GEAR UP FOR SUCCESS!   "Tips, Techniques...and Tasks"
....an almost weekly newsletter designed to support you in getting IN GEAR to create the life you want today

brought to you by Laurie Riddell Geary, M.Ed., PCC. Coaching you to get your life IN GEAR by choosing your path, mapping the route, shifting gears, creating balance, getting unstuck, avoiding potholes, crossing bridges, accelerating your actions in order to reach your chosen destination: a happy life filled with passion and purpose.

I coach people IN TRANSITION: career transition, relationship transition, retirement transition - contact me today to schedule a complimentary coaching session (laurie@ingearcoaching.com)

Table of Contents:

1. WELCOME BACK & INTRODUCTION
2. ARTICLE: <<COACH YOURSELF TO SUCCESS with the 8-A SYSTEM>>
3. Recommended TASKS
4. Recommended BOOKS
5. Subscription information

1. WELCOME BACK AND INTRODUCTION!

Hello to my old subscribers and welcome to all new subscribers!  After a long hiatus, I am starting up my newsletter once again...
now Volume III...issue #1.
        As many of you know, I sent out a weekly newsletter for more than two years...over 150 articles on coaching-related issues (taking responsible risks for growth, building self esteem, business building tips, finding your passion, dealing with transitions, and much more) which are all still available for you to read at my website, www.ingearcoaching.com.
        I have decided I want to publish a new series of newsletters....how to coach yourself to reach success!  Coaching skills and techniques are methods people do themselves; it's just that people often want a coach to partner with them to support/motivate them and to help them move forward faster towards their goals.  But coaching skills/techniques are no secret: you can do it yourself!!  
        For the next few months, I want to share with you a system I have developed which helps you Coach Yourself to Success!  If you follow my 8-A System you will gain greater self awareness and self acceptance, build your self esteem, overcome barriers and reduce tolerations, raise your standards and set boundaries, become more assertive, clarify your values, identify and satisfy your needs, reduce or eliminate bad habits while you develop good habits, and  increase responsible risk-taking that will lead to personal/professional growth. You will learn how to prioritize your goals, take the necessary action steps, and find ways to hold yourself accountable so that you accelerate your growth by Coaching Yourself to Success in order to live a rich life filled with the 3 P's: passion and purpose and positive people.

2. ARTICLE: COACH YOURSELF TO SUCCESS with the Awesome 8-A SYSTEM

Copyright - all rights reserved - Laurie R. Geary, 2005

The 8-A Coaching System: (email me for a copy of the 8-A Wheel)
A-1: Acceptance. A-2: Acknowledgment.  A-3: Achievements. A-4: Affiliations.  A-5: Attraction.  A-6: Attitude.  A-7: Arena  A-8: Assertiveness.

(Each newsletter issue will focus more in depth on a specific A; today's issue gives an overview of the 8-A System)

1. ACCEPTANCE
        Accepting who we are...our strengths as well as our weaknesses...is an important aspect of knowing ourselves; and we must know ourself before we can take action to create the life we want.  I need to accept that I'm O.K just as I am and know IALAC I am lovable and capable .   I don't need to DO anything to be worthwhile; I can just BE who I am: unique in all the universe. We are each born with one unit of worth which never changes... thus we are all equal but also special.
*Action Step: Reflect on/Meditate on the specialness of YOU...Find times to just BE....Accept yourself for whom you are.

2. ACKNOWLEDGMENT
        We need to acknowledgment ourselves in order to be all that we can be. We need to acknowledge our achievements, our positive behaviors and actions.   How often do you take a moment to pat yourself on the back for a job well done? an act of kindness? a success? an achievement?
*Action Steps: Keep a daily list of achievements and acknowledge yourself for them.  Next step: tell others about your achievements...brag a little about yourself (remember: people see you the way you see yourself)
        Also..Do you ask for acknowledgment?  Why not? Ask for positive feedback; tell others how you like to be acknowledged; and, when you are acknowledged, listen/take it in and simply say "thank you" !
        And remember to acknowledge others. We do this by giving compliments and positive feedback; we can give a pat on the back or a hug, a smile or a wink. How often do you acknowledge others?  My clients often report that being acknowledged by me for their actions is the only time they get acknowledged during the week!  The basic premise (and magic technique)  from the The One Minute Manager books by Ken Blanchard is to catch someone being good...and tell them!  According to him, the ratio of compliments to criticisms (c/c) in life should be 4:1, yet for most of us this ratio is the reverse: we get 4 criticisms for every 1 compliment!  and we've even learned to accept that!  Accept it no longer!
 
