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May 2016 - Catalyst! Newsletter
from Sue Cowan Coaching
                                                                                              Issue 42              
       

Greetings!

The theme of "values" and fulfillment has been coming up so much during my client work recently that it seemed an obvious topic for this month's article. Working from a list of words is not my exercise of choice when working with someone, but I think it's a great way for anyone to start doing the work  (i.e. "playing") on their own.

 

Have fun! 

 

supportingI am also proud to support my daughter (who has taken her own "big leap") by telling you a bit about her new Social Enterprise in a second article. Maybe you can spot some of her values shining through! 


Till next time,     Sue

 

You can email me at [email protected]

phone me on (+41) 076 2055 076(+41) 076 2055 07 (office/mobile)

or visit  my website    www.suecowancoaching.com

You can  read past editions of this newsletter via the archive here

In This Issue
* What Matters Most to You?
* Quote of the Month
* A Giant Leap- The intiMate Initiative
* Funny- Hey Look!
* About Sue Cowan Coaching
What matters most to you?

Our personal values stem from our beliefs and convictions, which then guide and direct our behaviours.  They are the essence of who each of us are, the foundation of our unique self-expression.We all have values but we are mostly unconscious of them. Values help us to act with integrity, and when our life priorities are aligned with our values, we are well on our way to experiencing fulfillment in our lives.   poppies in May

Whatever values a person has will help paint the picture of the life that person wants to live. If a person is not living in alignment with their values, a disconnect between who they are on the inside and the life they are living on the outside is then created. This disconnect can easily drain a person's energy and "derail" them. And when we feel annoyed, upset, angry, stressed, frustrated.. the chances are that one or other of our values is being affronted or dishonoured in some way or another.

Helping elicit values is pretty foundational when looking at "feeling fulfilled": there are many ways to do it including coaching enquiries and visualisations. In coaching, uncovering those values would then lead to a deeper exploration of the meaning their meaning for an individual.

But there is a fun exercise that you can do now to begin to look at the core values working just below the surface of who you are. So if you are ready for some play time... let's go!

Take a few minutes to go through the following "values identification" exercise.  Since we derive a great deal of personal fulfillment when we live out our values, get an idea of what core values YOU have...And then decide whether you are expressing them in your life.        


1.    From the list of values below, choose the 25 words that best represent
what matters most to you in your life (there is room to add any that you feel are vital for you but are not include in this list). Mark or highlight your 25 words, or write them down from the list.



acceptance
accomplishment
achievement
acknowledgement
adventureaesthetics/beauty
altruism
appreciation
artistic endeavour
authenticity
autonomy
awareness
balance
belonging
calm
challenge
charity
clarity
community
commitment
compassion
connection
contribution
consideration
constancy
co-operation
courage
creativity
dependability
directness
discovery
diversity
ease
elegance
effectiveness
empathy
empowerment
encouraging
energy
entertaining
environment
equality
ethics
excellence
excitement
experiment
fairness
fast pace
faith
family
fitness
freedom
friendship
fun
harmony
helping others
health
honesty
humour
imagination
independence
influence
innovation
inspiration
integrity
intellectual rigour
inventiveness
intimacy
intuition
joy
justice
kindness
keeping promises
knowledge
leadership
learning
love
loyalty
making a difference
merriment
mastery
money
nature
nurturing
order
organisation
originality
openness
partnership
passion
peace
peace of mind
personal growth
play
responsibility
power
pressure
privacy
quest
recognition
relationships
reliability
resourcefulness
respect
risk-taking
romance
routine
safety
security
self-care
self-expression
serenity
sensuality
service
simplicity
solitude
spirituality
stability
status
strength
success
support
teaching
tenderness
tranquility
teamwork
thrill
tolerance
tradition
trust
truthfulness
understanding
variety
vitality
vision
wealth
wellbeing/wellness
winning
wisdom
work
other:
other:
other:
other:
 

2.    Now take the words you chose above and place them into 5 different groupings.  Group the words according to what has a related meaning to you, or that you feel easily "fit together."  Put your words in the boxes below for each group.

 












      Group 1
      Group   2
      Group 3
      Group 4
       Group  5
                

3.    Once you have placed your 25 words into the five different groupings, give each grouping a name.  Think of a word or short phrase that best encompasses the meaning for that entire group.  Write the names you come up with in the boxes below.

 
   Group 1 Name
   Group 2 Name
   Group 3 Name
   Group 4 Name
   Group 5 Name






                    

4.    The five group names you have just come up with above represent your top five core values.


5.    Next, in the life wheel below, label each of the wheel's five segments with your five core values and then rate how well you feel you are currently living out that value with 5 being 'fully living out the value,' and 1 being 'not living out that value at all.'  Draw a line across the segment to indicate that values' degree of fulfillment currently in your life.  See the example below.

wheel
 Then reflect on your results:
  •     What insights have you gained from doing this values identification exercise?
  •     What kind of person would you be if you were living out each of your core values to their    highest degree?
  •     What connection can you find between the core values you have identified and your highest hopes and dreams for your life?

