Really, Again!

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I want to share a personal story with you.

You know, if you have been on my newsletter emails or read the last blog post for at least the last 3 weeks that I sent out one about having courage and what will you do to make the last 100 days of the year the best ever…

Well, I am doing the same work and two days ago I pulled out my yearly plan to check in on how I was doing and did exactly what I tell my clients NOT TO DO and I put myself into effect big time.

I want to state first, that this Oct. 2015 Edge Of Change has been in business for 8 years. YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH and another big Yeahhhhh is that this year has been a record year with a 48% growth so far… And, that is pretty darn awesome.

BUT instead of looking at all the wonderful things we have been doing right I looked at the 2015 plan and went to EVERYTHING we have NOT been doing and the things we are NOT doing right…

REALLY I did, and then I went to total meltdown… Believe me it was not a pretty sight, and by the time I was deep into it even the picture on my office wall was not hanging right and pissing me off and EVERYONE around me knew it.

Here is the thing, I know this lesson, I train and coach on looking for what is right and what is working first and I still went into what wasn’t working before I explored what was working so I could have celebrated and gathered all the gold nuggets from that important information…

After I settled down and took a deep breath I started questioning what happened. What I noticed was an old belief getting in my way; “ALL I have to do is learn it once and POOF! It/ME is all better”…that once I learn a lesson, I’m done with it. I can move on.

Well, sometimes the lessons come back again. What if they are meant to come back again and again? Lessons I mean.

What if self-discovery and growth isn’t a point A to point B kinda journey? ​

The universe seems to throw us curves from time to time to see if we have really learned the lessons.

I know that growth is a process over time and with each growth stage we can recognize the lessons when they rear their ugly head again.

For myself personally, I notice them faster and when I have gone over to the dark side, I adjust faster and look for solutions faster…

Can you relate?

Where are you possibly beating yourself up because you feel you are not learning fast enough?

Please share what is happening for you.. It really does help others.

To your success and happiness,
Corinne McElroy

Courage is the Root to all Freedom

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Did you know as of yesterday Sept. 22nd there are 100 days left in 2015?

If you looked back on your life 100 days from now, what would need to happen for it to be your most amazing 100 days ever?

It takes courage to dream big dreams… no matter your past, circumstances, or what others tell you.

It takes courage to go after what matters. And when the going gets tough and obstacles crop up (as they always will), it takes courage to press on.

Any time you go after what you really want, your doubts and fears will surface. That’s just part of the experience.

You must ignore the voices that say “turn back” or “give up now” or “this is too hard.” It is courage that keeps you moving forward.

So when you think about it, moving towards freedom requires daring, every step of the way.

Daring to dream. Daring to begin. Daring to keep going, and stick with it until you reach your goal. And as you exercise your muscle of daring and courage, you will find freedom on the other side. And it’s the sweetness of that freedom that is worth the sacrifice it took to get there.

If not now, WHEN?

To your success and happiness
Corinne

The Emotions that Come with Change

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When an external event happens that causes a shift in your world, you also have an internal response.

With external change, we internally may experience a whirlwind of emotions. Regardless of the circumstance, your first reaction may included feelings such as vulnerability, uncertainty, anxiety or fear.

If you feel it is an negative change, you may experience emotions such as disbelief, anger, sadness or panic.

There are also changes that we look forward to such as a new relationship, a promotion, feeling accepted or a new baby in the family, that bring about more positive emotions such as expectancy, excitement, acknowledgment, freedom and anticipation.

Whether the circumstance is voluntary or involuntary, positive or negative, we will have an internal response to our external event.

When you experience change, remember to acknowledge your internal responses whatever they are and accept them as a normal part of the process.

To your success and happiness,

Corinne

One Minute Manager

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One of the first books  I read when I started down the path of becoming a Leadership Performance Coach was the One Minute Manager. Are you familiar with the book ? Ken Blanchard and Spencer Johnson have been two of my all time favorite thought leaders over the past 20 years

In fact, I think it was one of the first books I read that changed my belief about how a leader should and could show up.  I started to understand that it was OK to bring the relationship part of who we are into the workplace. Before that  my belief was as a leader you had to be hard, not show emotions and focus totally on the bottom line.

The message in the book must have resonated with a lot of others because  it has sold more than 13 million copies and has been translated into 37 languages.

The book talks abut three techniques of an effective manager: one-minute goals, one-minute praisings and one-minute reprimands. Each of these takes only a minute and has a more positive impact and lasting benefit. Good stuff.

With all the change around leadership style and business over the last 20 years I am excited that on May 5th there is a new copy of the One Minute Manager book coming out.

I sure will be reading it, how about you?

Here is a link for you to learn more CLICK HERE 

To your success and happiness
Corinne

 

The Flip Side of Change

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I have been guilty of it too many times to count. When I am working on a tough, deeply personal goal that involves changing something about myself, I tend to get wrapped up in my own challenges. After all, it is my struggle. Nobody else can experience the frustrations or victories I feel in my pursuit of this goal, yet I know that everyone will feel the benefits of my success. Whether I am working on creating a successful business, earning a promotion or breaking a bad habit, I am motivated by the thought of creating a better life for the people I love. Chances are, you too get stuck in this train of thought too. Unfortunately, this focus on our own quest to achieve a goal often proves to be the one thing that prevents us from achieving it, and that’s because like everything else in life, personal growth cannot happen in a vacuum.

As we all know, personal growth involves getting outside of our comfort zone. We have to get out on the skinny branches in order to achieve something new and we can sometimes become blind to other people when we are busy charting a new course. Our focus on getting out of our own comfort zone makes us forget the flip side of this – that our comfort zone has become a part of the comfort zones of other people and we probably forgot to ask them to step out of their comfort zone with us. For example, when my daughters were young I started to lose weight. As a person who has struggled with weight most of my life this was a huge accomplishment for me and I was feeling fabulous. Then my youngest told me that I didn’t feel like mommy anymore and I started to believe that my husband wouldn’t like the thinner me either. I had lost a number of bonding activities with my girlfriends as I had been spending more time at the gym than I had with them and it suddenly felt like achieving this goal wasn’t worth everything I felt myself to be losing. So I gained back the weight, and some extra, and now I still have the goal of getting to a healthier weight and the guilt of a previous failure along with it. Additionally, I know that my loved ones would have loved the new me anyway.

Over the years of coaching I have seen many other people quit on their goals for the same reason I did. Fear that the achievement of it would come at too high of a cost, a fear that can only infect our thinking when we have forgotten to invite others into our change process. We need to recognize that our personal decision to change will make other people have to change too. They have to change their reactions to our behaviors, their estimation of us and they have to redefine themselves in relation to us.

Understanding this before and during our growth process makes the achievement of our goals exponentially easier. By thinking about the impact we have on others and asking them to join us in our quest to be a better person we simultaneously accomplish two things. We have shown the respect to those in our lives by inviting them in and we have created a support system for us as we start to climb our own Mt. Everest.

Coaches Challenge:

Whatever your mountain is think of everyone who you want at the summit with you. What considerations do you need to give them as you start your change process and how can you enlist them in the process? What concessions do you have to make for others to be a part of your team? Remember that the involvement of those that love you will be the one thing that makes achieving your goal possible.