Positive Life 5-6

5.1 Discussion.Positive Relationships

Getting Started

In Workshop Five, you will learn about the role and power of relationship in the coaching process.

The Bible is a book about relationships. In the Workshop Four devotional, we looked at what is referred to as the Greatest Commandment: “to love God and love others as yourself.” We’ve also looked at “one another” concepts in the Bible: “love one another,” “be kind to one another,” “speak truth to one another in love,” and many other relational principles.

While some people might think the Ten Commandments are more rigid dos and don’ts from the Old Testament, they are all relational in nature. The first four are about our relationship with God, and the last six are relationship guidelines and boundaries with others.

The very character and nature of God are Trinitarian. He is in relationship with himself and the other members of the Trinity. And he has created us in this relational image. His primary means of communicating divine reality, love, and transformation is through relationship.

Upon successful completion of this discussion, you will be able to:

· Share your thoughts related to the transforming power of relationship.

· Reflect on the impact of relationship on clients as a life coach.

Background Information

Positive psychology and counseling research have reinforced the idea that relationships are central to mental health, happiness, and well-being. Above any other concept, technique, or practice, strong social connections predict levels of emotional well-being and long life more than any other single factor.

Additionally, research has shown that the nature of the therapeutic relationship in a counseling and/or coaching setting is more important than the proper use of a technique or the depth of the coach’s knowledge. A key to building an effective relationship and coaching alliance is trust.

Instructions

1. Navigate to the discussion topic and respond to the following prompts:

a. Consider a person in your life who has made the biggest impact on you.

b. Describe this relationship and what it was about the individual, their character, and personality that impacted you.

c. Reflect on and write about the character traits, biblical principles, values, personality dynamics, or other elements you think will be essential to build trust and support growth in a life-coaching situation.

2. Your postings should also:

a. Be well developed by providing clear answers with evidence of critical thinking.

b. Add greater depth to the discussion by introducing new ideas.

6.3 Assignment. Pulling It Together

Getting Started

At this point in the course, you may feel as though you’ve crossed the finish line of your coaching sessions. But, there is one last, important lunge you need to cross that line. And it’s a very important step in completing the implementation of the life coaching portion of your capstone project. This final step is to do a reflective assessment of your life coaching experience. This piece, though the last, is just as important as the actual coaching because it allows you to reflect upon and learn from the work you’ve done. And it is especially important that you do this reflection while the experience is fresh.

This assessment is designed to serve three purposes: 1) help you to extract the most salient features of the coaching experience, 2) reflect on your own coaching effectiveness, and 3) begin reflecting on your professional journey toward life coaching.

Upon successful completion of this assignment, you will be able to:

· Assess the outcomes of the life coaching sessions.

Background Information

To get the most from this assignment, spend adequate time looking over your coaching notes and go back and listen to your recorded coaching sessions. Assess how your coaching client responded to the action plan that you helped them create in your second coaching session.

Instructions

1. Read Chapter 16 in your textbook,  Becoming a Professional Life Coach: Lessons from the Institute for Life Coach Training.

2. In a four to five-page paper, respond to the following:

a. Assessing the life coaching principles

i. Which life coaching concepts, principles, exercises, or assessments were most helpful in your coaching sessions? Explain.

ii. What would you have liked to have learned more about that might have helped you in your coaching sessions?

b. Assessing your life coaching experience

i. Identify three personal areas of strength that you became aware of as you conducted the coaching sessions. Be specific.

ii. Identify three areas you became aware of where you’d like to improve. Again, be specific.

iii. What did you find most challenging about the coaching process?

iv. If you could change one or two things about how the coaching sessions were conducted, what would these be?

c. Assessing the effectiveness of your coaching on the coaching subject

i. How helpful do you think the coaching sessions were for facilitating real change in your coaching subject? Explain.

ii. What one principle from positive psychology would you emphasize with this coaching client (based on their stated need) if you were going to continue to work with them?

5.4 Assignment Journal. Preparing for the Second Coaching Session

Getting Started

During this workshop, you will conduct your second and final coaching session. This journal entry is designed to help you develop a game plan for this second coaching session.

Here are questions you want to keep in mind as you create your game plan:

1. What is the one area of your coaching client’s life that they most want to change? Note: You’ll need to keep the focus on only one area due to time constraints.

2. What are the biggest obstacles they face in realizing the desired change (lack of resources, limiting beliefs, energy drains, etc.)?

3. What stage of change is your coaching subject currently in? Note: The goal is to help them get to the next stage in the change process.

4. What type of customized optimal challenge would best fit their desired change and current obstacles and resources?

5. What type of commitment will you ask for in the development of an action plan that creates accountability for the desired change?

You will want to think through these questions carefully to help orient you toward the second coaching session. There is no substitute for knowing your coaching client well. And the way you get to know them is through keen observation and well-placed, empowering questions.

