Coaching

How could I empower you even more to take action every single day
to produce the results you truly desire? The answer is simple;

“Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn-out, loudly proclaiming… WOW, what a ride! ”

Success Conditioning

Can you answer this; can you describe (in detail) what specially you want in your life right now? Are you clear about it? Would a 7 year old be able to comprehend it? Do you take action on a daily basis to achieve it? This is specifically what our Personal and Professional Success Coaching gives you, the ability to empower yourself on an on-going basis, to ACT, the ability to consistently take daily action!  In developing a partnership as your Success Coach I personally work with you to clarify your goals, expand your creativity, create more flexibility, and quickly move you towards your outcomes. We can work together weekly, monthly or as often as you like to make your future so compelling, it will actually feel as if it’s drawing you towards it. You MUST reprogram your old limiting strategies with new empowering beliefs to produce the results you desire TODAY!

Initial Call - Complementary Introductory 30 minute Call.
The purpose is to establish the compatibility of our partnership.
I will follow up via email with an invitation to work together.

Private 1 on 1 Phone Coaching
Weekly 30 minute call or Bi-Weekly 60 minute calls
3 Session minimum
$500./Session - Quantity sessions discount.

Terms & Conditions:
Availability: When John's schedules permits. Usually Monday-Friday.
Payment Policy: Check or monthly charge to your credit card.
Cancellation Policy: 24hr.period required to reschedule or be charged the full amount of the session.


We are very selective at whom we work with. You must be committed to "do whatever it takes to succeed."
Our tele-coaching investment is as follows; $500. per hour, 3 session minimum (at your discretion).
Or our daily rate (working lunch) of; $1,750. or $5,000 plus expenses at your location.

Goal Setting

One of the greatest investments you’ll make in your lifetime will be in yourself. The challenge is we're often too busy or too distracted to focus on who we really want to become. So we often overlook ourselves and sacrifice goals and dreams until we realize “time fly’s by so quickly.” If you're like most people you do have dreams but never put them down on paper in detail, making them a reality. Many studies have concluded that writing down your goals, manifests them 15 times sooner than just thinking about them occasionally. It would be like chartering a plane for a vacation without a destination, why would you settle taking the most important journey in life without first deciding your where you want to go!
Three essential steps of goal setting;

1. Define who you are & what holds you back.
2. Design clear goals for your life.
3. Determine to empower yourself to action.

As an expert in behavioral change, we’ll create a whole new path for your life to travel upon, and the road to success is a whole lot smoother having a map and a guide to make your journey much more FUN!

Sports Psychology

We also assist sports professionals and athlete’s to achieve peak performance in their mental game as well. Practicing, developing, and rehearsing the "physical" mechanics of your sport is only the beginning. Sports psychology and the mental preparation is the most important aspect of your game. Arnold Palmer once said; “Golf is a game of inches. The most important are the six inches between your ears.” The ability to become outstanding is determined by the state of mind and the preparation you do before and during the game. If you’ve only invested in technical aspects of your game, it’s time now, to invest in your mental capability and improve your focused concentration. Your ability to tap into an empowering state of mind at any moment of play is essential and will take your performance to the next level by hiring me as your performance coach.

Executive Phone Coaching Another option is to receive assistance in the comfort of your own home or office! Our professional long distance Executive Phone Coaching service frees you not only from the expense of having to travel, it allows you the freedom of maintaining a schedule that is conducive to your busy life style. Executive Phone Coaching is a highly effective, fast and easy way to achieve your life goals. Many people prefer phone coaching to the traditional face-to-face coaching. For convenient, cost-effective consultation and coaching, please feel free to call or e-mail us and discover when Executive Phone Coaching will work best for you!

What specifically is coaching?

Coaching is one of the fastest growing new professions. What is the appeal? Recent issues of Newsweek, Money Magazine and the Wall Street Journal urge professionals to avail themselves of the services of a personal coach. Why? Dedicated athletes use coaches to increase their focus and to provide support, structure, and ongoing accountability to prepare them for win/lose competitions. Organizations and individuals who hire coaches are interested in having, being, and doing their best, not settling for less. We humans have a deep need to grow and develop, to actualize our potential.

The Personal and Professional Coaches Association defines coaching as "an ongoing relationship, which focuses on clients taking action toward the realization of their vision, goals or desires. Coaching uses a process of inquiry and personal discovery to build the clients level of awareness and responsibility, and provides the client with structure, support and feedback." How is that different from existing professions? Like counseling, it is client centered and individual. Like consulting, it is outcome oriented, dealing in visions and actions. The major difference between masterful training, counseling, therapy, consulting or mentoring and masterful coaching can be described quite simply. The coach does not have answers. The coach does not provide expertise. A coach operates from the presupposition that the client (player) has all the resources, including the ability to discover and utilize resources.

