• Home
  • About
    • Elizabeth: Personally
    • Education Certifications Affiliations
  • Coaching
    • Educational Coaching
    • Non-Profit Coaching
    • Executive Coaching
    • Leadership Coaching
    • Group/Team Coaching >
      • Sample Workshops
    • One-to-One Coaching
  • Testimonials
  • Media
  • Africa Project
  • Blog
Critchley Coaching
Contact Elizabeth
403.256.4164
​[email protected]

Crank It Up

4/8/2017

0 Comments

 
Picture
If you happen to have driven past me while I was driving this past week, no doubt you would have seen me singing my heart out as I cranked up the radio and joined in with whatever artist happened to be playing on my playlist!  The warmer days of spring seem to bring this out in me.  Rest assured, I do keep the windows up all the way, so there is no danger of offending anyone!

As I was grooving along on an unseasonably warm day on Thursday, I thought about the other voices that I crank up or sometimes turn down in my life.  Let me introduce you to a coaching tool that I will call ‘Voices’.

If we think of ourselves as a ship that is navigating its way through our life, it is easy to imagine that the ship has a crew.  Each crew member has a very specific role and can be called upon at any time to help steer the ship.  Our ship, if it is a good one, will have a Captain.  The Captain holds the most important job of making choices about where the ship sails, deciding what routes are safest, or most scenic, or most interesting or fun.  The Captain decides how long we will stay in any one port and she decides when we might need extra crew members aboard.  The best Captains, sail their ship with confidence and integrity.  The Captain of your ship is wise.   She knows that your life is, at this moment, exactly as it should be, and at the same time she holds the paradox of wanting more for you.  Your Captain believes in you completely and she has all the skills needed to make sure that you have the best life voyage possible.  Although she may take opinions from other crew members, ultimately, she knows what is best and she acts accordingly.  The voice of the captain is sure, clear, reassuring and supportive.  The Captain never steers you into danger.

There are many other crew members aboard your ship.  In previous posts, I have introduced you to one of your crew members - your Saboteur.  He is a crew member who can have a VERY loud voice.  The Saboteur delights in coming up on deck when we think about making change.  He is the voice telling us that our idea is bad, that we could fail, that someone could get hurt, that we don’t really want something.  If we let him up on deck and turn him up loud enough he will happily take over the steering of the ship.  He doesn’t have to steer for too long before we decide that the change we had considered really isn’t wise.  And we abandon it.  And the Saboteur voice becomes quiet and he goes below deck and back to sleep.  His work is done.  The ship sails on in the same way it always has.

In addition to the Saboteur, we have many other crew members, all of whom also have voices. 

One voice that can be very important and powerful in our life is The Appreciator. When the Appreciator is on deck, her job is to look around and to notice everything that there is to appreciate about our life.  She can find the gifts in even the most difficult situations.  She helps us realize that there is something to be appreciated in everything.  She does not always steer us away from heartache and challenge, but she does help us to find and appreciate the gifts within these situations.  Her voice is kind and caring.  She is full of wisdom.

A crew member who may be needed in your life could be that of the Doorman.  This crew member opens doors for us in our life.  Sometimes she opens them only wide enough for us to peek inside; other times she encourages us to walk right through the door as she holds it wide open.  If you invite both the Doorman and the Saboteur on deck at the same time, the Saboteur may run about closing as many doors as the Doorman was trying to open!  The Doorman has a voice of encouragement and confidence.  She believes that opening doors is easy and important work.

There is an endless number of possible crew members that can be found on our ship. Your crew members may include The Curious One, The One Who Takes Action, The Listener and The Rebel.   While each of them can have an important voice, it is up to us to decide which of them we want to invite up on deck and which of their voices we want turned up the loudest at certain times in our lives.  Each of them is available to us all the time.  No doubt, as you examine your life, you will notice that you have made better friends with some of these crew members than with others.  Some, who have had the potential to be wonderful crew members for you, you may have kept below deck for too long.

During this week, I challenge you to notice which crew member is steering your ship.  Which voices do you choose to crank up, and which you choose to turn down.  Only invite crew members onto your deck who are willing to work with your Captain on her mission of creating your best possible, fulfilling life.

My inquiry for you this week is, ‘Whose voice am I cranking up?’

Learn more about the power of your Captain and Crew during group or individual coaching.  Check out my coaching video and my group coaching video and then contact me to help you get started.  Your voyage awaits!

0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Picture

    Sign up below to have my blog delivered to your inbox weekly.

    Enter your email address:

    Delivered by FeedBurner

    RSS Feed

    Author

    Elizabeth Critchley (CPCC, ACC) is an accredited, certified, Professional Life Coach who excels at helping motivated clients clearly define and work toward their goals, dreams and purpose.  She believes it takes the same amount of energy to create a big dream as it does to create a little dream.  She encourages her clients to dare to dream big.

    Archives

    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015

    Categories

    All

©2018 Elizabeth Critchley