Quantum Life Coaching (Part 4)

Sorry for the absence… I’ve been so busy exploring and learning that I just have not had any time to sit down and write a new blog entry. Finally, today, I have the time and motivation to create my next mind-blowing dissertation. So, let’s get to it!!

WHERE I’M AT…

As of the end of March, I’ve completed 6 months of my Quantum Coach Training, which is halfway through the year-long certification program. It has been challenging, enlightening, frustrating and tremendously rewarding and, although I’ve had several bouts with self-doubt and mild “depression”, overall I’m glad I chose this path. If nothing else, I’m getting a good look at my personal and spiritual life and I’m being forced to deeply question my motivations and underlying, unconscious beliefs and values. That alone is worth the price of the tuition!

As for the course itself, we’ve just completed the Business Building module and I’m joyfully overwhelmed with all the possibilities that have been presented… I’ve discovered that there is an endless supply of ways to create abundance in my life and I’m now dealing with the task of becoming more clear about which direction to focus on. I feel like a child in a candy store !

Reconciling different philosophies

Over the years, I’ve studied many different “spiritual philosophies” (you can find some of what I mean by perusing the “About Me” link) but I’ve recently narrowed my focus down to 3 main “categories”: A Course in Miracles, Eckhart Tolle (Present in the Now) and, of course, The Law of Attraction (as presented by Ester Hicks/Abraham). If you are unfamiliar with any of these, or you would like to explore them further, just do a Google search and you’ll find tons of info. For me to embrace any form of coaching modality, I had to reconcile these seemingly divergent spiritual paths because I felt that my coaching sessions  needed to be congruent with my spiritual ideals… I couldn’t use what I didn’t believe in!

The whole story on how I was able to see the “common thread” within these different philosophies is quite lengthy and I’ll probably write a separate post (or maybe a book!) about it, but for now I’ll just give a short synopsis. A  Course in Miracles (ACIM) basically proposes that we are all part of the Mind of God, and, although we have actually never left our Home, we are “asleep” and “dreaming” the reality we call “this life”. The process of returning to the awareness of our True Self is both highly personalized and yet universal: we realize what we “see” is not real, we become willing to let it go and we ask (the Holy Spirit, Jesus, whatever works for you) to heal our mind by removing the blocks we’ve made to keep God’s Love out of our awareness.

Eckhart Tolle, while not being opposed to what ACIM asserts, has a different technique for getting “there”: by meditating and non-judgmentally noticing what is going on inside, both as internal chatter and physical sensation, and just letting go of it, we can attain a state of PRESENCE. This Presence is our True Self, the Awareness that is conscious of who we think we are. That Awareness has become trapped into believing that the body, and all it’s experiences, is itself. Our path to true Freedom and Joy then becomes the task of realizing that all this “stuff” is just a distraction, and as we allow ourselves to move inward, we will discover what has always been there… our True Self as Pure Awareness. We then take that mind-set into our daily lives and begin to experience our world as a place endless beauty, peace, abundance and joy. Sounds simple enough, right? LOL

Now, for the tricky part. These first two ideologies were fairly easy to “mash together”, but the Law of Attraction proved to be more daunting. When I signed up for this coaching training, I did so because I expected some new leading-edge mind-blowing  life-altering “techniques” that would allow me to make a huge impact in my client’s life. I was quite shocked and disappointed when I realized that much of the material was actually stuff I had studied 20-30 years ago and had “moved past”. Although I almost withdrew from the course, I decided to stick with it and see where it took me… and, I’m glad I did!  The main techniques used in the course are based on the material channeled by Ester Hicks from a non-physical being named Abraham. It is loosely called the Law of Attraction (that which we hold in our “vibration” will manifest in our reality), but includes a number of other “laws”, the other central tenets being the Law of Deliberate Creation (we can choose what we get by deliberately changing our thoughts and emotions) and the Law of Allowing (we don’t need to struggle to get what we want… we just need to let the Universe bring it to us).

