Coaching Wizardry

Welcome to Coaching Wizardry

Do you ever feel like you have a different, more powerful, more compelling story inside of you?  A story that you want to express, to write, to bring to life?  Is writing part of your path to a more authentic way of living?

Then Coaching Wizardry is just for you. 

Here you'll find an archive of writing that is inspired by and written for people who want to live differently.

People who want to live a more authentic life.  People who recognise that it's time to wake up.  People who want to find out who they are - and then do it on purpose.

Words, language and writing can help us in that endeavour. 

I work with people who are looking for more confidence in their writing, whether that's writing at work, to promote their business, for self-expression or to communicate powerful ideas. People who want to realise the power of their own words.

Working with a writing coach can help you to shape, develop and express your personal story - and then let it fly.  Follow these links for more information on working with me, Joanna Young, The Confident Writing Coach. 

For more on my work - and for regular writing tips, questions, challenges and updates on products and services - you might want to follow my Confident Writing blog. 

Although the Coaching Wizardry site started out as a blog, I'm no longer updating it.  The archive remains for all to enjoy though, and I've added some posts at the top of the pile with some sparkling selections:

• Inspirational quotes: living life on purpose
• When it's time for a change
• Singing a different song
• Metaphors to live by

I hope you enjoy exploring the site - and finding the inspiration you're looking for: to find out who you are, then do it on purpose.

Joanna Young, The Confident Writing Coach
Because our words count

Inspirational quotes: living life on purpose

A selection of inspirational quotes from the archives:

"Find out who you are and do it on purpose" ~ Dolly Parton (read more here )

"The horizon leans forward, offering you space to place new steps of change.” ~ Maya Angelou (Read more here)

“What we call the beginning is often the end. And to make an end is to make a beginning. The end is where we start from.” ~ TS Eliot  (Read more here)

“If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude.” ~ Maya Angelou (Read more here)

"You have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition. What you'll discover will be wonderful. What you'll discover is yourself.” ~ Alan Alda (Read more here)

"There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you." ~ Maya Angelou (Read more here)

"Only put off until tomorrow what you are willing to die having left undone." ~ Picasso (Read more here)

“Most people, even though they don’t know it, are asleep… They never understand the loveliness and the beauty of this thing that we call human existence.” ~ Father Anthony de Mello (Read more here)

"Every day that is born into the world comes like a burst of music and rings the whole day through, and you make of it a dance, a dirge, or a life march, as you will." ~ Thomas Carlyle (Read more here)

"Begin doing what you want to do now.  We are not living in eternity.  We have only this moment, sparkling like a star in our hand, and melting like a snowflake..." ~ Sir Francis Bacon (Read more here)

"One day you finally knew what you had to do, and began." ~ Mary Oliver (Read more here)

"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I intended to be" ~ Douglas Adams (Read more here)

"And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance, I hope you dance, I hope you dance" ~ Lee Anne Womak (Read more here)

"Life is no brief candle to me.  It is a sort of splendid torch that I have got hold of for the moment and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations." ~ George Bernard Shaw (Read more here)

"Finish each day and be done with it.  You have done what you could; some blunders and absurdities have crept in; forget them as soon as you can.  Tomorrow is a new day; you shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense." ~ Emerson (Read more here)

"You can cut all the flowers but you cannot keep spring from coming." ~ Pablo Neruda (Read more here)

“I see my path, but I don't know where it leads. Not knowing where I'm going is what inspires me to travel it.” ~ Rosalia de Castro (Read more here)

"And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom." ~ Anais Nin (Read more here)

“There is not one big cosmic meaning for all, there is only the meaning we each give to our life, an individual meaning, an individual plot, like an individual novel, a book for each person.” ~ Anais Nin (Read more here)

When it's time for a change

Here are some snippets from posts inspired by those days, those moments, when you just know that it's time for a change.

