Feroce Coaching

Time to Manifest or Liberate?

Published on January 5, 2013 by Wendy in Career Change Coaching, Career Coaching, Confidence Coaching, Energy Coach, Health Coaching, Life coaching, Personal Branding, Spiritual Life Coaching, Spiritual Wellness Coach, Wellness, Yoga Coach, Yoga Life Coach

“Surely a man needs a closed place wherein he may strike root and, like the seed, become. But also he needs the great Milky Way above him and the vast sea spaces, though neither stars nor ocean serve his daily needs.” ~ Antoine de Saint-Exupery

At first that quote may seem a bit confusing, but when you read it again the message is clear. The author is simply saying (in a more poetic way) that as humans we need to be both grounded and connected to the earth while at the same time we must reach for something greater within and beyond ourselves.

The spiritual energy channels of the chakras have two pathways; one to manifest (downward flowing) and one to liberate (upward flowing). As we see our dreams & charge up the energy flow to project us to higher states of consciousness; we are liberating. And, when we take those dreams, visions, & feelings of euphoria into reality and make things happen in our lives; we are manifesting.

Where you are you today? Time to liberate or manifest?

The energy in our root chakra helps us deal with tasks related to the material and physical world, the ability to stand up for ourselves and attend to our self care needs. With a healthy flow through the root chakra, we live more fully as we nourish ourselves, balance our spiritual wellness and allow good thoughts and situations to enter into our lives.

Yet, if we don’t have the proper energy balance in this chakra we will feel physically weak, experience fatigue and perhaps have a manifestation of physical ailments such as lower back pain or sciatica, frequent colds, and even cold hands and feet. Low energy in the root chakra can sadly lead to depression and feelings of insecurity and low self-esteem.

If you feel stuck in the root chakra, as a Reconnective Healer & Spiritual Wellness Coach I can help remove the energy blocks so you can move onto your dream vision life. Contact me for a Free Life Coaching, Spiritual Wellness Coaching or Career Coaching Consultation today.

San Francisco Executive Career coach muses on New Year’s Resolutions vs. Dreams

Published on January 3, 2013 by The Success Coach in Blog - Main Page, Business, Career Change Coaching, Career Coaching, Confidence Coaching, Creativity Coaching, Energy Coach, Entrepreneur Coaching, General Interest, Leadership Coaching, Life coaching, Marketing Coaching, Mind Work, Personal Branding, Positive Psychology, Wellness

Dare To Dream

Do you dare to dream or are you working for a living? This is the time of year when we are all feverishly making our New Year’s resolutions or what I call the biggest to-do list of the year. Yet, what are the odds of success? Usually it is natural to decide that this is the year that you will make the big changes and create the life you’re destined to live.

Before you embark on this path, let’s review your past history. Have you made New Year’s resolutions before? If so, then how many have you kept? If you’re like most people, it’s just another way to validate why your life and career aren’t working or living up to your expectations.

Let’s review these expectations. Where do they come from? Do you decide how you will rate your progress or is it defined by how you compare yourself to others? Are you satisfied with the standards by which you measure yourself, or are you ready to take a look if this is really working for you? If you are willing to peek under the hood, let’s explore how you can easily shift your focus to tune into your true vision.

When I was growing up, my father called me a “dreamer.” Yet, without our dreams, how can we even get clear about what we truly want? Take a stroll down memory lane and begin to remember when you were about 8 or 9 years old.

What were you involved with?
What captured your interest? Your imagination?
List the activities you enjoyed.
Any similarities or differences from your later years? Sometimes our early years may reveal your true interests without censorship or comparison to others.
Pay attention to your observations or insights.

If you’ve strayed away from your earlier interests and just fell into the work you’re doing, this could be the reason you’re no longer satisfied with your progress. If that’s the case, even if you reach the pinnacle of your career and appear extremely successful to others, you still may not be happy. In my book, 3 Brains for Success, I explain the model I developed for success and happiness. It all starts with clarity. Once you have clarity about where you’re headed, you can develop a personal strategic plan and move forward. The key is to start with your true heart’s desires because otherwise you will be working hard and going through the motions but will never become satisfied with your progress.