The main reason I had discarded the LOA  as a meaningful spiritual path 20 years ago was because it seemed to be so “egocentric”, meaning that they were always saying “what do you want?” and the workshops were filled with discussions about how to be happy by getting all the things that would satisfy you. Anyone who has been on a spiritual quest for any amount of time quickly realizes that true happiness can’t possibly come from manipulating the external situation and that the pursuit of material gain only leads to more pain and suffering. I have to note here that the release of the DVD “The Secret” just further confirmed to me that this path was not for me. However, as I studied the recent books, CDs, meditations and other “Abe stuff”, I began to notice a shift in what was being taught: the emphasis was now on connecting to SOURCE to discover what your desires and wants are. Again, I’m not going to go into all the ways this is being promoted, but I feel this is a significant point. In fact, it now seems that all three of these philosophies are pointing to the same reference point for living a truly happy and fulfilling life while playing fully in the physical universe: a connection to your True Self, Source, Awareness, Higher Self, Truth, God, or whatever else you want to call IT… it’s all good!

IN CONCLUSION…

I’d like to end this with a little discussion about TRUTH… in this world, truth is a relative thing… everyone believes they have the “answer” and feels they know the “truth”, but, in actuality, all we can ever have is an opinion based on our beliefs. Almost all the pain and suffering in this world is brought on by people who confuse beliefs with TRUTH. It is a function of the brain (not the MIND) to organize your life so you feel somewhat safe in the chaos that surrounds us. It does this by drawing conclusions and making judgements about everything it experiences… from this it forms a world-view that determines each individual’s way of dealing with life situations… and then it goes out and finds evidence that reinforces its point-of-view and tries to prove it is “right” (and you are “wrong”, of course). I don’t care how many “facts” nor how much knowledge you can accumulate about any subject, you will never find true safety, peace or happiness from that endeavor. Being happy and feeling fulfilled is a conscious choice we can make every moment of the day… it doesn’t depend on external circumstances or the condition of the body… it is totally self-contained and is experienced by choosing to be conscious of who you really are… Pure Awareness. I can’t explain or prove it to you… the only way to KNOW it is to experience IT, and that is something I can help you with. I’m still offering several hours of free coaching sessions to anyone who is interested, although my time-slots are filling pretty fast. Obviously, this is not for everyone, but if you feel connected in any way to what I’ve said here, please contact me on FB, twitter, email (hover over my picture on the right side of the home page) or post a comment below.

Best wishes and many blessings… Live long and Prosper!!

It’s 2013! Welcome to the New Year!!

Hi, All…

I’d like to start off by apologizing to my many followers… I’ve been quite remiss in posting here on a regular basis, but I promise to do better in the future, starting right now!

My last post was about my new coaching classes, so I’ll give a short update on that. It is going very well and has been very challenging and enlightening on many levels. I have much to share about the many trials, tribulations and breakthroughs I’ve experienced along the way, but I’ll leave that for my next entry. Right now, I’d like to focus on something that seems to be on everybody’s minds at this time of year: New Years resolutions.

I’ve spent much time over the last few weeks examining my life and contemplating what changes I need to make that will really make 2013 a smashing success. In the process, I’ve been faced with  the troubling reality of my past attempts: regardless of what goals I set, no matter how hard I’ve tried, and in spite of my best intentions, I’ve never been able to adhere to any of my previous lists. I had finally given up and decided to just leave things as they were and continue on as usual. But then, at 3 AM this morning, I was hit by this powerful insight: keep it simple, stupid (otherwise know as KISS)!! As I sat up, wide awake, in my bed, I realized I had to get this brilliant idea down on paper (or, rather, entered into my text editor) to prepare it for world-wide dispersal. Below, you will find the results of my efforts… enjoy, comment and share:

My 2013 resolutions:

1. I will close my eyes and sleep when I’m tired; I will open my eyes and get out of bed when I’m fully rested.
If I’m asleep when most people are awake, I’ll call it meditation; if I’m awake when most people are asleep, I’ll call it inspiration.

