Bisbee Life Coach

Hey there! Well, here I am saying one thing and doing another. I promised more blog posts and we’re half-way through 2018 and I’m already up to #2. Woo Hoo!!

Procrastination is one of my biggest enemies. Habits die hard, and for me this is probably the worst. It’s not that I don’t have great intentions, it’s that I don’t intend to do it right now. OK, well…I’ll work on fixing that. Later, perhaps.

So, Miss Debbie and I were talking about how we might contribute to our new community and as we looked around we saw a need for basic life skills.  You know, cooking, cleaning, applying for a job, being nice to your neighbors, changing a tire, balancing a checkbook, maintaining positive relationships, not ending up in prison…the sort of thing every Mom and Dad worries about.

Look at us…married for 40+ years, a 30-year military career, four kids of our own. Why can’t we help folks that need to learn a few basics about life, right? We’ve been there, done that, and got lots of t-shirts.

After a little research on-line, I found a Master’s Certificate Program on Life Coaching through Grand Canyon University (GCU)…the Lopes, with a campus in the Phoenix metro area. They have an on-line program so no classroom commutes.  I still have some VA education benefits left to use and, BAMM…just like that, I’m a student again. And to top it off…PURPLE is their color, and so is mine!

I’ve completed about 75% of the course now with one class to go. Yay, me!  I’ve learned some pretty valuable things about how to give people a hand up instead of just a hand out. With the help of a generous fellow student, I started a business called “Bisbee Life Coach”, designed to help anyone who has the motivation to better their life by utilizing three principles that I put together.

DISCOVER – discover where you are today, how you got here, and where you want to be in the future.

FOCUS – focus on creating a road map that you can use to reach your goals in life.

SUCCEED – reach the destination that you’ve always wanted to, but never had been able to achieve, and celebrate your success.

As a first-step, we started teaching Basic Life Skills using a workbook written by Nancy Harper as our guide. It’s called, “Life Skills Essential for Personal Growth on the Ever Changing Road of Life”. I found the subject matter to be pertinent and presented simply. In June we started our first-ever Basic Life Skills class with four students.

So far, so good…but I’m quickly discovering the first real battle is finding folks who not only NEED this information, but who are COMMITTED to actually doing something on their own behalf. As I talk with various people around town, it becomes apparent that there is a certain lack of motivation. Seems that many say they want to improve their lives, but just aren’t willing to do what it takes to change their behavior to do so. It’s a real quandary.

This quote may or may not have been said by Einstein, but the point is nonetheless true. I’ll use myself as an example. Remember that problem I have with procrastination? Well, occasionally it gets me into trouble. I know I’ve got to get a paper done for my school by midnight. In fact, I’ve known about it for a week. And yet here I am once again, an hour before midnight, working feverishly to get that paper done and submitted before the deadline. I’ve done it my whole adult life. In fact, I likely learned it as a kid in grade school. It’s INSANE!

The results are always the same…adrenaline rush, fatigue, sweaty palms, stress, and promises to myself that it’ll never happen again. Personally, I blame the instructors for my problem (shifting blame). I often do some of my best work when under the gun. I rationalize my procrastination because I “always get a good grade” in the end.

But that’s what we all do when it comes to making changes in our lives. We fall back on our old routines. We stay in our comfort zone. We don’t rock the boat. If it works, don’t fix it. But if we’re honest with ourselves (and too often we aren’t) we need to admit that although old habits die hard, new habits can take us to new heights of success.

Now I’m starting to sound like some of my professors, so I’ll quit now. I hope that you, like me, will be able to make improvements to your behavior that will make a positive change in your day-to-day life. I’m still a work in progress…so don’t give up on me yet.

Find me on Facebook by searching for Bisbee Life Coach, or on the web at www.bisbeelifecoach.com 

Cheers!

-  Papa Chief