*Action Step: Make the intention to change the c/c ratio: this week give 4 compliments each day to someone you love or care about; and ask for compliments/reject criticisms!

3. ACHIEVEMENTS
        The more we set goals and achieve them, the better we feel about ourselves.  Personal Success grows through achieving accomplishments: we learn new skills, develop positive characteristics, gain competencies, clarify our values, and  meet our needs.  We often get acknowledged  when we achieve which encourages us to achieve more.  Achievements are the building blocks of success.

*Action Step: List 100 of your Accomplishments  - and  add to this list daily!

4. AFFILIATIONS
        Affiliations are our connections/relationships with others.  Connections bring us happiness and health and success.  Numerous studies prove that having friends/significant others reduces the risk of death as well as increases health!   We survive and thrive with our affiliations, so we need to nurture our relationships and continually build new ones.  And let's not forget our pet affiliations!

*Action Step: Make a date with a new friend today..increase your affiliations. Be approachable...smile.  Call an old friend and reconnect: nurture your affiliations.  Stop seeing people who drain your energy or make you feel bad: reduce/eliminate negative affiliations.

5. ATTRACTION
        Attraction is more than being physically attractive, it is a way of  being whole and present so that you effortlessly draw into your life what you want: relationships, money, interesting/rewarding work, fun...and more.  Increasing your Attraction is the best way to achieve success in life.  According to Thomas Leonard, author of  The Portable Coach, there are 28 Principles of Attraction which, if followed, will help you develop these qualities of attraction within yourself in order to be all that you can be....in order to reach your potential, find fulfillment and happiness.

*Action Steps: Go to www.attractionu.com or to  www.teleclass.com to learn more about the Attraction Principles.

6. ATTITUDE
        Attitude is everything and  we are in charge of our attitudes!   Our attitude about ourself and others is the cornerstone of achieving success; we need to be aware of our attitude..is it positive or negative?  How strong is our inner critic (vulture/gremlin)?  our inner cheerleader? We need  to argue with our negative self-talk.and find ways to reduce or eliminate it; many of us need an attitude adjustment.  We need to learn to use positive self talk in order to achieve success!!

Remember: No one can make you inferior without your consent. —Eleanor Roosevelt

*Action Step: Keep track of all your negative self talk during the day...become more aware of all that you say to yourself and then ARGUE with these negative statements!  Replace them with positive statements such as AFFIRMATIONS.
        AFFIRMATIONS are strong, positive statements that are said as if they are already true about you.
The theory is that by stating these affirmations, eg. I am a dynamic and interesting speaker, we see ourselves AS IF we are that person and  we are naturally drawn to become him/her.  There are specific guidelines on how to write, verbalize, and integrate affirmations into our lives; it is a technique that can be learned.   Using visualizations along with Affirmations can add even more power to the statements.

*Action Step: Write three affirmations, then repeat them 20 times each per day; read Shakti Gawain's book, Creative Visualization, to learn how to integrate affirmations and visualizations into your life.

7. ASSERTIVENESS
        Assertiveness means getting your needs met while respecting the rights of others.  Assertiveness is first an attitude based upon your belief that you have the right to get your needs met.  Then you learn specific assertive techniques/skills such as  ASKING for what you want, saying  NO to what you don't want, setting BOUNDARIES, raising STANDARDS,  CONFRONTING constructively, PROBLEM SOLVING effectively, taking ACTION that leads to personal/professional growth, avoiding AGGRESSIVENESS... in order to get what you want and achieve success in your life.

*Action Step: Take my eCourse on Assertiveness Training, take an Assertiveness Training Seminar at a local community college, or read books on assertiveness such as Be Your Best, by Linda Adams.