2. When my eyes are open, I’ll see only what I want to see; when my eyes are closed, I’ll be sleeping or meditating.

3. I’ll speak only when my mouth is open; I’ll only chew when it isn’t.
I’ll never say or write anything I don’t want to hear. I’ll never chew anything I don’t want to swallow.

4. I’ll eat when I’m hungry; I’ll stop when I’m full. I’ll only eat what is on my plate.

5. I’ll exercise whenever I’m moving; I’ll do yoga the rest of the time.

6. I’ll use my ears to listen, my nose to smell and my tongue to taste.

7. I’ll inhale when I need air; I’ll exhale soon after that.

8. I’ll use my brain to think and my mind to dream.

9. I’ll be happy when I choose to be; otherwise, I’ll be OK where I am.

10. I’ll use all my other body parts for the function they’re intended, as needed at the appropriate times.

I’ll modify, edit and re-do this list as I find new and better things that I can easily accomplish 100% of the time. Although I’m totally open to suggestions, in the end, I’ll only do what feels best for me. Feel free to apply this list to your life… I guarantee you will be successful and content with the results. Please do not ask me to explain or teach these revolutionary ideas… I’m too busy enjoying my new life to waste my time trying to get people to do what they already do.

So, there you have it… can’t get much simpler (or easier) than that. In conclusion, I’d like to wish each of you the best in the coming year and leave you with another deep, thought-provoking quote: “if you keep heading the direction you’re going, you’ll eventually get there”, or something like that. Anyway, enjoy yourself as best you can… there’s no guarantee you’ll get another chance!

See ya’ on the flip side…..

 

Quantum Life Coaching (Part 3)

 

New Insights

As the start date for my new coaching classes approach, I find myself contemplating how this new career will impact my life. I’ve been exploring  many coaching websites and trying to understand their styles and philosophies, and, at times, I’ve sampled some of their techniques. Here are some of my insights and impressions:

•  There is an almost infinite number of choices for anyone seeking help in taking control of their lives. Although I can’t judge how efficient or effective these coaches are in getting the desired results, there certainly is no lack in variety.
• It seems that most coaches are focusing on a “specialized area” (otherwise known as a niche), but will still work with almost anyone on any set of “challenges”, AND they assert that they ALL have  the SECRET “tool” that will positively guarantee the client’s success.
• Even though their are many individuals already playing the coaching game, there is till plenty of room for growth, but there is no regulatory agency nor any centralized, universally recognized certifying organization…. anyone can put up a sign and claim they are a life coach.

If you take all this into consideration, it would seem to be confusing, and possibly dangerous,  for anyone contemplating entering into a working relationship with a coach. However, to counter this assertion, it seems that most clients are more than satisfied with the results they are getting and most groups who monitor the coaching sector agree that this field is healthy and expanding at a very high rate. To me, it seems to be a win-win-win career: client’s get what they want (hopefully, more than they expect), I get the personal satisfaction of assisting another in their evolution, and I create a source of income that is directly linked to how effective I am as a coach. And, oh yeah, this all helps me grow in every area of my life…. PERFECTO!!

Advice to potential clients and coaches

If you are considering life coaching, either as a career or as a source of guidance for your journey, I’ve got a few suggestions:

• Do your homework, and listen to your intuition…. check out as many different styles and philosophies as you can; most coaches offer a free session as an introduction… try out a couple and see what “feels right” for you.
• If you’re considering a coaching career, try a session with a coach who has completed that particular training… see how you like that style and how effective it was for you. It is probably worth hiring a coach, at least for a while, to help you make the decision.
• Coaching is much more about heart connections than it is about defining and adhering to a set of life rules. If you don’t feel connected to a coach, try someone else. If you don’t think you can acquire the skills needed to become an effective yet loving coach, yourself, please understand that you have many gifts and talents that the world needs… don’t sell yourself short. You don’t have to be living a “perfect” life to be helpful to someone else in their journey.

