The Personal Growth Network

Career Opportunities Beyond Wellness Coaching

dougnau — Thu, 20 May 2010 04:22:00 +0000

This website has become popular for the content that I provide about personal growth and development as well as Wellness Coaching. Its the later from which I glean the majority of this site traffic.

For those of you that have outreached to me for the past several years as these blog topics have been in the top of the Google rankings, you know that I am a huge proponent of the industry and love guiding my readers about potential careers in the field. For me, wellness coaching has been more than a job for the past 5 years, its been a fulfilling journey in which I’ve been able to support hundreds of people in turning their vision of health into a reality. Its incredibly meaningful, powerful, and satisfying work.

On a personal level, I’ve been at a cross roads. As I’ve worked within a corporation for the bulk of my coaching work, I’ve found there are limitations as to how far you can go (both professionally and financially) when you decide that you’d like to become and work as a coach – at least in an organizational setting. And while I love the work, I’ve been challenging myself to find a career beyond wellness coaching that offers the opportunity and advancement potential that any motivated career focused, and growth oriented professional would desire.

Its my intention of this article to support you as you are considering what a career path in the wellness industry might look like and how one might develop ‘beyond’ wellness coaching.

As of late, I’ve been toying with the idea of working with private clients. I started a live and wellness coaching business about 5 years ago now, and the experience was tremendously gratifying, but for me, after 1.5 years of searching for clients, was not working out financially. Of course, my experience now after a number of years coaching full time in the industry provides me with an entirely new perspective and I am sure that venturing off into my own business now would look much different than it did 5 years ago – that’s simply a matter of understanding the marketplace better and I believe that type of education can only be learned with experience and time – something I’ve got now. Regardless, while I’ve dabbled with working with private clients now (since its actually profitable at this time!), at this point in my life I don’t have the stomach to begin finding my own client base again.

So where does that leave the wellness coach looking for what’s next? About 5 months ago I began reviewing job boards, about once a month, to see what might be offered throughout the state of California (and even beyond for curiosity’s sake. Here’s What I generally found:

Wellness Coach – to my surprise, there were local jobs with openings as wellness coaches – of course this would be a lateral move, though some jobs want you to teach exercise classes and the like as well so they do have some variety for requirements
Health Educator – most hospital systems have jobs open as health educators. I suspect with the new health care reform bill that we’ll start seeing more opportunities in this field as well. From a career perspective, I am not sure that this would be an advancement though.
Program Coordinator – This is a job that is appearing increasingly more often. A wellness program coordinator typically manages the wellness program for a certain employer. This could either be a job working for that employer, or for a wellness company that offers services to employers. Typically this is a step up from a wellness coaching position from a career perspective. This position can also be called a program manager – depending on the organization, manager might indicate a more senior position than a program coordinator.
Program Director – The program director is typically a step above the program coordinator. Expect that you are less hands on in this position in terms of working with individuals directly in supporting them in becoming healthy. Program directors are typically in charge of budgeting, working closely with sales, overall program success, and managing the staff that works within the program they are implementing. Clearly if you are working for a small company, this level of hierarchy might not be in place.
Sales Manager – works with selling the wellness program. Sales managers may have a number of different names, typically its a ‘regional’ title of some sort, and the function is really to be a sales representative. Don’t let the name ‘sales’ fool you. Often times, large health care organizations are giving away health and wellness tools, so selling might mean getting people to adopt those tools (coaching typically costs $ though). It truly is an interesting market.
Product Manager – works with the health and wellness products and manages these offerings. Typically these offerings will be online, and the products tend to work with behavior change models, web based tools, health promotion campaigns, online and mobile applications.

I am sure that there are numerous other options that you could move into, but having worked for a couple corporations now that have large wellness programs implemented, this is a general outline of the career opportunities that might be present. My only warning – its unlikely that you’ll find these all these job at companies right around the block. You’ll likely need to widen your geographic horizon if you feel you are qualified for such a position and want to advance in the field of health promotion.

Getting back to the story…

Back in late February/early March, I stumbled across a position for a ‘Product Manager – Healthy Lifestyles Programs’ with Kaiser Permanente. If you are familiar with Northern California health care organizations, this is one of the competing organizations to Sutter Health – the company with which I was working as a wellness coach. The job description for the position caught me because it had such a striking resemblance to my skill set – requiring both the technical qualifications that I’ve had from working in the software industry for nearly a decade, the project management experience I’ve had working there, and the knowledge of health promotion programs and working with external software vendors. Honestly, I thought the position was written for someone that they intended to move up within the organization because of how specific it was and how unlikely I felt it was that they would find someone with such a specific skill set.

As I mentioned, if you want to get a job in this industry, its worth expanding your geographic region, this job was located in Oakland – a good 2 hour drive from where I live (without traffic), and although I knew that was a stretch, I figured it would be worth a half hearted attempt at submitting a resume through the online application system.

Much to my surprise, I received a call from their HR department the very next day requesting more information. After three interviews, a number of heart to heart’s with my wife, and as thorough an examination of the situation as possible, I accepted the position when it was offered to me. So, as of 3 weeks ago, I am no longer coaching in an organizational setting (though I do have one client I still have private sessions with). My work is very involved with coaching, and the software itself touts itself as a ‘digital coaching’ program, so my ties to the field are not cut by any means.