Resilience or the art of bouncing back

What a great set of ingredients for being resilient, for bouncing back.  And don't you love the word - I feel more positive just saying "bouncebackability"... and for me it immediately conjures up a sense of movement, of energy, of dynamism, of springing back...

Permission to narrow your focus

But it also reminded me that picking your spot takes some courage, some conscious, explicit decision to turn your attention away from all the other things that are calling to you, that you could spend your time on, that might be fun to explore, that are worthy causes for you to commit to.

And sometimes you need nudges, reminders, pointers, permission maybe that say: it’s okay to narrow your focus, to turn your attention away from everything else.

When it's time to wake up

I don't know if you've ever felt like you've been sleep-walking your way through life?  I think most of us have, some time.

Times when we've been so caught up in our busyness we've forgotten what we were trying to do or where we were trying to get to.  When we've given so much time and energy to other people that we've lost sight of ourselves. Our selves.  When life starts to lose its colour, its detail, its wondrous beauty.  When we we just drift along, as if asleep

Happy Butterfly Day

I think for me "Happy Butterfly Day" would mean a celebration of:

• everything that was colourful and beautiful in the world
• the amazing diversity of human life
• the wider world that we live in, recognising that our actions, our butterfly wings, can make a difference (for good or ill) in other parts of the world
• people who have the courage to step out of the chrysalis
• the importance of flapping our wings and flying free

Find out who you are and do it on purpose: Part II

Find out who you are and do it on purpose - well to me that's about starting with yourself, so the purpose stems from inside, the unique person that you are, rather than what someone else has decided for you (even indirectly, like pressure to live or think in a certain way). It also makes me smile because - for me - it captures a sense of pride in who you and going out and doing it big style, full of va va voom - which is definitely how Dolly does it :)

That's what "find out who you are and do it on purpose" means to me.  It's only one answer though. 

I wonder what it means to you?

Metaphors to live by

Here are some of the most powerful metaphors that we use to explore, to learn about, to make sense of life.

Dancing as the adventure of being alive

"... and the invitation opens up another a new metaphor: of life as a dance.  Dancing as the adventure of being alive.  Which brings us back to the question: will you, won't you, will you, won't you, won't you join the dance?"

From the post: Won't you join the dance? An invitation

Ease up on your golf swing

"I could see from reading on that the metaphor of golf for life worked on lots of levels: you always learn something new; it can be difficult, challenging, fun and rewarding.  But the bit I really loved was that advice to ease up on your golf swing..."

From the post: Golfing as a metaphor for life

The path we are travelling

"But looking too hard for the one, true path can create its own problems.  You can find yourself fixed on finding 'the' answer rather than noticing and enjoying where you are.  The path that is unfolding under your feet.  The trail you have left behind.

And it can leave you focused on the path that other people have created, the 'shoulds' of other people's expectations, or the trails that others have blazed, rather than the path that is distinctly yours.  Focused on external pointers and signs, rather than trusting your instincts and intuition to find your way."

From the post: looking for the right path

Lessons from the art of juggling

"I know, I know, it doesn't take Einstein to read and apply the lessons from the art of juggling as a metaphor for life.  In fact, I'm constantly amazed by the relevance of each learning point for other areas of life, of work, of learning where I've got temporarily stuck.

The trick is deciding you're not going to stay there.  Not stopping after the first juggulation.  Moving on when you're stuck.  Resolving to keep throwing the balls."

From the post: the art of juggling - keep throwing the balls

 

Singing a different song

Songs and music can inspire us to sing a different song ourselves.  Here's a selection of posts from the archive that are inspired by some great songs:

Sunshine on a rainy day: 'Shine' is a blogging favourite to chase the blues away.  Check out the video here - guaranteed to bring you some inner sunshine!

Slow down you move too fast: Do you ever feel like you're hurtling through life?  Tune into these lyrics from Simon & Garfunkel and you'll find yourself slowing down (and yes, feeling groovy)

Search for the hero: my choice of songs that make your heart sing

I'm gonna do it all:

It was one of those songs that made you sing out loud.  Made you feel fired up and passionate and angry.  Made me think of people I knew who had that fire in their belly to do it all.  People who'd got set back, knocked back by fate, by ill health, by circumstance.  Who were still fighting, struggling, demanding with every breath to do it all.