What I’m excited about

 Since I made the commitment to renew my coaching career,  I can feel a “quickening” inside me… I wake each day, looking forward to new discoveries and the many synchronicities that keep happening to me. The doubts have disappeared and a quite, calm sureness has entered my mind and soul, and each moment brings the excitement of new possibilities and opportunities. I’ve been visualizing all the successes I’ll experience and my internal dialogue has been filled with affirmations and positive conversations. I have to add here that none of this has been forced or manufactured… it has happened naturally and automatically as I move along this new journey… I feel totally inspired and intimately guided by my Higher self. I have much more to share about this, but need to end this post soon… I’ll be adding more in the future as I travel along this path… thank you from the bottom of my heart for joining me and I hope you will continue to share your thoughts and comments here so we can all play, together.

 

Quantum Life Coaching (Part 2)

What’s New:

Wow, things are moving forward very quickly, now, and it seems that the Universe is responding with timely and synchronistic help. Since I’ve made the decision to pursue a coaching career, I’ve been exposed to a number of “teachings”, mostly in the form of videos I’ve “accidentally” run across on the Net. One of the most impactful has been  an hour-long video of Tony Robbins doing an intervention with a suicidal teenage girl at one of his live events. (click here to see it… note: there are many more examples of Tony’s work listed along the right sidebar). It really brought home many of the difficulties I personally experienced, both as a child growing up in a dysfunctional family, and as a parent, where I had repeated many of the same patterns that I had internalized as a child. For some reason, it affected me very deeply, and allowed me to recognize my own deeply-rooted patterns and helped me to finally let them go. My only hope is that I can be as effective and loving as Tony is in helping others release the past and move into a more empowering future.

How I see it:

Quantum-atom (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This incident, along with several others that have happened recently, are in total alignment with my life philosophy and reinforces my assertion that we are creating our reality. If my beliefs are accurate, and I’m more convinced than ever that they are, then we are all having exactly the life we expect to get, although we are largely not aware of how we’re doing it. We have many deeply-rooted, subconscious beliefs and values that have combined to form an an unconscious (and emotionally charged) world-view that draws to us our real-life experiences. So, it isn’t actually a question of if this stuff really works, but more of an inquiry into how we can use those tools to create a more satisfying and empowering future. We all want a better life, but we each seem to fall short, no matter how hard we try. Maybe it’s time for change!!

What are the Steps to making Permanent Change?

First, you need to make a decision that what you’ve tried so far hasn’t worked, and that there is a possibility that there is another way, and that you are ready to at least consider it and “try it on”. Secondly, you need to get honest with yourself and be willing to become aware of those parts of yourself that are sabotaging your best plans. This step by itself will have many beneficial effects… just becoming aware of these “hidden motivators” will help to dispel them and start the healing process… of course, it make a little time to completely let them go. Thirdly, a compelling, new future needs to be created, and, through the use of visualization, affirmations, meditation and a wide variety of other transformational tools, the new “you” needs to be held in your minds eye and “energized” so that the Universe can start sending you everything you need to fully realize your dreams.

Do You need a Coach?

For some people, reading some books or attending a seminar or workshop or watching a video, will be enough to get the results they want. But, for most of us, having a mentor or coach to assist us during this process is the only way to get the permanent changes we seek. They will help us to find and remove those roadblocks and remind of what we need to do reach our goals… they not only assist us in creating our new dreams, they keep us on track so we don’t fall back into old patterns. there are many coaches operating today but not all of them will be effective in every situation… it is important to find the one that you feel connected to and able to trust to mentor you during the upcoming challenges. I will soon be working with a personal coach who is one of the former students of the training I’ve signed up for. I’ll keep you posted here of my experiences and impressions as move along this path.

In Closing, I’d like to say… 

thank you for taking the time to read my posts… knowing that even a few people are viewing this is very helpful to me. I invite you to comment below and to participate in this conversation by subscribing to this blog. I’m not sure where this will all lead to, but it’s nice to have company along the way!

