Choose Your Energy: Change Your Life!

In our exploration of the characteristics of anabolic and catabolic leaders, so far we’ve determined that anabolic leaders “lead” and “participate,” while catabolic leaders “manage” and “delegate.”

Let’s look at another aspect of leadership—how information is conveyed to others—to deepen and expand our understanding of the key differences between these two types of leaders and the respective impact on their people, endeavors and organizations.

In any type of leadership role—whether as a CEO of a Fortune 500 company or as a parent—imparting information to others is an integral and essential component of leading. Catabolic leaders give information sparingly, while anabolic leaders share information collaboratively.

“Giving” means to convey, transmit, assign or allot. When we give to others, we don’t retain ownership of what we give. “Sharing,” on the other hand, means to partake of, use or experience with others. When we share, we’re still part of the process—we’re “in it” with the other person. It’s similar to the difference between catabolic delegating and anabolic participating.

When catabolic leaders give information to others, they do so without much explanation and with little or no focus on obtaining buy-in. In contrast, anabolic leaders share content and context and check for complete understanding. Not only does this approach help ensure that the outcome matches the underlying intentions of the initiative, it increases creativity and commitment by supporting buy-in, building trust, developing rapport and strengthening connection.

Which of the following leaders is more likely to get the result they desire?

Catabolic Leader

“John, I need a rundown of the responsibilities for the people in your department. Get it to me by tomorrow afternoon, if not sooner.”

Anabolic Leader

“John, we’re considering bringing in some additional staff members to ease some of the production crunch you and your department have been experiencing. I’d like a rundown of the responsibilities of your people so that I can see who’s doing what and where some gaps might be. I’d like to get your team relief as soon as possible. Is it realistic for you to get me the information by tomorrow afternoon or maybe even sooner? After I take a look at the data, I’d like to hear your ideas on what’s needed so I can incorporate them into the solution. How does that sound?”

Though the two leaders asked for the same information, the difference in how the anabolic leader asked will produce a superior solution.

John’s response to the catabolic leader would probably be to question what was going on, worry about his department and his team and to either put off doing the task or do it in a perfunctory way.

On the other hand, John’s response to the anabolic leader would most likely be to jump right into the task, do it well and generate ideas for improvement. No energy wasted in the “catabolic canoe” with thoughts of “Why does our boss want to know who’s doing what? Is he considering layoffs?” that would just serve to pointlessly undermine the team’s morale and drain their enthusiasm. Instead, team’s entire energy can be focused confidently and creatively on producing an optimal outcome for all.

Anabolic leaders get substantive, sustainable, superior results. Try sharing information collaboratively instead of giving information sparingly both at work and at home. Those extra few minutes of explanation to gain buy-in can make all the difference.

For greater fulfillment and success in collaborating with the many teams in your life, sign up below for a 60-minute complimentary coaching session.

Web copy used by permission. No reproduction or retransmission is permitted without expressed written consent of Bruce D Schneider and the Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching (iPEC). ©2006-2016 Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching (iPEC)

FREE Coaching Opportunity
($250 VALUE)

If someone offered you a precious gift for an hour of your time, would you be interested? That’s what I offer with a Complimentary Coaching Session. A comp session isn’t a brief demo or sample. It’s a full 45-minute coaching session focused on current real life challenges of your choosing plus 15 minutes to discuss your experience and any questions you may have about my approach to coaching.

There is no expectation or pressure to hire me as your ongoing coach. Providing meaningful, substantive comp sessions with no obligation is one of the ways I demonstrate gratitude and give back to the Universe a small portion of the abundance and opportunity it bestows on me daily.

The real value of a comp session? PRICELESS! 

Those who have experienced comp sessions will tell you, when you come to your session open to the possibilities for transformation and fully committed to your own growth, big breakthroughs can happen!

What clients say about
the power of coaching with Deborah 

“I knew Deborah before she became a Professional Life Coach. I’ve been amazed at how she has changed her life. When I decided it was time to begin making decisions about the next phase of my life, I knew immediately that Deborah was the person I wanted to work with. Her personal and professional experiences help her guide clients through coaching in a way that is individualized and delightfully eye-opening. Her warmth and sensitivity are immediately apparent, even over the phone. With gentle encouragement and permission, she will guide you through an examination of your life, including difficult experiences. She will help you gain insight from your past choices and then explore possibilities for moving forward in less encumbered ways. When you work with Deborah, your life will take on new meaning and your potential will be limitless!” Chris

“The work I did with Deborah continues to change my life. While I have learned many valuable lessons from her, the greatest was the deep insight that is available to me when I listen to and learn from my own inner wisdom. Her intuition, discernment and encouragement have taught me to trust my own intuition—creating new paths and possibilities for my life. One of Deborah’s great gifts is helping others respect and connect with their inner guidance and through that connection, to form a deeper, more meaningful bond with the collective wisdom and energy of all.” Ryan

Click here to sign up for a 60-minute
complimentary coaching session with Deborah.

What readers say about
the impact of Deborah’s book

“With the same energy and determination she applied in the professional world, Deborah has taken her considerable expertise in human potential and has now set her sights on the largest co-op in the world, humanity. ‘Choose Your Energy, Change Your Life!’ tackles what I believe are the most important questions we each must ask: who am I, where did I come from, why am I here, and what’s love got to do with it (cue Tina Turner)? These are not trivial or philosophical questions for the answers change what we do, why we do it, who and what we love. I am grateful for the opportunity to walk with Deborah on this critical journey.” JD Messenger, Award Winning Author of “11 Days in May: The Conversation That Will Change Your Life”

“To me the great thing about Deborah’s book is how ‘accessible’ she makes the ideas. The Oxygen Mask is probably the single best example. As with so many of the ideas in the book, she explains the principle in such a simple way that it’s got universal application to virtually any reader. I can imagine people having multiple moments of ‘Oh….I get it!’ throughout the book. The stories from her own life as well as stories of her clients’ experiences become stories about all of us—stories about which the reader will think, ‘I am living my own version of this.’ Well done—bravo!” Joe Calloway, Author of “Be The Best At What Matters Most”

Click here to explore Deborah’s book.

© Copyright 2016 DJW Life Coach LLC. All rights reserved.

In the previous Energy Leadership™ blog post, we began a nine-part exploration of the characteristics of anabolic and catabolic leaders. The first distinction was that catabolic leaders MANAGE while anabolic leaders LEAD.

In this post we explore the second difference: catabolic leaders DELEGATE while anabolic leaders PARTICIPATE.

According to Webster’s dictionary, “delegate” means to entrust to the care or management of another; to transfer; to assign; to commit. In contrast, “participate” means to partake of; to share in; to receive a part of.

Most of us have been taught that as effective leaders we need to delegate to get things done. While that’s true, anabolic leaders take it a step further.

When a catabolic leader delegates a task, the leader becomes completely detached and hands off, in effect, abandoning the task and the team. When an anabolic leader participates in a task, the team members know they are supported and valued while doing the work. Participating isn’t hovering or micromanaging. It doesn’t necessarily mean that the leader needs to do any of the work. It means remaining available and engaged in the team’s successful outcome. It means your team members know you are eager and able to support them in accomplishing their objective.

Imagine the following scenario. A small business owner is expanding from two retail locations to three. The owner of the company assigns tasks to key staff. In Catabolic Company A, the owner gets occasional arm’s length progress reports, but remains out of the picture until the project is complete, at which point the team members are praised or chastised based on what they’ve accomplished.

