I’ve been thinking a lot about paradoxes. And, specifically, how we humans tend to pit concepts and ideas against one another when those concepts are in tension, often in an attempt to simplify the world. We create this “either/or” paradigm, even when the concepts don’t have to be opposing forces. I’ll use something from my
I’ve been in therapy at various points in my life and for various reasons. And all of the therapists with whom I have worked shared with me at one point or another that they worked with their own therapists. I remember being simultaneously comforted by and curious about these revelations. Now that I’m a coach,
Are you coachable? No really…. are you? My hunch is that most of us will reflexively say yes. But the truth is that many people are not. This doesn’t mean these people can’t be coached; coachability is a choice. It’s not a fixed state. We can choose it anytime. It isn’t enough to WANT something
Coaching is much like running (well any physical fitness training, but I just finished running so I’m going with running). It’s about finding the sweet spot- somewhere between “I am totally comfortable and could basically do this in my sleep” and “I’m in pain and may keel over momentarily.” Growing and stretching but not breaking.
During a coaching session recently, a client used the phrase “validation machine.” What a great phrase! She spoke about what constitutes her validation machine, such as praise from a more senior colleague and younger colleagues seeking her out for advice and guidance. As she spoke, I pictured this intricate Rube Golberg-esque machine, creating the validation
I’m a lifelong learner. My pull to absorb new information, perspectives, skills and knowledge has always been strong. I’m deeply curious- it’s in my nature. In the past couple years, as I’ve immersed myself in transformational work, my desire to learn has intensified. It’s like I’m wearing this lens, and I find myself asking on
Year endings are a time when people naturally take stock and look ahead. As one year ends and a new one begins, the timing is right to both look back on the challenges and successes of the past and to think about your goals for the coming year. Having a coach is an excellent idea
Awhile back, I lost a job. Well…let me refine that sentence, since it lacks a certain precision. I didn’t lose the job; I was let go from the job. It was a blow. I could share all the circumstances around it, but that’s a low-level conversation that is- frankly- not worthy of me. What I
There’s a scene in the iconic film, Terms of Endearment, when the inimitable Shirley MacLaine as Aurora Greenway unleashes an intensely emotional expression of outrage while her daughter lies in bed at the hospital suffering. With agony, despair and profound love for her child, she says: “It’s past ten. My daughter is in pain. I
The Merriam- Webster dictionary defines ego identify as “perception of continuity and coherence in one’s self-picture and in one’s social relations.” In the 1950s and 1960s, famed psychoanalyst Erik Erikson proposed a theory of psychosocial development characterized by eight distinct stages of ego identity development over the course of a human being’s lifespan. Each stage