Values exist whether we recognize their presence in us or not.  But by having a greater understanding of them you can develop plans, set goals and make decisions that will honour them.  Determining your core values helps you to discover what's truly important to you.  Making choices in life based on your core values won't always be easy. But since your core values are such a central part of who you are and who you want to be, you want to be honouring as many of your key values as fully as possible.  

The core values that this exercise has revealed for you can be seen as the beginning of the process of determining the essence of who you are.  In the days ahead, keep asking yourself what is important to you and what you really care about and want for your life.  Recall those moments in your past when you were most happy and fulfilled.  What values were being honored in those moments?  Also think about the times when you were most frustrated.  What values were being violated in those moments?  Certainly there are more values working within you than just the five values revealed here.  Have fun as you continue the work of discovering your other unique qualities, beliefs, principles and convictions!               


Quote of the Month 

" This is the true joy in life: the being used
for a purpose recognised by yourself as a mighty one,
the being thoroughly worn out...  ,
the being a force of nature
instead of a feverish clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy"

-  George Bernard Shaw     
A giant leap- The intiMate Initiative
Last month I wrote about taking a leap... and I would like to share news of what my daughter is up to. I am very proud of her and the giant leap SHE is taking! 
I made a commitment to send this info around my networks... so here we are. If you are in my personal network you will probably already have read about the project, so I apologise in advance!

My daughter Amy has recently founded (together with her friend, and now business partner, Annika) a new Social Enterprise based in Vietnam. It is called (drum roll...) The intiMate Initiative. And if the project is something that resonates with you, perhaps you might want to join in the crowdfunding campaign and become an active supporter or follower (see later)!

Social enterprises fall somewhere between charities and companies- defined as "a cause-driven Tii logo business, whose primary reason for being is to improve social objectives and serve the common good".

The aim is to improve access to sexual health education in Vietnam by providing financial support and educational content for workshops and programmes in the field of sexual and reproductive health. The intiMate Initiative will sell uniquely designed Vietnamese textile products that are sustainably made and have a transparent supply chain- made by ethnic minorities and prioritising natural fibres, such as cotton and silk, and working with Vietnamese social enterprises that also pursue social missions.

To get their project off the ground they have started a "crowdfunding" campaign. This a financial model in which a group of people - the "crowd" - come together to jointly fund an idea or project. The project is introduced online in the form of videos, images, and text: there's a link to the page later. The campaign runs for a set period of time and aims to achieve a funding goal.                        The key to crowdfunding? It follows an all-or-nothing approach: if the funding goal is met, the idea or project receives the entire sum of money put forward by the crowd. If the goal isn't met, the money is returned to the individual crowd members.

There are different kinds of crowdfunding, but The intiMate Initiative has chosen what is called reward-based crowdfunding. This means that a crowd member can choose a reward they'd like to receive in exchange for funding the project, including the finished product that the project aims to make.

The intiMate Initiative has a funding goal of 8,000 Euro with a funding threshold of 4,000 Euro. In Amy's words : "This helps us dream big, but in a realistic way ... towards our mission to promote sexual health education in Vietnam. Every little helps - the more support we receive, the bigger our impact!"

Those of you over a certain age may not be familiar with this new "business start" model -I know I wasn't until it was explained to me! With just a few days to go (the funding campaign only runs until 15th May), if you are interested in following and/or supporting the project you can go read about it now...

All details of The intimate Initiative project can be found on their crowdfunding page. Go there to find out all you need to know (and watch the video, if you like):

www.startnext.com/tii

If you want to support the project and, like me, appreciate step-by-step details on what you need to do online (including details of secure payment, how to choose your reward etc.), you can click the link here below and get extra help via the crowdfunding Q+A info:

 http://theintimateinitiative.com/how-to-crowdfund-in-11-easy-steps/
They have already begun with pilot workshops for various groups of young people in and around Hanoi, and Amy managed to secure some free space to set up the Intimate Initiative drop-in area that is already being used on a daily basis!

Feel free pass this on - especially to any young people in your networks/family circle!

In support of Amy and Annika at The intimate Initiative
www.theintimateinitiative.com
facebook.com/theintimateinitiative

Hey look!


laptop-couple.jpg "I found my personal values, my purpose in life, happiness, my inner child... and even myself !  What a powerful search engine!"


About Sue Cowan Coaching 
If you are considering working with a coach to gain clarity, focus and direction to help you implement some change in your life, do get in touch:
photo Sue
[email protected]
Tel. Mobile (+41) 076  2055  076

If you are curious to know more about what I do, or about coaching in general, you can visit my coaching 
website    
www.suecowancoaching.com

Sue Cowan Coaching | Cabinet 2�me �tage | Avenue Henri-Dunant 3 | 1205 Gen�ve | Switzerland