In Anabolic Company B, the owner not only follows up frequently with the staff, but is also on hand to pitch in and work alongside them if needed, letting the members know that leader is a full member of the team willing to do whatever’s needed to support the team’s success. The staff members know whether they are on track throughout the stages of the project, because the leader has been checking in with them regularly along the way.

In which company are the workers more likely to be creative, confident and fully engaged in achieving excellence? And which leader is more likely to earn respect, receive loyalty and inspire greatness in others?

Managing from a pedestal is not as effective as leading by example. How can you better demonstrate that you are a fully participating team member, not merely a distant delegator?

To support you in becoming even more constructively engaged with the many teams in your life, sign up below for a 60-minute complimentary coaching session.

Web copy used by permission. No reproduction or retransmission is permitted without expressed written consent of Bruce D Schneider and the Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching (iPEC). ©2006-2016 Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching (iPEC)

FREE Coaching Opportunity
($250 VALUE)

If someone offered you a precious gift for an hour of your time, would you be interested? That’s what I offer with a Complimentary Coaching Session. A comp session isn’t a brief demo or sample. It’s a full 45-minute coaching session focused on current real life challenges of your choosing plus 15 minutes to discuss your experience and any questions you may have about my approach to coaching.

There is no expectation or pressure to hire me as your ongoing coach. Providing meaningful, substantive comp sessions with no obligation is one of the ways I demonstrate gratitude and give back to the Universe a small portion of the abundance and opportunity it bestows on me daily.

The real value of a comp session? PRICELESS! 

Those who have experienced comp sessions will tell you, when you come to your session open to the possibilities for transformation and fully committed to your own growth, big breakthroughs can happen!

What clients say about
the power of coaching with Deborah 

“I knew Deborah before she became a Professional Life Coach. I’ve been amazed at how she has changed her life. When I decided it was time to begin making decisions about the next phase of my life, I knew immediately that Deborah was the person I wanted to work with. Her personal and professional experiences help her guide clients through coaching in a way that is individualized and delightfully eye-opening. Her warmth and sensitivity are immediately apparent, even over the phone. With gentle encouragement and permission, she will guide you through an examination of your life, including difficult experiences. She will help you gain insight from your past choices and then explore possibilities for moving forward in less encumbered ways. When you work with Deborah, your life will take on new meaning and your potential will be limitless!” Chris

“The work I did with Deborah continues to change my life. While I have learned many valuable lessons from her, the greatest was the deep insight that is available to me when I listen to and learn from my own inner wisdom. Her intuition, discernment and encouragement have taught me to trust my own intuition—creating new paths and possibilities for my life. One of Deborah’s great gifts is helping others respect and connect with their inner guidance and through that connection, to form a deeper, more meaningful bond with the collective wisdom and energy of all.” Ryan

Click here to sign up for a 60-minute
complimentary coaching session with Deborah.

What readers say about
the impact of Deborah’s book

“With the same energy and determination she applied in the professional world, Deborah has taken her considerable expertise in human potential and has now set her sights on the largest co-op in the world, humanity. ‘Choose Your Energy, Change Your Life!’ tackles what I believe are the most important questions we each must ask: who am I, where did I come from, why am I here, and what’s love got to do with it (cue Tina Turner)? These are not trivial or philosophical questions for the answers change what we do, why we do it, who and what we love. I am grateful for the opportunity to walk with Deborah on this critical journey.” JD Messenger, Award Winning Author of “11 Days in May: The Conversation That Will Change Your Life”

“To me the great thing about Deborah’s book is how ‘accessible’ she makes the ideas. The Oxygen Mask is probably the single best example. As with so many of the ideas in the book, she explains the principle in such a simple way that it’s got universal application to virtually any reader. I can imagine people having multiple moments of ‘Oh….I get it!’ throughout the book. The stories from her own life as well as stories of her clients’ experiences become stories about all of us—stories about which the reader will think, ‘I am living my own version of this.’ Well done—bravo!” Joe Calloway, Author of “Be The Best At What Matters Most”

Click here to explore Deborah’s book.

© Copyright 2016 DJW Life Coach LLC. All rights reserved.

Great leaders from all walks of life inspire themselves and others to take constructive, life-changing action to create extraordinary, sustainable results. How well you lead depends on the nature of the energy with which you choose to fuel your thoughts, beliefs and actions.

Catabolic or fear-based energy injures: it is destructive, draining and potentially very toxic to you and those around you. When leaders choose catabolic energy, they destroy and break down everyone and everything around them.

Anabolic or love-based energy heals: it is constructive, invigorating and nourishing. It helps you lead yourself and others forward to achieve productive, beneficial results. Higher levels of anabolic energy are associated with more effective leadership. Whether in the workplace or at home, leaders who choose anabolic energy build relationships, teams, families, organizations and businesses that grow and thrive.

In the next nine Energy Leadership™ blog posts, we’ll take a closer look at the characteristics of anabolic and catabolic leaders to reveal how you can enjoy greater leadership success and fulfillment.

First, let’s look at the overall style of the catabolic leader. A catabolic leader manages. The definitions of “manage” are “to handle, direct, govern or control in action or use” and “to dominate or influence.” Catabolic leaders seek to control others. They tell others what to do and how to do it. In aiming to control, the catabolic leader keeps others powerless. Ironically, such leaders often complain that they can’t find good help and no one does things as well as they do. Well, duh!

An anabolic leader LEADS. In contrast to managing, the very definition of leading is more supportive and empowering. It means “to go before or with to show the way” and “to guide in direction, course and action.” Anabolic leaders don’t control or push. Anabolic leaders inspire others by personal example with words and actions that encourage and empower.

Anabolic leaders know we are each more than we appear to be. They don’t feel the need to tell people what to do because they realize that everyone has their own answers and gifts within.

In the previous post, we discussed potential catabolic and anabolic responses when facing a situation or task. When a catabolic leader DEMANDS that you do something, it’s more likely your response will be in the catabolic range: I WON’T or I HAVE TO or I NEED TO. When an anabolic leader ASKS that you do something or SEEKS your input, there’s a far greater possibility you’ll respond in the anabolic range: I WANT TO or I CHOOSE TO or I GET TO. The more anabolic the leadership, the greater the probability of success.

Armed with these insights, begin paying closer attention to your choice of language to discern the energy underneath your words. You’ll discover a wealth of opportunities to shift your energy more deeply into the anabolic range by leading instead of managing. In the process, you’ll enhance results, anchor equanimity and deepen fulfillment for yourself and others. Choose your energy: change your life!

To support you in uncovering opportunities to strengthen the anabolic signature of your own leadership personally and professionally, sign up below for a 60-minute complimentary coaching session.

Web copy used by permission. No reproduction or retransmission is permitted without expressed written consent of Bruce D Schneider and the Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching (iPEC). ©2006-2016 Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching (iPEC)

FREE Coaching Opportunity
($250 VALUE)

If someone offered you a precious gift for an hour of your time, would you be interested? That’s what I offer with a Complimentary Coaching Session. A comp session isn’t a brief demo or sample. It’s a full 45-minute coaching session focused on current real life challenges of your choosing plus 15 minutes to discuss your experience and any questions you may have about my approach to coaching.

There is no expectation or pressure to hire me as your ongoing coach. Providing meaningful, substantive comp sessions with no obligation is one of the ways I demonstrate gratitude and give back to the Universe a small portion of the abundance and opportunity it bestows on me daily.

The real value of a comp session? PRICELESS! 

