Your Pocket Life-Coach: 10 Minutes a Day to Transform Your Life and Your Work. Carole Gaskell

      

Until one is committed there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation) there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would otherwise never have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favour all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come his way.

      W. N. Murray, The Scottish Himalayan Expedition.

      

And the day came when the risk it took to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom

      Anaïs Nin

      

jump start

       the next phase

       of your life

      

use the past and present to help you shape your future

      Overview

      If you’re ready to embark on the next chapter of your life, you’ve come to the right place. You probably feel a combination of excitement, fear, hope, expectation – and a host of other emotions, this is perfectly normal. I simply ask that you approach the lifecoaching process with an open mind, be willing to ‘have a go’ at the exercises and become aware of the thoughts, feelings and insights that come up for you.

      The chances are, by this current stage in your life, you’ve already gained some incredibly valuable life experiences – some positive and others negative – but however you look at them, they all provide useful pointers for your future. I want you to reflect on these experiences and use them to your advantage to jump start the next phase of your life.

      As you work through the 10-minute assignments in this section, you’ll be setting yourself up to tackle the remaining steps more easily.

      This first section will set you up for success by:

      

helping you to see your life in context

      

reminding you of your achievements

      

challenging you to learn from your disappointments

      

empowering you to learn from your mistakes

      

triggering you to notice areas for improvement

      

encouraging you to develop invaluable qualities within yourself, to take your life to the next level.

      Quick Transformation Quiz

       Answer the questions below by ticking the appropriate box and calculating your score as follows: 2 points = Yes/Agree/Not Applicable, 7 point = Agree sometimes, 0 point = No/Disagree

      

Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

      Albert Einstein

      

Achievements

      If you cast your mind back over the past few years, what were your three biggest achievements? We are often so busy looking forward, to what’s next in our lives, that we forget to acknowledge our very real progress to date. Here I want you to fully recognise your accomplishments, embrace them, strengthen yourself and allow yourself to expand as a result.

      

      

Achievement 1

      

Achievement 2

      

Achievement 3

      Identifying your most significant moments is a valuable first step, acknowledging them as such is the next. Giving yourself a pat on the back is important, as it connects you with your strengths and helps you to focus on the positive elements of your life, enhancing your personal energy and spark. As you go through a process of change, I want you to notice the milestones along the way. I want you to notice and enjoy the journey of life step by step. The more you do this on an ongoing basis, the easier you’ll find it to build momentum for the things you want to do and create in your life.

      

Your Challenges and Disappointments

      An essential part of valuing yourself and understanding your true essence is to connect with what you already know about yourself. Our challenges, mistakes and disappointments also highlight a lot about how we work and understand ourselves. I would like you to spend the next 10 minutes writing down your answers to the following questions:

      

What have been your greatest concerns or challenges in recent years and how have you overcome them?

      

What have been your biggest disappointments in recent years and why?

      

Your Top Three Lessons

      Casting your mind back over your experiences, what have you learnt from them? Why do you think these events occurred? What were they trying to teach you? If you had your time again, is there anything you would have done differently? Each of us is the expert on our own life and if we allow ourselves the time to reflect, we can access our own