According to the latest Gallup Well-Being Survey, the highest income earners and senior citizens reported the highest job satisfaction. With age, satisfaction increases. How do you define satisfaction? Does it mean abandoning your childhood dreams and settling to meet your budget? Is there a way you can discover your true heart’s desire and make a plan to slowly transition or integrate it into reality? I’m not advocating quitting your day job or changing careers. I’m just encouraging you to examine your true motives and where you would like to be at the end of your working life. It’s never too late to start.

Take a look at my favorite example of someone who dared to dream, was very clear about her heart’s desires to become a professional singer and astounded the world. Listen below as Susan Boyle sings, “I Dreamed a Dream” as she begins her dream at 47:

Are you ready to discover your dream? Remember, it’s not what they say you are, it’s about what you know you are.

Try a free coaching consultation with Wanda Ropa, your success coach, to get you started and get clear about where you’re going with your career, or with your life so you can develop a strategic plan that really works for you. With clarity, success becomes a natural outcome.
Posted by Wanda Ropa, The Success Coach.

One Tiny Step to Giant Change

Published on January 2, 2013 by Wendy in Blog - Main Page, Career Change Coaching, Career Coaching, Confidence Coaching, Energy Coach, Entrepreneur Coaching, Health Coaching, Law of Attraction, Life coaching, Spiritual Life Coaching, Yoga Coach

One Step Forward

I want you to ask yourself,“what is the smallest step I can take towards achieving my life vision today?”

That’s right, not the biggest step, the smallest. What is the one tiny, smallest, littlest thing you can do today that seems almost silly it’s so easy? But if you do that one thing it is moving in a direction that will put you a little closer to achieving your life vision.

Do you want to write a book? Go back to school? Start your own business? If you wanted to write a book, maybe the smallest thing you could do today is buy a book about how to write a book. Tomorrow the smallest step might be to read the first page of that book.

If you want to start a business maybe the smallest thing you can do is pick out one business in your competitive space to do research on. Don’t actually do the research; just pick out the company you are going to research.

You might be saying to yourself, really Wendy? If I only the read the first page of a book, I won’t ever get done. But the reality is you will get done, because you’ve gotten started, and getting started is the most important part of creating your vision life!

For those of you wanting to a new career, we are talking about pretty ambitious goals, right? We’re talking about changing our lives, discovering what we really love doing and building our lives around our passion! Obviously you’re going to love life a lot more if you’re spending your time doing what you love.

Unfortunately, I know for many of us we have so many obligations: kids, spouses, parents, family, work, mortgages, bills, etc., that it seems almost impossible to make radical life changes! After all, we’re so busy and exhausted just getting through the day how in the world are we going to have time to develop and implement an action plan for doing what we want in life? It’s just too much, right? Maybe it’s easier to just keep doing what we’ve been doing? After all, we’re getting by aren’t we?

Don’t buy into to that lie your mind is trying to sell you! There is a reason you are reading this; you want more for your life. You want to live a life of passion but maybe you don’t know how to take that first step. Well you’re not alone. It wasn’t long ago that I was having trouble getting started myself in making part of my vision a reality. I had seen a global yoga community; helping millions lead a Yoga Life. I was so busy working though that I couldn’t think straight. I was moving so fast and realized I was creating too many big goals. I didn’t know how to start. Well, then a coaching partner shared with me a concept called “Kaizen.”

This one concept has had a profound life altering impact on my life, and it’s what helped me take the first step to living the life of my dreams. If you aren’t familiar with it,Kaizen is the Japanese technique of achieving great change through small, steady steps.

There are lots of good books out there that explain Kaizen in great detail if you want to venture to the book store, but the essence of the concept is something we’ve all heard a million times: “A journey of a thousand miles must begin with the first step.”- Lao Tzu.

The problem with this old saying is it really doesn’t help us in our everyday lives. Let me give you a specific example from the book “One Small Step Can Change Your Life,” by Robert Maurer, Ph.D. One example from Dr Maurer’s book really blew me away. One of his clients had been overweight all her life and had tried every diet regimen known to mankind. Unfortunately, nothing had worked for her or if it had it was only temporary and she put the weight she lost right back on (sound familiar?).

The problem was that like most of us, this person wanted immediate change. She looked at magazines, watched the pretty models on the television commercials and wanted to look like them. When her body didn’t morph to satiate her need for immediate gratification, she became discouraged and gave up. She thought and planned in large chunks and did not break down her goals into small achievable tangible steps.