The biggest challenge so far has been working out a commute situation. My parents live in the SF bay area, and I am boarding with them several nights per week – that’s the only way I could pull this off in the short term. It is difficult to be away from the wife and children several nights per week, but the opportunity warrants the change. These are the big decisions in life that need to be made with a zeal for the future and a pulse for the day.

It’s important to always evaluate your career goals. I know many people that feel wellness coaching is their calling and are very happy to complete their careers in the field. I’ve always known that while I intend on being a coach my whole life, my career as a wellness coach would be a stepping stone to a position in which I’d be able to reach and support many many more people in creating a happy and healthy lifestyle.

Be Well

Written by Doug Nau, The Wellness Coach, i-grow.net

The Mentality of Weight Loss

dougnau — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 23:10:00 +0000

Why are some people successful at losing weight – and KEEPING IT OFF, while others struggle their whole life not quite getting to where they want to be? And why do some people experience drastic swings from a healthy to an obese BMI over and over again in their lives? What I’d like to offer to you is a glimpse into the mentality of someone that does not struggle with weight and has never set a weight loss goal no matter how heavy they were.

Do NOT have your goal be to lose weight

OK – so you are ready to get started and you are wondering what you can do to reach your 10 pound weight loss goal. Well, in this case as far as I am concerned you’ve already failed. Sure you may attain a short term weight loss and reach your ten pound goal with the latest fad diet or by some other means, but the reality is that your short sightedness in goal setting is putting you in a high probability for relapsing into the same lifestyle habits in the long term that have you 10 pounds overweight right now (or if you’re reading this article, probably even more).

I hear this same mistake over and over – setting the absolutely wrong goal. The problem is that while its interesting to lose weight, and someone might even feel good while its happening, it typically involves forcing a lifestyle of deprivation or unenjoyable exercise for a goal which once attained no longer carries the same appeal as it did when it was eluding the pursuer.

What else is wrong with weight loss goals?

There’s another problem that I see with weight loss goals. Its the obsessive compulsion on weight management that it creates. Do you really want to live life thinking about every meal and how that might affect the scale the next day? Agh, where’s the enjoyment in life!

Just recently I had a man visit me that was doing everything right. He was exercising 5 days/week, watching nutrition and was sitting on the top of the world when we met. He asked if he could weigh in during our meeting. He gained 2 pounds over the previous month. I met with him nearly a month later and he quit exercising. He was still eating well, but was so frustrated at the experience that he quit doing what he knew was the right thing to do. In the meantime, his stress increased, he noticed that more body aches crept in, and his overall energy level had gone down. Pretty clear what he was missing out on by dropping the exercise.

What kinds of goals do ‘Healthy’ people have?

Well if weight loss isn’t a goal that will work for the long run, then what is one? Lets look at the mentality that ‘healthy’ people have.

What is a healthy person? Good question, lets just say that a healthy person is someone who is able to be as physically active as they’d like to be, are overall satisfied with their own self image, and have no physical health impairments. Notice I throw in the ‘self image’ concept because so much of what I hear are emotional problems that people have in relation to self image that has absolutely nothing to do with physical health, but it does affect emotional well-being. Many ‘healthy’ people have a very unhealthy self image and I’d go so far as to say they were NOT healthy because of this.

Healthy people have goals related to what they love and enjoy. Personally, I do not love running, but I do enjoy participating in running events several times per year. I do love tennis. I do love doing heavy gardening and outdoor projects. I love being on the water, kayaking, skiing etc. I love walks on the ocean. I love stress free mindful moments by myself in nature. I love the feeling of being soar and sweating – it makes me feel alive. I love good food – even more, I love to eat a meal and to think afterwards that I have fueled my body with the nutrients it needs to thrive and prevent a relapse of cancer. I love being full of energy, thwarting lethargy, and being productive in my work and personal life. I love spending active time with my family cycling, swimming, chasing them around the house. They are too young now, but I cant wait to start playing sports with them. I love sharing this message with others.

When I talk to healthy people, they may have completely different passions, but a very similar mindset. Its a mindset where time and effort are spent on what their priorities are in life. Can you imagine the kinds of goals I might set for myself given the description above that will keep me on my plan of maintaining a healthy weight? The thing is, optimal health is a prerequisite for really thriving in any of your passions. All healthy people know this and live in this manner. They pay attention because life is important enough to. When you stop paying attention, you’re saying there are other things that are more important than life. Fair enough – there may be such situations where you are not #1. For example, I’d do anything for my family, even sacrifice my health and/or life. But, there’s a big difference between jumping into a river to save your drowning child and eating your way to a heart attack because you don’t have time to cook a healthy meal when you do have time for 4 hours of television a day. Ask yourself if your busy schedule is just an excuse.

What do you notice for yourself?

That’s how I see the world. It’s how many healthy people see the world. I am not suggesting that I know what is best for your life – that’s your choice. Just know that the mentality of weight loss is not a mentality of weight loss at all. Its a connection with life, its beauty, and your own personal passions. Know yours, act as such.

Be Well

Written by Doug Nau, The Wellness Coach, i-grow.net

How to Live Every Day Exceptionally

dougnau — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 19:27:00 +0000

For about half of my life (the last 17 years), I’ve maintained a journal consisting of the big events and daily monotony of whatever was going on at that time. At some points in time I’ve been more diligent than others at writing, but since I was 18 years old, I’ve filled at least a dozen books with my thoughts, my excitements, frustrations and experiences. No one’s ever read them, and quite frankly I myself only browse through these once in a blue moon. That being said, there was a period in life four years ago that I made a very conscious and deliberate choice to read through each of these journals and pull out the strongest themes and messages. It was my own personal strategy for getting to know myself better. Now that I’ve gone through years of coach training, I recognize the essence of being a coach was already founded in the notes that I took over that month of reading and note taking and half a lifetime of journaling I had been doing. Here are the rules to live by which were most prominently discussed throughout my writings (condensed from about 2000 pages).

