Reflection; Guest Post by Life Coach Paul

How many times have you taken the time to Reflect on the events that you experienced that day? Why should you take time out of your day to Reflect on your experiences?

Most have heard the idea that experience is a tough teacher because the test is given before the lesson. This idea rings true at any age. However, Reflecting on the day's events will allow maximum Growth to occur in the individual.  People experience several events each day.  

Some of these events could be life changing. Sometimes the life change is like a lightning bolt, an obvious sign of something big. Other times it takes careful investigation and thought into the significance of the event. If the time is not given to Reflect on this event, the lesson may be lost forever.  

Reflection of events also allows one to categorize the lessons learned to best be used in the future. Once a person has a catalog of events, experiences and results they can begin to change themselves to impact the situation to produce an outcome that is more beneficial.
This benefit can be for themselves, a group or an organization. Whichever it is, it all started with someone taking time to Reflect on an event.

Some things to help good Reflection occur are:

Find a place and designate a time to Reflect on the day's events.
John Maxwell, a leader in teaching the ideas of Growth, states, "...if you go to the trouble of creating a place to pause and think, and you schedule the time to go there, you will most likely use it."

Ask yourself questions that will make you more aware of your feelings.  Be open to the true answers that come with those questions.  How do I feel about what happened?  What can I do about it?  How did the event impact the rest of my day?  Did the event impact any relationships (good or bad)?

Finally keep thinking about these things.  Again, the lesson and Growth may not hit you like a lightning bolt when you first encounter it.  Keep investigating, keep probing and follow your instincts until the lightning bolt does strike.

As a Life Coach I will help you investigate these life events and discover the best meaning and lesson for you.  I will keep you focused on the importance of taking time to Reflect.  

Feel free to contact me for Life Coaching sessions.

Guest Post: Have a Plan to Grow

Question: How do you grow if you are not aware that you want to grow, that you need to grow or have a plan to grow?

Answer: You don't, not efficiently or in the way that may be most beneficial to you. 

It's true that you may grow organically by your everyday experiences, interactions, successes and failures but what if I told you that you can target your growth and make it benefit you in ways that you never imagined.

This is where awareness comes in.  

Think about it, if you become aware of how you want to grow and take steps toward that growth, isn't it better than just hoping that what your life experiences will lead you to grow?  

Even then, you can't take control and direct the growth.  You may grow in an area that does not benefit you, which is a waste of your valuable time. 

So take control of your personal growth by taking a few minutes to become aware of how you want to grow.  Then think of the steps of what you need to do to get you to grow in that direction.  You will find that this awareness allows you to focus your energy and efforts toward a path of positive growth that is most beneficial to you.

As a Life Coach, I can help you focus on these areas of growth, clarify your goals and options, set you on a path of success and then keep you accountable to the actions that will get you where you want to be.

Feel free to contact Paul and stay tuned for other tips for a life of success. 

The Power of Community: Guest Post by Paul L

Humans are social beings, we flock together and create relationships.  This is not news to anyone.  However, an article by my friend Michael Patrick on Suicide Awareness and Prevention sparked a conversation between the two of us.  The conversation, lead me to the awareness of how powerful our relationships really are.  Ringo Starr may have said it best, “…I get by with a little help from my friends, I get high with a little help from my friends, I’m gonna try with a little help from my friends…”

As the discussion progressed, I said this, “They say it takes a village to raise a child, but that is only the start. Members of that same village have to, collectively, sustain the community. This means they need to produce and fulfill the basic needs, such as food and shelter.  It also means that they must be able to support each other in times of danger or times of need.”

Early in human history, this may have meant fighting off wildlife or invaders from another village.  These were real and true dangers in those days.  However, today our governments and military are supposed to provide those securities and in most places, wildlife is not considered much of a threat anymore.  

These days the relationships that we make get us through things like, work stress, loss and financial hardships.  They may seem less life threatening but they are not.  These are just as much a threat as the invaders from other villages and wildlife.  Problem is, these new stressors come from within the walls of the “village”.  This is where building a sense of community is SO important.  Anyone who has played a team sport knows that the team bond is essential to winning.  There can be a full roster of superstars but without the leadership to bring everyone together as one, that team will still have a hard time winning.  