This is where Kaizen makes all the difference. Dr. Maurer reset her expectations. He told her not to think about losing the weight, but he asked her what was the one smallest thing she could do every day that would be different than what she was doing and would be a step in the right direction.

They agreed that while she was watching television in the evening that during one 60 second commercial instead of sitting down, she would stand up and walk in place. Not run, not walk for 5 minutes, but just walk for one minute. He asked her to do this for two weeks, nothing more. At the end of two weeks she had no problem moving to two minutes. At the end of four weeks she had no problem moving to five minutes. You can guess the rest. That’s right, at the end of a year this client had totally changed her lifestyle and she didn’t even notice the difference! Her steps were so gradual she snuck right past any thoughts of resistance that might ordinarily have held her back.

If you’re having trouble getting started, don’t give up, scale back the size of your steps and make your steps so small that you can barely notice an effort. According to Dr. Maurer: “when the steps are small enough, the mind will usually take over and leapfrog over obstacles to achieve your goal.”

So, back to the beginning. What is the smallest thing you can do today that is a step towards your vision life? Make it so small you can’t help but accomplish it. Get started on your journey today!

Namaste,

Wendy (Adrenazen Coach & Co-Founder Yoga Guardian™…YES, my global yoga community has come to life!)

San Francisco Career Coach Explains What Happens When You Follow The Yellow Brick Road In Your Career

Published on October 11, 2011 by The Success Coach in Blog - Main Page, Business, Career Change Coaching, Career Coaching, Coaching Assessments, Confidence Coaching, Creativity Coaching, Entrepreneur Coaching, General Interest, Leadership Coaching, Life coaching, Marketing Coaching, Mind Work, Personal Branding, Recareering

Are you listening to everyone but yourself about what path you should take in your career? Are you just staying in your current role or taking the next position because that’s what’s expected from you?

This year marks the 72nd anniversary of the movie, The Wizard of Oz.

In the movie, Dorothy is repeatedly told to follow the yellow brick road by everyone she meets and she blindly listens. Are you just following the yellow brick road in your career? Have you been just listening to everybody else and now finding that you are either dissatisfied, not completely fulfilled, unemployed, or just stuck about what to do next? Every day, just like advertising, we are bombarded with new stories of individuals who have defied the odds and achieved unexpected success. Everywhere you turn people are looking for the secret formula, the yellow brick road that will just lead them there, if they just follow and not ask questions.

However, in my experience working with clients from all walks of life, unless you choose your path, you will never truly be happy. Whether you choose to stay exactly where you are, or transition to another career, the key is that you choose. One clue to help you uncover if you’re in the right spot is to review the last time you had a peak experience at work. Take a moment to reflect when you were last on top of your game, when everything was flowing smoothly and you were motivated and enjoying your work. How long has it been? Have you ever had a peak experience at work? If you are feeling unmotivated and struggling to either go to work, look for a job, or drum up new business it might be because you’re not really clear that you want to continue what you’ve been doing over and over. You see unless you have chosen this path for yourself, you will naturally resist, even if it’s unconscious. This resistance will make it harder to move forward on your goals and will hold you back.

Yet, with more choices and advanced speed in communication, there are more resources available than ever before. The Internet has changed our world and this is the first time we have ever connected to each other in this way. From Linked In, to Facebook, to Twitter, our people connections are growing exponentially. Yet, with all of this external stimulation, there is little time to focus internally and reflect. Therefore, if you find yourself just reacting and riding the assembly line of life without pausing to figure out where you’re going, you will end up on the nowhere road and wonder how you got there. Just like Dorothy, in the Wizard of Oz, everyone told her to follow the yellow brick road.

So, what does this all mean? Let’s look at the bigger picture to understand some of the influences exerting pressure on us. In our generation, in America, we have witnessed more life defining moments and fundamental shifts in how the world and business operates. Since 9/11, there has been a lot of pressure to find our true passion or our life purpose. Seven years later, in November 2008, the housing crisis fundamentally changed the playing field. Everything we believed and were told to follow has fundamentally shifted.

How can you find your road map for success in career, relationships, and life when the world has turned upside down? One way to start is to frame our shared experience.

