Do You Know Who You Are?

We frequently grow up with a label attached to us; he's the quiet one, she's the driven one. Sometimes we grow up and don't know who we are because we are so used to everyone else telling us who we are.

I'm frequently amazed at the people who come to see me who say, "All my coworkers say I'm outgoing and confident but I'm really not that way." I highly recommend that people find out who they really are and move away from letting others define them.

We were put on this earth to live authentic lives. Why would anyone want to live a life that they don't want to? If you are doing this I'd respectfully tell you that you deserve to live your life the way you would like to.

Take care,

Guy
Life Coach Reno

Busy Multitasking

If you are chronically busy and always feverishly multitasking you might want to ask yourself a couple questions:

1. Do I have balance in my life?
2. Do I have joy in my life?
3. Can I be comfortable spending time alone?
4. Do I always need to be connected to others?
5. Can I slow down and do nothing?

There is nothing wrong with being active, it just becomes challenging when it takes over the rest of our lives. An effective measure of whether you are multitasking effectively is that voice inside you that tells you if you are happy. Multitasking can help you become happier but it can also help you ignore the things that really matter in life.

Take care,

Guy
Life Coach Reno

The Life You Were Meant to Live

Each one of us is born with a set of unique talents and abilities. No two people are the same. It is these skills that make us who we are. Yet we spend a lot of time covering up and ignoring those dream. Sometimes they are buried under so much stuff that we resign ourselves to never pursuing them and leave them as a dull ache inside us.

Each of us deserves to live a life of joy and show the world who we really are. We do our best when we function from that place inside us that reflects who we really are. I work with my clients so that they can acknowledge the things that they want to do in life and then take action to do them. It can be scary to start working on your dream so it helps to have an outside person who supports you during your journey.

People have the amazing capability to move in any direction they want. I respectfully suggest you follow the path that was meant for you, follow your dreams.

Take care,

Guy

Life Coach Reno

How to be Successful in Life

Everyone measures success in life differently. The great thing about our lives is that we can move them in any direction we would like by taking purposeful action. Ask yourself the following questions to see if you are successful:

1. Am I doing what I love?
2. Is what I am doing a reflection of who I am inside?
3. Do I experience joy doing my work?
4. Am I truly happy?
5. What am I doing to make sure I achieve my dreams?

When you begin to examine your life you will notice some themes that keep popping up. Whatever it is that keeps coming up requires your attention. Think of the voice inside you that tells you, "Why aren't you writing a book," and pay attention to it. You possess within you a gift that, if followed, can make you very happy.

Take care,

Guy
Life Coach Reno

The Meaning of Life

The meaning of life it to find fulfillment and satisfaction doing what you love best. People live amazing lives when they have the courage to follow their dreams and work hard to achieve them.

What is a Life Coach?

A life coach is a qualified individual that helps you succeed in life. Coaching allows you to take your vision and make it a reality. A life coach can help you:

• Clarify your vision.
• Identify your strengths.
• Create a plan of action.

Coaching helps you follow through because a coach is trained to assist you every step of the way. You create the movement, the coach helps you keep on track.

A life coach has your best interest in mind. When I work with people, I let them decide what to do with their lives. They call the shots and they decide their path in life. I'm there to help them recognize their talents and use them to succeed.

Take care,

Guy
Life Coach Reno

The Law of Attraction

The Law of Attraction deals with the idea that we attract what we put out. It has been popularized by The Secret, a book dealing with how to improve various areas of one's life. My clients often ask me if this type of approach works. My answer usually is that, if it helps you create significant change in your life, then keep doing it. The measure of whether any approach works in your life is its outcome. If you're getting the results you want, you must be doing something right.

Attracting success and abundance requires starting with your thoughts. Here are some ideas to help you get started.

1. Visualize what you want to achieve.
2. Visualize one or two steps you can take to achieve your goal.
3. Acknowledge the things that may block you and agree to put them aside.
4. Visualize what your life would be like once you achieve the goal.
5. Measure your progress frequently.
6. Finish one goal before moving to the next.
7. Set realistic goals to set yourself up for success.

