Kate Allen

On Coaching and Being Coached- Lessons from Brooke Castillo at the Life Coach School

Written by Kate • April 17, 2020 •
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NOTE: None of these are affiliate links. Just my honest thoughts.

I am definitely a seeker of knowledge, experience, travel, love, and more. I finally – FINALLY- decided to hire a coach for the first time back in 2007 because I realized I needed better thoughts. The way I was thinking and living my life wasn’t working for me but I didn’t know how to be happier.

IT ALL STARTED WITH UPLEVEL YOUR LIFE

So, in secret because I didn’t want to be ridiculed, I bought Christine Kane‘s group coaching class Uplevel Your Life and started on MY path. It’s been twisty. It’s been turny. It’s been steps up and steps back. Her class was exactly what I was looking for. I wept when I read the first several lessons. What a gift.

And from there I was off. I know that they are better thoughts that serve me better and I’ve hired several coaches in the intervening years. Most of them in group coaching sessions but a few handfuls in one on one sessions too. I think they both are helpful in different ways at different times in one’s life.

Group coaching is helpful when you’re super busy and you just can’t be available at a specific time. (I’m looking at you, new mom of twins or new RFP just hit the street and you’re working upwards of 100 hours per week or any such intense moments in your life).

A VERY QUICK TOUR OF SOME OF MY PAST COACHES

I’ve hired Christine Kane in multiple ways, including her UYL, Gold Business coaching, and Getting your First 10 Clients. I’ve hired and trained with Sara Wiseman in private and group calls for all my woowoo needs and got certified through her wonderful, loving Intuition University. I worked with Erin Pavlina for a long weekend in a small group setting in her home, to get further trained on doing readings and sessions with clients. Amazing.

I hired JaiKaur to help me heal some of my earlier trauma. Amazing. Totally recommend. I bought Jeff Walker’s PLF program- I think his work is for someone who’s a bit more advanced in their business than mine but he’s shown me what is possible.

BROOKE CASTILLO AND THE LIFE COACH SCHOOL

And about 2 months before we moved to Bali, I took the plunge and joined Brooke Castillo’s Self Coaching Scholars. My first month in her program was Dec 2018. Christmas. Kids. Plans fell in place to move to Bali in Jan 2019. And I didn’t get to much of the Dec program. Then we moved to Bali.

And upon arrival in Bali and about a month of settling in, I turned back to her program to “start” it in earnest. I didn’t give it the time it deserved at first and then when I tried to access the video trainings, I couldn’t do it (technology-wise). It took me a few months to figure it out that not being able to view the videos wasn’t an internet problem. It was that Indonesia blocks all Vimeo videos. Can you believe? It took me 4 long months to realize I needed to buy a VPN to tunnel back to the US (or anywhere else like Singapore or Australia) to be able to watch the videos. But by that time, I had decided I couldn’t do the program without the videos. And that I didn’t have the time. I love my excuses. I laugh at it now.

Fast forward to Jan 2020. We’d been back in the US for about a month but I’d spent the first three weeks of Jan spending three to four nights a week at the hospital with my very ill Dad (pre-Coronavirus- ah those were the days). He finally got released in late Jan and I was able to spend the next several days resting and not traveling 100 miles round trip to visit my Dad in the extremely far away hospital.

With that rest, I faced February trying to reintegrate into the US and settle back into a routine here. I knew I wanted to relaunch my business and the idea to start again on my program with Self Coaching Scholars bubbled up, to support me on my journey. And so I made the commitment to begin again on 1 March with the December program subject. (Each month has a specific subject- Dec was the Year of Doing the Impossible). And it’s been amazing. Even without the videos and with even less free time than I had in Bali, I’ve made the time and effort to listen to the teachings and Q and As that I downloaded from Dec 2018. I followed through with the program, pretty much with a 100% compliance.

And the Universe is amazing. I’m so so glad I made the true commitment in early Feb because life sure took a hard turn in early/mid March with the whole COVID-19/coronavirus upheaval. Brooke puts out free podcasts and I’ve been listening to those and I had the privilege of being able to hear her take on the crisis through additional podcasts that she put out in mid March. Such gifts. She is so incredibly compassionate and yet no nonsense. She speaks my language, for sure.

I started on the Jan 2019 month in April 2020 and have been working the program every since.

I can’t recommend her school or her teachings enough. She is DA BOMB. Amazing. I would actually ditch the idea of being a coach myself and just direct all clients to her except for one thing that sets me apart as a coach. Brooke isn’t as focused on the woowoo side of things as I want to be in my life. She has so much to offer to me in all things except the woowoo side of life. But Brooke is fully Brooke and we don’t want her any other way, right?