Upon successful completion of this assignment, you will be able to:

· Create a flexible plan for the second life coaching session that works toward an action point.

Background Information

The idea driving this second coaching session is to funnel all of your insights and knowledge of your coaching client toward an action plan that involves real change. Make the change coincide with the optimal challenge and create some type of accountability following the second coaching session so that the desired change can be measured.

Instructions

1. Read Chapter 14 in your textbook,  Becoming a Professional Life Coach: Lessons from the Institute for Life Coach Training.

2. Open your ongoing Personal Reflection Journal that you have saved in a Word document. Title this new journal entry  PSY-563 5.4 Preparing for the Second Coaching Session <Day, Month Year>.

3. Make this journal entry a specific game plan for your second coaching session by commenting on the following points in at least five substantive paragraphs:

a. What empowering questions do you still need to ask in order to get clarity on the coaching client’s core strengths, needs, desires, obstacles, and dreams? Write these out.

b. What concepts from positive psychology do you want to review or introduce that directly apply to this person’s core needs?

c. Given all that you know about your coaching subject, what would an optimal challenge look like? Explain it in some detail. Remember, it must be challenging, striking a balance between being too hard and too easy.

d. How will you introduce the optimal challenge in a way that makes it  their idea so that they own it fully? Be specific.

e. What type of commitment do you anticipate asking for to enhance accountability?

6.1 Discussion. Positive Outlook

Getting Started

One of my favorite passages in Scripture that I referred to in Workshop 3 is from Philippians:

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. ( New International Version, 1978/2011, Philippians 4:6–9)

In this workshop, you will explore what it means to have a positive mindset and the research around the power of positive psychology that, I believe, reinforces ancient traditions in religion and philosophy. Philippians 4:6–9 encourages us to focus our attention on what is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy. All these positive attributes listed in these verses have to do with what we see in people and how they treat others in relationships. And the Scriptures call us to focus our attention, reflect on, to “think about such things.” In other words, we are to meditate on the good deeds around us.

This technique of training our minds to think about good, honorable stories and acts that we see in others is not only a positive psychology intervention; it is a spiritual practice that can shape our relationship with God and increase our happiness.

Upon successful completion of this discussion, you will be able to:

· Reflect on the biblical principles of gratitude and meditation.

· Identify ways in which practicing biblical meditation and a positive mindset can be used in your role as a life coach.

Background Information Martin Seligman, one of the founders of Positive Psychology, conducted research related to gratitude journaling and reflecting on three good things or three things that have gone right during the day. Since this initial research, multiple studies have shown that if we focus our attention, much like the Bible indicates in Philippians 4, on things that have gone right during the day, our emotional state, our sleep, and even our physical health can be altered in significantly positive ways.

Research was also conducted around the VIA Strengths Inventory you completed in a previous course. The researchers compared the 24-character strengths (humility, appreciation for beauty, compassion, hope, honesty, prudence, etc..) and discovered that two of the 24 stood out as most crucial or predictive of an elevated level of happiness.

Any guesses which ones?

Of the 24 character strengths, gratitude and love of learning had the strongest correlation to increased levels of positive emotion. And of these two finalists, gratitude was the key character strength.

In this devotional, you will review biblical themes of gratitude and experience the power of a positive mindset through a gratitude intervention.

Instructions

1. Navigate to the discussion topic and respond to the following prompts:

a. Take ten minutes to reflect on and then write down an example of positive, admirable attributes that you have seen in someone else today or this week.

b. Write about three things that have gone well today. Be detailed in your descriptions of the events, writing at least a paragraph for each of the three events or examples and describing why they went well.

2. Your postings should also:

a. Be well developed by providing clear answers with evidence of critical thinking.

b. Add greater depth to the discussion by introducing new ideas.

6.2 Discussion. Exploring Mindset

Getting Started

We’ve all known people who exude negative energy. This negative energy can manifest as constant complaining, assuming the role of victim, or just making endless excuses for their negative behavior or poor attitude. Behind this negative energy is the mindset of a person who feels most secure when they are in the one-up position and others in the one-down. So, they tend to focus on what’s not working and others’ mistakes. This type of person is also quick to blame others. Unfortunately, a person with a lot of negative energy is typically an unhappy person.

In contrast, a person with an empowered mindset recognizes problems but chooses to work toward solutions. Obstacles are not viewed as the final outcome but rather as challenges that invite creative solutions. This type of positive, optimistic energy focuses on improvement, growth, and helping others. And, not surprisingly, people enjoy working with and socializing with those who have an optimistic view of life.

In Chapter 15 of the textbook, the authors define mindset as “habitual patterns of thinking, feeling and responding” (p. 342).