Quantum Life Coaching (Part 1)

This series is going to summarize my latest adventure into using the Internet as a vehicle for making a difference in the world and creating an income flow. Today, I registered for a course called Quantum Success Coaching, which is being offered by a trainer named Christy Whitman . I will chronicle here all my thoughts and impressions as I navigate this journey over the next year. My posts will appear under the Quantum Life Coaching category that you can find in the menu on the right edge of any page. For those who have been following my recent posts about Internet Marketing (which I’ve left on the blog), this change in direction may seem sudden and strange, but it is the direct result of two insights:

• Although I found I could have made money using Internet Marketing, I was unable to find a product or service that I could, in good conscience, support and recommend to my friends and clients.
• Becoming a Life Coach, especially using the techniques and tools offered by this training, will fulfill one of my lifelong dreams of being able to contribute in a meaningful and lasting way to the lives of others.

In the process of making this decision, I was faced with a tremendous amount of doubt and fear. I’ve taken many other trainings in the past and have spent a ton of money trying to prepare myself for this task, but have never been able to see it through. In retrospect, I can see that I’ve sabotaged myself each time I’ve approached the point where I could actually start applying my new skills. What is different now that makes me feel I can see this through and move forward with my dream? Well, the number one factor is that my wife is fully behind me in this and she will definitely help keep me on track, especially since she realizes how passionate I am about this, not to mention the large financial investment we had to make.

I still have some concerns about my ability to actually accomplish this, however I believe that this fits perfectly into my life philosophy: our greatest spiritual growth comes to us through our willingness to deal with the toughest challenges, especially those that allow us to contribute to others and to fulfill our most passionate dreams.

 I’m looking forward to your comments and feedback as I document this journey… PEACE!!

The Law of Attraction

As I’ve continued my journey into Internet Marketing, one of the most over-used (and least understood) catch-words I’ve found is the “Law of Attraction”. To preface my comments, I’ll disclose that I’ve studied this subject for many years, and although I may not be an “expert”, but I feel I have a wealth of information that I wish to share here.

Our Reality

Reality (Photo credit: Bright Meadow)

I believe we live in a shared dream, called “reality”, which we have created through our One Mind. We are all a part of that One Mind and contribute to the reality we experience by what we hold, both consciously and sub-consciously, as our “world view”. The part of our Mind that thinks it is living “here” is actually asleep, and totally unaware of it’s real nature. The part of our Mind that is our True Home is fully aware of Who We Really Are and wants us to wake up and remember out true identity. It is constantly trying to nudge us into situations that will help us to get past our illusions and find our way Home. We experience these “nudges” as life challenges, which are really hidden opportunities for our growth and spiritual evolvement. Within each challenge is an opportunity to experience ourselves as more than we thought we were. Because most of us have been brought up to see these challenges as “negative problems”, we fear them and avoid putting ourselves in any situation that may produce them. This is not right or wrong… it just slows down our progress along the path, but since time is also an illusion, it really doesn’t matter.

Then, Why Bother?

So, you might be asking, if it doesn’t matter how long it takes and I’ll eventually make it Home regardless of what I do, why bother? Well, that’s where Free Will comes in: we get to choose how long it takes… the end result is guaranteed, but we can delay it or we can cooperate with the process. My personal preference has been to accelerate the process as much as possible by learning how it works and utilizing every “trick” to evolve as quickly as possible.

What Have I Learned?

I can not even begin to list all the seminars and workshops I’ve attended, nor all the books I’ve read nor the hundreds of tapes and CDs I’ve listened to in my pursuit of the TRUTH. I have left no stone unturned in my search and, although no single source seemed to answer all my questions, I’ve synthesized a belief system that works for me. AND, I’m not done… each new insight just brings me  to a new level of discovery that requires me to look deeper for a new solution. Presently, I’m designing a website that will better explain my process and it will have some tools that will help you to understand it better and to experience the results, yourself.

What YOU Do?

