Taking that first courageous step toward something we want is often the most difficult. But if we ever want to achieve what it is we desire, it is necessary. Why is the first step so difficult though? What is it that so often hinders us so early on in our journey? The answer is simple, if not cliché: it’s fear of where the journey will take us.

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Life coaching at its best is demonstrated when we connect fully and deeply with our client and we engage in active listening and powerful questioning while being fully present with our client.  Life coaching is about establishing trust and intimacy with our client where we create a safe place for our clients’ dreams to come to life.

Life coaching is “about relationship.”   And, Christian life coaching at its core is centered around our personal relationship with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ who was, and is, the perfect role model for “relationship”. I believe Christian Life Coaching is living out God’s Greatest Commandment to love God first,  love ourselves and love others.  “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.”  This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it, “Love your neighbor as yourself. ” (Matthew 22:37-39)

In secular coaching, the focus is about helping clients get from where they are to where they want to be. Christian Coaching is about helping clients get from where they are to where God wants them to be. What a great way to begin a New Year.. What does God want me to do for His Glory, for His Kingdom?

Relationships and Your New Year’s Resolutions

On December 29th, the Wall Street Journal published an article, “Making 2011 the Year of Great Relationships“, a timely and thought provoking one for me as I ponder my own New Year’s resolutions.  So, I ask the question “What if?” — What if we each made a commitment to making the new year about building and nurturing our personal and professional relationships, beginning first with our relationship with God and then extend outward?  What would it look like in our families, churches, businesses, communities?  What would the world look like if each of us are intentional about building stronger relationships?

The author, Elizabeth Bernstein writes “Increasingly, experts have been telling us how important social bonds are to well-being, affecting everything from how our brains process information to how our bodies respond to stress. People with strong connections to others may live longer. The quality of our relationships is the single biggest predictor of our happiness.”  I would like to add to this by saying, in my opinion, the quality of our relationship with God is the single biggest predictor of our happiness as it is the foundation for how we relate to others.

Relationships and Life Coaching – Improving Your Relationships

Christian Life coaching is about getting from where we are to where God wants us to be and for some of us, we have a gap in where we are in our relationship with Jesus. and where He wants us to be. Most likely, we have a gap in where we are in relationship with our families, friends, communities and business relationships.  What would it look like if we each made building stronger relationships a top priority for 2011, starting with the most important relationship, our relationship with Jesus Christ?   How can an improved relationship with Jesus impact the relationships you have with others? What is one action you can take today to improve a relationship with someone?  How willing are you to take that step?

Relationships, Life Coaching and DISC

Watch for my next post on how DISC can be used as a life coaching tool to enhance our relationships.

Sometimes I sit in awe of God’s love for me. He created such a variety of beautiful gifts for me to enjoy while I am on earth. Today, I want to look around and remember to say thank you for some of my blessings. How often do I stop to think how easy it would have been for Him to create only a few species of birds, or animals, plants and trees. And then I close my eyes and think of the joy that fills my heart when I picture my son and the joy he has brought to me in this life and I am grateful that God allowed me the privilege to be his mother. My cup runneth over with gratitude when I think of my husband planting flowers in the yard, my mom’s voice on the phone when she calls to tell me about last week’s Bible study with her “60 something youth group” (as they call themselves). No one is under 60 and they have such energy and joy to share with others. There are so many moments, and simple treasures to be grateful for today.

I am going to share a devotion with you from my favorite devotional, “Jesus Calling, by Sara Young”. She writes “When you focus on what you don’t have or on situations that displease you, your mind also becomes darkened. You take for granted life, salvation, sunshine, flowers, and countless other gifts from me. You focus on what is wrong and refuse to enjoy life until that is “fixed.” When you approach Me with thanksgiving the Light of My Presence pours into you, transforming you through and through. Walk in the Light with Me by practicing the discipline of thanksgiving.”

As you pause in a moment of reflection, what are you grateful for today?

A book that I have picked up and read again and again is “Visioneering: God’s Blueprint for Developing and Maintaining Personal Vision” by Andy Stanley.  If you don’t have clear vision for your life, or even if you do this is a phenomenal read.

Stanley says that “Vision is a clear mental picture of what could be, fueled by the conviction that it should be.” I know that God has likely given you a vision, even if you don’t realize it, maybe you see it as a dream, or a purpose, but either way it is there and God wants you to fulfill it, or at least chase after it as hard as you can.

The vision that He has given you is not an accident.  Once you discover it you will have within you a deep desire to follow it and make sure that it is fulfilled, even if others around you don’t see it, or if they discourage you from pursing it.

Stanley points out all the possibilities.  He doesn’t paint a picture of being a visioneer that is all roses and no thorns.  The truth is, it can be difficult.  His formula for visioneering is this:

VISIONEERING = Inspiration + Convicting+ Action+ Determination+ Completion

We must pursue the visions that GOD has placed into our lives.  Vision can be emotional, passionate, motivating, and inspiring but it can also be tiring, discouraging and difficult.  Don’t let that stop you.

Here at Christian Coach Institute our purpose, our mission, our vision is Educating, Equipping and Encouraging Christian Coaches Around the World.  As a coach, you must have a personal vision or mission, you must know it, you must own it, especially if you’re going to guide others in doing the same.

What is your vision, your mission?  Share it with us! Share it with the world!