c2006-2008
Conscious Life Skills
Coaching
Conscious Life Skills
Coaching
life coaching and counselling
revamp your purpose, your passion, your choices, your power
revamp your purpose, your passion, your choices, your power
What's in a name?
The meaning of Conscious Life Skills Coaching
by Frances Todd
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c2008 F. Todd
Peter, my business coach, said to me: What do you mean exactly by Conscious Life Skills? It doesn’t really say much to me at all.”
He has a point, a big point. A business name sells itself upfront through what its name says, so if that name is not doing what it’s supposed to do, then people are likely to pass the business by and go elsewhere in their quest for getting information and services on improving their life.
Does Peter’s comment mean I should change the business name? That’s one option. Another could be to clarify what I mean by coaching someone to gain conscious life skills.
He has a point, a big point. A business name sells itself upfront through what its name says, so if that name is not doing what it’s supposed to do, then people are likely to pass the business by and go elsewhere in their quest for getting information and services on improving their life.
Does Peter’s comment mean I should change the business name? That’s one option. Another could be to clarify what I mean by coaching someone to gain conscious life skills.
So I’ve set myself a challenge - dig down and explain what’s behind the name Conscious Life Skills Coaching and ask people for their advice about how the meaning matches up with living life in our modern society.
I would love to hear your comments and advice about the name Conscious Life Skills Coaching. Please email them to frances@consciouslifeskills.com. Here's my take on the name, Conscious Life Skills Coaching.
What are life skills?
Life in our modern society is technologically complex and socially diverse. We are expected to be adaptive, innovative, creative, self-directed and self-motivated. This requires and involves a high level of interaction between cognitive and practical skills, creative abilities, attitudes, motivation and values.
We are also expected to take personal responsibility for our learning and our actions. When we demonstrate that we manage and cope well with all aspects of interacting to achieve desired outcomes, our behaviours are considered healthy and harmonious. We have and demonstrate a level of personal competence that enables us to live well.
Life skills, then, refer to abilities and skills needed by an individual to live competently in modern society.
The difference between abilities and skills
Abilities refer to your capcities or power for doing something. For coaching purposes, abilities are broadly categorized as your ability to build sound, harmonious relationships with self, others and the environment; your ability to act responsibly and safely; your ability to survive under a variety of conditions; and your ability to solve problems.
Skills are the techniques which we apply when expressing our abilities. They are the how to information, the equipment and apparatus we use to go about our everyday life.
What does life coaching have to do with life skills?
How we feel about our life, including particular areas such as relationships and work satisfaction is the measure of how effective our life skills are. If we ask, ‘Are we happy, content, and fulfilled?’ and the answer is no, then we can with accuracy say that our personal competence needs building up.
This is where coaching steps in - it helps you, via a mentoring and learning process, to regain and improve your sense and levels of personal competence. You identify where your competence needs building up, and seek advice and action on how to build it up. Because coaching is about facilitating the answers from inside you, you are actually the one who takes charge of your life. Taking charge is an empowering experience, and your competence will naturally increase.
Okay, I understand about life coaching and life skills, but where does 'conscious' fit in?
As coaching opens you up to more of yourself through the coach-client conversations, it also grants you a degree of detachment. Detachment is the ability to step back and take more of a bird’s eye view on how you interact, which includes both healthy and unhealthy use of your abilities and skills to achieve desired outcomes.
In order to achieve healthy outcomes in a mature and competent way, we need to be both aware of, and able to reflect upon, our thoughts feelings and actions. Awareness and reflection together make up the essence of being conscious. Let me briefly explain
When you become aware of something, it has come into your field of attention. You may notice a feeling that something is uncomfortable or a thought that suggests an action is wrong.
When you become reflective about something, you change the quality and focus of your attention. You look beyond noticing something is right or wrong. You start to see patterns and see a bigger picture. You see interactions from a number of different angles. You widen your perspective. And you consider action to change that something. You consider various ways that something can be changed. You choose to act in a certain way. By going through this process, you emerge conscious of who you are and what you are doing. This is powerful stuff for feeling competent, and being competent in what you do - again and again.
By practicing both being aware and being conscious, the next time something comes into your field of attention, your sense of awareness is heightened and you are able to make better choices for your self earlier on, without going through prolonged agony, procrastination, fear and obligation.
I would love to hear your comments and advice about the name Conscious Life Skills Coaching. Please email them to frances@consciouslifeskills.com. Here's my take on the name, Conscious Life Skills Coaching.
What are life skills?
Life in our modern society is technologically complex and socially diverse. We are expected to be adaptive, innovative, creative, self-directed and self-motivated. This requires and involves a high level of interaction between cognitive and practical skills, creative abilities, attitudes, motivation and values.
We are also expected to take personal responsibility for our learning and our actions. When we demonstrate that we manage and cope well with all aspects of interacting to achieve desired outcomes, our behaviours are considered healthy and harmonious. We have and demonstrate a level of personal competence that enables us to live well.
Life skills, then, refer to abilities and skills needed by an individual to live competently in modern society.
The difference between abilities and skills
Abilities refer to your capcities or power for doing something. For coaching purposes, abilities are broadly categorized as your ability to build sound, harmonious relationships with self, others and the environment; your ability to act responsibly and safely; your ability to survive under a variety of conditions; and your ability to solve problems.
Skills are the techniques which we apply when expressing our abilities. They are the how to information, the equipment and apparatus we use to go about our everyday life.
What does life coaching have to do with life skills?
How we feel about our life, including particular areas such as relationships and work satisfaction is the measure of how effective our life skills are. If we ask, ‘Are we happy, content, and fulfilled?’ and the answer is no, then we can with accuracy say that our personal competence needs building up.
This is where coaching steps in - it helps you, via a mentoring and learning process, to regain and improve your sense and levels of personal competence. You identify where your competence needs building up, and seek advice and action on how to build it up. Because coaching is about facilitating the answers from inside you, you are actually the one who takes charge of your life. Taking charge is an empowering experience, and your competence will naturally increase.
Okay, I understand about life coaching and life skills, but where does 'conscious' fit in?
As coaching opens you up to more of yourself through the coach-client conversations, it also grants you a degree of detachment. Detachment is the ability to step back and take more of a bird’s eye view on how you interact, which includes both healthy and unhealthy use of your abilities and skills to achieve desired outcomes.
In order to achieve healthy outcomes in a mature and competent way, we need to be both aware of, and able to reflect upon, our thoughts feelings and actions. Awareness and reflection together make up the essence of being conscious. Let me briefly explain
When you become aware of something, it has come into your field of attention. You may notice a feeling that something is uncomfortable or a thought that suggests an action is wrong.
When you become reflective about something, you change the quality and focus of your attention. You look beyond noticing something is right or wrong. You start to see patterns and see a bigger picture. You see interactions from a number of different angles. You widen your perspective. And you consider action to change that something. You consider various ways that something can be changed. You choose to act in a certain way. By going through this process, you emerge conscious of who you are and what you are doing. This is powerful stuff for feeling competent, and being competent in what you do - again and again.
By practicing both being aware and being conscious, the next time something comes into your field of attention, your sense of awareness is heightened and you are able to make better choices for your self earlier on, without going through prolonged agony, procrastination, fear and obligation.