Tag Archives: Education

Finding your personal solution to your personal questions

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Nicolas Zart, ACCWhat most people truly want is to find their personal solutions to their problems.  What most people ask for are ready made answers and for someone to just give them what to do.

As a certified Coach, I get approached with concerns and problems followed by being asked what should the person do.  Without going into details about what Coaching is and isn’t, my first reaction is to find out what this person is really asking for and what does she or he really need.  The first question is a little tricky and will involve asking more questions to find if the person is asking a straight forward question or is there more behind and beneath the surface.

For instance, the most common concern is that of not being happy at work.  A consultant or adviser would jump at the invitation to advise on how to get out of a specific career followed by finding another job.  Yet, this doesn’t address the deeper issue at heart.  Why is this person unhappy with what once excited them?  What is missing here?  Further questioning usually reveals something has changed and most of the time that change is from within.  While sometimes we just outgrow our careers and turn to other ambitions, most of the time rekindling the passion within our current positions is as simple as taking a little distance and getting an overall view of the situation.

The second part is easier and consists of finding out what the person needs.  In both cases however, you will notice that only that specific person has the right amount of intimate knowledge of the overall situation to make the proper decisions.  After all, who knows you more and better than yourself?

Lastly, letting someone find their own answers and solutions is of vital importance.  It fosters confidence, creates greater awareness around who they are and how they function.  It mostly gives them the satisfaction that they know best who they are, can serve themselves and finally give enough confidence to take on life’s many challenges head on.

The only help anyone needs is finding their own unique ways of reaching those personal solutions.  This is where a professionally trained Coach proves to be of great value.

Having fun with marketing yourself

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Feet on the ground, sight in the futureIf you are like me, you shy away from pompous titles that pigeon-hole you in a restrictive and tight role.  I am more than the sum of my qualifications.

The gist is we are trained to seek out our roles to communicate and interact accordingly.  The problem is we are much bigger than a single title and having more than one can give the wrong idea.  As Albert Einstein supposedly said: “We are quantum beings living with a Newtonian mind-frame.”  So how do you let someone have a taste of your multifaceted business life?

Let Them Do The Legwork.  When it comes to explaining what I do, after years of trying I still cannot find something that encompasses everything.  Coaching, check!  Consulting, check!  Writing, check! Wholistic way of life evangelist, check!  Healthy food, check!  So on, so forth.  The problem is no title says it all.  But is it a problem after all?

Last party I went to, I was determined not to feel the pressure of uncontrollably blurring out my intricate job titles.  I decided to talk about the fun aspect of my career.  So when I was asked what I did, I answered I get paid to ask people questions and have fun with it.  The look on the person’s face was delicious and so inquisitive, it sparked a conversation where they realized all I did.

And that is the point.  We might be engineers, dentists, scientists, managers but none of these terms describe the incredible wealth of our specific and person careers.  To top it all, my Coaching is very specific and only applies to certain individuals eager to encompass their greater self.  My Consulting takes me on different paths from streamlining organization, brainstorming, targeting, designing, and much more.  And best yet, I have clients where all these aspects come together under a coherent package that just has no name.

So next time you attempt the impossible and try to cater to those left brain thinkers, simply have fun and play with it.  You’ll never be able to take a definitive snapshot.  Let them do the work.

How to enjoy marketing yourself

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Enjoy marketing yourself againHi everyone,

As a business owner I also have had a hard time marketing myself in the past.  Thankfully, this has changed and I now not only fully enjoy it but also play with it.  In the meantime, take the opportunity from the Shift Network that is offering yet another powerful event.

I want to invite you to tomorrow’s free teleseminar on “5 Keys to Giving Your Gift to the Shift (How to Feel Good about Marketing Yourself and Make a Great Living Doing What You Love!)”.

The call is this tomorrow, Tuesday, January 31st, and features top conscious business leaders and marketing experts — Lisa Sasevich, Alexis Neely, Lisa Cherney, Michele PW and George Kao — all sharing their proven methods for getting your gift out there in an authentic, non-salesy and successful way.

