When you hear the words, "I am a Life Coach" -- What thoughts come to mind? BE HONEST!

Dear Why Annie Armen Readers:

Just two weeks ago, I asked the following question on Linkedin:

When you hear the words, "I am a Life Coach" -- what thoughts come to mind?

To my unexpected surprise, 55 business professionals took a moment out of their hectic schedules to post their replies publicly, while several chose to respond privately.  Now I've decided to re-post this question on Why Annie Armen Blog, to extend the same opportunity to you.
  

When was the last time you experienced eyes rolling, or thinking silently within "here comes another one" the moment you heard the introduction: "My name is __________________, and I am a Life Coach.  How can I help you?"

We all know that this type of thinking extends toward other professions as well.  For the purpose of this discussion, I am choosing to focus on "life coach".  WHY?  I truly believe that your “honest” feedback here will provide insights to "genuine" life coaches, and no doubt will help their business in some way.

Again, be as HONEST as possible, communicating with respect and compassion! If you have a story to share, one that completely turned you off from working with life coaches, please do tell, without giving any names and in general terms.  On the flip side, if you have a story to contribute, one that moved you into productive action with results after working with a life coach, be sure to share this as well -- again, without revealing names... because the last thing you want is to be perceived as someone who is posting a plug on behalf of a friend/colleague to attract business for said life coach.  My hope is that your story will shed some light and resonate with hearts and minds currently swimming in the sea of confusion on this topic.

Both personally and professionally, I am always looking to connect with EXCEPTIONS TO THE NORM in every field, and I find that many professionals in specific fields (law, medical, insurance, just to name a few) go through similar unnecessary challenges simply because their profession has been negatively branded due to unethical practices by others, however to no fault of their own, and without WHY explanations.

Thank you all in advance for taking the time to contribute.  I truly believe your informative comments with feedback will help many professionals who are currently struggling in this particular field.  

Curious though …Do you have any solutions to share as well?

Fire Away and Pass it On!
~Annie Armen

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2. 20 Quotes on COMMUNICATION in Business and in Life!

3. 30 Quotes on COMMITMENT in Business and in Life!
4. When Did s/he Give the Impression s/he Needed Your Advice? 

5. That Does it... I've Had Just About Enough of This!
6. Are you Working With a Resistant Employee?

7. Are you Leaving Your AUTHENTIC Mark?
8. Communicate Anyway

9. AnnieBiotics®

WHY Talk About Vaccines in a Professional Forum like Linkedin?

As you may recall, I ran a show this past week on the topic of “Do I Give My Child a Flu Shot” featuring my close friend for years, Dr. Edward Group III from Global Healing Center.  Team Hurricane did a phenomenal job in posting program info and details in various professional forums, one of which was on Linkedin.

Earlier yesterday, I came across a comment posted on Linkedin that read as follows:

 
“Please explain what this has to do with business.  LinkedIn is a business link.”

What a great request!  I was thrilled to catch this.  WHY?  Simply because this particular thought runs in the minds of so many people, and finally someone stepped forward and openly communicated what was on his mind.  Imagine how many professionals on Linkedin this wonderful gentleman helped, whether or not that was his intention, by coming forward and requesting for an explanation.  Certainly gave me an opportunity to dive right in and do what I love doing best – explaining WHY behind it all! 

That said, I honored this gentleman's request by explaining in this manner …

______________________________________

"About a month ago, I had asked the following question on Linkedin:

What are your two most valuable assets in business and in life?

1. Time and Money
2. Sales Staff & Customer List
3. Tangible & Intellectual Property
4. Time and Energy
5. Family and Health
6. Time and Space
7. You and Human Capital

Once you decide on your final answer, explain "WHY" with clarity of purpose.”

Was simply promising to see answers that came back to "family and health," "time and energy"...

Now...

Questions in the form of answers:

1. Just because we are CEO-s, entrepreneurs, professionals, does that make us
immune to life's on goings, particularly when it concerns the health of our kids -- of our future leaders?  

2.  When we say the health of our kids is important to us, does that not mean at ALL times, including when we are doing business whether at work, or networking in a professional, virtual forum?

3. Do business professionals and leaders have children of their own to care for?  Does that not make them parents as well?  Aren't their children a very important reason as to WHY they work long hours to make sure their families are safe, secure, and well taken care of?

4. Even if one does not have children, does he or she not have colleagues,
business partners who are parents with children or pregnant with children on the way, who are perhaps open to receiving valuable "health" information that can be of benefit?

5. Very important...  Without our heath and energy, how can we run our business
effectively?  Moving along to the next question...

6.  If one's child got sick as a result of a flu shot (IMPORTANT:  See “Valuable Reads and Resources from Global Healing Center -- Links Below) and showed unusual symptoms, will that not affect the overall focus, effectiveness, efficiency of one's day in the office (let us remember, while a professional at work, a parent at home), thereby affecting one's productive time and energy?  Could this have been avoided by choosing to be aware of information that can help sustain better health at home, while ensuring a peace of mind at work?

7. "Success" is a relative, subjective term, defined uniquely by others regardless from what walk of life.  But no matter how we define it, investing "time" in gaining knowledge that can add to our "health" can only contribute more toward our present and future success.  After all, are they not connected?