At the close of this chapter a huge thanks to all of you

                   

As 2007 draws to a close we naturally look back on the year that's gone by and forward to what we want to achieve in the year ahead.  I've been doing some of that too.  I've got bundles of ideas that I want to take forward as part of my writing coach work and I know that I need and want to make this the priority for 2008. 

This has consequences for my time spent blogging.  Even for a prolific blogger like me I can't maintain my Confident Writing site, guest write at four other blogs and give Coaching Wizardry its fair share of attention.  So I've decided that this - the 150th post - will be the last live update here. 

I'm going to maintain the site as an archive because there are lots of gems contained within it, and I hope people will continue to enjoy exploring it in the months and years to come.  I've been doing a bit of work dusting down the archives and will post a few 'best of' pieces in the next day or so to make it easy for new readers and visitors to find their way around.

But I couldn't close this particular chapter without a huge thanks to all of you.  This is the site where I started blogging - and caught the blogging bug as a result of the huge amount of support, encouragement and feedback that I got from all of you.  It meant a huge amount to me, and I treasure the blogging friendships that have emerged through our conversations and exchanges here.

If you want to keep in touch please do come over and join me at Confident Writing - I will continue to blog with a passion and a fury there.

For now though I all I can say is thanks.  Sincerely, thanks.

Joanna

            

---

And it wouldn't do to close without a thanks to Erik Kastner for the fantastic spell with flickr service - and thanks to Rosa for pointing me towards it.          

Gratitude in words and pictures

I love words and writing but as the saying goes, sometimes a picture's worth a thousand of them.

I was reminded of this the other day with a challenge from Liz Strauss to test our concepts of being time rich and time poor.  It's the link with the picture that tells the more compelling story - the one that lingers, the one that flickers through our mind to slow down when we're moving too fast.  (You'll have to take the test to find out which link takes you to the picture.  What do you mean you don't have time?!)

Thought about it some more this afternoon - a most glorious early winter day in Edinburgh, when the leaves are dancing in all their faded glory.

You'd have to be moving really fast not to stop and feel thankful on a day like today.

And I did. 

Slowed down and stopped to take some photos.  To breathe in the wonder of the day.

And I found some words to express that feeling of gratitude.  But I'm left with the lingering feeling that it's the pictures that I took that will stay with me like the rays of winter sunlight, piercing my consciousness long after the last leaves have fallen.

How about you?  How do you express these waves of gratitude?  Is it through words, pictures, music, song?

On mindfulness, the sun, and the environment

People around the world are talking and writing about the environment today.  I'm one of them.

One of the things I want to try and say is that paying attention to the world that we live in, not taking things for granted, being mindful - well that's a key shift that will help us to do the things we need to do, say the things that we need to say, learn the things that we need to learn.

But sometimes my own words seem too small in the face of something so important.  So I thought I'd share a poem that to me is all about being mindful, being grateful for the resources that we have, paying attention to the wonders of this most amazing world that we are blessed with the chance to live in.

The Sun

Have you ever seen
anything
in your life
more wonderful

than the way the sun,
every evening,
relaxed and easy,
floats toward the horizon

and into the clouds or the hills,
or the rumpled sea,
and is gone--
and how it slides again

out of the blackness,
every morning,
on the other side of the world,
like a red flower

streaming upward on its heavenly oils,
say, on a morning in early summer,
at its perfect imperial distance--
and have you ever felt for anything
such wild love--
do you think there is anywhere, in any language,
a word billowing enough
for the pleasure

that fills you,
as the sun
reaches out,
as it warms you

as you stand there,
empty-handed--
or have you too
turned from this world--

or have you too
gone crazy
for power,
for things?

---

The Sun by Mary Oliver is a contribution to Blog Action Day: a world-wide conversation on the environment.