How Long Does A Coaching Relationship Last?

Most coaches require an initial commitment of three to six months from players; many individuals often remain within the coaching relationship much longer. One of our main objective of coaching is to help the player establish habits of personal inquiry and accountability, that way after they complete their initial work with us they may cut back to monthly or quarterly focus sessions.

Often after an initial month or two, players learn to make powerful use of the relationship and have changed their expectations about the coaching relationship. They begin with the assumption that the coach will have all the answers and will get them on "the program" that will lead to personal success. Though usually after several months the understanding shifts and the players begin taking responsibility for the changes they create in their lives. Then the efforts of creating success in their lives becomes much easier once they learn it's all based upon THIER actions! We are just the guide!

What Does The Coach Provide?

The coach holds a safe space within which the player can explore. That space allows the player a "time out" to evaluate how the game is going, to establish the evidence procedures for success, and to strategize future action steps. The coach does not judge results. There is no failure, only feedback. The coach does expect the player to take responsibility and to develop the flexibility to overcome barriers.

Coaches also provide structure. As coaches hear players express a desire for action, they make requests. Examples of requests are: "Will you make two calls about that this week?" "Will you spend ten minutes a day on this?" Requests are negotiable. The player might counter, "No, I won’t do it every morning, but Ill do it three times this week." The alliance evolves. Once requests are accepted, coaches hold players accountable for taking those actions.

As individuals, most of us prefer self generated action steps, yet we often fail to take them because no outside force holds us to them. We rarely have deadlines for the things we want to do for ourselves, so they go to the bottom of the "to do" list. By holding a player accountable, the coach sets up an expectation. The call provides a deadline. In my own experience working with a coach, I have often done things on my list in the half hour before my coaching call. Without the structure of coaching, I would let those things slide. Players choose the steps they want to be held accountable for. The coach provides an external expectation that those steps will be taken.

Feedback from the coach takes many forms. The objective is to help the player evaluate the current reality without judgment or condemnation. Such nonjudgmental directness requires deep rapport. An experienced coach does not "gloss over" an obvious truth, however uncomfortable it might be. It is part of what is. Being unspoken does not make it go away. The coach might reframe the "hard truth" as a discovery, or as a challenge, an opportunity to forward the action.

Designing The Alliance

The coach and player work together to design an alliance. They define structures that will support the player as he or she moves toward a goal. Players have the most up to date and complete information about how they operate. They know what structures or habits will encourage their movement.

They know from experience what on the spot decisions they have to make. The player is in the game; the coach is only on the sidelines. Only the player can take action. Some of the questions addressed in the process of designing the alliance includes: How do I want to be held accountable for moving toward my goals? What perspectives do I want my coach to remind me of? What is the best use of my coaching time? The alliance evolves as the player discovers more of what works best. The coach does not know. The player does.

The coach does not define how things should be, but is committed to helping the player clarify "what is" (the present state) and what he or she wants in the future. What is your game? What "gold" are you going for? The "how" pieces, how to get from here to there, present state to desired state, don’t come from the coach. The player has those answers. Players define the game and create the game plans; coaches help them stay on track. Do plans change? Often. Some players discover that they want to achieve "pro" status in a different game. A coaching call may result in a major breakthrough. More often, the results come in the form of small changes in habits and patterns of thinking. Coaching sessions make use of meta thinking, thinking about our thinking. Over time, a player becomes aware of his or her own process of personal change and of the transformative power of taking self initiated steps.

Many beginning players start the process expecting the coach to have answers, the magic "tip." Yet the coach, through not knowing, confers on the player a powerful sense of control and responsibility. The player operates according to his/her map. The player is familiar with the environment and knows the other players and the rules of the game. The skillful coach helps to articulate and perhaps challenge those rules and raises questions. In the process of outlining the game and the rules for the coach, the player gains clarity. Action steps emerge.

The Coaching State Is Not Knowing

The finest coaches seem to live in a place of not knowing so completely, in fact, that the "as if" frame of "player is capable" settles like an atmosphere over the coaching interaction. At the perfect moment for offering solutions, the coach asks a simple question like "How will you do that?" or "What’s next?" Simple, unembellished. Over time, players notice that they have the best answers to their own questions. In the deep structure of their experience, they know what actions to take and what choices to make.

As a coach, the ability to not know is one of those "simple but not easy" skills. It takes considerable practice. We are so easily drawn into giving advice. It is flattering to have someone want it. We want to help; we could shorten the player’s journey with just the right tip; how fair is it to hold it back? But the coach must trust that player’s instincts are sound. Accomplished coaches discover this over and over. The solution the player comes up with works infinitely better for him or her than a solution suggested by the coach. Players know themselves better than the coach ever will. They know what motivates them and what won’t last more than three days, or might result in disappointment and self-recrimination.