Those who have experienced comp sessions will tell you, when you come to your session open to the possibilities for transformation and fully committed to your own growth, big breakthroughs can happen!

What clients say about
the power of coaching with Deborah 

“I knew Deborah before she became a Professional Life Coach. I’ve been amazed at how she has changed her life. When I decided it was time to begin making decisions about the next phase of my life, I knew immediately that Deborah was the person I wanted to work with. Her personal and professional experiences help her guide clients through coaching in a way that is individualized and delightfully eye-opening. Her warmth and sensitivity are immediately apparent, even over the phone. With gentle encouragement and permission, she will guide you through an examination of your life, including difficult experiences. She will help you gain insight from your past choices and then explore possibilities for moving forward in less encumbered ways. When you work with Deborah, your life will take on new meaning and your potential will be limitless!” Chris

“The work I did with Deborah continues to change my life. While I have learned many valuable lessons from her, the greatest was the deep insight that is available to me when I listen to and learn from my own inner wisdom. Her intuition, discernment and encouragement have taught me to trust my own intuition—creating new paths and possibilities for my life. One of Deborah’s great gifts is helping others respect and connect with their inner guidance and through that connection, to form a deeper, more meaningful bond with the collective wisdom and energy of all.” Ryan

Click here to sign up for a 60-minute
complimentary coaching session with Deborah.

What readers say about
the impact of Deborah’s book

“With the same energy and determination she applied in the professional world, Deborah has taken her considerable expertise in human potential and has now set her sights on the largest co-op in the world, humanity. ‘Choose Your Energy, Change Your Life!’ tackles what I believe are the most important questions we each must ask: who am I, where did I come from, why am I here, and what’s love got to do with it (cue Tina Turner)? These are not trivial or philosophical questions for the answers change what we do, why we do it, who and what we love. I am grateful for the opportunity to walk with Deborah on this critical journey.” JD Messenger, Award Winning Author of “11 Days in May: The Conversation That Will Change Your Life”

“To me the great thing about Deborah’s book is how ‘accessible’ she makes the ideas. The Oxygen Mask is probably the single best example. As with so many of the ideas in the book, she explains the principle in such a simple way that it’s got universal application to virtually any reader. I can imagine people having multiple moments of ‘Oh….I get it!’ throughout the book. The stories from her own life as well as stories of her clients’ experiences become stories about all of us—stories about which the reader will think, ‘I am living my own version of this.’ Well done—bravo!” Joe Calloway, Author of “Be The Best At What Matters Most”

Click here to explore Deborah’s book.

© Copyright 2016 DJW Life Coach LLC. All rights reserved.

Before diving into this week’s exploration of choice, let’s do a brief recap on energetic signatures.

Catabolic and anabolic energy are present in every thought, belief, value, emotion, action and experience you are having and have ever had. You draw on each of these elements and experiences—physical, mental, emotional and spiritual—to choose the mindset with which you show up in any given moment.

Catabolic or fear-based energy injures: it is destructive, draining and potentially very toxic to you and those around you. Anabolic or love-based energy heals: it is constructive, invigorating and nourishing. It helps you lead yourself and others forward to achieve productive, beneficial results.

So how do you recognize the energetic signature of your mindset—from highly catabolic to highly anabolic—through the specific choices you make? Your language reveals your consciousness.

Many of us walk around feeling like we have limited choices in many aspects of our lives. Take notice of how many times a day you say the words have to, should, and need to. Whenever you feel like you MUST do something, in the language of the Energy Leadership paradigm, you’re in the first of the seven levels of energy—you’re choosing to be a victim to your thoughts or circumstances.

When you’re faced with a task or situation, there are six basic ways you can respond: I won’t, I have to, I need to, I want to, I choose to or I get to.

I WON’T

When you say “I won’t” do something, you’re saying that you have no power, that life happens to you, no matter what you do or believe. You don’t believe that you have a choice. You also don’t really think there’s anything in it for you—so why do it? 

I HAVE TO

If you say “I have to,” you’re taking the short term perspective. You “have to” complete the task in front of you or you will experience dire consequences. You feel forced to do it and have very little to no choice.

I NEED TO

The third response, “I need to” is a more powerful place to come from. Here, you’re aware of your choices and you seek to fill a particular need through the opportunity offered by the challenge presented to you. This perspective brings greater likelihood of success, but it’s still catabolic, because you don’t feel like you’re fully at choice.

These three responses involve either inaction or forced action. Since you aren’t energetically bought into the situation, goal or project and because you are investing catabolic energy in it, you are also following a recipe for failure or at best a less than optimal result. In these catabolic levels, even though you may think you are choosing, at your core, you have either chosen not to do it or not to do it well.

I WANT TO

The next response, “I want to,” is anabolic, because it indicates that you are mostly at choice. But, “want” still comes from a place of lack. And so there is still greater ground to be gained by shifting your energy to align with the fifth option.

I CHOOSE TO

When you respond this way, you feel you have complete choice. There’s a powerful connection between who you are and what you do. And as great as this place is, there’s actually a six choice that’s even higher on the spectrum—one which demonstrates I’m already in a state of gratitude for the blessing of the opportunity at hand.

I GET TO!

I get to wake up. I get to be alive for another day. I get to brush my teeth. I get to take a hot shower. I get to scoop cat litter. I get to walk my dog. I get to prepare my breakfast. I get to clean up the dishes. I get to meditate. I get to exercise. I get to earn money. I get to be of service. I get to go to sleep. I get to love and be loved.

Grounded in the mindset of “I get to,” your life becomes one of generous, effortless, gracious flow filled with faith, hope, prosperity, peace and joy. A journey to wholeness anchored in BEING not DOING. Yippee skippee, ain’t life grand!

So how do you shift from feeling you “have to” to knowing you “choose to?” Come from a place of knowing you already have everything you need. Choose to experience all life has to offer rather than just filling a void in response to perceived lack. 

While it’s not always easy to do, it is completely possible. How about choosing to take the first baby step in that direction today? You’re worth the effort.

To consider how you are fueling your choices personally and professionally, sign up below for a 60-minute complimentary coaching session.

Web copy used by permission. No reproduction or retransmission is permitted without expressed written consent of Bruce D Schneider and the Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching (iPEC). ©2006-2016 Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching (iPEC)

FREE Coaching Opportunity
($250 VALUE)

If someone offered you a precious gift for an hour of your time, would you be interested? That’s what I offer with a Complimentary Coaching Session. A comp session isn’t a brief demo or sample. It’s a full 45-minute coaching session focused on current real life challenges of your choosing plus 15 minutes to discuss your experience and any questions you may have about my approach to coaching.

There is no expectation or pressure to hire me as your ongoing coach. Providing meaningful, substantive comp sessions with no obligation is one of the ways I demonstrate gratitude and give back to the Universe a small portion of the abundance and opportunity it bestows on me daily.

The real value of a comp session? PRICELESS! 

Those who have experienced comp sessions will tell you, when you come to your session open to the possibilities for transformation and fully committed to your own growth, big breakthroughs can happen!