Attracting great things in your life is often just a matter of changing behavior patterns. If you tend to think negative thoughts you might try doing something else. If you are scared to start toward your goal you could try not being scared. The act of doing things differently is very powerful because it challenges us to see the world in a different way. Try doing something different today and see where it takes you.

Have a goal reaching day,

Guy
Life Coach in Reno

Are You Part of the Problem?

We frequently become part of the problem in interpersonal relationships rather than helping devise a solution. This happens because we lose perspective and let the other person goad us into the conflict. Look at these scenarios and see if you can spot the difference between being part of the problem and not.

1. The other person gets angry and you immediately retaliate and/or defend yourself.

2. The other person gets angry and you ask them to tell you about it and you listen.

Guess which approach is more likely to get better results? There is a myth that we have to fight for our point of view and deny others theirs but this only perpetuates a communication style that is based on conflict. If one person wins then the other loses. I much prefer for each person to win.

One of the best ways to reduce confrontation is to simply listen. The world is not going to end if you don't retaliate or fight. In reality, you actually connect more with the other person if you just listen to them. You also benefit from not fighting.

People like to be valued and listened to and they are much more likely to work with you to resolve problems if they trust you to not trample all over them. Next time you feel a clash coming on, try listening to the other person without commenting, editorializing or offering your opinion. By doing this you will be setting the foundation for improved communication in the future.

What do you have to lose besides the conflict?

Have a problem solving day,

Guy
Life Coach Reno

How to Talk With Your Kids

Many well intentioned parents forget the cardinal rule of talking with children. We get so caught up in guiding and directing their behavior or protecting them that we forget that they are people. The single most important key to talking with your kids is listening.

How to Listen

1. Don't talk.
2. Don't judge.
3. Invite your child to talk about anything her or she wants with no repercussions.
4. No commenting or editorializing allowed from you. No stories about when you were their age.
5. Invite them to keep talking to you anytime they want.
6. The only things you are allowed to say are, "Tell me more," "I understand," and "Thank you for talking with me," or "I love you." Try nodding and smiling as ways to invite them to talk more.
7. Try to avoid applying your beliefs to what they say.
8. Thank them and tell them you love them. Then say nothing else.

Practice these skills over time (at least one month, or longer) and always remember to tell your child you love them and that you are open to listening to them. If they don't want to talk, respect their wishes and let them know that you are there when they are ready. When they do finally trust you, they will open up and then you can apply the ideas above. Once you've established and modeled that you can listen they may even invite you to offer your wisdom. They have to believe that you care enough to listen to them first.

Have a great listening day,

Guy
Life Coach Reno

How to Be Successful

Success. People try to attain it different ways. Some people believe The Secret will create success in their lives, others rely on some outside person to make them successful, some think if they work like crazy it will bring success. There are a couple of characteristics I have noticed in successful people that I thought I'd share with you.

Successful People Success Secrets

• Have a goal in mind.
• Keep going even when things get tough.
• Believe in themselves even when others don't.
• Set realistic and manageable goals.
• Set themselves up for success.
• Do things to understand themselves honestly.
• Are open to outside help and scrutiny.
• Understand that success is something you create.
• Work intelligently, not just to be busy.
  
• Follow their passion.

Try a few of these ideas on for size and see what they do for your success quotient. Successful people are those who follow their dreams and keep walking even when the road seems impassable.

Take care,

Guy
Life Coach Reno

Want to Change Your Life?

We all reach transitional points in our lives where we are motivated to move in a different direction. For some of us it may be a career change, for others a relationship transformation or a shift that helps us develop personally. Regardless of what change you are looking to make in your life it all starts with deciding what the change is, taking a step toward your goal and sticking to it over time.

Here's what some smart people have to say about the subject:


Alice Walker:

No person is your friend who demands your silence, or denies your right to grow.


