Self Coaching

Cheryl put life coaching on the map by doing ongoing sessions of mini-coaching on The Oprah Winfrey Show. She spoke at the 2001 Annual Conference of the International Coach Federation, and came across as very authentic and willing to be vulnerable in public. She was walking her talk. Cheryl says in this book that she now encourages her clients to focus on developing the skills that improve the quality of their life instead of focusing on finding the best career, best relationship, etc. because those things follow naturally. The book has questionnaires, case studies, action steps and suggested resource lists in every chapter. Topics include putting yourself first, setting priorities, getting rid of what drains you, building a community of supportive relationships, getting your finances in order and kicking the adrenaline addiction. This is a great book to work through with a buddy, support group or even your coach.

“Dr. Phil” is another person made rich and famous by appearing on The Oprah Winfrey Show. He elaborates on ten “Life Laws” such as “You create your own experience,” and “We teach people how to treat us.” He writes like he talks: straight-shooting talk with a Texas twang. He cites examples and case studies, gives you questions to ask yourself and assignments. To create your Life Strategy Plan, you have to do all the assignments so that you can utilize answers from prior assignments in later assignments. It’s too easy to get bogged down and lost in the “Life Dimensions” section just when you are ready to create a Life Strategy. But don’t worry. Even if you never do create a Life Strategy, if you just read this book and answer the questions with a true willingness to look at yourself (instead of making note of which passages someone else should read), and adopt Dr. Phil’s Laws of Life, you will develop a new and more effective life path for yourself.

This workbook is a companion to Miedaner’s book Coach Yourself to Success: 101 Tips for Reaching Your Goals at Work and in Life (2000) available at Amazon.com. The book provides the success stories and the rationale for the actions. The workbook provides workshop-like exercises that are simple, fun and get you into action. Want to start making some changes without wading through a lot of prose? This workbook is for you.

A therapist once told me that if I did all the steps in The Artist’s Way, I wouldn’t need therapy anymore. This book contains a lot of sentence completions, journaling, self-care and other exercises designed to help you uncover the unconscious beliefs that are blocking your creativity. The truth is, once you figure out how to get out of your own way, there is really nothing stopping you from having the life you want, is there? This is a good book to work through with a group or on your own. You may still be able to find facilitated Artist’s Way groups by doing a little web searching or reviewing the local leisure classes. If not, why not start your own with a group of friends?