Every Day is Exceptional
Be open and express yourself, Emotions are not to be bottled up
Have a free spirit
Have a dream and establish goals
Be a winner as you strive to win the game
Always give of yourself

Every Day is Exceptional

In this blog entry I am going to review the first theme. Every Day is Exceptional. One of the things that journaling forces you to do is to become conscious of what is going on right now. Something happens each and every day. Sometimes its small, like going to work and catching a smile on a face you hadn’t seen before, and sometimes its big – like making the sale you’ve worked on or 6 months. Whatever kind of events fill the day, living life today is exceptional. In order to keep life exceptional first remind yourself that it is! Here are some of the strategies I discovered in my writing that help me to keep each and every day in perspective.

Slow down. If you’re like me, you’ve got an incessant need to do, do, do. Even sitting to write this article today took some effort just for me to SLOW DOWN. Its not always about being productive, its also about being. Figure out a way to be conscious and to enjoy what’s here in each and every moment (I watch the palm tree sway in front of my window as I write this lawn – ahhh)
Breathe every moment in. To dovetail on #1 above, breathing is centering and pulls us into the moment. Make breathing consciously a regular practice. Its something that can be done consistently wherever you are and may be the exceptional moment you look forward to each day!
Work towards your passion. I was able to make the shift 5 years ago from the software industry to Wellness Coaching. To be real with you, that was a leap of faith. But it was a leap of faith that has brought tremendous happiness and health into my life. It was interesting for me to read through my years of working in an unfulfilling position and recognize how important this was for me BEFORE switching careers. Work towards your passion, give it everything you’ve got and the rest will fall in place
Work is not the purpose of life. For those of you (as I found myself years ago) that are working in an unfulfilling position, that are putting in so many hours that there’s no more time in the day, and you are strapped to a blackberry, pager, or cell phone, you may have missed the point. Unless you love what you do with a passion (then there truly is no ‘work’), then work is not your life’s purpose – though you may be acting as if it is. Even if your work is your passion, there is room for more purpose in life. Family, relationships, enjoyment, enculturation, and personal growth are some ideas that come to mind.
Never sacrifice sleep and health. Sleep and health are two things we can never recover. Sure, we can catch up on a couple days of rough sleep, but years of depriving oneself by getting 4-5 hours per night, fueled by power naps and coffee in the day is no way to treat your body right. Your health should be your top priority above all else because most everything relies on your health in order to function optimally. I learned this the hard way. Make your day exceptional by getting good rest, giving your body good fuel, by working your muscles and heart, and respecting that we evolved living in conditions much different than today. Go back to your roots and simply listen to your body.
Live a little. When I was 18, my daredevil new friend at college once told me to live a little. He saw I was a bit uptight, hesitant to do some of the ‘wild’ things he was doing and challenged me to move beyond my comfort zone in more ways than one. I became a real fan of the phrase ‘Carpe Diem’ – seize the day. Every day has opportunity built into it, the question is what we do with that opportunity. Want a new job? Its as easy as preparing your resume and browsing the internet. Want a new relationship? Go out and start talking to new people. Want to more money? Create a plan to build your financial empire. We pass up hundreds of opportunities to do something new every day. Why? Because we are comfortable and we’ve stopped looking. If you’re sick of it - ‘live a little’.

I know that reviewing my diaries four years ago really helped me to create my own personal mission, to see clearly for myself who I was on the inside, and to prioritize what really mattered to me in life. If you live by the principles listed above, you’ll begin to feel that every day truly is exceptional and you’ll see the role you’ve got in creating that reality.

Be Well

Written by Doug Nau, The Wellness Coach, i-grow.net

Letting Go of our Dreams

dougnau — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 17:38:00 +0000

Amazingly, and unfortunately not by design, its been just over 3 full months since my last blog post. As always, life is a journey, and there are learnings to be had in every situation. I’ve got no excuses for letting my posts slip, the fact of the matter is that other items have simply been higher on my life priority list. Action is a determination of our true motivations. Its been a conscious decision to put down the laptop and let the rest of life happen. Its all part of the juggle of life.

Living in Harmony

James Arthur Ray (the personal growth guru that is under a lot of scrutiny right now for a couple of deaths that happened at one of his camps/seminars), wrote a book about harmonic wealth. A premise of his discussion was that life is not always balanced and that we should instead try to approach life like a symphonic harmony. Some notes become strong, others fade out, a new instrument comes into play, and the song is made beautiful by these variations. He equates this to certain actions coming in and out of the mix in our life.

Even when thinking about harmonic living, there are some pieces of a melody which should always be present. My model of whole person wellness provides the instruments which should be present to some degree for every life composition. We may not always rate ourselves a ‘perfect 10’ in each of these categories, but if we underperform in any of these for a sustained amount of time, we’re setting ourselves up for trouble.