So definitely run to your phone RIGHT NOW to start listening to Brooke’s podcasts or even join her school. You won’t regret it.

Get the Help You Need

Each of my coaches/mentors have helped me enormously. I love learning new things and it’s clear I’m a lifelong learner. I love upgrading my mental model and my thoughts and getting additional resources to help me make my way in the world. I think working with coaches is a great way to get stuff done and there is so much content out there. There’s just no reason for you to keep living and playing small- except for your mindset. Upgrade your mindset and your thoughts and your life will be increasingly amazing.

PS I forgot to include the wise and amazing Martha Beck and Lissa Rankin, These two simply must be mentioned when talking about coaches and mentors.

Life Coach Tips On Getting Unstuck

Written by Kate • June 14, 2016 •
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How To Succeed at Getting Things Accomplished

Written by Kate • August 15, 2011 •
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For some people, it’s comparatively easy to accomplish whatever they’ve set their mind to. They’ve learned, practiced, and implemented high productivity habits. And for others, it can seem like their list is so long, their need to great, that they’ll never get it all done in this life time. And so they give up. Only to try again. Only to give up. And then try again. But it’s often because they shoot too high, with a too aggressive time frame, and without consistent action. I’m here to tell tell you that, in fact, it’s absolutely possible to break this cycle as well as to actually accomplish whatever it is you’re looking to do.

The way to success is through focus and consistent action.

Focus- First you must focus on only one or two intentions at a time. If you’re trying to accomplish too many intentions at anyone time, you’re going to spend too much time, action and mental energy trying to keep everything in the air but too little time on each intention to ensure it is accomplished. Instead, with an unwavering focus on the one [or two] intentions that are the most important to you right now, you can not only devote the necessary time and mental energy to get a top priority for you done, but the sense of action and completion will sustain you in the time to come- when your energy or gusto temporarily abandons you.

Consistent Action – This is an equally important factor in accomplishing anything. Sailing through in the first few days or week is easy with the original energy and enthusiasm helping you to focus on the top priorities.  But by creating space, perhaps 30 minutes three evenings a week, to action and getting something definitive done will help create a new habit of productivity that will help you knock down each task along the way.

I know you want to get everything done right now and have it all accomplished. But that kind of all or nothing thinking keeps the tasks unaccomplished and your ability to get things done diminished.  Get clear and break it down to do-able steps, and STRETCH out your time frame for accomplishing it. Hey, you haven’t been able to accomplish it..what’s another 2 or 3 months to actually accomplishing what you’ve been trying to…for years maybe?

Once you’ve gotten an internal commitment to focus on just one thing and outlined the time you’re going to devote to taking consistent action without excuses, then the following 10 steps are a great action plan.

1. Identify Accomplishment/Destination. Write out the accomplishment you’re ready to tackle. Writing it out on a piece of paper [or laptop] is important for both clarity in understanding what you’re trying to achieve and for claiming your accomplishment, even before it’s achieved.

2. Identify the 10 most important tasks. Write out the 10 most important tasks that you need to take to get this accomplished. There may be more but focus on just the 10 most important tasks to get done right now for that task.

3. Prioritize. Prioritize the next three tasks, of the 10 listed in Point 2, that should be done first. By trying to get all 10 important tasks done, before you built your up your productivity habits, you will probably end up with another failed effort because the list is just too huge for you now.

4.  Break it down to bite-size pieces/do-able tasks. Break out each of these three tasks into three little tasks, so that you have a total of 9 tasks to accomplish. By taking the most important three tasks and breaking them down further, you’re teaching yourself about what it really takes to get big goals accomplished. It also creates a do-able action plan that allows you to both actually get lots accomplished and get a sense of accomplishment.

5. Map it out on a 30-day plan. Create a new document called your 30-day plan, with 2 columns. In this document, put the nine tasks down in the left hand column and the dates by which you want to have each task accomplished- in a realistic timeframe.

6. Stay focused. Work just these 9 tasks. Don’t try to start new tasks. Don’t add to your list. When you feel like you could be doing more or different tasks, come back to this list and remember this is the plan.

7. Knock’em each down. Take consistent action. Work each of the 9 tasks, one after the other. Remember the time you set aside and respect the intention and commitment. Work for the 30 minutes on the nights you said would.