Charles DuBois:

The important thing is this: To be able at any moment to sacrifice what we are for what we could become.


Anais Nin:

There came a time when the risk to remain tight in the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.


Andy Warhol:

They say that time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself.


Epictetus:

It is impossible for a man to learn what he thinks he already knows.


The prospect of change can both create fear in us or energize us through the promise of growth and potential. Which will you choose?

Take care,

Guy
Life Coach Reno

Why Are There No Good Men (Women)?

When I work with clients I often get questions about finding great men or women to date. People find themselves dating the same general type of person over and over and getting the same results. The good news is that you don't have to settle for frogs. You have an amazing ability to move your dating life in any direction you choose by following some basic steps.

1. Find out who you are before you date. This will give you a better idea and more self-esteem to pick more healthy people to date.

2. Understand that people who date you should be supportive, kind, helpful, attentive and should always make you feel that who you are as a person is important.

3. Excitement doesn't always equal a good person to date. Danger and mystery can be enticing and many times turns into very large problems that hurt us.

4. Nobody we date, under any circumstance, should take away our self-esteem.

5. We should never give up our identity to please or accommodate someone we're dating.

6. We benefit from learning to live alone first and then incorporating someone else into our lives. The healthier we are, the better choices we make in the dating arena.

Try thinking about these points as you date people. Dating should be fun and it ideally lifts us up and makes us feel great. Take some time to think about who you are as a person and work hard on making yourself the best person possible. Vibrant, healthy people see creeps coming down the road and steer clear.

Have a great dating day,

Guy
Life Coach Reno

Creating Change in Your Life

Anyone at any time can make a deliberate decision to change their life. We literally can move our life in any direction we want to. For example: If I decide I want to be an artist today (even if I am not one) I can do specific things to achieve that goal. I could take a class, call some artists, visit some galleries, buy some art supplies, paint a picture, and the list goes on and on. The only thing stopping me is the voice inside my head that tells me I can't do it. This is the voice that tells me that I will never achieve that, that I should be sensible, that I can't take a risk, that people will judge me, that my dreams are stupid and that I might as well give up.

This programming is powerful but can be overcome by following these basic steps:

1. Close your eyes and think about what you are telling yourself that stops you.
2. Close your eyes and think back to the first time you heard that message from someone.
3. Picture how your life would be without that message. Develop a short phrase that describes that feeling. For example, "I can be an artist because it's who I am."
4. Write down the phrase you come up with.
5. When you wake up in the morning and before you go to bed read the phrase and experience the good feelings that come with it. Repeat for a month and longer.

We play messages in our brains over and over that keep us from doing things we love. Following these basic five steps gives us a chance to introduce a new way of seeing ourselves. Practice it over time (at least a month) to make sure your brain believes in your new way of thinking. If you don't practice, it won't stick. Once you've shifted your thinking you can move on to a new goal.

You can change your life today,

Guy
Life Coach Reno

Overcome Your Fears

Fear often keeps us repeating the same patterns, even to the extent of repeating behaviors we dislike. We get stuck doing the same thing over and over and don't see a way out. Overcoming fears is a challenge we avoid because we tend to hang on to the familiar rather than the unknown.

The paradoxical thing is that the unknown can often lead us in new and wonderful directions we couldn't even imagine when we started out. Facing your fears is a matter of finding out what they are, where they come from and taking action to move in a different direction. Here is what some smart people have to say about the subject.

Bonaro W. Overstreet

Perhaps the most important thing we can undertake toward the reduction of fear is to make it easier for people to accept themselves, to like themselves.

Don Miguel Ruiz:

Death is not the biggest fear we have; our biggest fear is taking the risk to be alive -- the risk to be alive and express what we really are.

Dorothy Thompson:

Only when we are no longer afraid do we begin to live.

Eleanor Roosevelt:

You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing which you think you cannot do.

Take care,

Guy
Life Coach Reno