Health

Physical
Emotional
Spiritual
Mental/Brain

Relationships
Career
Money
Enjoyment
Personal Growth

In terms of the model above, I’ve let this aspect of my career (website) take a step backward while focusing on others. Blogging also provides me with enjoyment and personal growth opportunities – though once again, I’ve been fostering these aspects of wellness via other means. At the same time, my love for writing and sharing this message is as strong as ever – so this moment right now is an opportunity for me to re-evaluate the choices I’ve been making with my time and commit to once again developing this website. The message, always look forward and use the past as a learning opportunity.

What happens when we let our dreams go?

Isn’t it amazing how life happens? In my case I bought a new home in December (a lot of projects), my day job just went through the busy season completing a series of program enrollment cycles, and I took on a project training wellness coaches and helping to implement a program that started in Mid January in Colorado. I am committed to being a present father to my two young children and amidst all these happenings, working on the website has taken a back seat.

Does this sound familiar? How do we let our dreams slip away?

For me, the answer to the question above is our state of consciousness. Its very easy to get ‘busy’ and live unconsciously. I’ve done this many times in the past; particularly when working with a software company in the silicon valley. Work and life demands have a way of taking control if you are unconscious. You know you are unconscious when you look back at the last week, month, year or even decade and think ‘how much life did I live on my own terms?’ Something else took over. You probably didn’t even evaluate what your life looked like at the time because you were too busy. You just felt tired, exhausted, and unfulfilled.

This is how our dreams slip away.

Now, this website, becoming an author, and becoming a recognized authority in the field of wellness and personal development are all huge dreams of mine. The reality is that this website is a means to reach the world, and I’ve consciously grown other opportunities that reach a similar goal. In other words, I’ve been deliberate and conscious about my actions, choices and decisions. And now I am deliberately recommitting to this blog.

Thank you all for your patience and support while I’ve taken this sabbatical to develop other life opportunities. I look forward to your comments and feedback on future blog posts.

Be Well

The Six Components of Whole Person Wellness

Written by Doug Nau, The Wellness Coach, i-grow.net

The Future of the Wellness Movement

dougnau — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 19:35:00 +0000

Earlier this week I was asked to share my thoughts on the question “Are you optimistic/hopeful for the progression of the wellness movement/wellness coaching?” by a graduate student working on his thesis. As I began crafting a response, I thought more and more about how rich of a question this is.

Firstly, I love that there is recognition of a ‘wellness movement’. Similar to the environmental movement we are all well aware of now, we are at a time where an industry of wellness (not fitness, but wellness) professionals is beginning to evolve. I am of the opinion that we are in the infancy stages of this movement, and as a whole the efforts that have been made to date have been fragmented and disjointed. For example, we’ve got life coaches, personal trainers, yoga instructors, nutritionists, career counselors, psychologists, and financial advisors in this industry to name a few. Each of these people play a role in your whole person wellness, though each tends to work in a non-integrated silo so to speak that ignores what the other may be doing. The future wellness professional is an expert that recognizes the interrelationship of all of these aspects of one’s life and see’s how the proper balance produces not only the longest life span, but also the highest possible quality of life.

Are you optimistic/hopeful for the progression of the wellness movement?

Now to answer the question. The reality is that there is no other option than to be optimistic about the progression of the wellness movement. As a country and globally, the health of humanity is at risk. The next generation of Americans is the first with a lifespan anticipated to be shorter than the previous generation. Its not just our physical health, but we’re seeing a deterioration in our mental health. We far too often pop pills to deal with depression rather than facing the event head on (ie: the loss of a parent), and we numb our senses to what it is like to be human. In the meantime, we drag out the process of healing, we expend a financial burden on society, and we deal with side effects of an over medicated population. Can we really continue like this? I’ve believe that our government (even with all its bureaucracy), has the right incentives now to start legislation to support this movement.

But it cant start there, it needs to start with the individual. No one else’s money will change someone else’s lifestyle, but appropriate leadership and mentoring can support them in making the right decisions for themselves.

With certainty, there will be populations that embrace the concepts of whole person wellness with greater enthusiasm than others. And at this time I am optimistic because of the sheer volume of emails I receive every week by those reading this blog. These are all promising indicators of a budding industry.

Are you optimistic/hopeful for the progression of the wellness coaching?

Here’s the second part of the question. Where does wellness coaching fit in with this all? This is more challenging to answer. I believe that wellness coaching is one of many opportunities out there to support the wellness movement. We’ve absolutely seen a growth in the awareness of this field and the number of jobs available, and I do expect this to continue. Will it hit the mainstream such as psychotherapy/counseling? I have doubts here, but I do believe the industry will continue to grow and that those committed to this line of work will have an impact on society and shape what wellness looks like in the 21st century.

My hesitation in this response is related to the framework under which I place wellness coaching. I see wellness coaching as one on one interactions with clients supporting them in establishing the wellness vision, the creation of goals, developing action plans, and finding inner motivation to take action. While I believe this field will continue to grow, I see that happening mostly in a business setting where employers are looking to reduce healthcare costs. Unfortunately, its expensive to start (and reports are coming out all the time now demonstrating ROI). Some individuals may opt to hire a personal wellness coach, and while I’d like to believe many would choose to pay for this, I have a tough time seeing this fit in the mainstream and really proliferate (and I truly hope that my vision is limited).

What jobs in wellness will grow?