It feels like we have all stepped onto a “Rotor-ride” or more currently known as the Gravitron ride where the world has been spinning and our floor has dropped out. However, the ride hasn’t stopped, most of us are still spinning. Yet, we can’t operate in the same way. As you are becoming aware, it’s not business as usual anymore. The floor or foundation disappeared when the economy and marketplace shifted and historic business structures tumbled down the rabbit hole.

Yes, just like global warming, the job and business climate has changed. However, crisis breeds opportunity if you know how to use it.

The very next action step to take is to decide if you want to choose what happens next in your career. If you’re ready to step off the yellow brick road, define where you’re going and develop your strategic road map, then it might be helpful to work with a career coach to jump-start this process and make it easier.

Posted by Wanda Ropa, The Success Coach.

Minnesota Career and Life Yoga Coach on Getting Unstuck

Published on May 20, 2011 by Wendy in Blog - Main Page, Career Change Coaching, Career Coaching, Confidence Coaching, Creativity Coaching, Energy Coach, Life coaching, Mind Work, Spiritual Life Coaching, Wellness, Yoga Coach

“As there were no real answers in her life. She was in abeyance. Stuck in a pattern of waiting for a future she could not guess.” ~Anya Seton

When I made the life choice to leave the 9-5 career world, I knew I was in for a fun and challenging entrepreneur ride. I launched into attending trainings and seminars, traveling, and creating a beautiful brand for my company which was natural and extremely exciting. Sound blissful? Well don’t let the joy ride mislead you; I can sometimes feel just as stuck as I did in the monotony of my corporate career, but now I have tools to help me out of my quicksand.

As a creative visionary, it is more natural for me to have my head in the clouds dreaming, creating and learning rather than actually placing my feet on a firm surface and ‘doing’. My self-awareness hasn’t allowed me to blame my stuck feeling on the monotony of the corporate world, as I once did, and now I realize it is due to too much freedom. I realize that I need daily structure and constant grounding for my personal and professional success.

My action today was to turn to my yoga mat. I surrendered into child’s pose and began my practice with a focus on being grounded. I moved through a beautiful flow tapping into every hip opener I could think of and eventually found myself at extreme peace in double pigeon. After my ending meditation, I fluttered my eyes open and felt safe and unstuck. My hips were open, my body radiated with energy, and my mind was clear. I rolled up my mat and got to the business of getting things done.

What has caused your stuck feeling? What do you really need to move yourself forward? Grounding, self-confidence, or maybe a clear vision and plan of action? Experience a unique career coaching approach with coach Wendy who uses meditation and energy releasing techniques with clients to help them get unstuck and onto the career life that fits who they are.

Career Coach Wendy Billie on Personal Branding vs. the ol’ Elevator Pitch

Published on March 9, 2011 by Wendy in Blog - Main Page, Business, Career Change Coaching, Career Coaching, Law of Attraction, Leadership Coaching, Life coaching, Marketing Coaching, Recareering

If you are in the job search market, you have inevitably heard about creating your 30 second elevator pitch for networking purposes. But how far has that that pitch gotten you? As a recap, the old elevator pitch is a quick highlight of your work experiences and key successes (aka: abridged resume).

But, what if you have decided to shift your career focus a bit or even — “gasp” — change your career to truly align with your dreams? Where can you pull the data for that pitch if you don’t have direct work experience? Yes, you absolutely have several transferable skills, but will those get the attention of the person listening to your pitch?

Here is a way for them to really hear you–put the passion behind your message and start speaking to your natural talents in your personal brand. With the competition seeming even greater for the career changers, ignite the passion within your personal message and unlock the secret to differentiating you from all the rest.

It will not only get you in the door for an interview, but you will be “the competition”. And you will make the jobs of any recruiter and hiring team a cinch, since often their final decision factor between the last two candidates is typically made on “fit” and personality. Since you will lead the interview with your personal brand, which has a component of why you are really there along with your vision, they will be able to see how you are the perfect person for the role. Now, let’s get started with creating your personal “passionate” brand. Get your free consultation with Wendy.

Wendy is a current career and life coach at Feroce and former HR professional. Read more about her.

