August 2008 Vol 1, Issue 3

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 LIGHT ON THE SUBJECT
 the Creative Coaching Group newsletter
Greetings!
This is great! I now love technology! As you read this I am lying in the water at the family cottage dreaming of what to barbecue for dinner.  See photo of me below.  (okay, maybe me 20 years ago?  Okay...so I never looked like that)...But still... I will be relaxing and nowhere near a computer...yet this newsletter is being delivered right now to your inbox.  Amazing... 
 
Jan on Vacation
 A perfect time, as I enter into my 3rd-in-a-row "non-competitive" game of Horseshoes with my family, to reflect on football yardages and what a "touchdown" means to me.
 2-59 2-59  Hut-Hut-Hut!
                                   blue bulb
   Jan Carley ACC
Certified Executive Coach and CEO of Creative Coaching Group
604 873-1763     e: [email protected]
 
FEATURE ARTICLE :  HOW LONG IS YOUR FOOTBALL FIELD?
 
Now that I had myself all motivated and with my fabulous new coaching business in high gear, I was beginning to wonder why the returns weren't coming in...  I mean, I had done everything right...I was networking at least 5 times per week, the pile of business cards I had collected was overflowing out of my rolodex (yes, I still have a rolodex)...and I was well into the 2nd printing of my business cards.  So, why wasn't I a success yet?
 
It caused me to think back to a brilliant comment from a wise job counselor I went to in the 90's. "You know Jan", he said, "You have to understand that you are playing on a different length of football field."   "What does that mean I asked?"   "Well", he said  "a normal US football field is 100 yards....for whatever reason, you have decided that you are playing on a 150 yard field.  So that means that when, by the actual rules of the game, you get a touchdown, you think you still have 50 yards to go!"
 
The upside to that?  You are highly motivated to do even more. 
The downside? You never ever celebrate the touchdowns you do achieve...because you think you still have 50 yards to go!
 
The danger in playing on a longer than normal football field is that you spend your life thinking that there is something else that you have to do, something else you have to achieve in order to "make it". And that has a direct impact on your peace and contentment and with just being where you are right here...and right now.
 
So I decided to reflect on where I was right now with my business...what were my touchdowns?
a/ first of all, I had the guts to even start my own business
b/ and... I hadn't yet lost my guts!
c/ and hey, my gut even still said I had made the right choice...
 
Now I am wondering, what is the length of your football field and how does that play out in your life?   
 
Is there somewhere in your life that you are not giving yourself a break?
Is there somewhere in your life that you are not celebrating the many things that you have already achieved? 
 
This month's challenge:  Creating Your Touchdown List
Time to celebrate the incredible amount of things you have already achieved in your lifetime.   I am throwing down the gauntlet and asking you to spend some time this August creating your "Touchdown list."    Don't stop until you have at least 50 "touchdowns" on your list. 
A touchdown doesn't need to be of Nobel prize winning magnitude. It can be a personal triumph like finishing a 10 k run or as simple (now I didn't say "easy")  as getting the kids off to school with their lunches and homework intact...or perhaps your ongoing triumph as a teacher who inspires your students...
I challenge you to challenge your idea of what a touchdown is. Are you playing by a different set of rules? Are you okay with changing those rules? 
 
In closing, it seemed fitting to include a quote by the much loved and respected Bob Ackles, who started as a waterboy with the BC Lions and was their President and CEO when he passed away on July 6th.  Bob's motivational credo that inspired thousands was simply "BE THE BEST THAT YOU CAN BE".
 
And if that means you allow yourself to play on a shorter field now and again and celebrate your touchdowns with everyone else that is perfectly okay. And remember, sometimes it's even okay for one of your teammates to carry the ball the final 50 yards!
 
TOUCHDOWN!!!!   WOO HOO!!!!
LIGHTBULB OF THE MONTH 
 blue bulb                      
 "The spirit and the will to excel are the things that endure. These qualities are so much more important than the events that occur."
                        -- Vince Lombardi, legendary football coach
SUMMER COACHING SPECIALS!
 
LAST CHANCE TO GET YOUR COMPLIMENTARY ONE-HOUR COACHING SESSION  ~  Offer expires August 29
Get some focus and clarity to your life in just one hour! 
Book your ONE HOUR COMPLIMENTARY COACHING SESSION with Certified Business and Personal Coach, Jan Carley, in her office hours at Electra Health Floor, 970 Burrard St.  
ELECTRA HEALTH FLOOR is a centre of over 18 independent health and wellness professionals located in the heart of the downtown core at 970 Burrard St. (at Nelson). 
Call 604 685-4325 or book online at www.electrahealthfloor.com 
 
8 for '08 PATIO PACKAGE:  
While you relax on your patio admiring your blooming petunias, its a perfect time to set yourself up for a fall that really reinvigorates your dreams, plans,ideas... 
JUST ANNOUNCED: "SOUL SERIES AT THE SPA"
wine and chocolate 
After the sold-out success of our CELEBRATE YOURSELF workshop at Le Petit Spa last April, we are thrilled to announce a series of 4 workshops beginning in October 2008 called "Soul Series at the Spa".
 
Workshops include "Visioning the Successful You", "Turning your Inner Critic into an Inner Coach", "Wealthy from the Inside Out" and a reprise of this year's "Celebrate Yourself" night. 
 
All workshops will be facilitated by Jan Carley and include wine, chocolate and connecting with a bunch of fabulous women in the beautiful atmosphere of Le Petit Spa. Early bird prices until September 30.
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