You can get more details and sign up here.

This free call is an opportunity for you to take your business or soul work to the next level. Learn how you can enjoy the process of marketing yourself, and make an abundant living while you’re doing what you love.

You can sign up even if you can’t attend live, and you’ll be sent the recording.  You can register here for free.

See you tomorrow, Nicolas

Failure is not necessarily a sign of failure

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Chemicals or natural products?It might be hard to conceive failure as anything but complete and total failure.  After all, we live in a quick result oriented society.  However, failure does not automatically mean failure.

The gist is it’s up to us, ultimately to turn our experiences into something concrete.  We have the choice to try, experience, construct, build and watch our visions fulfill themselves or tumble.  While we may have little to say about the results, we certainly have more control over what we make of them.

Fear of Failure.  We only have fear to fear.  Rarely have wiser words been uttered, and the fear of failing is what holds us back form the great success we envision and deserve.  We work hard.  We build many scenarios.  Some become reality, others fail.  When they become reality, we see it as natural.  When they fail, it is the end of the world and we get discouraged.  Thankfully, we are freed from these silly notions as babies struggling to master our awkward bodies. So what can we do now?

The Promise of Success.  It’s all quite simple in the end.  Despite what we might have experienced in the past, as I look around, I notice successful people are resolute in their way of looking at life and in their pursue of anything they set out to do.  So simply enough, rework the old synapses and say with resolute intensity: “Failure means I must re-evaluate!”

If you’re fine with the traditional notion of failure and the experiences work for you, then go ahead.  When you are tired of it, realize there isn’t anything constructive in it, come and talk to me.  How?  Simply click on the Oovoo button or send an email.

Let’s go viral with kindness, respect and compassion

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Hey everyone,

I wanted to let you know about another great opportunity tomorrow to tap into the full power of your heart and kindle qualities such as kindness, respect and compassion to go viral in the world.

This FREE teleclass called “Harnessing Your Heart Power,” next tomorrow, Tuesday, January 24th, is led by top leaders of HeartMath, a scientific organization focused on the powers of the heart for greater joy and less stressful living.  You can get more details and sign up for free here.

What you’ll find on this call, is to learn about powerful tools to navigate these changing times with calm and ease, deepen your relationships, reduce stress, feel more connected to your purpose and many more benefits. When you’re in tune with your heart power, you hold a new frequency of love and calm for others, helping spread a wave of heart coherence around the world.  It should be amazing. I hope you can join me there.

Fascinating 2012 myth!

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Kali,change of time

End of the world could be end of an era

It’s easy to get caught up in the intrigue and commercialism of 2012.  It’s meaning is often mired in distorted interpretations, yet most, if not all serious translators, interpreters and Mayan calendar researchers agree to say 2012 is not what it is made out to be.  Good news for us.

The gist is the end of the world, brashly announced by fanatics eager to assert their might on others, those fear spreading zealots are most probably and certainly wrong.  The “end of the world” is not going to happen.  At least, the way it is depicted.

Run Away!  If you are to listen to the vulgarization of interpretations of the Mayan calendar, and other interpretations, the end of the world is now, or 2012, or even the end of 2012.  You chose, whichever scares you most.  However, a deeper look into the Maya calendar community reveals a few interesting points.  Technically, this is as far as the Mayan calendar goes, which explains how it is to be reset to 0 next year.  It could be just a technical limitation with no other meaning than that.  The end of this era is set to officially be over December 27th 2012.

Some of the more serious interpretations talk about, not so much an end of the world but as to an end to this current era.  This last point makes more sense as it is backed by many astrologists and even more interesting, ancient Indian philosophies that depict the passing of time periods as Yugas.  According to the ancient Indian calendar, we are at the tail end of the darkest moment of human history, the Kali Yuga.  Kali is the Goddess associated with change.  Offered referred to as the “black one”, meaning dark times, she is also the consort of Shiva, also known as Kala, the bright one.