Seattle Career Coach and Life Coach Shares How to Find Yoda Through Coaching

Published on January 25, 2011 by The Success Coach in Blog - Main Page, Business, Career Change Coaching, Career Coaching, Coaching Assessments, Confidence Coaching, Creativity Coaching, Energy Coach, Entrepreneur Coaching, General Interest, Leadership Coaching, Life coaching, Marketing Coaching, Mind Work, Positive Psychology, Recareering, Time Management

Before starting career coaching and life coaching, my clients frequently ask: where is Yoda? How do I find Yoda? What they are really looking for is answers. Yet, as a result of our technological advances, people generally aren’t taking time to reflect and search for their own answers. Instead, addicted to instantaneous button clicking, our society breeds impatience, so we expect instant gratification and results, immediately, if not sooner, as my Dad used to say. What have we become? Let’s hear from a cyborg anthropologist what has happened in our current culture.

Join me for a closer pictorial look to see how our world has evolved and the impact it’s made on our lives.

From the first ride of the Pony Express:

To the assembly lines of the Industrial Age:

To the Information Age of computers, as we head into the Conceptual Age:

Dan Pink acknowledges that we have left the Industrial Age and entered a Conceptual Age. What if instead we are entering a dark age? The economy, the workplace, the political stage, your current state of mind all take its toll on your sense of self.

At the TED conference, Barry Schwartz discusses why too much choice is bad for us.
Too many choices cause:
1. Paralysis rather than liberation – people prefer to make no decision rather than make a complicated choice.
2. Less satisfaction with decisions as people have greater reason to regret the decisions they have made.
3. Unrealistic expectations.
4. Self-blame – when experiences are not perfect, people blame themselves.

So, what does this all mean? With more choices and advanced speed in communication, there are more resources available than ever before. The Internet has changed our world as we know it and this is the first time we have ever connected to each other in this way. From Linked In, to Facebook, to Twitter, our people connections are growing exponentially. Yet, with all of this external stimulation, there is little time to focus internally and reflect. More than we suspect, outside influences control our actions. Therefore, if you find yourself just reacting and riding the assembly line of life without pausing to figure out where you’re going, you will end up on the nowhere road and wonder how you got there. Even if you take a first step and start working with a career coach and life coach, it is too easy in our current age, to expect immediate answers and changes. It takes 28 to 30 days to change a habit, introduce a new routine, practice, or start to reframe your situation and it takes another couple months to make it stick. So, how can one expect to shift into the driver’s seat and get instant results? However, with career coaching and life coaching, you will be supported to help make these changes stick. So, what do you have to gain? Yes, it’s about finding the Yoda inside of you that may be foggy or unclear at the moment. Take the first step and get your life coaching and career coaching consultation from your success coach now.

Posted by Wanda Ropa, The Success Coach.

Los Angeles Life Coach Laura Asks: Do New Year’s Resolutions Work?

A Life Coach or Career Coach Can Make the Difference

You know the drill. It’s the new year and you have a new resolve to lose the weight, start exercising, quit smoking, begin meditating, etc. Or maybe this year you’re resolved to finish the book you’ve been dabbling with, or get that promotion that’s overdue, or navigate a transition to a new, more meaningful career – one that makes you want to get out of bed in the morning.

You start off strong. This is the year you’re going to do it. After six weeks or so, you’ve built up some momentum and confidence. You’ve started to make some progress and you’re feeling good. And then March rolls around. Distractions surface. Stuff happens to usurp your time and money. It’s tax time after all. Or maybe fear and doubt creep in. Old patterns of thinking sabotage your progress. You tell yourself this is temporary and when the weather gets warmer, you’ll re-double your efforts and start anew.

Now it’s summer and you’re back on it. The sun is out, the weather is warm and you’re feeling optimistic. You’re going to stick to it this time. You start to regain the momentum from earlier in the year. Then as the weather turns colder, stuff happens again. More distractions. Life gets increasingly hectic as the holidays approach. And when the holidays hit, you tell yourself: “Just get through the holidays.”

You decide to table everything until the new year…and then the cycle begins again.

If all of this sounds familiar, then hiring a life coach, career coach or spiritual coach might be the way to go this year. One of the reasons why coaching works is that it’s a support structure that holds you accountable for your progress. Life coaching and career coaching (as well as other types of coaching such as spiritual, business, relationship, etc.) keeps you focused when will power waxes and wanes and distractions deter your progress. And on a deeper level, coaching works because it helps you to dissolve the soundtracks from the past which sabotage your future. Since I began coaching in 2005, I have found that fear and doubt are the two biggest reasons why people don’t achieve their goals. Distractions are the third.

