In this video,St. Louis based life coach and career consultant Dieter Pauwels talks about the importance of understanding and living your core values to attract more of the life experiences you seek.

Life Coaching Core Values from Dieter Pauwels on Vimeo.

In 1937, during the Great Depression, Napoleon Hill wrote “Think and Grow Rich” – one of the best books ever written on the subject of personal development and success. Napoleon Hill has inspired millions of people and has been a major influence in the work of today’s biggest motivational speakers and coaches, including Steven Covey and Anthony Robbins.

In his book, Napoleon Hill discusses eleven traits of successful leaders. Not only are these leadership characteristics essential in any professional leadership role, more importantly, they can serve you as great points of reference in your personal life. You are the leader of your own life. You shape your destiny based on the choices and decisions you make each and every day.

Keep this list in mind as you navigate through your own life’s journey. These cornerstone qualities will heighten your awareness and encourage you to assume full responsibility for your life and become the leader you were meant to be.

Life Coaching Questions:

As you read through the list below, ask yourself the following questions:

• Which leadership qualities am I consciously expressing in my daily life?
  
• What personal qualities are not in alignment with my current lifestyle?
  
• What leadership traits are currently not being expressed in my life? What is preventing me from integrating them into my life? How can I become a better steward of my own life?
  
• What am I committed to? What choices will I make?

Here are the eleven leadership traits as discussed by Napoleon Hill.

1. Unwavering courage

2. Self control

3. A keen sense of justice

4. Definiteness of decision

5. Definiteness of plans

6. Doing more than one is paid for

7. A pleasing personality

8. Sympathy and understanding

9. Mastery of detail

10. Willingness to assume full responsibility

11. Cooperation

In this video, St. Louis life coach and career consultant Dieter Pauwels talks with Christine Buck about the Power of Intention on KPLR11 in St. Louis. Setting your intent is a powerful force for co-creating your own reality and attracting certain experiences and outcomes in your life. If you want to have a better job, a different career, or a more fulfilling relationship, it starts with setting and stating your intention.

The Power of Intention from Dieter Pauwels on Vimeo.

life coach,power of intention,life coaching

In this video Life and career coach Dieter Pauwels talks about the importance of developing a postive attitude in creating the life and career you want on KPLR11 News at Noon in St. Louis, MO. (video)

Life Coaching Principles of Attraction: A Positive Attitude (video) from Dieter Pauwels on Vimeo.

Remember the last time you were at a networking event or a reception and you were introduced to someone, yet within a few minutes after the introduction you could not remember her name? Or you were having dinner and someone you met before walked into the restaurant, but you could not recall his name? Does that sound familiar? What did you do?

1. Focus

The neurological pathway in the brain that is used to process your internal dialogue is the same pathway used for selective listening. Have you ever attended a presentation but you were so caught up with other thoughts that you didn’t hear a word that was being said?

Focus your attention fully on the other person while they’re saying their name. Look the person in the eyes for a few seconds while shaking their hand firmly.

2. Listen and repeat

Listen attentively to the person saying their name and repeat their name back to them. If you’re not sure how to spell the name, ask them to spell it out for you. Rest assured, people love to say their name!

3. Visualize

Pick your favorite color (mine is blue), and imagine writing their name in big bright letters on their forehead.  Keep this image in your mind anywhere between 5 and 10 seconds. Make sure you don’t use small letters as they are harder to read and remember.

While seeing the name clearly printed on their forehead, repeat the name to yourself silently a couple of times. It also helps to use the same voice qualities of the person, and it makes it more fun.

4. Write it

The final step is to write the person’s name on your hip or in the air. I recommend you keep your hand movements fairly small …

Dieter Pauwels is a career life coach, speaker and author based in St. Louis, MO.
He facilitates personal and organizational transformation and works with both individuals and teams to create new possibilities, navigate change and maximize their productivity and personal effectiveness. 

Energy in motion creates emotion. The energy needed to move forward and fully engage in the process of your life comes from your emotional state. People who successfully manage their emotional state are masters of their own destiny! Unless you manage your fear, it will manifest itself as a negative emotion.  When this happens, fear blocks the energy you need to follow through on your goals, and create positive changes in your life. If you turn your fear around, however, you can use this "fear factor" as a powerful motivator to break through mental barriers.