I do believe the wellness movement has much room to grow in the following areas:

seminar & workshop leaders
keynote speakers
health educators/teachers (perhaps even at the elementary school level)
corporate wellness consultants
wellness program managers

If I were to outline the plan to revamp our nation’s health status it would look like the following

Bring wellness education into our schooling systems at a young age. The concepts discussed in the six components of whole person wellness should be understood by second graders. The principles are quite simple and very powerful.
Incentives for corporations to have health promotion programs. Insurers, the government etc, should incentivize corporations to have effective wellness programs in place. Healthy companies will also get the HR exposure and goodwill that such programs create
Strong leadership to instill personal ownership. Everyone is ultimately responsible for their own decisions and more regulation/legislation is not the answer. A commitment, a media presence and a demonstration of what whole person wellness is, needs to come from our leaders within the household, the community, our businesses and government. While leaders do not change an individual, they do provide inspiration. Our society is searching for ‘good news’ and this is just the news that needs to be socially present and available to everyone.
Healthy lifestyle incentives for individuals. Need insurance, if you are healthy get it cheaper. This is powerful because it integrates financial and physical wellness. The more aspects of wellness we can connect to the more likely it is to work.

As a whole, I am excited and inspired about the changes we’re seeing in the wellness industry. Its a field that is rich with opportunity that has unfortunately become inundated by miracle diets, drinks that cure every disease, and 5 minute per day exercise programs that give you a six pack. For those looking to make a legitimate career in this field now is the time to take action and become a leader in an industry still finding its direction.

Be Well

Written by Doug Nau, The Wellness Coach, i-grow.net

Developing Prosperity

dougnau — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 06:37:00 +0000

Have you ever wondered what the path was to becoming truly prosperous? Many people fail because they develop the path before determining the goal. They assume prosperity means achieving a state of financial wealth yet the boundaries around what it means to attain financial wealth are seldom defined. So what does it truly mean to become prosperous?

Prosperity is defined as - “a successful, flourishing, or thriving condition”. Again, these are all exciting states to achieve, but given the level of personal interpretation that can be assigned to each of these qualities, the truth of the matter is that you must decide what becoming prosperous means to you. Again, if you lack clarity here, you are failing to even get in the game. Here’s several simple steps to becoming prosperous in any aspect of your life (health, career, relationships. personal growth, finance, enjoyment).

Become Clear – craft a vision, set goals, write down what it is you want. People struggle here because they are unsure what they want. If you feel like this, don’t take life so seriously, enjoy the process, and pick an outcome you really think you’d like. Also, this might be a chance to have a heart to heart with yourself and make sure your not talking yourself out of your goals because you are afraid of failing. Taking action towards what you want is not always easy, but the alternative is a life which is unfulfilling. You tell me which what’s really the easy path.
Devote Yourself – if you really want to be prosperous, devote yourself to becoming so. Want to get healthy, then what are you doing watching football games and eating chicken wings. Want to make more money, then go beyond expectation at your work. Want a better relationship? Then stop squabbling with your wife about who did the dishes last night. Really, in the grand scheme of a life together, how big of a deal is that? All these suggestions point to a simple truth. Wanting something is not enough. You must devote your thoughts and your action towards accomplishing your goals in order to become prosperous. Sound too big? Then you are learning something about what you really want, not what you say you want.
Be Prepared for Failure – Every prosperous person learns from their mistakes. No self made millionaire made all the right moves the first time around. The person that bounces back up after failing repeatedly, is the person destined to win. Can you see it? How could you fail if you ‘always’ try again. Failure is a part of life and if you can’t handle failure, then you can’t handle prosperity.
Take as long as it takes – How long will it take to accomplish your goal? Want to run a marathon and you’ve never run? It should take 6 months to train to this level. What if it took you 10 times this long? Could you persist for 6 years? I am here telling you now that you’ve got to be willing to stay with your goals for the long run. Its far too easy to try then give up. Try should not be in your vocabulary. When it comes to developing personal prosperity, why would anyone ‘try’. You create – right? (after all, what’s the alternative – mediocrity?)
Become Clear: Again – Time goes on and life changes. Your goals will change. Your priorities will change. Your definition of prosperity will change. If you are operating with outdated goals, that’s as good as having no goals. Make it a regular practice (at least annually) to evaluate your goals and re-define these for yourself. Hold onto those that have the most meaning for you. Be true to yourself. Family pressures, unexpected commitments, and any surprising life event can change your priorities. There’s no point in beating yourself up over goals you’ve been less than committed to, and by the same token, if the goal really has meaning, you’ll be excited to refocus towards its attainment. Never give up on what really has meaning for you.

Your Current Situation is Who You Are

I’ve heard it over and over, and never quite got it the way I get it now. I assume you might have the same perplexed/unappreciative look on your face that I had when I first heard this. Your current situation is an exact result of your life decisions. No, your situation has nothing to do with your upbringing, your parents, your schooling system, your lack of opportunity. Your current situation is a reflection of you.

If you don’t like your current situation, that can be a tough statement to swallow. If so, the reality is that it is time to take ownership of your life. Don’t fight against it, see the truth in what’s written above. You’ve made decisions that have led to outcomes that have culminated in the result of your current situation. Sure, its easier to blame others, luck, or the economy, but its more productive to learn and grow from what has happened. You choose, be a victim or a victor.

To become prosperous, you must own all of who you are. Whatever’s happened up until now will only limit you if you allow it to do so. You have absolute control over the decisions you make starting this moment and the strategies listed above guarantee prosperity – if you choose to believe it.