On coaching and writing - and writing and coaching

I mentioned the other day that there had been lots of cross-over between some of the themes and ideas that I've been exploring here and the work I've been doing over at Confident Writing - not least the relevance of one of the most popular quotes from Coaching Wizardry:

"find out who you are and do it on purpose".

The more I explore the writing work the more I realise there's a coaching dimension behind it all - overcoming fears and lack of confidence; tapping into our motivation, purpose and intention; and moving out of our comfort zones. 

I'm also learning from the search terms from both sites and how I can apply the lessons from one set of searches to inform the other. 

For example

"slow down, you move too fast"

is something I talked about here several months ago in relation to the changing pace of city life, but people keep on arriving by typing in those terms - and it keeps on making me think about the value of slowing down (when you're moving too fast) - and how we can apply that approach to help us write with clarity and confidence too. 

Anyway, crossing back over the other way I was focusing last month on writing with authenticity - and how writing can maybe help us towards a more authentic life.  I used the conversation to write an e-book (my first) and I figured it might be of interest to readers here too - not least as it quotes the great Dolly Parton a couple of times!

You can download it here - let me know what you think, but I hope you enjoy it anyway.

---

Joanna Young is a writing coach who loves exploring the power of words to change our worlds, to transform our experience of reality.   You can read more of her writing and find out how to work with Joanna at her Confident Writing blog.

Permission to narrow your focus

I haven’t been writing much here of late, and for those of you who’ve been regular readers and loyal followers from the start, well I’m sorry that I haven’t found the time, or the stories or the words to start the conversation again before now.

Truth is I’ve been writing like a crazy woman over at my Confident Writing blog and it’s left little time and energy for reflecting and sharing here.  There are things over there that I think you’d enjoy reading – things that reflect some of the themes I’ve been exploring here too – and I was tickled to find that one of my centre posts in the month long exploration of authentic writing was finding out who you are and doing it in purpose...

But there was something about this shift in focus, purpose and direction that I wanted to chew over here.  It was something I read the other day at Joyful Jubilant Learning (another place I’m now writing, and another reason for some of the radio silence here).  The words went like this:

Making a difference is about picking your spot.  It's about knowing confidently what's the right spot for you by believing in yourself.  It's hitting the target dead-centre, finding your niche in life, relationships and work, and hanging on for the roller-coaster ride!

It struck me because I know, sense, feel that I’m tapping into a lot more energy, creativity and inspiration by narrowing my focus, by concentrating on one core purpose: coaching people to write with confidence

But it also reminded me that picking your spot takes some courage, some conscious, explicit decision to turn your attention away from all the other things that are calling to you, that you could spend your time on, that might be fun to explore, that are worthy causes for you to commit to. 

And sometimes you need nudges, reminders, pointers, permission maybe that say: it’s okay to narrow your focus, to turn your attention away from everything else.

Walking outside gives me some of those nudges.  Reading gives me some more.  This time I’d been reading some bright thoughts over at Sylvia’s place.  She was talking about this very thing – and quoting one of my favourite poets, Mary Oliver.

"One day you finally knew what you had to do, and began."

And I don't know about you but sometimes these small, seemingly insignificant signals can be enough: to affirm our decision, to give us the confidence to make our decision, to move on.  These words helped me – and when I read the whole poem – The Journey -  I recognised the deeper meaning, the bigger sense of permission that I was seeking, and needed to give myself.

Here’s how it ends:

But little by little,
as you left their voices behind,
the stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice
which you slowly
recognized as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world,
determined to do
the only thing you could do--
determined to save
the only life you could save.

I don’t know about you but sometimes I need words – a fragment, a poem, to show me the way, to open the door to new possibilities, to give me much needed permission, to wake me up.

Because sometimes when we know that we're ready - well sometimes that's all that it takes.

---

Joanna Young is a writing coach who loves exploring the power of words to change our worlds, to transform our experience of reality.   You can read more of her writing and find out how to work with Joanna at her Confident Writing blog.