When you allow fear to control your life, it creates strong emotional and physical reactions. Fear is what is behind comments like, I choked, I froze, or I felt paralyzed.  The reason you choke, freeze, or feel paralyzed in the face of fear, is because you get stuck in a single and limited perspective about the meaning of the fear that controls you.

Identify Self Limiting Beliefs 

Once you have identified the fear that has the most control over you, you then want to examine the limiting beliefs you hold about that fear. To elicit your limiting beliefs, ask yourself the following:

• What does the fear mean to you? For instance:  What does failure mean to you? What does rejection mean to you? What does change mean to you?
  
• What are the specific characteristics of the fear that are so troubling?
  
• What does it mean to be the victim of the fear?  What does it mean to be a failure?  What does it mean to be rejected?  What does it mean to face change? 
  
• How do you believe you will feel, or be perceived, if you fall victim to the fear?
  
• Do you view the situation as an opportunity for growth or simply another reason to quit trying?

The fear itself is not holding you back so much as what you believe will happen if the fear actually turns out to be legitimate.  If you believe that your fears will cause only a temporary set back, you are much more likely to take a risk, than if you believe your fears will result in a permanent and negative outcome. 

The beliefs you hold about failure and success directly affect your emotional state and they greatly influence your behavior. Your behavior in turn influences the results you get. It is only when your results change, that your life will change!

When you change your perspective and inner representation about the fears that hold you back, you will build the self-confidence and trust necessary to move forward and fully engage in the process of your life.  Reaching this full engagement requires that you cast away the fear and the limiting beliefs. 

About Dieter Pauwels:

Dieter Pauwels is a professional certified life, business and career coach, speaker and author, facilitating personal and organizational transformation. He works with both individuals and teams to create new possibilities, manage change and maximize their productivity and personal effectiveness.

You can visit his website at www.dieterpauwels.com or read his comments and thoughts on the impact of coaching on life and business on his blog at http://lifecoaching.dieterpauwels.com
 

"You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience
in which you really stop to look fear in the face."   (Eleanor Roosevelt)

One of the biggest barriers we face when we seek to live the life we want is fear. Fear of failure, fear of success, fear of rejection, fear of change, fear of commitment, and fear of loss are just a few of the many fears we experience. Fear is paralyzing. When you live with fear you don’t go anywhere. You end up backing away from opportunities and you unconsciously remove the things in your life that open up new possibilities and opportunities to you in the first place.

The best way to move forward in your career, your finances, your relationships, your sense of fulfillment, or any other aspect of your life, is to identify and challenge your fears. 

To do this takes a three-stage process:

1. Challenge Your Fears

Have you ever allowed fear to keep you from achieving, or even trying to achieve something you already know you want? I know I have. Within each experience of loss, rejection, failure, or hurt, there lies the opportunity to confront and challenge the fears and self-limiting beliefs you hold.

Unfortunately, most people either deny their fears, or run away from them, so they don't have to face them. This causes them to miss out on the opportunity to learn, grow and attract the things they really want in their lives.  Instead they get caught up in a pattern of procrastination, self-sabotage, and destructive behavior.

You can counteract this self-destruction by allowing yourself to become aware of your feelings.  Rather than letting your subconscious take over and act for you, when you allow yourself to feel, you gain clarity. Clarity brings forth compassion instead of judgment, and allows the energy of your heart to flow. With clarity also comes personal power and freedom of choice. You can choose to either take control of your fears or allow your fears to control you.

The choice is yours to make, but it only presents itself after you have honestly identified the fears that hold you back. To uncover the hidden fears that are keeping you from achieving, and being, everything you want, answer the following questions as honestly as possible:

• Are you afraid of rejection, commitment, responsibility, loss, change, confrontation, or not measuring up?
  
• Which fear has the most control over you in your life today?
  
• What behaviors and/or habits have you developed as a means to protect yourself from this fear?
  
• Who would you be without this fear? What would you be doing differently? How would you feel?

Understanding and identifying the fears and consequent behaviors that hold you back, is the first step in setting yourself free and living your life to the fullest.