The Attraction (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Since nothing happens by accident, you are here because you either have something to learn or something to contribute, or maybe both. So, to fulfill your part in this “dance”, please leave a comment with any kind of thoughts, suggestions or feedback… whatever you feel “moved” to say… who knows what effect you may have. Some questions I have are:

• Do you think a self-awareness website would be useful?
• how might it be setup?
• do you think it could be totally free, with the ability to make donations?
• would a weekly newsletter be helpful, or would a linked blog with frequent posts be better
• would the addition of a discussion forum be useful?
• do you think Baby boomers would be a good “niche market” for this?

Whatever you decide to do, I’m grateful that you “showed up” and I’m send you many blessings on your journey…. PEACE!!!

Recent Endeavors

English: Forums and Minerals, the new Internet tools Español: Foros de Minerales, las nuevas herramientas de Internet (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Sorry it has been so long since I’ve posted here, but I became disillusioned with the lack of traffic and comments I was getting here, so I decided to explore other possibilities. One thing that became very apparent to me was that my present financial situation was NOT going to carry me very far into my “golden years”… between the crash of ’08 and ever-increasing costs of everything, there was no way I could afford to leave things as they were.

So, I started exploring my options… I looked into getting a “job” (I’m 63 and the market is terrible, plus I like to travel a lot, so that didn’t seem too practical… nor, exciting), buying a franchise (in case you haven’t looked into this, it is a total nightmare), staring a business (this sounded the best, but had many pitfalls, not the least was the expense and time needed, plus it meant I would be tied down to one place), and, finally, into Internet Marketing and/or some kind of presence on the web.

The last idea seems to be the most consistent with all of my priorities:

1. It would cost practically nothing to start and maintain
2. it was portable, meaning I could manage it from almost anywhere
3. it didn’t require much physical work, although it has taken a lot of time to learn,
   understand and implement

In the few weeks that I’ve been involved with this “experiment”, I’ve learned a tremendous amount about this market, and most of it has been quite startling. There is a over-abundance of scams, misinformation and out-right crap floating around out there, and it has been a tremendous challenge to separate the wheat from the chaff. I’m not done yet,

Internets = srs.biz. Parody motivator. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

and I don’t have a definite plan, but I’m starting to formulate a rough outline of what to do and how to do it. Stay tuned as I move forward into this next phase of my life… I will continue to post here with the full story as it unfolds.

In the meantime, you can check out my home page by clicking here. As of right now, there isn’t much there, but that will change as things progress

Okay, so maybe I should explain something about something I’m toying with. It’s called an affiliate program. There are basically two ways to make money in Internet Marketing: one, is to provide a product or service, and the other is to help someone else promote and sell their products or services (affiliate program). Eventually, I want to be a provider, but right now I’m learning to bean affiliate. Doing this, I’ve learned about acquiring domain names, hosting, creating web pages, branding, increasing traffic through social media and the use of keywords (and searches), building “lists” and, in general, how the affiliate program works. I have a product that I’m promoting, and, although it isn’t something I’m too terribly excited about, it is pretty interesting and the author is acceptably honest and truthful. I invite you to check

Web 2.0 Digitage 2012 (Photo credit: ocean.flynn)

out my opt-in page, where you will be presented with a place to insert your name (use anything here) and your email address. You will be sent a verification and then a confirmation email, which will allow you view and download a PDF document written by the author. It will include and offer to buy or subscribe to his services, but, if you do not respond to that invitation, nothing will happen. You will get some follow up emails which give you the option of opting out (unsubscribing) at any time. I would really appreciate if you tried it and let me know what your experience is… this will help me tremendously to further refine my future plan of action.

Click here to check out my no-obligation opt-in page.

 

UPDATE: I’ve “lined out” this part because I’m no longer interested in working as an affiliate… I’ve now decided to promote myself as a Quantum Life Coach… you can find my latest posts in the sidebar to the right….

Thanks in advance for your every consideration!!

Frank Colella