8. Enjoy the accomplishment.  One of the most important parts of getting anything done is to acknowledge how far you’ve come. Step back to enjoy the sense of both moving forward to your goal, as well as the sense of accomplishment. What can you do to notice what you’ve gotten accomplished? A daily accomplishment list? A weekly one? No matter what it is, be sure to take in the smell of success!

9. What are the 10 next tasks? Now that you’ve gone the three most important higher level tasks accomplished, what are now the 10 most important tasks? [Hint: they may have changed now that you’re down the road a bit].  Return to Step 2 and continue down the following steps.

10. Rinse and Repeat until done. Continue getting 9 tasks per done as your focus. Keep your focus like a laser on just this month’s 9 steps. IF, and that’s a really important IF and quite a conditional one, you’ve truly respected your 30 minutes, three times a week [or whatever time you committed to set aside], and you’ve found it relatively easy to set it aside, you can also consider expanding the time devoted to this task by 5 or 10 minutes.  But be sure to drop back if you find yourself less willing to devote 40 minutes rather than 30.

Productivity, like weight training, is a habit and one that takes practice, in small chunks, to get used to and to make effortless. By getting clear about the one thing you want to accomplish, the concrete next 9 tasks to work on in the next month, and taking consistent action, you will soon be a productive champ!

What methods have you used to successfully get something accomplished?

 

Top 5 Reasons Why You Need A Coach

Written by Kate • August 4, 2011 •
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Although it may seem self-serving in that I am a Life Coach myself, working with Women to Step into a Life Filled with Delight, I truly believe that a coach is essential to getting you to the next level of expertise, of mindset, and of ability- in whatever you’re trying to achieve. I believe in it so much that I myself have a Business Coach.  I have been working with Christine Kane for over a year now, on my mindset and on building my business up to the next level.  [This picture is of Christine and me at her recent Uplevel Your Purpose Conference, a mind-blowing, impactful three days we spent last week in Charlotte, NC).

I have had coaches in other areas of my life, such as exercise, food, and nutrition. It has helped me get to the next level of competence and has, in general, been worth every penny. I have a Zone of Genius and they have theirs.

The following are 5 reasons why I think pretty much everyone needs a coach.

1. You can’t  fix your problems with the same mindset that created them. As Einstein is believed to have said” “The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them.” Therefore, if you continue down the same old path you have been, you’re going to continue to get to the same end results.  A coach helps you see the limiting beliefs you have and the mindset that helped create the life situation you have created for yourself.  I have experienced many more A-Has with Christine about some of my own beliefs that I probably would not have discovered without her coaching.
2. You’ve been trying for years but nothing seems to be working. Also known as “I don’t need help. I can do it on my own”. Perhaps you don’t NEED help and perhaps you CAN do it on your own. But are you? Have you gotten the results you’re looking for? Are you living the life you dreamed of? Are you following your bliss? The hard facts are that unless you are you’re living or close to achieving a lot in life that you’ve intended, you could use someone to help motivate you and to keep you focused.
3. You Think You Already Know This Stuff. As Christine says the Buddha said, if you’re not living it, you don’t really know it. If you really already knew this stuff, you’d be living it. Professional athletes have coaches. Executives have coaches. When you want to learn a new skill, like playing the piano or learning a new language, you turn to an expert, right? Well, it’s the same with intangibles, like success, financial management, marketing, and search engine optimization. There are true experts out there who can help you leap frog over the learning curve and give you access to pre-vetted resources that will more than likely be immeasurably of help to you.
4. You Think You Don’t Have the Time. This is a big one. If you think you don’t have the time, have you checked out what you’re spending your time on? Do you really know? If you mapped out your day, how much of it is spent in front of the TV, surfing the internet looking at hulu.com, Facebook, and your emails? And how much of the weekend is spent on activities that can actually be delegated, skipped, or bunched together? A coach can help hold up the mirror you need to see your life as it really is so you can free yourself from time sinks that are keeping you off your purposeful path.
5. You Don’t Know What You Want To Be When You Grow Up. Even if you don’t know where to begin on getting you the skills and life you want, your coach will. If you’re just not the best manager, if your life makes you depressed and you no longer have any idea what makes you happy, if you want to take your business to the next level and are so tired of treading the same ground month after month, all with the same results, working with someone to help you re-focus, re-strategize, and re-energize is exactly what you need. Your coach is going to be able to help you start to understand what it is you need to get you to the next step.

It doesn’t have to be me. But use the resources that are out there.  Take advantage of the knowledge gained by someone who has been there and done that to help you rapidly increase your expertise and knowledge. We can all use some help to keep us on track, motivated, and with our eyes on the prize.