What clients say about
the power of coaching with Deborah 

“I knew Deborah before she became a Professional Life Coach. I’ve been amazed at how she has changed her life. When I decided it was time to begin making decisions about the next phase of my life, I knew immediately that Deborah was the person I wanted to work with. Her personal and professional experiences help her guide clients through coaching in a way that is individualized and delightfully eye-opening. Her warmth and sensitivity are immediately apparent, even over the phone. With gentle encouragement and permission, she will guide you through an examination of your life, including difficult experiences. She will help you gain insight from your past choices and then explore possibilities for moving forward in less encumbered ways. When you work with Deborah, your life will take on new meaning and your potential will be limitless!” Chris

“The work I did with Deborah continues to change my life. While I have learned many valuable lessons from her, the greatest was the deep insight that is available to me when I listen to and learn from my own inner wisdom. Her intuition, discernment and encouragement have taught me to trust my own intuition—creating new paths and possibilities for my life. One of Deborah’s great gifts is helping others respect and connect with their inner guidance and through that connection, to form a deeper, more meaningful bond with the collective wisdom and energy of all.” Ryan

Click here to sign up for a 60-minute
complimentary coaching session with Deborah.

What readers say about
the impact of Deborah’s book

“With the same energy and determination she applied in the professional world, Deborah has taken her considerable expertise in human potential and has now set her sights on the largest co-op in the world, humanity. ‘Choose Your Energy, Change Your Life!’ tackles what I believe are the most important questions we each must ask: who am I, where did I come from, why am I here, and what’s love got to do with it (cue Tina Turner)? These are not trivial or philosophical questions for the answers change what we do, why we do it, who and what we love. I am grateful for the opportunity to walk with Deborah on this critical journey.” JD Messenger, Award Winning Author of “11 Days in May: The Conversation That Will Change Your Life”

“To me the great thing about Deborah’s book is how ‘accessible’ she makes the ideas. The Oxygen Mask is probably the single best example. As with so many of the ideas in the book, she explains the principle in such a simple way that it’s got universal application to virtually any reader. I can imagine people having multiple moments of ‘Oh….I get it!’ throughout the book. The stories from her own life as well as stories of her clients’ experiences become stories about all of us—stories about which the reader will think, ‘I am living my own version of this.’ Well done—bravo!” Joe Calloway, Author of “Be The Best At What Matters Most”

Click here to explore Deborah’s book.

© Copyright 2016 DJW Life Coach LLC. All rights reserved.

In the first of this extended series of posts on the principles of Energy Leadership™, I promised to share more information on a key predictor of your sense of personal and professional fulfillment and wellbeing. Today I deliver on that commitment.

Each of us views the world through a personal lens based on our values, assumptions and experiences. That lens either limits our perspective, like tunnel vision, or expands it, like a prism. It impacts how we perceive ourselves and our circumstances, shaping our thoughts and how we choose to show up in every situation.

The Energy Leadership Index™ (ELI) online assessment reveals what specific lens you’ve developed and how it is influencing your results. There is incredible liberating power in understanding the unconscious lens you’ve formed throughout your life and how it may be holding you back from realizing your full potential for all that life offers.

What could your life look like if only _____? Fill in the blank, refine your lens, take the plunge and explore the possibilities. You’re worth the effort!

The Science of the ELI

The ELI online assessment is based on seven levels of energy or consciousness as described in the Energetic Self Perception Chart™ in Bruce D. Schneider’s insightful book Energy Leadership: Transforming Your Workplace and Your Life from the Core. The levels range from highly limiting or catabolic at level 1 to highly empowering or anabolic at level 7.

The results of this 20-minute assessment, explained in a one-on-one debrief coaching session, will reveal your E-Factor™—capturing how catabolic and anabolic energy are shaping your life personally and professionally. Even small amounts of catabolic energy produce substantial blocks that keep you from moving forward into the life you dream of.

The ELI demonstrates how the thoughts, emotions and behaviors you choose are affecting the energy you live with and the experiences you create in each moment.

An Attitude Assessment

There are two main types of assessments: personality and attitude. Personality-based assessments, such as Myers Briggs and DISC are very valuable tools that identify typical strengths and weaknesses associated with the particular personality type you were born with. By better understanding the preferences and proclivities of your personality type and how they affect your actions and influence your relationships, you can adapt your behavior to work as well as possible within the confines of your particular type. In this way, personality assessments start by labeling you and then teach you to function within the limits of your label.

The ELI is an attitude assessment based on an energy/action model. As such, it measures your level of energy based on your chosen attitude, your chosen perception and your chosen perspective on the world. Because attitude is highly subjective, it is also highly fluid and malleable. As a Board-Certified Empowerment Coach and ELI Master Practitioner, I help you apply the principles of Energy Leadership™ and your ELI results to reshape your attitude, expand your perspective, shift your mindset, increase your energy and strengthen your leadership effectiveness personally and professionally.

Good News!

Once you realize how your chosen mindset directly affects your actions and results, you can move from functioning effectively, to functioning optimally by choosing your energy more consciously.

Energy Leadership is an issue every day from the moment you first open your eyes. Will YOU be the leader of your life today or live at the effect of everyone and everything that comes your way? How will YOU inspire YOU?

To learn more about the Energy Leadership Index online assessment and experience Core Energy Coaching™ for yourself, sign up below for a 60-minute complimentary coaching session.

Web copy used by permission. No reproduction or retransmission is permitted without expressed written consent of Bruce D Schneider and the Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching (iPEC). ©2006-2016 Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching (iPEC)

FREE Coaching Opportunity
($250 VALUE)

If someone offered you a precious gift for an hour of your time, would you be interested? That’s what I offer with a Complimentary Coaching Session. A comp session isn’t a brief demo or sample. It’s a full 45-minute coaching session focused on current real life challenges of your choosing plus 15 minutes to discuss your experience and any questions you may have about my approach to coaching.

There is no expectation or pressure to hire me as your ongoing coach. Providing meaningful, substantive comp sessions with no obligation is one of the ways I demonstrate gratitude and give back to the Universe a small portion of the abundance and opportunity it bestows on me daily.

The real value of a comp session? PRICELESS! 

Those who have experienced comp sessions will tell you, when you come to your session open to the possibilities for transformation and fully committed to your own growth, big breakthroughs can happen!

What clients say about
the power of coaching with Deborah 

“I knew Deborah before she became a Professional Life Coach. I’ve been amazed at how she has changed her life. When I decided it was time to begin making decisions about the next phase of my life, I knew immediately that Deborah was the person I wanted to work with. Her personal and professional experiences help her guide clients through coaching in a way that is individualized and delightfully eye-opening. Her warmth and sensitivity are immediately apparent, even over the phone. With gentle encouragement and permission, she will guide you through an examination of your life, including difficult experiences. She will help you gain insight from your past choices and then explore possibilities for moving forward in less encumbered ways. When you work with Deborah, your life will take on new meaning and your potential will be limitless!” Chris

“The work I did with Deborah continues to change my life. While I have learned many valuable lessons from her, the greatest was the deep insight that is available to me when I listen to and learn from my own inner wisdom. Her intuition, discernment and encouragement have taught me to trust my own intuition—creating new paths and possibilities for my life. One of Deborah’s great gifts is helping others respect and connect with their inner guidance and through that connection, to form a deeper, more meaningful bond with the collective wisdom and energy of all.” Ryan

Click here to sign up for a 60-minute
complimentary coaching session with Deborah.