"Nothing in life is to be feared.  It is only to be understood." ( Marie Curie)

How to Conquer Your Fears: Part 2 of 3 Identify Self Limiting Beliefs

How to Conquer Your Fears: Part 3 of 3 Free Yourself From Fear

About Dieter Pauwels:

Dieter Pauwels is a professional certified life, business and career coach, speaker and author, facilitating personal and organizational transformation. He works with both individuals and teams to create new possibilities, manage change and maximize their productivity and personal effectiveness.

You can visit his website at www.dieterpauwels.com or read his comments and thoughts on the impact of coaching on life and business on his blog at http://lifecoaching.dieterpauwels.com

A wise man once said, "I can predict the future."
"Amazing!" The people shouted, "How can you do that?"
"It's easy", he said, "Most likely it will be a continuation of the present."

Even when the path you are currently on is not taking you where you want to go, the lures of comfort, safety, security, and familiarity pull you to continue in the same direction.  The notion of an easy and uneventful journey compels us to follow along the path of least resistance and complacently accept what life hands us. 

The problem is that, the longer you follow the same route, the harder it is to get off.  After a while, even when you come to a branch in the road, you blindly ignore it in favor of the expected and routine.  When this happens, the future can be foreseen.   Past experiences are simply recycled in the present.

How do you get on this predictable road?  It’s easy really, you simply don't take the time to contemplate what's really important to you.  You don’t think about what you want to accomplish, you don’t think about who you want to be, you don’t think about what will make you happy and content; all you do is react. 

When a log blocks your path, you might find a way over it.  To many people this is success.  But it is only truly successful if by hurtling the log, you get yourself closer to your desired goals.  If you haven’t thought about where you want to go, then how do you know whether you should go over the log or find a path that takes you away from the log altogether? 

When your company downsizes, do you panic and send out resumes en mass, hoping to secure a job somewhere else before you are laid off?  Or, do you use the opportunity as a time to contemplate starting a business, going back to school or finding a position that is better aligned with your core values, inner talents and strengths?  When you are offered a new position in a different state, do you automatically uproot your family and move across the country, or do you ask yourself if the opportunity is really right for you? 

You won’t know what alternatives to pursue if you don’t have a vision for your future. And without a vision, you won’t have the courage or motivation you need to swerve off your path.  Some people think that the little devil you know, is better than the little devil you don't know. But if you continue to face the same demons, how will you ever find out if a devil even exists on the other roads available to you? 

Through my life and career coaching experiences, I have found that most people know what they don't want in their lives, but cannot clearly envision the life they really do want. If I ask you not to think of a blue balloon, can you do it?  Probably not, in fact you are likely thinking of a blue balloon right now.  What that means is you are attending to the very thing I asked you not to.  The same holds true for the things you don’t want.  When you tell yourself what not to do or be, your attention will take you there anyway.

In order to make any changes in your life, all it really takes is to turn, perhaps ever so slightly, in the direction you truly want to go. Whether you turn east or west, north or south will depend on your vision for yourself.  Here’s how to prepare to change your destination and alter your life’s itinerary:

• Accept where you are today.  The present is the only place from which you can move forward. An attitude of acceptance allows change and opens up the opportunity to find a new direction.
  
• Allow yourself to carry only those experiences, beliefs and memories from the past that will support you on the road ahead.
  
• Remember that the past is a trail that is behind you. It is neither good or bad, only thinking it is, makes it so.
  
• Ask yourself, "Where can I go from here?" or "What steps can I take today that will take me down the path I really want to follow?"

The path of life has very wide shoulders; you are not limited to one narrow goat trail.  Following the one, well-beaten trail you see will lead you on an unfulfilling journey.  Create a vision for your future that excites you and motivates you, and then use that enthusiasm to clear a new trail – one that will take you exactly where you want to go, doing the things you are most passionate about, surrounded by the people you love. 

About Dieter Pauwels:

Dieter Pauwels is a professional certified life, business and career coach, speaker and author, facilitating personal and organizational transformation. He works with both individuals and teams to create new possibilities, manage change and maximize their productivity and personal effectiveness.

