One Size Fits All?...really?

When I go out to shop and see some clothes with the tag 'One size fits all' I put that item back on the rail.  It'll never be a tag that works for me and yet for someone else it might be perfect.

Then it got me thinking about 'one size fits all' and 'coaching' and how many ways there are to communicate.  There are tons of opinions on the internet about the Law of Attraction, The Secret, vision boards and SMART goals.  Some cite that the power of positive thinking is an impossible task, while others view the law of attraction as a notion that isn't realistic.

Vision boards are also up for the opinion poll, and some go so far as to outline experiments conducted that show how a vision board may provide a sense of satisfaction among people but that it doesn't ultimately result in more success.

So it got me thinking and some of those thoughts were as follows:

1 - A vision board provides people with a chance to play.  It frees up their inhibitions, permits them to dream BIG and provides some focus for getting clear on what they want to go for.

2 - A positive attitude can help them to take action and ensure that goals extracted from the vision board can be SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achieveable, Realistic and Timely)

3 - The idea that energetically we influence outcomes through thoughts can help us to understand the simple principle that what we put our attention on we get more of.  Minds will wander, thoughts will dip, energy shifts...but being AWARE that this impacts on our ability to think or focus and take action to or away from a goal can be extremely helpful.

4 - Lots of options being available to people means there is a stronger likelihood that a change for the better can be made in their lives because the message behind all of this is about being responsible for your own life and how you live it.  

If all of these approaches to coaching dispelled with the myth that one is better than the other, then essentially you just have a good solid honest message told a number of different ways.As far as communication goes one size does NOT fit all so however the message reaches you, if it helps you to shift your thinking or move to act positively then it is doing the job it is meant to do.  It's helping.

Understanding Emotions

(image courtesy of http://wiaob.blogspot.com/)

Oprahs site can be unbelievably hard to navigate through as there are so many links and brilliant bits to read it's easy to end up far from the original page you wanted to view!
Subscribing cuts this problem out to some degree. So this week I found a brilliant article in my emails from the site about understanding your emotions surrounding reaching for your dreams.
As a coach, when setting goals for myself or with a client, the focus can be more placed on motivating and maintaining a positive frame of reference to get to the end. Via this article however, the flip side of this was examined. It made for some really thought provoking reading!
What really struck me is how often people, myself included, just won't LET themselves get what they want. They have the goal, they go for it, and then they stop short. They give it a shot but perhaps don't fully succeed, then the goal/dream is left alone with citings of valid reasons for why it wasn't meant to be.
So by falling short or giving up, what emotions are we resisting or dodging? Even when it gets hard, what are we most scared of and what are we avoiding?
There are 4 approaches to dealing with it, and I recommend giving it a shot (copy link to go to the page - http://www.oprah.com/spirit/How-to-Reach-Your-Dreams-Understanding-Your-Emotions/3).
It can be really refreshing to sit with yourself in honest conversation and greet the fearful emotions that hold you back. It may not result in you rocket launching yourself into your goals but it does lighten the load and get you moving again.

Seek truth and you will find a path. ~Frank Slaughter

We do not err because truth is difficult to see. It is visible at a glance. We err because this is more comfortable. ~Alexander Solzhenitsyn

Being brave enough to walk your own path

(Image by Stephen Mooney - http://halfpastdanger.blogspot.com/2011/09/oh-heavens-no-it-has-to-be-terror-sweat.html)
Found this lovely link via a tweet today, and it really does resonate strongly with me. Even more so at this point in time, when I see so many unhappy people doing jobs they're not satisfied with. They have a yearning to do work that is true to their soul and that calls to them.
It isn't an easy call to answer, but those that do, despite the many, many challenges they face along the way (aside from the obvious financial challenge) find a sense of wholeness from it and find it deeply satisfying.
So to see a well established artist that I admire, being open and honest about the fears of freelancing after a great success rate in his career spanning over 10years so far, is heartening. It's heartening because feeling these fears is healthy, normal and felt by your peers. Healthy because anything that pushes you outside your comfort zone means you're growing and evolving. Normal because no matter what your journey or calling in this life, you are not alone in facing your gremlins.
This is after all, another great example of a personal gremlin...and they come in all shapes and sizes! It's good to know that despite it being there, overcoming resistance and conformity is possible.