This Yuga, or period of time is all about change, going deep down, removing the old and “ugly”, heralding the new “bronze age” where humanity thrusts itself into brighter times.  The Kali Yuga is the shortest of these periods, thankfully and the next one will be longer culminating into an era of pure light, reason and wisdom, to then again continue the cycle back into a descent to darkness.  The Mayan calendar hints at the same.  It is not the end of the world, just the much welcomed end to an era that no longer satisfies us.

So what can we do?  One thing we can do is to keep that notion clear in mind, that this is just the passing of time, no more, no less.  Yes, there might be earthquakes, floods, viruses and wars, but time goes by invariably.  By keeping in mind clear what works, what would like to see become a positive reality, you activate the so-called “law of attraction” that works in a no-miracle way, that which is alike, attracts alike.  Shunning what doesn’t work and negative thoughts, we can let go of that weight, concentrating on building a positive future.   Basically, be mindful of you mind, voice and action by keeping with what works and see it unfold without resistance.

If this is a hard task for you, let’s talk it over.  I have some experience in that domain :)

How Star Trek continues to pave the way forward

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As entrepreneurs know, thinking, feeling, sensing and anticipating “the next big thing” is hardwired in our genes.  However, sometimes we go about the wrong way.  Sometimes?

The gist is as I watch Star Trek The Next Generation for the umpteenth time, I am stunned to see the visionary acumen Gene Roddenberry, Star Trek’s creator had.  Gene tapped into the future and in many ways, helped shape our future.

Case In Point.  Everyone knows about flip phones, fad of the late 90s and early 2000.  My original Qualcomm was one and had amazing features for the time, such as recording voice notes without forcing me to send them to my email, as my Blackberry would incurring charges.  The Original Series had the famous flip communicators.

What is even less known are the round storage disks found on the the very last episode of The Original Series.  20 years later, they show up in our lives as CD Roms.  The list goes on and my favorite is the iPad, which mimics very well The Original Series, The Next Generation, Voyager, and Deep Space Nine’s pads.

What’s Next?  This is where we shouldn’t be afraid or ashamed to look to visionaries and see what we can glean from our future needs.  Visionaries with their stories hint at what people will use in the future.  I am willing to bet Steve Jobs watched Star Trek more than once and got an inkling.  The best way to do it is to play the game: “What if…?”  It starts with the notion that we are doing something in a very convoluted and difficult way.  How can we achieve it better?  Henceforth, the CD Rom, the flip phones, the iPad, etc.  One thing to consider is the following, we have only “taken” technology from Star Trek but not its very rich philosophical questions and fundamentals.  We could surely use some of the wisdom expounded in those shows, in light of the current circumstances.

I’m personally waiting for the transporters as I toy with the notion to write a bible of sorts based on the fundamental principles exposed in the many Star Treks.  Remember, philosophy teachers from ivy leagues asked their student to watch Star Trek episodes to discuss them the following day.  Talk about a Prime Directive!  But in the meantime, I’ll go back to reading Steve Jobs’ biography with the hope I will receive some distant future idea we can implement now… as I nurse a sore throat two days before New Year’s Eve!

Common sense doesn’t mean spending millions

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Find real food at supermarketsThis following story highlights the creativity of man but especially how we can get caught up in the systems we created for ourselves.  Case in point when NASA had to engineer a pen that worked in space, meaning absolute cold, no gravity.  After millions of dollars spent, they had their product.  Russia on the other hand used pencils!

A toothpaste factory had a problem: they sometimes shipped empty boxes, without the tube inside.  This was due to the way the production line was set up.  It is very difficult to have everything happen with timing so precise that every single unit coming out of it is perfect 100% of the time.  Small variations in the environment (which can’t be controlled in a cost-effective fashion) mean you must have quality assurance checks smartly distributed across the line so that customers all the way down to the supermarket don’t get annoyed and buy another product instead.

Understanding the importance, the CEO of the toothpaste factory got the top people in the company together and they decided to start a new project, in which they would hire an external engineering company to solve their empty boxes problem.