Prosperity is a state of mind. Its becoming successful, it is to flourish, and it is to thrive in this moment. I often wonder what separates me from someone in a state of ‘poor health’ when they sit with me in a room. The reality is that their experience is nearly identical to mine in that moment. And our only real difference is my commitment to the thought that I’ve got which has me running 4 miles later that day (and 5 more days this week). If they had that same thought, they would share in my prosperity when it came to health. Likewise, were I truly committed to becoming a public speaker and sharing levels of success with the likes of Wayne Dyer, I’d be taking action to become a world class speaker. Though I may tell myself that I’d like to do that, my actions to date tell me that this is not truly a goal of mine. I must own that reality.

Prosperity starts now

Are you waiting to become prosperous? Is life too overwhelming right now to take on another project? Do you feel like things are spiraling out of control and don’t see a way to start? If so, you’ll need to give yourself a good slap in the face and assess your priorities. For those of you that feel like ‘getting by’ is the priority, then you’ll get that. You’ll get by with your career, with your finances, with your health, and you’ll never excel in any of the areas you wish to become prosperous in. Waiting till you finish the next project, for the new year, for the kids to grow up, till you get the next job, till you retire? How’s that worked out for you so far? Now is the only moment you’ll ever have.

The truth is that your life is way too important to wait one second. Prosperity can be had this very moment. More than anything, prosperity is a decision. A thought pattern that has you acting in a coherent way that is aligned with your goals. Its not the achievement of the goals, rather the path towards its achievement which defines prosperity. Make the decision to live prosperous and see the shift this moment.

Be Well

Written by Doug Nau, The Wellness Coach, i-grow.net

Intellect and Experience – The Winning Combination

dougnau — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 18:23:00 +0000

The Intellect

What makes us unique as human beings is our incredible capacity to think. Our ability to analyze, prioritize, imagine, dream, compute, predict and interpret is truly amazing. The modern world values these qualities and those that can use this intellectual capacity to solve the problems our society collectively face are rewarded with high paying jobs, acknowledgment and praise. Those with a less attuned ability to think in terms of what the business world demands are often punished with respect to their opportunity and pay grade. So, the goal should be to raise our intellectual capacity – right?

Problems with Intellect (Monkey Mind)

When taken to the extreme there’s real danger in ‘over-thinking’. You’ve likely heard of analysis paralysis (a situation in which someone freezes instead of making a decision because they are over-analyzing the item at hand), this scenario is just the tip of the iceberg. Many people listen so closely with their thoughts that they literally talk themselves out of taking any action of meaning and value.

Our amazing ability to analyze, imagine, dream, interpret, etc. turns into a personal demon that second guesses every inclination that we have. We ask why did this happen, how could that happen, what will happen if, and think I just couldn’t, I shouldn’t, what would mom say about this, and the list goes on and on. The conversation we entertain in our heads stops us from meeting the love of our lives, from becoming physically fit and healthy, from excelling at the work we do, and even recognizing our strengths. We become a prisoner to these thoughts.

Living Experientially

Consider that what’s written above is not black or white. What I mean by this is that on the spectrum of using our intellect properly to improperly, we sometimes use it wisely, and sometimes we don’t. Seldom does one only have self defeating thoughts, and seldom does someone always use their intellect in the most useful way possible. That’s not to say that using our intellect does not have its dangers. The biggest issue that arises when engaging our intellect is that we’ve come to rely on this part of ourselves far too often. We give more value to our capability to discern than other truths about who we are. In doing so have lost the capacity to live life experientially. What do I mean by this?

Look at a child. How do they approach the world. They jump into the ocean to play, they pick up the bugs in the yard, they socialize with new children as if they were best of friends. In a nutshell, they don’t overthink the world, they experience it. When we get so caught up in our thoughts and our intellect, we run the risk of drowning out the opportunity for experience in our every day lives. Often, even when we do experience new things, our minds are running so fast that we hardly take the time to enjoy it.

Sometimes we think that we’ll postpone our enjoyment/experience to a day in the future – perhaps next week, or over the holidays, maybe at your birthday, when your kids graduate, when you get the promotion, or when you retire. I’ve got news for you, if you don’t train your mind to know how to experience life right now, you won’t know how to do it when retirement comes. Every day you think the same way, you reinforce the neurosynaptic pathways that thought travels through in your brain. These literally create a thought pattern of least resistance within your brain. In turn, when you do retire, you’ll just look for the next milestone that represents your opportunity to live. While its not unsurmountable, it makes change more challenging if you don’t start now.

Self Inquiry

What does this have to do with you? Take a look for yourself. Are you enjoying the moment while properly using your intellect to plan effectively for the future? Are you able to turn off and simply be? Are you doing what you need to do to support your health and well being? Are you living a fulfilling life? If the answers to these questions are not what you’d like them to be, turn off the part of your intellect that wants to wallow in the moment. Use the part that creates a positive plan to move forward. And notice just how good you feel in the now as you take action. Bottom line, creating an exciting plan and executing it feels great not only in the future, but in the now. You can be the goal before the attainment of the goal. This is the key to mastering the relationship of experience and intellect.

Be Well

Book Review & Commentary – Start Late, Finish Rich

dougnau — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 17:27:00 +0000

Background

David Bach, speaker and financial advisor is the author of The Automatic Millionaire and a series of Finish Rich books including Start Late, Finish Rich: A No-Fail Plan for Achieving Financial Freedom at Any Age. The book, published in 2007, is 368 pages and is available in both paper and audio versions.