What readers say about
the impact of Deborah’s book

“With the same energy and determination she applied in the professional world, Deborah has taken her considerable expertise in human potential and has now set her sights on the largest co-op in the world, humanity. ‘Choose Your Energy, Change Your Life!’ tackles what I believe are the most important questions we each must ask: who am I, where did I come from, why am I here, and what’s love got to do with it (cue Tina Turner)? These are not trivial or philosophical questions for the answers change what we do, why we do it, who and what we love. I am grateful for the opportunity to walk with Deborah on this critical journey.” JD Messenger, Award Winning Author of “11 Days in May: The Conversation That Will Change Your Life”

“To me the great thing about Deborah’s book is how ‘accessible’ she makes the ideas. The Oxygen Mask is probably the single best example. As with so many of the ideas in the book, she explains the principle in such a simple way that it’s got universal application to virtually any reader. I can imagine people having multiple moments of ‘Oh….I get it!’ throughout the book. The stories from her own life as well as stories of her clients’ experiences become stories about all of us—stories about which the reader will think, ‘I am living my own version of this.’ Well done—bravo!” Joe Calloway, Author of “Be The Best At What Matters Most”

Click here to explore Deborah’s book.

© Copyright 2016 DJW Life Coach LLC. All rights reserved.

Over the past seven posts, we’ve been exploring the nature of Energy Leadership™—a unique process of leading energy so it works for you rather than against you—as shared in Bruce D. Schneider’s life-changing book, Energy Leadership: Transforming Your Workplace and Your Life from the Core. By applying the principles of Energy Leadership, you can increase your ability to shift your own energy and the energy of those around you. When you do that, you will help inspire and motivate yourself and others, feel a greater sense of purpose and accomplish more with less effort and stress.

Leadership Defined

Our world tends to define leaders, and therefore leadership, in the context of formal roles within corporations, small businesses, non-profit organizations, and political and community concerns. True leaders, however, are not confined to office walls—or to specific offices within those walls. They are found in families, groups and all levels and roles in organizations of all types and sizes.

Everyone Is a Leader, Either by Choice or Default

Great leaders are not only able to inspire and bring out greatness in others, but also in themselves. This is why Energy Leadership is so important, not only to every business entity, but also to each of us as leaders in, and of, our lives. The question isn’t whether or not you are a leader, the question is, how well do you lead?

Catabolic and Anabolic Energy

To provide a foundation for future posts in which we’ll delve more deeply into the specific energetic signatures of different personal and professional leadership choices and styles, today we’re going to examine the two fundamental types of energy described by the field of cellular biology: catabolic and anabolic.

At a cellular level, catabolism is the process of cellular destruction, while anabolism is the process of cellular construction. These destructive and constructive forces are found in every aspect of your physical being: cells, organs, body systems, etc. But it doesn’t stop there. It turns out, they are also present in every thought, belief, value, emotion, action and experience you are having and have ever had.

You draw on all of these elements and experiences—physical, mental, emotional and spiritual—to create the mindset from which you choose how you show up in any given moment.

Catabolic or Fear-Based Energy Injures

It is destructive, draining and potentially very toxic to you and those around you.

Anabolic or Love-Based Energy Heals

It is constructive, invigorating and nourishing. It helps you lead yourself and others forward to achieve productive, beneficial results.

You Create Your World

Your chosen mindset shapes and limits your experience of life. In every moment, you create your own personal version of reality by deciding what you will perceive and how you will respond—based on what you think, believe, feel and value. However unconscious the process may feel at times, you are always choosing what you experience and how you wish to participate in that experience.

It’s Your Choice

Studies prove that higher levels of consciousness are associated with higher levels of success in life—including success in finances, relationships, personal development, achievement and more. The most successful leaders in life are those with high levels of anabolic energy. Those who lead using catabolic energy are, figuratively and literally, a dying breed.

You can choose to raise your level of Energy Leadership through self-awareness and an understanding of how to apply the various energy levels to any purpose you choose. You get to decide. Your level of energy or consciousness creates your world in each moment. By altering your perceptions of yourself, your experiences and those around you, you can create the more fulfilling and rewarding life you dream of.

To begin exploring how catabolic and anabolic energy are playing out in your own life personally and professionally, sign up below for a 60-minute complimentary coaching session.

Web copy used by permission. No reproduction or retransmission is permitted without expressed written consent of Bruce D Schneider and the Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching (iPEC). ©2006-2016 Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching (iPEC)

FREE Coaching Opportunity
($250 VALUE)

If someone offered you a precious gift for an hour of your time, would you be interested? That’s what I offer with a Complimentary Coaching Session. A comp session isn’t a brief demo or sample. It’s a full 45-minute coaching session focused on current real life challenges of your choosing plus 15 minutes to discuss your experience and any questions you may have about my approach to coaching.

There is no expectation or pressure to hire me as your ongoing coach. Providing meaningful, substantive comp sessions with no obligation is one of the ways I demonstrate gratitude and give back to the Universe a small portion of the abundance and opportunity it bestows on me daily.

The real value of a comp session? PRICELESS! 

Those who have experienced comp sessions will tell you, when you come to your session open to the possibilities for transformation and fully committed to your own growth, big breakthroughs can happen!

What clients say about
the power of coaching with Deborah 

“I knew Deborah before she became a Professional Life Coach. I’ve been amazed at how she has changed her life. When I decided it was time to begin making decisions about the next phase of my life, I knew immediately that Deborah was the person I wanted to work with. Her personal and professional experiences help her guide clients through coaching in a way that is individualized and delightfully eye-opening. Her warmth and sensitivity are immediately apparent, even over the phone. With gentle encouragement and permission, she will guide you through an examination of your life, including difficult experiences. She will help you gain insight from your past choices and then explore possibilities for moving forward in less encumbered ways. When you work with Deborah, your life will take on new meaning and your potential will be limitless!” Chris

“The work I did with Deborah continues to change my life. While I have learned many valuable lessons from her, the greatest was the deep insight that is available to me when I listen to and learn from my own inner wisdom. Her intuition, discernment and encouragement have taught me to trust my own intuition—creating new paths and possibilities for my life. One of Deborah’s great gifts is helping others respect and connect with their inner guidance and through that connection, to form a deeper, more meaningful bond with the collective wisdom and energy of all.” Ryan

Click here to sign up for a 60-minute
complimentary coaching session with Deborah.

What readers say about
the impact of Deborah’s book

“With the same energy and determination she applied in the professional world, Deborah has taken her considerable expertise in human potential and has now set her sights on the largest co-op in the world, humanity. ‘Choose Your Energy, Change Your Life!’ tackles what I believe are the most important questions we each must ask: who am I, where did I come from, why am I here, and what’s love got to do with it (cue Tina Turner)? These are not trivial or philosophical questions for the answers change what we do, why we do it, who and what we love. I am grateful for the opportunity to walk with Deborah on this critical journey.” JD Messenger, Award Winning Author of “11 Days in May: The Conversation That Will Change Your Life”

“To me the great thing about Deborah’s book is how ‘accessible’ she makes the ideas. The Oxygen Mask is probably the single best example. As with so many of the ideas in the book, she explains the principle in such a simple way that it’s got universal application to virtually any reader. I can imagine people having multiple moments of ‘Oh….I get it!’ throughout the book. The stories from her own life as well as stories of her clients’ experiences become stories about all of us—stories about which the reader will think, ‘I am living my own version of this.’ Well done—bravo!” Joe Calloway, Author of “Be The Best At What Matters Most”

Click here to explore Deborah’s book.

© Copyright 2016 DJW Life Coach LLC. All rights reserved.

In previous Energy Leadership™ posts, we’ve learned that the Big 4 energy blocks hold you back from living the life you desire by preventing you from making conscious, empowered choices. We’ve examined each of the first three blocks in some detail.