The project followed the usual process: budget and project sponsor allocated, RFP, third-parties selected, and six months and $8 Million later they had a fantastic solution—on time, on budget, high quality and everyone in the project had a great time.  They solved the problem by using high-tech precision scales that would sound a bell and flash lights whenever a toothpaste box would weigh less than it should.  The line would stop, and someone had to walk over and yank the defective box out of it, pressing another button when done to re-start the line.

A while later, the CEO decides to have a look at the ROI of the project: amazing results!  No empty boxes ever shipped out of the factory after the scales were put in place.  Very few customer complaints, and they were gaining market share.  “That’s some money well spent!,” he says, before looking closely at the other statistics in the report.

It turns out, the number of defects picked up by the scales was 0 after three weeks of production use.  It should’ve been picking up at least a dozen a day, so maybe there was something wrong with the report.  He filed a bug against it, and after some investigation, the engineers come back saying the report was actually correct.  The scales really weren’t picking up any defects, because all boxes that got to that point in the conveyor belt were good.

Puzzled, the CEO travels down to the factory, and walks up to the part of the line where the precision scales were installed.
A few feet before the scale, there was a $20 desk fan, blowing the empty boxes out of the belt and into a bin.

“Oh, that,” says one of the workers,  “one of the guys put it there ’cause he was tired of walking over… every time the bell rang.”

Simple coaching techniques anyone can use

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Picture, Nick Zart

Here are some tools you can use with and outside of coaching.  Some of them are free, some of them are available for purchase.

Meditation.  Here is a topic that is so often misunderstood.  While some view meditation in the strict sense of Zen Buddhist, rigid, static, striving for that illusive spontaneous self, other see a way to relax.  The bottom line is that meditation helps you connect back with your self, take scope and regroup.  It’s a must for anyone wanting to reclaim their runaway life and none other than high up successful executive and business owners know its merit all too well.

You can start simply on your own by devoting 15 minutes every day by yourself, with yourself.  Find a secluded spot in your home.  If you can, buy yourself something to shield any lights away from from you.  I found MindFold to be particularly effective and anyone can actually build one from scrap.  You can also use noise cancelling headsets, such as Boses Quiet Comfort or others.  Once comfortably seated, close your eyes, and start by observing yourself.  Observe your breath.  Don’t be disturbed by thoughts coming into to your mind.  Simply, in a detached way, let them slip away.  They are not you, nor do they define you.  The are just thoughts.

Binaural Beats:  Binaural beats are interesting and for those who have been reading this blog, I wrote a little about it a year or so ago.  What they do is put a tone in one ear and another one, slightly off-tune in the other in order to balance both hemispheres.  This allows you to go into deep states of relaxation, meditation and even concentration.

The Monroe Institute pioneered this type of work and perfected it over the decades.  Their CDs are available.  Mark Certo hails himself as a sonic alchemist and worked closely with the Monroe Institute.  His CDs called The Tranquility Training Method (TTM) are fantastic and I’ve particularly enjoyed them.

Soul Contract Reading.  The new tool I added for my practice is called Soul Contract Reading.  The system, also called the Holy Numerology of Moses goes back to millennial and has been “reintroduced” in order to facilitate this forward momentum the human race is experiencing.  By phonetically translating each letter to its Hebrew equivalent, a number and “energy” is given and put on a chart.  This charts helps you understand why your life works the way it down and how to make full use of it.  My initial reading was so fascinating and intense, I felt this would be an amazing tool for coaching.

Listening to your heartbeat is very helpful, so is your breath.  After sometime, you will find that inner peace many speak of.  In these states, everything becomes relative and problem solving is done with great ease.

Those are the basic free, if not at least affordable techniques anyone can use.  Still, nothing replaces a certified, professionally trained Coach.

89.3 KPCC asks about OWS Los Angeles

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It will be interesting to see what future generations make of Occupy Wall Street.  In the meantime,  89.3 KPCC is asking: What do you make of Occupy LA?  Check it out.

While most of us can’t participate and don’t feel heard, at least this is one way of weighing in.  And isn’t it what this is all about, reclaiming our voices?

http://www.scpr.org/network/questions/occupyla/

You can also check the Los Angeles event last night as the LAOWS was forced out.  People are mad.