As an aspiring life coach, it is your task to help clients identify unexamined and negative mindsets. If these negative mindsets are not tagged and rooted out, these behaviors will inevitably work against them, hindering their productivity and stifling their relationships. Let’s face it—people don’t like being around negative energy. You can serve coaching clients well by heightening their awareness and helping them learn new options for turning negative energy into positive action.

In this discussion, you will learn more about mindset and how to increase your own awareness of areas you may be somewhat blind to. This will also help you to better assist others to increase their self-awareness in a coaching situation.

Upon successful completion of this discussion, you will be able to:

· Examine the concept of mindset and how it can affect the growth process.

Background Information

If you are having difficulty coming up with a repeated behavior that may reflect a negative mindset in your own life, ask someone who knows you well to offer their opinion. We are often so close to our own habits that we don’t see our behavior and attitudes as objectively as someone else can.

Instructions

1. Read Chapter 15 in your textbook,  Becoming a Professional Life Coach: Lessons from the Institute for Life Coach Training.

2. Read the article,  Learned Optimism: The Cup Half Full (new tab) .

3. Navigate to the discussion topic and respond to the following discussion prompts:

a. Identify one area of your life where you keep repeating a thought or behavior that you would like to change but can’t. Explain.

b. What might your mindset be that is keeping you stuck in this thinking or behavioral pattern?

c. How might you dispute this belief or behavior in order to break the pattern?

d. How might Seligman’s concept of learned optimism help you to break the stale mindset pattern?

e. How could you apply learned optimism in working with a coaching client who is stuck in a negative pattern?

4. Your initial post:

a. Should be at least 500 words.

5. Your postings should also:

a. Be well developed by providing clear answers with evidence of critical thinking.

b. Add greater depth to the discussion by introducing new ideas.

5.2 Discussion. The Importance of Integrity

Getting Started

Integrity is a word we hear a lot in the public forum. We usually hear it when there appears to be a  lack of integrity in a particular situation. For example, it might be mentioned in the context of an alleged ethics violation by a business or agency. Or it might be more personal, where someone is taking advantage of a less-capable person. But hearing about the lack of integrity doesn’t give us a very clear idea of what integrity is. So before we can rightly use the word, we need to establish a definition.

In Chapter 12 of the textbook, the authors give a simple definition of integrity: “The quality of being honest and having strong moral principles.” This straightforward definition emphasizes the qualities of honesty and morality.

Steven Covey, the author of the now-classic book  7 Habits of Highly Effective People, echoes this definition by saying, “Moral authority comes from following universal and timeless principles like honesty, integrity, treating people with respect.”

Using these guidelines, we can say that a person who exhibits integrity is one who deliberately seeks to be honest, lives by moral principles, and treats others with respect.

Given that definition, it would seem that a competent life coach would intuitively embrace these principles as ones to build a reputation on. But given human fallibility, it’s one thing to agree with principles of integrity but quite another to routinely practice integrity in our dealings with others. It’s in the quiet corners of our day, when no one is looking, that our true commitment to integrity shines through. Do we hold ourselves accountable to that standard of integrity on a consistent basis? When we reflect that level of integrity in our interaction with coaching clients, we are modeling our values in a way that can have powerful and life-changing effects on those we coach.

In this discussion, you have the opportunity to explore how important integrity is in your life and how it might apply to the profession of life coaching.

Upon successful completion of this discussion, you will be able to:

· Discuss the trait of integrity as it applies to personal life and life coaching.

Background Information

Because integrity is such an important concept for living by moral standards, think carefully about the concept before responding to the discussion. First, read the assigned textbook chapter and article before you begin posting your responses. These readings should jump-start some of your thinking about the concept of integrity. To get the most from the discussion, be honest about your own assessment and where you might need to grow in this area.

Instructions

1. Read Chapter 12 in your textbook:  Becoming a Professional Life Coach: Lessons from the Institute for Life Coach Training.

2. Read the article,  The Importance of Honesty and Integrity in Business (new tab) .

3. Navigate to the discussion topic and respond to the following discussion prompts:

a. What is your definition of personal integrity? Be specific and detailed in your response.

b. Is living with integrity important to you both as a person and as a life coach? Explain.

c. A part of integrity is keeping your word to others. What degree of importance do you place on keeping your word and going the extra distance to be reliable in that sense?

d. Give an example of a time when your behavior did not line up with your stated values. How did this lack of integrity affect you?

e. What might be the consequence if you encourage integrity in your coaching clients but don’t diligently live it yourself?

f. Name one principle from positive psychology that aligns closely with the concept of integrity. Explain the connection.

4. Your initial post:

a. Should be at least 500 words.

5. Your postings should also:

a. Be well developed by providing clear answers with evidence of critical thinking.

b. Add greater depth to the discussion by introducing new ideas.