Use Those Longer Evenings

If you lead an active outdoor life it can be easy to get fed up with the fact that the dusk comes earlier and earlier, making your evenings ever shorter. However, if you spend much of your time indoors, you will see them as longer evenings. The hours of darkness are the same for everyone. It is only your perception of them that is different.

No two people see the world in exactly the same way. The art of achieving success in life is to ensure that you see every challenge or opportunity in its most positive light. Helping clients achieve this outlook is fundamental to the work of the professional coach. I undertake one-hour telephone conversations with my clients, at weekly intervals, in order to review where they are now and where they want to be in the future. Together, we create a strategy for getting to where the clients want to be and define the actions that will produce the desired results. However, the coach is simply the catalyst; it is the client who makes the decisions and commitment. For a great many, the weekly reporting back of progress is the spur that keep them on target. However, you can self-coach by setting yourself deadlines and pushing yourself to keep to them. Even better, tell and friend or loved one what you want to achieve and when in order to have a reason to strive for it.

Many of us are too busy working at earning a living to actually take time out for living fully. The first thing I ask a new client is, "What would you choose to do in your life if you could do absolutely anything with no limitations, no prospect of failure and no accountability to anyone?" People generally answer with negative things – they list the things they don't want to do. It seems to be a natural reaction, but it's important to keep returning to the positive side of the question. Eventually, they will admit to themselves, and often this is for the first time, what it is that they really want to do. If you think about this question and the wants rather than dislikes you could arrive at some surprising and exciting conclusions.

Undergoing coaching can help you to eliminate limitations, ensure success and push you to take personal responsibility for your life. Coaching isn’t the be all and end all, though, and some people can push themselves through this process just through arriving at the realisation that they can take the lead. People are often amazed at how liberated they feel when they realise that they can and should take control over their own lives. Too many just go with the flow and respond to the pressures of what others think they should do. Through coaching or self-examination, people can change from this "victim" mentality to one of "victor" thinking. And anyone can do it.