Book Review & Commentary

Your first thought may be why does a personal growth and development website have a book review on finishing rich. Dig a bit deeper and you’ll see that personal growth is all about finishing rich, and living rich during the process (financially or otherwise). David Bach actually does a good job wrapping up this book by acknowledging that these concepts are not just about the mechanics of how to get rich, but also about enjoying yourself and being rich during the process. Financial growth is a huge aspect of personal growth, of personal wellness, and contributes enormously to the attainment of your goals. Those that live a life of ‘lack’ financially are likely to be lacking in other areas of their life as well.

That being said, Start Late, Finish Rich is a life coaching and financial coaching how to guide which shows you the ways to retire rich no matter what your age is and your current income level. Personally, I am not a financial advisor, though I do have a strong education in the field, and approach my personal finances with diligence, curiosity and understanding. I am also a numbers guy – but you don’t need to be to become financially knowledgeable. If you feel that you are not a numbers person, you are not educated on the topics of compound interest, and you struggle to see where all your money goes, then this book is an excellent starting point. David Bach in Start Late, Finish Rich introduces a number of strategies for saving more and building your nest egg. In a way he makes you face what you’ll need to do to retire rich whether you are 35 or 55, whether you are in debt or a homeowner. Be warned, you may or may not like what you hear.

The strategies in this book are no secret and are not spectacular. He does not promise anyone that they will get rich overnight (though he does embellish the book with a few exceptional stories). The concepts he touches on are tax deferred retirement accounts, paying yourself first, owning your home, compound interest, the latté factor (spending less), and being generous with one’s own time and money – a quality that most extremely wealthy people share.

I agree with David that most people get stuck in their own frustrations about finances, and even though books and guidelines like this exist spelling out precisely how someone can change their situation, the seemingly impossible task of it all prevents them from taking action. His point, anyone can finish rich – if you start now! You must start now.

Is this ringing a bell? Does the struggle with finances resonate with you? If it does, you are part of the majority. The real question is if you are content with the struggle, or if you are determined to take action – even drastic action to change your circumstance. The mechanics are laid out for you in this book, the decision however is up to you.

Although none of the concepts in this book were new to me, I am committed to my financial future and I really enjoy reviewing such material – even if its all simply review. Being conscious to the topic and the principles offers an opportunity to re-evaluate contribution strategies to 401k plans, to think about real estate investment, and to be leary of where one is leaking money. Its far too easy to fall to sleep here. The question is where is your focus. And what goals are you focused towards. Become curious rather than frustrated and your situation will shift.

While none of the strategies written in the book are foolproof (ie: in California we’ve been hit with a huge real estate market decline, economic recession and have been affected by the decline in global securities), they do offer sound long term principles that have a high likelihood of working if your risk tolerance is great enough. If you think the strategies are too risky, what’s the risk of doing nothing?

As evidenced by the examples the author provides, clearly the book was written before the recession hit the economy, as a reader you’ve got the option to choose whether to poo-poo the principles because of these events, or embrace the opportunity that the recession brings (ie: 5% 30 year mortgage rates and lowered housing costs). I choose to seek out the opportunity.

Who is this book for?

Struggling to get on top of your financial future? Are you a complete newbie to managing your finances? Are you worrying about your lack of retirement savings at 30, 40 or even 50 years old. If you are not intricately familiar with compound interest, real estate investing, tax deferred retirement accounts, ways to increase pay or cut expenses, then this book is a great starting point. If you’re like me and just like to stay aware of minor tweaks that you can make, then you’ll also enjoy this review of these principles.

Buy the Book Here: Start Late, Finish Rich: A No-Fail Plan for Achieving Financial Freedom at Any Age (Paperback)
Buy the Audio Book Here: Start Late, Finish Rich: A No-Fail Plan for Achieving Financial Freedom at Any Age (Audio Book)

Be Well

Personal Insights Blog #3 – 2009 California Fit Business Award Ceremony

dougnau — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:51:00 +0000

It’s inspiring to be part of an event that celebrates those businesses and individuals that are taking the initiative to tackle the nation’s healthcare issues head on without waiting for government to take the lead. The only way I believe that the United States can reach the goal of preventing healthcare costs from bankrupting our economy is by empowering individuals to take charge of their lives to prevent expensive procedures from becoming the norm. This event, put on by the California Taskforce for Youth and Workplace Wellness, was truly a celebration of the trailblazing businesses that are leading the way. If you work for an organization with operations in California that is implementing a corporate wellness program, I’d highly encourage you to consider applying for the California Fit Business Award.

In my previous life as an software manager and implementations specialist with an environmental software firm, I had the opportunity to work with a similar group of cutting edge corporations that were voluntarily setting emission caps for their organizations. Without any significant governmental regulation, social consciousness was growing, and I saw more and more companies begin implementing, or at a minimum, begin considering ways in that they could offer more environmental friendly operations. Now, nearly a decade later, we are seeing the same movement with preventative health. Companies of all sizes are beginning to implement vastly varied programs to keep their employees healthy, productive, and happy. Its one of the few win/win situations that any employer can benefit from. I’ve spoken with businesses with seven employees that offer health club benefits to employees so long as they go 6 times per month, and worked with a 40,000 employee company with complex and highly incentivized programs that are directed towards creating positive behavior change.

My question for you – if you are not already implementing wellness programs within your organization, what is stopping you? Maybe you are not a leader within the organization – who cares? Individuals make the impact, encouraging co-workers to train for running events, calling up Weight Watchers to hold a lunchtime series, even ordering salads instead of pizza for lunch. There’s no excuse.