Community allows us to share our experiences and learn from one another.  We take the lessons from others and can therefore, avoid the same pitfalls.  Community gives us a sense of identity.  When there are shared beliefs and values, individuals become a group.  This group can focus on a goal and by working together it can be achieved.  This is the mentality that the military uses to build its forces.  Each unit is trained to work together toward a common goal.  Military units have overcome impossible odds, hardships and even face the potential of sacrificing one’s self for the overall achievement of a goal.  That is how powerful a community can be.

Most of all community allows for the sharing of joy among many individuals.  The common theme of most holidays is that people come together to celebrate.  Holiday celebrations are rooted in a ceremony of some fashion but that is not where the true joy is experienced.  The joy comes from the people within the group being together to re-establish or strengthen bonds.  

Every day we go to work and speak with our coworkers we are forming alliances to get through whatever stress the job has waiting for us.  These relationships add joy to what could be a miserable situation.  How many times have you heard someone say, ‘It was the people at that job that made it great.’   When we have a meal with our family or friends we share the joys and hardships of our lives.  Through this sharing we experience the closeness that makes us feel secure.

My overall theme to this article is that we need each other, maybe now far more than ever before.  With all of hatred and injustices going on in America and the world, I am challenging everyone to be a little nicer to their family, neighbors, co-workers and most of all the people you don’t know.  

You never know what someone else is going through and how much a kind word can mean to someone.  It can literally change their life.  It doesn’t take much to smile at someone and wish them a good day.  

You may be surprised at the reaction you get.

As a Life Coach and Leadership Coach I will help you build the skills that will increase your awareness and show compassion for people you family, friends and strangers.  Contact me for one-on-on or group coaching.  Classes are being set up all the time.

paulledebur@yahoo.com

paulledebur@JohnMaxwellGroup.com

www.JohnMaxwellGroup.com/PaulLedebur

Guest Post: You CAN Make a Difference by Paul Ledebur

In this time of big corporations, big governments and big problems many people are frustrated with the world around them.  The frustration is heard time and time again in conversations and on social media.  

When the question is asked, “What are you doing about it?”, often the answer comes in the form of the question, “What can I do?”  If people would simply put emphasis on a different part of that answer/question, it takes on an entirely different meaning.  Put the emphasis on the “Can” and say “What CAN I do?” and it becomes a statement of intentional action. 

Making a difference in this world is no easy task.  It’s a big world and, as I said before , it has big problems. Does that mean we should just give up?  

NO!  
It just means that we need to take action, work hard and make sacrifices to Make a Difference.  Many people will go through this life and never make a difference.  They will accept whatever hand they are dealt and react to the situations in life the best they know how.  This is one strategy to get through life.  

However, why just accept what is given when it’s possible to go out and get what you really want.  Mediocrity is not something that people strive for but it is what happens over time for some.  Life’s pressures can be great and can slow personal progress.  However, once you identify your values and decide to Make a Difference, the intent to take action comes alive.  The passion builds and the ball starts rolling.  Once momentum is achieved, it is almost impossible to stop.

The way I’m making a difference is to try and make the world a better, happier place by helping others achieve their goals.  Am I taking on everyone at one time and expect this to happen overnight?  No!!  This is a lifetime journey.  The task would be too big for me to do in a day, a year or even a decade.  

It’s okay that that your “Difference” may not happen overnight.  I also try to spread good will by saying something nice to the people I encounter during my day.  This lets them know I care and hopefully they leave feeling better than prior to seeing me.  

That good feeling is spread by them to another person and so on.  The small gestures I make can travel exponentially to others and spread further than I could imagine. 
That is my way of Making a Difference.

John F. Kennedy said, “One person can make a difference, and everyone should try.”  If you think the problems of the world are too big for you to Make a Difference,
ask Nelson Mandela or Martin Luther King, Jr. what one minority person can do about inequality; ask Bill Gates, what a college dropout can do to change the way the world interacts with computers; finally ask the family of Alexandra Scott, Founder of Alex’s Lemonade Stand, what a six year old diagnosed with terminal cancer can do to cure a disease.  
Each one of these remarkable people were at one time, one person that decided to Make a Difference.   

It takes all of us committed to Making a Difference to solve the problems of the world.  Some can be solved quickly and other will take a lifetime and beyond.  With the right attitude and commitment, we can do it.  Believe that wholeheartedly and the difference you make could be the one that changes the world. 

As a Life Coach and Leadership Coach, I will help you identify your values and stand up to Make a Difference for yourself and the world around you.  Contact me for one-on-one or group sessions.  Mastermind Groups are starting all the time. Paulledebur@yahoo.com