Earl R. Smith II's Blog, page 59

Ten Minutes That Will Change Your Life

Taking time to reflect - consider - learn - is one way to make your life richer and more fulfilling. It isn't hard to do - you don't need some gadget or prop - you just do it. But most people don't do it - and they suffer lost fulfillment because of that - and remain completely ignorant of the loss.

Mentoring Change Aversion – Coming to Terms

Change is the one unavoidable aspect of living. Time and our lot as humans see to that. A good way to see personal growth is as the process of responding positively to that change. We all know that the idea of change can be unsettling.

Life Mentoring – The Propose of a Compass

Life mentoring can bring some of life’s grandest adventures. The issues at stake are often monumental and, not infrequently, the results can be life changing. In current times such coaching is frequently requested by individuals at the very crossroads of their careers. One such engagement began not long ago.

Your Life as a Work in Progress

One of the first steps in my mentoring engagements is to have the client begin to understand that their life is a work in progress. The deeper we get into it, the more detailed that understanding becomes.

Mentoring and Overcomeing A Non-Cumulative Life

One of the most common challenges that my coaching clients face is coming to terms with lost opportunities and broken connections. Many times the focus of our early conversations is on the number of years or decades that have been lived and the relatively meager accumulation of experience, lasting contacts and reputation that has resulted.

Mentoring Means Charting the Course for Change and Then Making The Journey

Most of my coaching clients come to me with some sort of change in mind. A very few are responding to a general feeling of dissatisfaction. Most want to change something about themselves or their lives.

Leaving the Rut Means Growing Your Life

A bit of living has shown me how much wisdom there is in that simple statement. All of us have the same experience at times. We realize that we have settled into a rut and wonder how we came to be there.

Some Unexpected Benefits of Mentoring

Many of my coaching clients first approach me with a specific need. They want to mitigate a particular behavior, break through a barrier or make a change that has long been needed. We do focus our work on that need and, initially, meeting those needs takes up most of our energy.

Wondering Why?

Many of my coaching engagements begin with a focus on the kinds of questions that a client has been asking themselves. It may seem strange at first to suggest that it is the question rather than the answer which is important; but that is the case more often than not. The seminal indicator that this is the case is the ‘why’ question.

Working with a Mentor

People at networking meetings ask me ‘what is it like to work with an executive coach?’ It has happened so often that I almost have it down to a regular patter. I try to help them understand the nature and purpose of a coaching engagement and work through some of the common misunderstandings that people have.