But life coaching or career coaching is not meant to be a permanent support structure. A good life coach or career coach strives to coach you to independence – not dependence. So a skillfully trained coach works with you to create other, long-term support structures to help you not only attain your goals but sustain them, long after the coaching is over.

Resolve this year to make your resolutions work. Give yourself the support to attain and sustain your progress throughout the year so you can make 2011 the time in which you achieve the personal and professional success that has eluded you in the past.

Posted by Laura Svolos, Certified Professional Coach and Swami of Kriya Yoga specializing in life, career, relationship and spiritual/wellness coaching.

Take the first step in making your resolutions work, schedule a free consult with Coach Laura.

Life Coach Wendy on: Letting go.

Published on December 10, 2010 by Wendy in Blog - Main Page, Career Coaching, Life coaching, Spiritual Practice Coaching, Wellness, Yoga Coach

Self Coaching Moment

It was summer 1994 and I found myself at the Woodstock music festival. The people, the amazing music, and if you remember reading about the event – yes, there was rain! In the midst of the downpour, I was trying to make my way to the Aerosmith stage. But, I could barely move. My flip flips were sticking deep in the mud. And so, after a bit of mental struggle- I let them go.

Yep, I left the flip flops in the mud and made my way to the stage where a man was about to challenge his shrilling vocal cords as he sang to a crowd of thousands. A literal example of letting go, yes I was stuck so I decided to go for it and let go. Now mind you, that meant I was barefoot in the mud for the rest of the weekend. But, you know what? I felt free. I was going with the flow of the music and the crowds and I relinquished my former thought of having to wear shoes.

Life Coach and Yoga Teacher

Fast forward to present day and as a life coach and yoga teacher, I often encounter clients who are stuck emotionally which carries into their careers, relationships- you name it . But it goes well beyond mud, they are stuck and are on the path of losing themselves. While I find myself guiding them to go with the flow and let go of what is causing them to sink deep, I do realize it is one of those easier said than done suggestions. But, does it really need to be that hard? Not if we can identify what we need to let go of. Time to take an honest look inside.

Coach Wendy’s coachable moment

Find a quiet space (or a loud space if you can reflect in that environment) and bring your journal or laptop to capture thoughts. First ask, am I going with the flow of life? Or, do I feel stuck? What are you holding onto that is causing you to be stuck in life? Is it your way of thinking, lack of time for yourself, your desire to always be pleasing others, your constant sacrificing of your personal time for work, debilitating worry, stress, fear, anger, etc etc? Once you can see what is getting in your way, then identify why you are holding onto it? For example, if you are constantly trying to please others, why are those people important in your life–or, are they? Is it time to let go of some people that don’t fit in the life you want to live? Once you can see what is getting in your way, you can then begin to let go. Really let go…so you can live in your flow and recapture a feeling of freedom.

Are you ready to let go? Contact Coach Wendy Billie for a free coaching consultation.

Life coach Wendy from New York City: Where’s Your Zen?

Published on December 10, 2010 by Wendy in Blog - Main Page, Law of Attraction, Life coaching, Spiritual Practice Coaching, Wellness, Yoga Coach

The Story: During a recent chat with a friend, he said “you called at the perfect time, I was having a zen moment”. A zen moment…ahhh…you can visualize it right? I am sure he was walking along a free flowing creek, listening to the sound of the water rushing over the rocks, and gazing at the sun shining through the treas. Oh, and I am sure he was sipping a cup of tea, listening to the birds sing, and watching his dog bound up ahead through the tall grass. Wait! That is my zen moment.

I created that zen place in my mind years ago as I was searching for ways to find peace in the midst of a crazy chaotic day. How do you find zen moments as life challenges come rushing towards you? Where is your zen place that will instantly bring a feeling of peace to you? Remember, you don’t have to physically be there…you just have to dream a little…be creative…and take yourself to your zen place for a moment of peace anytime. Yes, you can even go there while sitting at your desk pounding away at work tasks.

Coaching moment: Take some time to visualize your zen place. Etch it in your memory and visit it anytime. You will feel an instant sense of peace and maybe; just maybe…it will give you an opportunity to approach the challenges placed before you with ease and grace. Get your life coaching consultation from Coach Wendy now.