To recap:

• Limiting beliefs are things you accept about your life—yourself, your world or the people in it—that limit you.
• Interpretations are conclusions you draw and treat as “truth” concerning events, situations, people or experiences.
• Assumptions are expectations that, because something has happened in the past, it will always happen in the future.

In this post we’ll delve into the fourth and most challenging energy block: gremlins.

In chapter 6 of my book, Choose Your Energy Change Your Life!, I talk at some length about how gremlins show up in relation to your “personal board of directors.” Your three-member board—sage, guardian, and muse—is a useful construct for sorting your vast array of gifts, passions, options, fears, and coping mechanisms into three distinct though interrelated subsets to reduce the complexity of understanding what you’re experiencing in each moment and the specific path to finding greater equanimity.

When fueled by love, you can trust your board’s discernment—reasoning and intuition—to help you foster equanimity and access your deepest wisdom to reveal and advance the highest good for all, in all, through all. They do this by creating a moment-by-moment custom blend of competencies that varies based on the optimal mix for the opportunities in each life situation.

In contrast, when they switch to fear as their fuel instead of love, your board members’ gremlin personas take over and block your forward progress by focusing their energies on infighting, backbiting and one-upmanship on a grand scale.

When they first give birth to their gremlin personas, their mission is simple: to protect us from ever again experiencing painful or embarrassing situations. As we get older and our lives become more complex, our sages, guardians and muses see that many situations, while different in details, offer the same opportunity for pain. As their fears continue to grow, so do the possibilities for gremlin interference by board members who expand their job definition to include any situation or person who could ever lead to discomfort. Talk about limiting our world. The great irony is that when in the grip of fear, gremlins will do whatever it takes—including some very underhanded tactics—in order to protect us from the potential danger “out there.” In this way, they become the enemy within.

In this context, the term gremlin is used as a metaphor for a part of you that is neither inherently evil nor intentionally harmful but a deeply rooted pattern of behavior triggered by your oldest most painful scenarios and a deep need to protect yourself by any means necessary. In short, they keep you small because they believe that is what safe looks like.

Some “protect” you by sabotaging every potentially intimate relationship, thus escaping the risk—and joy—that intimacy brings. Some protect you by remembering every disappointing new experience in your past, painting every future opportunity with the same brush.

A new job might remind your sage, guardian, or muse of situations in the past where an authority figure was frightening, dangerous, or just plain unkind. As a result, its gremlin persona will be on the prowl at every new job, looking for the boss it remembers so well from the past. By leading with the same expectations, you are nearly guaranteed to attract the energy you transmit.

Like the weeds in your garden, effective long-term management of gremlins is not about elimination of surface behaviors. Lopping your gremlins off at the surface with the weed whacker of denial or superficial behavior change may yield a more cosmetic result temporarily. But because they are tenacious and deep-rooted, they usually grow back quickly. And with each failed attempt at superficial removal, they are likely to expand their purview of peril even further.

Though grappling with gremlins can be incredibly challenging, take heart! As an Energy Leadership Master Practitioner and Board-Certified Empowerment Coach, I am especially adept at helping clients employ more effective and lasting measures to neutralize and redirect their gremlins’ relentless, misguided, ever-escalating interference. In a coaching partnership, together we can examine and eliminate any of the energy blocks that are keeping you from reaching your unlimited potential.

To explore the possibilities-expanding power of grappling with your gremlins, sign up below for a 60-minute complimentary coaching session.

Web copy used by permission. No reproduction or retransmission is permitted without expressed written consent of Bruce D Schneider and the Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching (iPEC). ©2006-2016 Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching (iPEC)

FREE Coaching Opportunity
($250 VALUE)

If someone offered you a precious gift for an hour of your time, would you be interested? That’s what I offer with a Complimentary Coaching Session. A comp session isn’t a brief demo or sample. It’s a full 45-minute coaching session focused on current real life challenges of your choosing plus 15 minutes to discuss your experience and any questions you may have about my approach to coaching.

There is no expectation or pressure to hire me as your ongoing coach. Providing meaningful, substantive comp sessions with no obligation is one of the ways I demonstrate gratitude and give back to the Universe a small portion of the abundance and opportunity it bestows on me daily.

The real value of a comp session? PRICELESS! 

Those who have experienced comp sessions will tell you, when you come to your session open to the possibilities for transformation and fully committed to your own growth, big breakthroughs can happen!

What clients say about
the power of coaching with Deborah 

“I knew Deborah before she became a Professional Life Coach. I’ve been amazed at how she has changed her life. When I decided it was time to begin making decisions about the next phase of my life, I knew immediately that Deborah was the person I wanted to work with. Her personal and professional experiences help her guide clients through coaching in a way that is individualized and delightfully eye-opening. Her warmth and sensitivity are immediately apparent, even over the phone. With gentle encouragement and permission, she will guide you through an examination of your life, including difficult experiences. She will help you gain insight from your past choices and then explore possibilities for moving forward in less encumbered ways. When you work with Deborah, your life will take on new meaning and your potential will be limitless!” Chris

“The work I did with Deborah continues to change my life. While I have learned many valuable lessons from her, the greatest was the deep insight that is available to me when I listen to and learn from my own inner wisdom. Her intuition, discernment and encouragement have taught me to trust my own intuition—creating new paths and possibilities for my life. One of Deborah’s great gifts is helping others respect and connect with their inner guidance and through that connection, to form a deeper, more meaningful bond with the collective wisdom and energy of all.” Ryan

Click here to sign up for a 60-minute
complimentary coaching session with Deborah.

What readers say about
the impact of Deborah’s book

“With the same energy and determination she applied in the professional world, Deborah has taken her considerable expertise in human potential and has now set her sights on the largest co-op in the world, humanity. ‘Choose Your Energy, Change Your Life!’ tackles what I believe are the most important questions we each must ask: who am I, where did I come from, why am I here, and what’s love got to do with it (cue Tina Turner)? These are not trivial or philosophical questions for the answers change what we do, why we do it, who and what we love. I am grateful for the opportunity to walk with Deborah on this critical journey.” JD Messenger, Award Winning Author of “11 Days in May: The Conversation That Will Change Your Life”

“To me the great thing about Deborah’s book is how ‘accessible’ she makes the ideas. The Oxygen Mask is probably the single best example. As with so many of the ideas in the book, she explains the principle in such a simple way that it’s got universal application to virtually any reader. I can imagine people having multiple moments of ‘Oh….I get it!’ throughout the book. The stories from her own life as well as stories of her clients’ experiences become stories about all of us—stories about which the reader will think, ‘I am living my own version of this.’ Well done—bravo!” Joe Calloway, Author of “Be The Best At What Matters Most”

Click here to explore Deborah’s book.

© Copyright 2016 DJW Life Coach LLC. All rights reserved.

The Big 4 energy blocks keep you stuck and prevent you from achieving what you want in your life. We’ve already explored limiting beliefs and interpretations. Today, let’s look at the third energy block: assumptions.

An assumption is a belief that is based on the premise that because something happened in the past, it is automatically going to happen again.

When you make choices based on your assumptions, you are letting the past control the future. Assumptions hold you back because when you already “know” that something won’t work, you probably won’t even consider doing it. Even if you do attempt it, you won’t have a lot of energy for, or be engaged in, what you’re doing, since you don’t really believe it can work. When you hold on to your assumptions, you miss out on many possibilities.

