A Way To Stop the To-Do List Guilt

It's time to be ruthless.

It's time to stop going to sleep at night and feeling guilty for the things left undone. It ends today. 

I'm mixing my coaching hat with my flawed human hat, so get ready. Like many of you, I sometimes get the question, how do you fit everything into your schedule? I don’t. 

When the world shut down at the beginning of 2020 it was a HUGE time of reflection for so many of us. I realized that for so long I HAD been trying to do it all and it was so stressful.  

I started taking notice of what days were more enjoyable than others...which led me to something I call the daily 5. There are 5 things that if given attention each day, make for a fulfilling day and a restful night. 

For me, they are: time with my people, time with God, time for moving my body, time with my clients/team, time to clean something...anything in my home. 

Sounds like a lot, but more than not, 2 or 3 of those things are combined, and most of them are already happening in my natural rhythms. It comes down to answering the question "what would make me feel like today is a great day?"

When you pick what gets your attention you are able to say no to less important things and do it with confidence. You're avoiding the trap the demanding world can set for us and instead, you are setting up expectations for yourself. 

What are the things that fill you up the most and how can you make them a part of your daily 5? 

By: Coach Laine

Get Those Goals Back in Focus

If you look at the past few months of your life, what holds the most weight?

6 months ago, you started the year with new habits and goals. You made those because you had new priorities, new areas that were weightier in your life. As the year progressed, other things took center stage.

Your energy level and enthusiasm may have gone down. You may be bored. Because of that, the priorities you started the year with have lost their urgency. How do you re-prioritize that area? How do you make it weighty again? 

First, Analyze – when did that priority start to lose its importance? Was it when you had an unforeseen transition? Did you get tired of staying disciplined? Step back and analyze what happened. 

Second, Adjust – do you need to de-emphasize another area of your life in order to re-emphasize your original goals? Do you need to switch up the routine? If your priority was fitness but you’re bored of your fitness routine, you can adjust your routine and still keep fitness a priority. 

Third, Advance – make momentum in that priority area. Give it weight in your life by making moves in that area. Don’t wait for your feelings. Advance and everything else will follow. 

By analyzing, adjusting and advancing, you can make those original goals a priority in your life again. 

What area of your life do you need to Analyze? Adjust? Advance? Let me know in the comment section below. 

By Coach John

What is Coaching and How Does It Work?

What is professional coaching?

Coaching is a vague term and since it's an unregulated industry, it's important to know how to find a coach that is properly trained and follows a legitimate method. Today we'll clarify the differences between counseling, coaching, and consulting.  

Counseling, looks at the past and says "here's what happened, which is why this is where we are now." 

Coaching looks at the future and says "here's where we are now, here's where we want to be, how do we get there?" 

Consulting brings specific expert knowledge into a particular situation. 

It's vital that you know which of three you need, when searching for the right fit for you.  

Coaches are not trained mental health professionals and a legitimate coach will never claim to be. Coaches can sometimes also be consultants...at LSC we do some crossover work, but a good coach will always make you aware of the difference, so you know what to expect.

Coaching is based on the work of Socrates, whose work proved that drawing answers out of people using an inquisitive approach helped them gain clarity.  A good coach uses a method that is based on science.  

Your brain takes very good care of you; it also can get in your way.  All of your big decision- making and strategic thinking happens in the prefrontal cortex.  Your amygdala, when it senses stress, shuts down the prefrontal cortex, preventing you from overcoming hard things. 

We call this the amygdala hijack. 

A good coach knows how to keep you in the prefrontal cortex part of the brain so that you can overcome hard things and form new neural pathways, which is where you start to see growth in: confidence, clarity, leadership, skill building, and so many other areas.  

Coaching is a scientifically proven, carefully followed method, which when facilitated properly will take you from point A to point Z.  

If you're interested in hearing more about coaching, let us know. 

By: Coach Laine

Don’t Fake It til You Make It...Do This Instead.

Fake it till you make it? THROW THAT AWAY! 

Fake it till you make it implies that you have to PRETEND in order to succeed.

Pretending to have the skills will lead you to uncertain results.

Pretending to have the knowledge will likely induce a nasty case of imposter syndrome.

Instead, try replacing “fake it” to “learn it” and “Make it” to “earn it.” Learn it til you earn it. 

Don’t have the skills? Learn it. 

Don’t have the knowledge? Learn it.

Did you learn the skills? Now you have earned the right to be confident in your abilities.

Did you learn what you have to know? You just earned the authority to act.

Let’s aspire to learn it till we earn it!

- Coach Gigi