You can visit his website at www.dieterpauwels.com or read his comments and thoughts on the impact of coaching on life and business on his blog at http://lifecoaching.dieterpauwels.com

Question # 3: "How Do I Honor My Core Values?"

Your core values express the essence of who you are. Although you may share similar values with others, you have a unique set of values. Many of the important decisions that you make, and the actions you take, are based on the values that you hold. Your values, together with the beliefs that support them, are an energetic driving force and provide meaning and direction in your life.

If you commit time and energy to something that violates or neglects one of your core values, you will most likely feel resentful and frustrated. If your values are not respected at your job or in your relationships, you will feel that something is missing.

While it is enormously helpful to know your core values, it is not always easy to identify them.
Often these things are so much a part of who you are, that they become invisible to you.

Create a list for yourself by thinking about the ideas and questions below. Don’t worry about getting it right and capturing all of your values. Your list will be a work in progress. Also, your values don’t have to be a single word; they could be a string of words or sentences or themes. Find the words that work best for you.

Think about the following questions:

• What is important to you?
  
• What do you really care about?
  
• What do you really want in your life?
  
• When do you feel happiest?
  
• Select a time from your life when you felt particular fulfilled. There may have been challenges,but you were still on a roll. It may have been a few minutes, or hours or days. What was important about that experience? What values were you honoring?
  
• What do you react negatively to? What makes you angry or frustrated?
  What value is being violated? What kinds of situations cause you to feel incongruent? When are you not being true to yourself?

For each of us, there are usually values that are so much a part of us that we don’t even think to put them on a list. These are often our most dearly held values. A teacher might fail to include learning; an artist might forget to write down creativity, a business owner might overlook financial success.

Generate a list of values. Next notice which of these in your life you are honoring, which "get lost" or are neglected, and which you sometimes violate through behaviors or choices.

Question # 10: "How am I spending my time?"

Question # 9: "What Would I Do If I Knew I Couldn’t Fail?"

Question # 8: "Who Am I becoming?"

Question # 7: "What Am I Tolerating?"

Question # 6: "Where Do I Focus My Attention?"

Question # 5: "How Am I Using My Talents?

Question # 4: "Who Do I spend My Time With?

Take a moment and write down the unique qualities that define you?
What are the qualities that are at the core of who you are?

Life Coaching.

As a personal life coach, people often ask me if there are any benefits of working with me over the phone.

Actually, there are many advantages or benefits of coaching over the phone instead of an in office face-to-face coaching session. While I offer my coaching clients the option of both, let's consider some of the benefits telephone coaching has to offer. 

Telephone coaching will get you the support and feedback you need for creating meaningful changes in your life and achieving the results you want, while still being able to connect on a very personal level with your life or business coach.

Personal life coaching over the phone enhances your level of focus as there are fewer distractions during the coaching conversation.

Talking with your life coach over the phone establishes an emotional comfort zone allowing you to connect more easily and communicate without feeling pressured to make eye contact or communicate non-verbally.

Over the phone coaching is more cost effective. Not only will you pay lower coaching fees than when you would meet with me face to face, you also do not have to pay for any travel expenses.

Telephone coaching is extremely time effective. You will not waste any of your valuable time traveling back and forth to our coaching meetings. You won’t get stuck in traffic, no need to battle the weather or look for a parking spot.

Over the phone coaching allows more flexibility in scheduling our coaching sessions. You can enjoy coaching in the surroundings of your choice. You can choose  a quiet, private and relaxed place to be during our private coaching sessions. You will be able to connect with me from the comfort and privacy of your own home or office, wherever you feel most comfortable.

Working over the phone also enables me to work with clients who would not otherwise be able to benefit from my coaching services. Most of my coaching clients are located in the US, Canada and Europe.

Our telephone-based life coach and career coaching services are provided but not limited to the following metropolitan areas: St. Louis, Kansas City, Chicago, Las Vegas, Dallas, Houston, Miami, Denver, Washington DC, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Boston, Detroit, New York, Los Angeles, Seattle, Minneapolis, San Diego, Tampa, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Portland, San Francisco, Phoenix, Cincinnati and Cleveland.

To find out whether working with a life coach over the phone will work for you, go ahead and schedule your free life coaching introduction session today at http://www.dieterpauwels.com