________________ 2) Why do I want to excel in it? I want to excel in it because ________________________ 3) Is there anything I need to know to achieve this mastery and if so what is it? I need to ________________________________ 4) What does mastery look like in this endeavor? Detail … [Read more...]