My Goal is to Learn ONE Thing New Every Day!

In business and in life for that matter, we always encourage one another to learn on a daily basis.  How many times have you heard the following specific objective communicated throughout your journey:  “My goal is to learn ONE thing new every day”?  

Therefore, if we are to take "learning" as "conditional", limiting our daily learning by what we uniquely construe and individually define as “what is” or “what is not” business, we can unintentionally blind ourselves toward unexpected, unwanted, unintended consequences that could have been avoided, had we taken a proactive moment to learn, apply our goal, and pass that knowledge along to those we care about, and to those who can benefit from it.

And if that’s not bad enough, because of our personal thinking and beliefs, unless we are careful and purposeful, we are in effect depriving other professionals/parents from gaining knowledge that may have been vital to him or her – a perfect example of an “unintended consequence” leading toward more unintended consequences, such as emergency hospitalization -- and that is no exaggeration! How can that be good for anyone's business?

Bottom-line, HEALTH beginning with our kids, with ourselves, is VITAL to our long-term success, and the two go hand in hand -- hence my WHY behind posting about vaccines in a professional forum like linkedin.

Hope my explanation to your request as to “what this has to do with business” has now been clarified.
______________________________________

Dear Why Annie Armen readers, what are your thoughts to all this?

Post your comments immediately below!

Pass it on!

~Annie Armen

Annie Armen Show Presents: It’s Not The End! What Matters is How You Finish!

Annie Armen Presents

Topic for Discussion:  It's NOT the end! What Matters is How You Finish!
Featured Guest:  YOU

Where:  Annie Armen Show 

___________________________

"I am here for a purpose and that purpose is to grow into a mountain, not to shrink to a grain of sand. Henceforth will I apply ALL my efforts to become the highest mountain of all and I will strain my potential until it cries for mercy."  ~Og Mandino – Greatest Salesman in the World
 
Dear Why Annie Armen Readers,
 
Right now, in this very moment, are you going through a difficult time?  Do you feel helpless in your given situation, and feel stuck, not knowing what to do, where to go, who to talk to?  Do you truly believe that there is no hope to get you out of your quick sand, whatever that quick sand is to you?  Somewhere along the line, do you feel your Faith has been contaminated, where you just don’t know what to believe anymore?  In a given split second, has the faint thought of the very words, “it’s all over” crossed your mind, and that you’ve reached the end of your rope? 

No doubt, life has its twists and turns; at times in our favor, and at other times, plain unfavorable. Of course, the ideal situation would be to experience more pleasantries in life then having to go through struggles and challenges.  However, we both know that behind each and every problem, there lies our greatest window of opportunity should we choose to persist with the problem long enough to solve it and find out.

So, What Do you do?  Do you Sink or Swim?

Allow me to paint you a picture in this manner:
Imagine for a moment, you have no arms; you have no legs.  In fact, you were born this way.  Now, when you fall, do you stay down?  Or, do you pray for someone to come to your rescue and help you back up?  What if there is no one available in that given moment?  Do you wait while face down on the ground until someone arrives to elevate you back up?  Or, do you do everything you can to get yourself off the ground?

Now, perhaps this next question may cross your mind… How can someone with no limbs get himself/herself back up without any help?  If in fact you asked yourself this question, it is indeed a great question, one drawn from logic.   

With that, I am challenging you with the following:  If you are capable of asking such a great logical question, how about transferring some of that mental energy and fueling up your inner heart and will to believe that you CAN get up, and that you WILL commit yourself by taking consistent action toward getting back up no matter how many times you fall trying, and no matter how long it takes!  Easier said than done?  Of course!  However, have you considered that possibility as a choice?

Do You Know "What" ONE Word Stands Between Sink and Swim?

Let’s think about this for a moment … What is the ONE word that stands between sink or swim, between you staying face down on the ground or getting back up?  The ONE word that lurks in the background, hidden from eyes that can tangibly see, silent from ears that can hear, yet always there, available 24/7 at your beck and call, waiting for you to seize and take action.

I am dedicating tonight’s show to one rare human being.  A human being who defines “EXTRA” in front of ordinary; a human being who crushes the word “impossible” and by his faith and actions, exemplifies POSSIBLE.  When I came across this man’s journey, heard his motivational presentations, in my opinion, he stood out as the best motivational speaker I have ever come across to date.

WHO is this man you ask?   

TUNE IN TONIGHT and I will reveal answers to this and many others questions you may have.  In fact, I am inviting you to call in and join me, LIVE on the air.  When you hear what I have to share, I believe you will immediately feel empowered, and you will experience a surge to get back up and rise above your circumstances. 

  

WHY?  Because YOU CAN! 

WHY?  Because “It’s Not the End; What Matters is How You Finish” … Always remember this!
 

Napoleon Bonaparte said, “The Word IMPOSSIBLE is not in my dictionary.”

I am asking you …. is the word “impossible” in yours?  If “Yes”, what are you going to do about it?  Post your comments below, I want to hear from you!

“If one of moment of fear can give birth to failure, then one moment of FAITH can reverse it!”  ~Annie Armen, The Communications Artist