Do We Really Need Another Workshop?
Do We Really Need Another Workshop?
Jen (Spoiler alert! Names have NOT been changed…It’s me!) want to grow a garden. She envisions radiant, full bodied flowers of all shapes, sizes and colours and can already taste the carrots, beets and tomatoes bursting with flavour and textures. Jen’s purchased every gardening implement, tool, hose, fertilizer and soil that the gardening center sells. She’s read up on the proper way to plant and grow every seed she’s chosen.
She looks out upon her not-yet-staked-out garden patch and sees only an expanse of grass, weeds and dirt. There are no borders, no organization and no control. She pulled up weeds and attempted to stake out a patch for flowers and vegetables. She got tired. She took a break. For days, then weeks. She returned to find the weeds returned and her patches no longer defined.
Just having the tools, reading the manuals and watching the videos are not going to grow Jen’s dream garden.
This is how we are with all the information and tools we’ve gathered from all the growth, coaching, vision board workshops we have attended; with all the on-line courses we have purchased; with all the videos and blogs we have read. To produce what we truly desire takes employing the tools and the techniques that the ‘gurus’ claim really, really work. We don’t realize until we start, exactly how much work it is to change what already exists and grow something new. We seem to also gloss over the parts in the seminars, the books and the teachings that tell us that we will fail, we will go back to square one many times, we will feel intense frustration and quit many times. If you sit through a session of any kind, where they are selling you something, and they don’t tell you it will be difficult, and you will fail before you succeed, they are lying to you. The weeds in Jen’s garden are her thoughts, emotions and habits. The undefined space is her future.
Self-Empowering Workshops are our New Church.
Which reminds me of a story I was told in church; A congregation of ducks waddle into their Sunday morning church. The motivational speaker, a.k.a. preacher, gives an oration convincing the ducks that they can soar like eagles. When he punctuates the phrase “soar like eagles,” the ducks squawk and flap their wings. Each time, they squawk a little louder and flap a little harder. They do this to the point of actually gaining elevation and some ducks even flap around the room. There is much ‘amenning.’ At the end of the sermon, they all WADDLE out.
Is that you? Do you get entranced, empowered, motivated and then waddle out?
By all means, go to the workshop if it is something you are truly interested in, but promise yourself to take at least ONE tip, tool, suggestion and implement it!
I’m watching my friend Deb rebuild her life using every self-recovery tool she’s studied. I see inspirational athlete, Charmaine, transform herself and turn everything she’s been coached on into an entrepreneurial empire. I’ve witnessed my sister, Jocelyn, work, sacrifice, stumble and rise again and again using every available and some not so available resource to achieve her career goals. I’ve witnessed my daughters, Ali and Samantha empower themselves mentally, emotionally and physically—reaching far beyond what we, their parents provided. I follow and study these people, as well as do my daily tending to the creation in progress that is me—My Garden
Take note of whom you’re following? Does what they say line up with what they do? Good Coaches (What Does A Life Coach Do?) do not just get you ‘hopped up’ on motivation, they walk you through the tools until you have mastered them and can use them on your own, because that’s what they have done.
Comments? Questions?
Jen (Spoiler alert! Names have NOT been changed…It’s me!) want to grow a garden. She envisions radiant, full bodied flowers of all shapes, sizes and colours and can already taste the carrots, beets and tomatoes bursting with flavour and textures. Jen’s purchased every gardening implement, tool, hose, fertilizer and soil that the gardening center sells. She’s read up on the proper way to plant and grow every seed she’s chosen.
She looks out upon her not-yet-staked-out garden patch and sees only an expanse of grass, weeds and dirt. There are no borders, no organization and no control. She pulled up weeds and attempted to stake out a patch for flowers and vegetables. She got tired. She took a break. For days, then weeks. She returned to find the weeds returned and her patches no longer defined.
Just having the tools, reading the manuals and watching the videos are not going to grow Jen’s dream garden.
This is how we are with all the information and tools we’ve gathered from all the growth, coaching, vision board workshops we have attended; with all the on-line courses we have purchased; with all the videos and blogs we have read. To produce what we truly desire takes employing the tools and the techniques that the ‘gurus’ claim really, really work. We don’t realize until we start, exactly how much work it is to change what already exists and grow something new. We seem to also gloss over the parts in the seminars, the books and the teachings that tell us that we will fail, we will go back to square one many times, we will feel intense frustration and quit many times. If you sit through a session of any kind, where they are selling you something, and they don’t tell you it will be difficult, and you will fail before you succeed, they are lying to you. The weeds in Jen’s garden are her thoughts, emotions and habits. The undefined space is her future.
Self-Empowering Workshops are our New Church.
Which reminds me of a story I was told in church; A congregation of ducks waddle into their Sunday morning church. The motivational speaker, a.k.a. preacher, gives an oration convincing the ducks that they can soar like eagles. When he punctuates the phrase “soar like eagles,” the ducks squawk and flap their wings. Each time, they squawk a little louder and flap a little harder. They do this to the point of actually gaining elevation and some ducks even flap around the room. There is much ‘amenning.’ At the end of the sermon, they all WADDLE out.
Is that you? Do you get entranced, empowered, motivated and then waddle out?
By all means, go to the workshop if it is something you are truly interested in, but promise yourself to take at least ONE tip, tool, suggestion and implement it!
I’m watching my friend Deb rebuild her life using every self-recovery tool she’s studied. I see inspirational athlete, Charmaine, transform herself and turn everything she’s been coached on into an entrepreneurial empire. I’ve witnessed my sister, Jocelyn, work, sacrifice, stumble and rise again and again using every available and some not so available resource to achieve her career goals. I’ve witnessed my daughters, Ali and Samantha empower themselves mentally, emotionally and physically—reaching far beyond what we, their parents provided. I follow and study these people, as well as do my daily tending to the creation in progress that is me—My Garden
Take note of whom you’re following? Does what they say line up with what they do? Good Coaches (What Does A Life Coach Do?) do not just get you ‘hopped up’ on motivation, they walk you through the tools until you have mastered them and can use them on your own, because that’s what they have done.
Comments? Questions?
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