Eagle Life Coaching

Academic Coaching for Teens

2007-02-01T16:05:00.000-08:00

It's very frustrating for teens and parents alike when grades are lower than they should be. Now that the school year is already half over, we need to spend some time looking at how to help these students turn around their grades around. Skills learned through academic coaching can translate easily to higher learning, work learning situations, and learning for fun.

How much time a student studies and does homework not as important as how much of that time is focused and efficient. If John spends an hour reading a text book in social studies but
can 't remember much the next day, he basically wasted an hour. However, if this same student spends a half hour using good study techniques, he invested his time wisely.

What are some of these techniques? Prereading, making note cards, drawing a mind map, and/or using a graphic organizer are all good ideas. There are different techniques for different learning styles (visual, auditory, and kinesthetic).

Pat Wyman has an e-book that helps students develop visual learning skills to match the style that most exams are given in. After reading her e-book, I am now teaching these skills to students whose primary learning style is not visual. You can order the book at http://tinyurl.com/yc33un

Happy New Year

2007-01-08T11:42:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!

I love new beginnings when we get to start afresh, tweak our lives, and hope for better times. It's fun to imagine your life better, set new goals and celebrate goals met in the past year.

If you sign up for my free e-mail newsletter, you will get my full article on how to turn New Year's Resolutions into goals, and strategies for being more successful this year than you were last year. I would also love it if you could forward the newsletter to your loved ones who can benefit from it and encourage them to subscribe at www.eaglelifecoaching.com

Tomorrow, we will cover this topic on my talk show, The Coaching Corner,at 10:30am at www.wrcr.com or if you live in Rockland County New York, AM1300, WRCR, Radio Rockland.

The most important tip for success this year - write down your goals! Review your list often. But don't stop there. Write down steps to achieving these goals and DATES for when each step will be completed. Make your goals big if you like but make each step attainable in a reasonable amount of time. And only set goals that you really want.

Have fun with this!

Friendship

2006-12-14T18:41:00.000-08:00

I have noticed a funny thing in my life around the holidays. We always romanticize them as time spent with friends and family. In reality, we are rushing around a lot, going shopping at night instead of hanging out together, and seeing the parties as a burden sometimes. When do we actually get to have the times that we are preparing for?

I was feeling isolated and lonely until a few days ago when I started reconnecting with my friends - a cup of coffee with a friend when I played hookey from a church meeting, a spontaneous lunch date squeezed in between two things that were pressing, cups of tea at my neighbor's house , phone calls with a friend far away, and watching Christmas movies with my children. Wow - I feel so much better! The stuff will get done somehow and if it doesn't, will it make a difference? What we remember about the holidays are the spiritual meanings and the time spent with loved ones. What do you really want this holiday season?

Exercise - a coping tool

2006-12-12T21:53:00.000-08:00

I always advise people to exercise during the holidays but have found it hard to take my own advice. I often go to bed late, and skip the exercise in the morning. So this morning after not exercising for a week and a half, I went out for my brisk walk. Whoa - I felt so good and since I had been walking this whole past year for the most part, I was able to jump right back into it. My head cleared, my mood improved and I accomplished more today than I would have had I skipped the walk. Sometimes the things we think that we have no time for are actually, the things that save us time in terms of efficiency the rest of the day.

Exercising outside has the added benefits of fresh air and vitamin D from the sun which are good for us emotionally and physically. Some people pray or just think things through when they walk. If you were to add a little bit of exercise into your upcoming days, how would it help you this holiday season?

Success

2006-12-11T22:00:00.000-08:00

I have to say that I am so energized by the success that I have seen in my clients this year. I am thinking about why this is so awesome to me. First of all, I don't take on clients unless I know that they can reach their goals. I find that because they are passionate about their work, it is fun to be in that place with them. When they hit obstacles, the passion gets blocked so we we work on it and free up that energy. Once they are unblocked, they just keep going and going. I love hearing them report back their successes.