Imagine this scenario: A new salesperson has delivered five sales presentations and none of the prospective clients have decided to buy her product. If she makes the assumption that she is not good at presentations, it’s unlikely she’ll put her all into them. And, even if she does end up presenting, the self-sabotaging catabolic energy she transmits concerning her assumed ineffectiveness—not the quality of the presentation itself—may actually be what turns off her potential clients. Without realizing it, her chosen energy becomes the self-fulfilling prophecy that her assumption is correct.

Here are some typical assumptions:

• If I don’t do it myself, it won’t be done right.
• My kids are lazy and unproductive.
• I’m no good at interviewing.
• No one listens to what I’m saying.

Because assumptions are primarily based on personal experience, they are internalized and emotional, and often even more difficult to challenge and let go of than limiting beliefs and interpretations. Delving deeply to remove the emotion of the past experience may be necessary before moving forward.

The main question to ask when challenging an assumption is simply “Just because that happened in the past, why must it happen again?”

The next time you just “know” that something won’t work based on your past experience, recognize your assumption for what it is, question it, consciously choose to let it go and to take positive action.

In the next Energy Leadership post, we’ll go on to gremlins, the last of the Big 4 energy blocks.

To explore the possibilities-expanding power of challenging the self-imposed prison of your own interpretations, sign up below for a 60-minute complimentary coaching session.

Web copy used by permission. No reproduction or retransmission is permitted without expressed written consent of Bruce D Schneider and the Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching (iPEC). ©2006-2016 Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching (iPEC)

FREE Coaching Opportunity
($250 VALUE)

If someone offered you a precious gift for an hour of your time, would you be interested? That’s what I offer with a Complimentary Coaching Session. A comp session isn’t a brief demo or sample. It’s a full 45-minute coaching session focused on current real life challenges of your choosing plus 15 minutes to discuss your experience and any questions you may have about my approach to coaching.

There is no expectation or pressure to hire me as your ongoing coach. Providing meaningful, substantive comp sessions with no obligation is one of the ways I demonstrate gratitude and give back to the Universe a small portion of the abundance and opportunity it bestows on me daily.

The real value of a comp session? PRICELESS! 

Those who have experienced comp sessions will tell you, when you come to your session open to the possibilities for transformation and fully committed to your own growth, big breakthroughs can happen!

What clients say about
the power of coaching with Deborah 

“I knew Deborah before she became a Professional Life Coach. I’ve been amazed at how she has changed her life. When I decided it was time to begin making decisions about the next phase of my life, I knew immediately that Deborah was the person I wanted to work with. Her personal and professional experiences help her guide clients through coaching in a way that is individualized and delightfully eye-opening. Her warmth and sensitivity are immediately apparent, even over the phone. With gentle encouragement and permission, she will guide you through an examination of your life, including difficult experiences. She will help you gain insight from your past choices and then explore possibilities for moving forward in less encumbered ways. When you work with Deborah, your life will take on new meaning and your potential will be limitless!” Chris

“The work I did with Deborah continues to change my life. While I have learned many valuable lessons from her, the greatest was the deep insight that is available to me when I listen to and learn from my own inner wisdom. Her intuition, discernment and encouragement have taught me to trust my own intuition—creating new paths and possibilities for my life. One of Deborah’s great gifts is helping others respect and connect with their inner guidance and through that connection, to form a deeper, more meaningful bond with the collective wisdom and energy of all.” Ryan

Click here to sign up for a 60-minute
complimentary coaching session with Deborah.

What readers say about
the impact of Deborah’s book

“With the same energy and determination she applied in the professional world, Deborah has taken her considerable expertise in human potential and has now set her sights on the largest co-op in the world, humanity. ‘Choose Your Energy, Change Your Life!’ tackles what I believe are the most important questions we each must ask: who am I, where did I come from, why am I here, and what’s love got to do with it (cue Tina Turner)? These are not trivial or philosophical questions for the answers change what we do, why we do it, who and what we love. I am grateful for the opportunity to walk with Deborah on this critical journey.” JD Messenger, Award Winning Author of “11 Days in May: The Conversation That Will Change Your Life”

“To me the great thing about Deborah’s book is how ‘accessible’ she makes the ideas. The Oxygen Mask is probably the single best example. As with so many of the ideas in the book, she explains the principle in such a simple way that it’s got universal application to virtually any reader. I can imagine people having multiple moments of ‘Oh….I get it!’ throughout the book. The stories from her own life as well as stories of her clients’ experiences become stories about all of us—stories about which the reader will think, ‘I am living my own version of this.’ Well done—bravo!” Joe Calloway, Author of “Be The Best At What Matters Most”

Click here to explore Deborah’s book.

© Copyright 2016 DJW Life Coach LLC. All rights reserved.

In the previous Energy Leadership™ blog post, we explored limiting beliefs, the first of the Big 4 energy blocks which prevent you from making conscious choices and reaching your potential.

Time to examine the second block—interpretations. When you interpret, you create an opinion about a person, event, situation or experience. In essence, you create an explanation and then look for evidence to support its validity. Though an interpretation often represents only one viewpoint among many that are possible, when you interpret, you don’t even recognize that other valid explanations exist.

Because interpretations hold a stronger energetic charge than limiting beliefs, they also have a greater effect on your emotions and actions and can be harder to escape. If you believe your viewpoint of a particular situation is the only explanation, you may end up wasting a lot of time and energy—physical, mental, emotional and spiritual—marching off in the wrong direction. Because you don’t recognize other possibilities, you remain stuck in your version of the story—feeling like a victim with no control over the outcome.

Interpretations go something like this:

• He doesn’t like me.
• She thinks I’m incompetent.
• They don’t want to follow orders.
• My son doesn’t do his homework because he’s lazy.

As blocks go, because interpretations are more personal than limiting beliefs, they can be more difficult to recognize and neutralize. Holding onto them can seem like the easy way out, because facing them may move you into uncharted territory. However, they are always worth the effort and the risk because challenging your interpretations opens you up to a world of possibilities. Even if you conclude that among the many alternatives, your original interpretation is the most valid, the broader examination of multiple options will have provided you with more confidence and commitment in following wherever your initial conclusion now leads.

Consider this example. Imagine you come into work on Monday morning excited to share a great, time sensitive business opportunity with your boss. But when he arrives to work two hours late, he barely acknowledges your greeting, storms into his office and closes the door. You interpret your boss’ bad mood as a sign that he’s ticked off with you. So instead of sharing your cool idea, you spend the day obsessing over what you did wrong and plotting how to avoid him for as long as possible.

Three days later you learn that your boss’ cranky demeanor on Monday was due to a fender bender he had on the way to work. Too late now, because during the intervening days, the window of opportunity closed on your potential new initiative while you hid from his imagined ire. When in fact, if you had approached him on Monday with your hope-filled possibility, it might have been just the ticket to helping him shift his own outlook days sooner—for which he might have been eternally grateful and through which you would have demonstrated yet again your great value to his organization.

So, how can you challenge your own interpretations? Confront them directly! Start with, “That’s one possibility. What are three different ways to look at that?” Just realizing that there are other ways to read the data lessens the power of your interpretation and introduces more objectivity and the potential for accuracy. One way to do this is to imagine what another individual’s perspective of the situation might be. Actually asking for someone else’s point of view on a difficult situation—even if she or he isn’t directly involved—can break down your existing paradigms and open pathways for more satisfying solutions.

In the example of the out-of-sorts boss, parent, spouse or sibling, perhaps his or her crankiness has nothing to do with you. Maybe you can help provide support and shift whatever storm clouds are looming. And, if you are indeed the intended target of the dark mood, isn’t it more productive to engage constructively to better understand so you can begin the process of repairing and rebuilding your relationship?