NLP and Coaching

NLP presuppositions, skills, and models serve the coach in many ways. Several of the presuppositions of NLP are particularly useful in establishing the coaching frame. In reading this article, I’m sure you have noticed many of them. Everyone has the resources he or she needs. The worth of an individual is constant, while the behavior can change. The map is not the territory. We respond to our maps, not to any "objective" reality. It is better to have choices than not to have choices. Behavioral flexibility is more useful than having limited behavioral choices. Every behavior has a positive intent. There are no mistakes, only feedback. These presuppositions balance responsibility with non-judgment, and allow the player to evaluate without being self- deprecating.

By living these presuppositions, experienced NLP practitioners naturally embody the attitudes of great coaches both assume that the player is capable. Both have experience exploring underlying mental frameworks that either support or inhibit growth. They are less likely to get distracted by "the story," the surface structure. They assist players in finding the deep structure of their experience, where profound change takes place.

NLP skills assist the coach in every session. Since much of coaching takes place on the phone, an NLP coach uses sensory acuity to listen to the players voice tone and tempo. In addition, the coach knows how to listen at different levels, to the player’s message and to the meta-message. The NLP coach listens for familiar language patterns that indicate player’s self-imposed limits, and he/she knows how to generate powerful questions in response to those patterns. The NLP coach can introduce the idea of multiple perspectives through skillful questioning. "What might your future self suggest?" "Is this the critic? What does the dreamer have to say?"

An understanding of NLP models enriches the abilities of a coach. I often begin coaching with outcome specification questions. Eliciting a well-formed outcome helps players define their vague dreams and set up evidence procedures. In many cases, just specifying an outcome generates movement toward it. I also use a belief audit with players. The belief audit provides questions that help the player examine blocks or challenges. These questions often facilitate breakthroughs. Exploring underlying beliefs is an important aspect of coaching. Beliefs change naturally and organically as people align with their goals and values. I don’t use these models in formal exercises with players. In fact, I may not ask more than one or two of the questions in an entire session. Still, these and other NLP models provide coaches with Cadillac versions of the coach’s basic tool, the powerful question. NLP models that generate powerful questions include: timelines, reframing, perceptual positions, the meta-model, and logical levels.

NLP coaches might be tempted to use all the tools at their disposal in each call. But while coaching, it is important to take off the NLP expert hat and enter into a state of not knowing. The NLP coach needs to hold back from trying to figure out which "pattern" would work well for this or that. Our awareness can be our downfall, as we try to push the river in terms of another person’s growth. We know that significant changes can take place in 5 minutes, so lets just do it. Now! Many of us became interested in NLP in the first place because we are highly motivated to help others help them resolve old wounds, realize their dreams, have better lives. In coaching, that desire to help can get in the way as we begin to prescribe, to solve problems for our players. It is also easy to think that we must provide some expertise to be of value to the player, but, paradoxically, the player advances most dramatically when the coach does not provide solutions. Not knowing where the call is going to go at the onset, letting go of prescriptions and not having an answer is easier said than done. At the same time, the NLP practitioner has been trained in how to access a particular state of mind. The coach can anchor a "not knowing state" with past memories of trustful "not knowing" experiences. The coach can enhance the anchor by creating a personal metaphor for the ideal coaching state. I think of a feather held aloft in the breeze. It is light and responsive. The coaching state can then be accessed with the anchor or metaphor, and utilized to hold a space from which great coaching interactions emerge.

NLP practitioners often develop an unconscious sensitivity to the use of language that informs their intuition. Frequently, the most powerful questions in a coaching session come spontaneously from the coach’s intuition.

Sports Psychology

Practicing, developing, and rehearsing the physical mechanics of your sport is only the beginning, sports psychology and the mental preparation is the most important aspect of your game. We also assist sports professionals and athlete’s to achieve peak performance in their mental game as well. Arnold Palmer once said; “Golf is a game of inches. The most important are the six inches between your ears.” So you’ve hired a golf instructor, taken the lessons and improved your swing. You know the mechanics and yet you've come to the point where you no longer feel you’re improving. The game of golf, like any other sport, is 80% mental. The ability to become outstanding is determined by the state of mind and the preparation you do before and during the game. If you’ve only invested in technical aspects of your game, it’s time now, to invest in your mental capability and improve your mental clarity. Being able to tap into that state of mind at any given moment of play is essential and will advance your performance to the next level by hiring a sports coach.

So, if this is something you believe may be good for you taking more action on a consistent basis by being held accountable, then give me a call and lets talk about the steps to achieving the next level of success in your life! (818) 879-2000