I recognize that few are as passionate as about this topic as I am. But the comments I get from this blog and through the acquaintances that I make, have me convinced that many people share my concern, many are poised for action, and we are on the verge of a wellness revolution. We’re seeing where we’re headed and its not pretty. Its not pretty on a societal level, and its not pretty on a personal level. And there are opportunities. Beautiful ones that not only improve health, but also improve quality of life, happiness, and true whole person wellness. We’ll need to accomplish this starting with ourselves then spreading the message to our community. I encourage you to get involved to any capacity, and the workplace is an ideal location to start the revolution.

Congratulations to all of the winners of the California Fit Business Award, its awesome to be part of the role models that will design the path towards our future’s wellness model.

Be Well

How to Influence Others AND Gain their Respect!

dougnau — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 17:09:00 +0000

There is a fine line between influence and manipulation. When you manipulate someone you are getting them to do or think the way you want them to for your benefit and often to their detriment. Influence, on the other hand, is the gentle persuasion which supports another in seeing and acting in ways they feel comfortable with and are proud to take ownership of. Here’s a real world example.

A real estate agent can manipulate a client by selling them a home that they know will not be a long term fit. The agent in turn gets a check and in several years, a disappointed client. On the other hand, the real estate agent that my wife and I worked with 6 years ago when we purchased our home, did have influence over our decision and definitely steered us in a direction she felt was best in purchasing our first home. Her influence came from a place of understanding our needs, our desire for a family, and a knowledge of the changes planned in the area that we were purchasing in. Our home has turned out to be an amazing fit – we love it and without her influence we would have never even stopped to look at the home.

What I’ve described above is the power of influence. Its something each of us innately has in every relationship. But be warned, when influence verges on manipulation, it becomes hazardous. So what are the keys to influencing others and gaining their respect in the process?

Key #1 – Knowing what others want

If you’d like to influence someone, a great starting point is to learn what it is that they want. Often we assume we know what someone wants. When we do this we can either be dead wrong or we may be leaving out a large piece of the puzzle. So, before giving someone your pitch, open the lines of communication, learn what it is they want and offer a proposal that is in alignment with what you know is true – not what you thought was true. Even if they do not agree with your intended outcome, this approach will make the proposal that much more palatable.

Key #2 – Letting others see it for themselves

Life coaches are trained in being masterful at letting others find answers for themselves. When presenting your proposal, rather than forcing your ideas, present them and pay attention to how your counterpart reacts. Is there uncertainty, is there frustration, is there agreement? These are all keys as to how to communicate. Uncertainty warrants explanation (and be careful now to be ‘selling’ your pitch too much at this point). Frustration requires compassion and a desire to seek understanding. Agreement lets you move right to the conversation about action.

The key is that rather than looking to convince someone that your viewpoint is right and that they should act the way you want them to act, your approach should be a conversation which supports someone seeing for themselves that your proposal is a good idea. So what questions can you ask that might open the space for a frustrated or uncertain counterpart to see some potential and opportunity? They don’t want your reasons why this is a good idea, they want to find their own reasons. Make helping them do this on their own your priority.

Key #3 – The power of diagnosis

Interesting psychological studies have been performed on groups which indicate that people typically act in accordance with expectations. An interesting study in the military demonstrated that those randomly labeled as ‘high performers, average performers, and low performers’ to their superiors mysteriously conformed to these expectations in measures as real as written test scores. What happened? The superior officers had higher expectations, they unconsciously treated the high performers with greater integrity, and more opportunity. As a result, the soldiers in no obsolete way became the expected role.

How does this apply to influence? Our perception of others has a tremendous influence on how they actually are! If we expect someone to be agreeable, open and excited, then it is likely that they will be. If we expect an opposite reaction, then so be it. Ever heard of the ‘Law of Attraction’?

This lesson goes well beyond just setting expectations, it suggests that acknowledging others for strengths and pointing out qualities that you feel they have can be extremely influential. Who doesn’t like to hear from their boss that they are a tremendous asset from the team and they are the right person to lead a new project? Even if the project isn’t one that is the most exciting one for that person, this sort of acknowledgement can set the stage for happily accepting the task (particularly if the acknowledgement is well founded).

Key #4 – Letting Go

In order to be successful with the first three keys to influencing others you must absolutely be willing to let go. If under the surface you are firm in your beliefs and you must have things a certain way, then its much more likely that your attempt at influencing will be perceived as or turn into manipulation. If you want to be successful influencing others, you must truly have their best interests in mind. When you’ve lost touch with this key element, you can in no way persuade effectively. You’ve become rigid and inflexible. While you may not want to let go of your ideas, once you become willing you’ll have greater success.

Is it Ethical for a Coach to Influence Clients?

What a rich question. Keep in mind, we all influence others in every interaction. Whether we influence them to smile back at us because we smile at them, or we influence them to buy a house, this is all influence. A coach is always influencing a client. Influencing them to challenge unproductive ways of thinking, influencing them to see and form bigger picture goals, influencing them to be open to greater possibilities. Yes, a coach influences clients, its impossible not to.

The real question is whether or not it is ethical to manipulate a client into creating goals which are not their own. Of course, the answer is no. Once you’ve found the goal which speaks to their heart, a coach may influence the client towards a path that can help them attain that goal. While the client may kick and scream along the way, deep inside they appreciate and respect you for your influence. This is what our real estate agent did with us, and this is what you’ll need to do to influence others and the world in a congruent and positive way.

Be Well