You stewing in your own juices and getting steamed up as well doesn’t usually help. On the contrary, it often escalates what was a minor infraction into a huge flippin’ drama. Likewise, cowering in avoidance doesn’t help either. It allows the other person’s anger-inducing interpretations to keep gaining momentum, unchecked by other more benign possibilities. SUCK IT UP AND JUST TALK, FOR PITY’S SAKE. Maybe, once you park your interpretations, you’ll find you can both actually laugh about how gravely you misread each other and the situation.

So, whenever you catch yourself “jumping to conclusions” and believing the first story that comes to mind, exercise greater creativity by considering other possibilities that could lead you—and everyone around you—to new, more empowering choices and actions. Choose your energy: change your life!

In the next Energy Leadership post, we’ll explore the third of the Big 4 energy blocks—assumptions.

To explore the possibilities-expanding power of challenging the self-imposed prison of your own interpretations, sign up below for a 60-minute complimentary coaching session.

Web copy used by permission. No reproduction or retransmission is permitted without expressed written consent of Bruce D Schneider and the Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching (iPEC). ©2006-2016 Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching (iPEC)

FREE Coaching Opportunity
($250 VALUE)

If someone offered you a precious gift for an hour of your time, would you be interested? That’s what I offer with a Complimentary Coaching Session. A comp session isn’t a brief demo or sample. It’s a full 45-minute coaching session focused on current real life challenges of your choosing plus 15 minutes to discuss your experience and any questions you may have about my approach to coaching.

There is no expectation or pressure to hire me as your ongoing coach. Providing meaningful, substantive comp sessions with no obligation is one of the ways I demonstrate gratitude and give back to the Universe a small portion of the abundance and opportunity it bestows on me daily.

The real value of a comp session? PRICELESS! 

Those who have experienced comp sessions will tell you, when you come to your session open to the possibilities for transformation and fully committed to your own growth, big breakthroughs can happen!

What clients say about
the power of coaching with Deborah 

“I knew Deborah before she became a Professional Life Coach. I’ve been amazed at how she has changed her life. When I decided it was time to begin making decisions about the next phase of my life, I knew immediately that Deborah was the person I wanted to work with. Her personal and professional experiences help her guide clients through coaching in a way that is individualized and delightfully eye-opening. Her warmth and sensitivity are immediately apparent, even over the phone. With gentle encouragement and permission, she will guide you through an examination of your life, including difficult experiences. She will help you gain insight from your past choices and then explore possibilities for moving forward in less encumbered ways. When you work with Deborah, your life will take on new meaning and your potential will be limitless!” Chris

“The work I did with Deborah continues to change my life. While I have learned many valuable lessons from her, the greatest was the deep insight that is available to me when I listen to and learn from my own inner wisdom. Her intuition, discernment and encouragement have taught me to trust my own intuition—creating new paths and possibilities for my life. One of Deborah’s great gifts is helping others respect and connect with their inner guidance and through that connection, to form a deeper, more meaningful bond with the collective wisdom and energy of all.” Ryan

Click here to sign up for a 60-minute
complimentary coaching session with Deborah.

What readers say about
the impact of Deborah’s book

“With the same energy and determination she applied in the professional world, Deborah has taken her considerable expertise in human potential and has now set her sights on the largest co-op in the world, humanity. ‘Choose Your Energy, Change Your Life!’ tackles what I believe are the most important questions we each must ask: who am I, where did I come from, why am I here, and what’s love got to do with it (cue Tina Turner)? These are not trivial or philosophical questions for the answers change what we do, why we do it, who and what we love. I am grateful for the opportunity to walk with Deborah on this critical journey.” JD Messenger, Award Winning Author of “11 Days in May: The Conversation That Will Change Your Life”

“To me the great thing about Deborah’s book is how ‘accessible’ she makes the ideas. The Oxygen Mask is probably the single best example. As with so many of the ideas in the book, she explains the principle in such a simple way that it’s got universal application to virtually any reader. I can imagine people having multiple moments of ‘Oh….I get it!’ throughout the book. The stories from her own life as well as stories of her clients’ experiences become stories about all of us—stories about which the reader will think, ‘I am living my own version of this.’ Well done—bravo!” Joe Calloway, Author of “Be The Best At What Matters Most”

Click here to explore Deborah’s book.

© Copyright 2016 DJW Life Coach LLC. All rights reserved.

In the previous Energy Leadership™ blog post, we discussed self-fate: choosing to have your past dominate your thought processes and thereby create your future. And that the key to escaping the prison of self-fate is to stop lugging around all of the energetic “baggage” from your past and instead make conscious choices in the present moment.

Think of that energetic baggage as being packed in four different suitcases. These “Big 4” energy blocks you carry around dictate how you see the world and hold you back from reaching your unlimited potential.

The first suitcase contains your “limiting beliefs.” Your beliefs either help or hinder you; limiting beliefs are those that hold you back. If you do not believe something is possible, you’re not likely to attempt it. Even if you do attempt it, you won’t devote much energy to achieving that goal because whatever you may say, in your heart you actually believe it’s not possible or appropriate.

Limiting beliefs are general beliefs about the world, your environment or situation, and the people around you that stand in your way. More often than not, you accept a limiting belief as true because you’ve learned it from someone else, or from an “authority,” such as the media, a book or a movie. You assume that’s “just the way it is.”

Yet, many things we once considered true we no longer do. The Earth is round not flat. The Sun, not the Earth, is the center of our solar system. And, alas, poor little Pluto isn’t a planet after all.

Here is a classic example of a limiting belief: until 1954, it was commonly held that running a mile in under four minutes was impossible. Moreover, physiologists believed it was extremely dangerous to even attempt it. Yet on May 6 of that year, Roger Bannister crossed the finish line in 3 minutes and 59.4 seconds, thereby disproving the myth forever.

It’s remarkable that Bannister accomplished his feat. It required that he completely ignore the prevailing, limiting belief and construct an entirely different belief system for himself.  What others saw as a limitation, he perceived as opportunity. And once he disproved the presumed limits of the human body, less than two months later, another runner, John Landy, broke Bannister’s record with a mile dash of 3 minutes and 57.9 seconds. What’s more, within just a few years, dozens of runners were leaving the four-minute mark in the dust.

Here are a couple of common limiting beliefs that hold many of us back. How about “you have to work really hard to achieve success.” Or that “successful people are lucky.” Or that “you have to have money to make money.”

There are several ways to challenge limiting beliefs. You can explore the effect the belief has had on your life and look for proof of its truth or lack thereof. You can choose to modify the belief or aspects of the belief to better serve you. Simply examining the belief with questions works remarkably well.

Here are a few empowering questions to help you break through any limiting belief-based blocks:

• Who says?
• Where did I get that idea?
• How true do I believe that is?
• What if that’s no longer true?
• What if that’s not true for me?
• How might releasing this limiting belief reveal my golden opportunity?

Once you challenge limiting beliefs they lose their power to hold you back. And, when challenging any and all limiting beliefs becomes your go-to practice, freedom and success become your new normal.

Today, examine the contents of your limiting beliefs suitcase. Start removing some items or, better yet, just leave the entire bag behind and see how much lighter and powerful you feel.

In the next Energy Leadership post, we’ll explore the second of your Big 4 energy blocks—interpretations.

To explore the life-changing power of escaping the self-imposed prison of your limiting beliefs, sign up below for a 60-minute complimentary coaching session.

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