Life Coaching
What it’s all about
Fundamentally, the coaching conversation provides an open, non-judgmental space where kids can freely explore who they are and what makes them happy with the guidance and input from their coach.
A coach listens, acknowledges, encourages, and facilitates. When appropriate, the coach offers ideas, insights, frameworks, and distinctions to empower the client to move forward with clarity and conviction
What a Coach is Not
A coach is not a therapist. I do not go into the past and attempt to fix what’s perceived as broken. When called for, we may explore what might be getting in the way and use a variety of approaches to get past the blocks. It’s working within the constraints, not fighting them.
A coach is not a consultant who provides all the answers and expertise. I do offer my thoughts when needed, but the emphasis and game at play is to elicit the client’s own ideas, knowledge, and awareness themselves. The power is within, not in someone else.
A coach is not a teacher or parent that tells them what to do or how to do it. I can provide structure and accountability but always according to what they need and want. It’s self-directed, not dictated.
My Coaching Sessions
I bring “the all of me” to each session – my energy, my enthusiasm, my skills, my experiences – including 20 years of coaching, extensive training in personal growth, building websites and courses for entrepreneurs, running a successful online business, playing Jazz guitar and world percussion, inventing gadgets, and enjoying an active lifestyle skiing, playing tennis, and kiteboarding.
My coaching sessions have a strong emphasis on both mindset and flow. Mindset creates the tone for everything they do and perceive. Being in flow helps create the best outcomes and progress – not by pushing, shoving, and forcing but instead by being pulled forward by passion, excitement, clarity, and the power of “serious play.”
What distinctions I do offer are from a body of work I’ve developed over 20+ years called Life as a Wave. It’s an approach to creating forward movement in all facets of your life using what I’ve learned from my various interests and training including electrical & computer engineering, music, web development, and more. You can get a free copy of my ebook, Life as a Wave: 4 Principles of Rhythm & Flow
What a session is like
Typically, we connect for 1 – 1 1⁄2 hours through the net using Skype for sound, video, and screen sharing. We usually meet once a week with ongoing check-ins between sessions.
Before each session, the client fills out a quick intake form to let me know how the past week went and what they want to focus on. We then connect and talk about what’s currently going on for the first 15-20 minutes and then dive in and work on the topic of the day and/or the next steps with their project.
We end the session by coming up with the “mission at play” for the following week. The client then fills out a post-session form to provide feedback how the session went.
The coaching sessions are based on the unique interests and capabilities of your teen. Beyond discussing what they’re working on and exploring insights, we may do a variety of activities:
- If they’re excited about an invention idea, I might show one of my inventions on camera for inspiration and talk about the process I went through to make it happen.
- If they’re passionate about music, I may play my drums for them and then talk about how rhythm can be used to find the groove in life.
- When a problem comes up, we’ll talk about different approaches that can be used to not only get past it, but ultimately, how to transform it into an opportunity.
- For inspiration and insight, we may look online for examples of others successfully doing what they want to do.
- We’ll research the latest discoveries in science and nature and synthesize what we find into a broader perspective.
- We can explore “mindfulness” to learn how to quiet the mind and be present to what’s happening around us.
All sessions are recorded and notes are taken. They will have their own secure personal page they log into for easy access to their recordings, notes, intake forms, and resources. They will also have free access to my Coach on Demand app for quick access to key distinctions, tools, games, and ways to connect to their included Untapped Genius Membership, a comprehensive support system and playground to collaborate, inspire, and support each other.
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Thank you for taking the time to learn about what I offer. My hope is that, together, we can create the very best situation to get your teen fired up and ready to rock!!