I notice that when my entrepreneurial clients grow in this area of their lives, it affects their personal lives as well. They start making changes and report success in areas that we didn't work on directly but that have a parallel meaning to them. It's so neat to watch. I love coaching!

Holiday Stress

2006-12-07T08:00:00.000-08:00

What is it about the holidays that makes everyone so crazy? I think it's perfectionism. I realized this from listening to the Flylady (www.flylady.net) who is an organizing mentor to 350,000 subscribers worldwide. She also helps women to love themselve and is constantly pointing the finger to our perfectionism as to why we are so hard on ourselves.

Norman Rockwell was wonderful. My husband is from his area in the Berkshires and we actually received,as a gift, a child's stool painted by the boy (now a man) subject in the famous picture of the boy and girl sitting on stools, sharing and ice cream soda at the soda shop. Wonderful sentiments! So what do we American's do? We get a little crazy with ambition and decide that we have to remake our lives and everyone's around us to try to achieve these ideals. The thing with perfectionism is that we can never be perfect, so there's always something or someone to fix!

That family looked great but in real life, they likely were week in areas that you are strong in. Let's let gratitude an appreciation for our strenghs be a part of our holiday season. When the noisy energy is all around us, let's take 5 minutes which we all can spare and do something queit - look at a candle, pray, meditate, look at water,stare at the ceiling, cuddle with a child or spouse and be present.

I love the energy of the season and I have to be careful that I don't get trapped in it's addictive lure and stop taking the time for the essence of the season. It's hard to make that shift but when I do, then I jump back in more energetic and with more peace inside. What simple thing can you do to get more peace and balance this season?

What Does 9/11 mean for us?

2006-09-12T04:40:00.000-07:00

This week, I am wondering what 9/11 means to us. Certainly for those who lost loved ones, it takes on a profound life-changing meaning. Where I live, in a northwest suburb of Manhattan, many people lost loved ones, some more than one. I can't pretend to really know what it was like for them.

I think that even for the rest of us, we were affected on different levels. So I'm wondering if we were changed for the better in some way. What did we do with this tradgedy - did we take some meaning from it and work it in our lives? Can we still do that today?

I was with my two dearest friends from childhood for breakfast yesterday. Mary said that we have to make the most of each day. I said that I've heard that a million times and what does it mean? Are we making the most of today, I asked? We all together said "Yes!". Being together just means a lot to us. When we parted, I suggested getting together sooner, rather than our usual every few months or so.

And because of this question, I shared with them some ministry work that I feel that I am possibly being called to do. It was good to be open and honest with my dear friends, knowing that we are very different people and while this type of work is not for them, they would support me. They agreed with me - that I should go forward. Hearing those words from two wonderful women who have known me for so long helped. If we were not already talking about 9/11, this conversation probably wouldn't have happened.

We are different people with different gifts, talents and missions here on Earth. Finding the answers to what we are called to do can take time and is often a process. It can also be a bit scary at times. But being on the right path is a wonderful feeling. And talking about it with the right people or person helps.

Eagle Life Coaching

2005-06-15T06:46:00.000-07:00

Eagle Life Coaching

Good morning, and welcome to the second blogging attempt. If I don't answer posts, assume it's because I'm still confused as to how this all works.

Today, I'm thinking about this heat and the upcoming summer - a time to think about some R&R which I think is a challenge for many. We're too busy - we pride ourselves on it! It's kind of crazy when you think about the things that fill our time. Yesterday I was at a baseball game for kids who were way too young to be playing ball so late and should have been home being read to and tucked in! Honestly, how many of these little kids are going pro and do we have to sacrifice all of our children for the ones who are? I think that we as a society are a little too intense and ambitious for our own good. Less is more when it comes to structuring out days sometimes.

Putting balance higher on the priority list means learning how to recreate. It's not easy to slow down when you haven't been doing enough of it. So start small and do something relaxing for a few minutes daily if possible. Television doesn't count unless you rarely indulge. These few moments can grow into more time relaxing and feeling comfortable with it. And see what effect it has on those around you! Thanks for listening!