8. ARENA
        Our arena is our environment.  Our environment affects us all the time....our physical space (at home and at work), the weather, sounds/sights/smells, the people around us...we respond and react to our environment constantly.  Therefore, why not be purposeful in creating environments that affect us positively?       Why not create environments...at home, at work, in the car, and in other places.. that help us be all that we can be and reach success?  It is possible to shape our environment to affect us in ways that will grow us; we can create environments that bring out our creativity, environments that simulate our thinking, environments that challenge us to learn new skills, environments that de-stress us and relax us, environments that evolve/transform us.  We can purposefully create environments that we lead us to achieve the success that we want.
     We need to learn to reduce tolerations: de-clutter... simplify and organize; we need to surround ourselves with beauty: pleasant sights, smells and sounds; we need to be around people who nourish, value, and inspire us (and not around people who don't); we need to create peaceful and beautiful work/home environments (with good feng shui); we need to find environments that inspire us and fill us with passion and spirituality (mountains, oceans, rivers and streams); we need to travel to new places that expand our horizons and expose us to new cultures and different ways of life.

*Action Step: Take stock of your current environment, at home and at work.   What changes can you make that will improve your path to creating a successful life?

NOW, with each A you must take ASSESS* where you are now and where you want to be late (by when?), take ACTION, and then be ACCOUNTABLE in order to ACCELERATE your personal/professional growth to COACH YOURSELF TO SUCCESS!

*Assess, on a scale of 1-10, what number would you give yourself for each A?  What number would you like to have?   What steps do you need to take to achieve your goal (10?)  Read subsequent newsletters for more specific information and suggested action steps to take for each A.

3. Recommended TASKS:

1.  Take the recommended Action Steps to Coach Yourself to Success using the 8-A system

2. Email me to receive the 8-A Wheel of Success

3. Call me for a complimentary half-hour coaching session to help you learn to coach yourself to success using the 8-A System. Call me at 617-494-1422 or email laurie@ingearcoaching.com
 
4. Read one or more of my favorite BOOKs on Coaching

4. Recommended READING:

by Laurie Geary

A GUIDE TO GETTING IT: SELF ESTEEM: Ideas and Tools from Life and Business Coaches to Help You Live Your Life's Dream

 RISK TO GROW! CREATE the LIFE YOU WANT through RESPONSIBLE RISK-TAKING, a workbook collection of articles, top tens, models, poems & quotes, exercises and resources and more.

GAMES & INITIATIVES for NETWORKING, ENERGIZING, & TEAM-BUILDING..and just
plain FUN!, 75 of my favorite activities learned from years of working as an instructor for Outward Bound Professional Development program

by Marilyn Schwader

This book includes chapters written by 12 different coaches on ways to develop self awareness and self worth in order to build your self esteemand realize your full potential.  My Chapter: "RISK-TAKING and BUILDING SELF ESTEEM" offers a model — the 8 A's of Responsible Risk-Taking — quotes, personal stories, the 3-Steps for successful risk-taking, a rich resource list, and much, much more!

THE PORTABLE COACH: THE 28 PRINCIPLES OF ATTRACTION, by Thomas Leonard

BE YOUR BEST, by Linda Adams

by Cheryl Richardson

TAKE TIME FOR YOUR LIFE
LIFE MAKEOVERS
STAND UP FOR YOUR LIFE
TURNING INWARD: A Private Journal for Self-Reflection

by Laura Berman Fortgang

LIVING YOUR BEST LIFE
NOW WHAT? 90 DAYS TO A NEW LIFE DIRECTION

COACH YOURSELF TO SUCCESS WORKBOOK: Tips for Reaching your Goals at Work and in Life, by Talane Miedaner

PROFESSIONAL FOUNDATIONS for MASTERFUL COACHES, by Lee Smith and Jeannine Sandstrom

by Jack Canfield

THE ALADDIN FACTOR (how to ask for what you want)
THE SUCCESS PRINCIPLES: HOW TO GET FROM WHERE YOU ARE TO WHERE YOU WANT TO BE

THE RECIPE FOR RESILIENCE - THREE SIMPLE PRACTICES FOR STAYING UNFRAZZLED, by Sandy Davis

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