Prepare Your Character Like Nelson Mandela

Posted on December 6, 2013 by pdncoach


Certainly, pray for changed circumstances. But do not resign yourself to prayer alone when God is expecting you to carry His covenant into those circumstances.

Sure, you live in a place and time that surpass your understanding and abilities, but they do not surpass God.

Your circumstance may be God’s way to prepare you for His greater purpose. Use this time and place, this circumstance, to prepare your character so you are ready for that moment to come when God calls on you.

Focus on a vital few core values and pursue those virtues with all you are, all you have, all you do. Through discipline in these vital few, you will be prepared to land the aircraft in the Hudson River, to free a nation from apartheid, to lead a people across the river into the Promised Land, or perhaps just befriend a neighbor or raise a child who will.

That’s what Nelson Mandela did. We can, too.

Join me at the Intersection of Purpose & Now.
Posted in change, character, circumstance, core values, Nelson Mandela, values, virtue | Leave a comment

Why would an already successful person hire a coach?

Posted on June 20, 2013 by pdncoach

Why do so many executives – people already in top positions – demand an executive coach as part of their benefits package? Because they know from experience that even their highly refined ability to see what is needed is limited by their own assumptions and beliefs.

Most people know themselves pretty well and are able to make decisions and set goals based on who they are. Well, at least most people do this much of the time – ah, there lies the rub.

 The problem is we all use our own assumptions and beliefs to make decisions. These are driven by motivations that are often outside our own realm of awareness. Sometimes our assumptions and beliefs are empowering. Sometimes they are limiting, faulty or out of date and we rarely take time to truly explore and update them.

One of my core values is that no one knows you or your business better than YOU. Sometimes our attitudes and beliefs limit the potential benefits from what we know. A good coach helps you see what you’re not already seeing. A good coach asks you questions that you cannot always answer right away, questions that require hard thinking, questions that test your assumptions, reveal possibilities and lead to right action that you might not otherwise have conceived. That’s why the most successful people work with coaches.

Join me at the Intersection of Purpose & Now.
Posted in coaching, core values, goals, why hire a coach | Leave a comment

You Can’t Have It All!

Posted on June 19, 2013 by pdncoach

I see the Today Show on NBC is running a story on “work-life balance“, emphasizing that men can “have it all” as well as women, based on an recent article in Esquire magazine.

Here is the real truth: you cannot have it all!  You don’t want it all!

You can have or achieve almost anything you want, but you can’t have everything. 
Eliminate this quest for “balance” and having it all. Instead, develop the courage to take action now on your priorities and purpose. 
Focus on your priorities and Purpose. What is most important to you now?  What brings you alive, gives you a sense of fulfillment, achievement, a deep inner Joy?  What do you treasure most? Is this what is showing up in your conversations and activities, in your schedule and your checkbook?  Why not?  Are you treating obstacles, which you could overcome if you chose to take different actions, as unalterable excuses?  Are you blaming your circumstances, subjugating yourself to the life of a victim?
Know what you want and purify it with your deep values and beliefs. Plan tomorrow before you end today and review your plan in the morning because things can change overnight. Don’t allow your mood of the moment interfere with the intentions of your life. Put your “Must do” before your “should do.”  
Live at The Intersection of Purpose and Now. 
Join me at the Intersection of Purpose & Now.
Posted in balance, Esquire, focus, fulfillment, joy, Purpose, Today Show | Leave a comment