Walk With Wayne | Newsletter

...Share the Journey ...Retrieve your Self

March 2004 Vol. 2, No. 3

A Monthly Newsletter Published and Created by Wayne Peacock
©2004 Wayne Peacock. All rights reserved.

Dear Friends,

Later this month I will celebrate my three-year anniversary as a co-active coach. It has been a WOW experience. I never dreamed that retirement would be filled with such learning, extreme challenge and growth. I did know that the universe was vast and there to be explored but I never imagined that I would find the path so delicious in my first stage of elderhood.

In and amongst the schooling, professional certification and leadership program, I've spent about 1000 hours with 25 private clients. When I am able to separate myself from all the stories and things of the ego, I am nothing but gratitude. Gratitude for the indescribable opportunity to share and coach another person's journey toward wholeness. And what a gift my clients have given me. It is that gift of learning that I want to share in this newsletter.

Wayne's Words

On my flight to Atlanta for the 2002 ICF Annual Conference, I read that Ken Blanchard, well known author of The One Minute Manager, was going to present his Top 10 Learnings Through Coaching. I thought that if Blanchard can learn and share, so could I. By the time I landed in Atlanta, my top 10 were ready to share.

Periodically I look back on that list and make a minor change here and there but the early learnings only deepen. Here are the learnings of an elder coach.

10.

11.

The Reader's Challenge

The good news is that you don't have to be a coach to take advantage of these learnings. All you need is the curiosity to find out how your life will be affected if you put these ideas to practice. Do yourself a favor and pick one idea and work with it for the next week.
Here is how it might look: Let's say you choose number 5; "Client success is unlimited save for the coach's limits." The first thing you might do is to revise the sentence to fit your circumstances, e.g. "My children's success is unlimited save for my limitations as a parent." Next do a couple of things:

Hold the perspective that "My children's potential for success is unlimited," and

Search for places where your beliefs and opinions about what is possible and not possible might be projected onto your children.

If you want help working with these learnings please call or email. And, I'd love to hear about your results, pro or con.

Monthly Teaching

Most of us divide up our life experiences into those we like and those we don't. But the Taoist masters teach us to look deeper. In the flow of yin and yang everything is constantly changing into its opposite. The more we live with awareness of the inevitable tides of Tao, the more it seems superficial and misguided to reject some experiences and try to hold on to others. It is better to accept the wholeness of life.

A traditional Taoist story illustrates these teachings. When an old farmer's stallion wins a prize at a country show, his neighbor calls round to congratulate him, but the old farmer says, "Who knows what is good and what is bad." The next day some thieves come and steal his valuable animal. His neighbor comes to commiserate with him, but the old man replies, "who knows what is good and what is bad?" A few days later the spirited stallion escapes from the thieves and joins a herd of wild mares, leading them back to the farm.

The neighbor calls to share the farmer's joy, but the farmer says, "Who knows what is good and what is bad?" The following day, while trying to break in one of the wild mares, the farmer's son is thrown and fractures his leg. The neighbor calls to share the farmer's sorrow, but the old man's attitude remains the same as before. The following week the army passes by, forcibly conscripting soldiers for a war, but they do not take the farmer's son because he cannot walk. The neighbor thinks to himself, "Who knows what is good and what is bad?" and realizes that the old farmer must be a Taoist sage.

- From The Tao Book and Card Pack by Timothy Freke

Relationship Systems Coaching

I am offering a complimentary 1-hour introductory relationship coaching session. If you or anyone you know wants to improve a workplace or personal relationship, please call or email. The work can be done in person or over the phone. Early feedback from this cutting edge work is very encouraging. Please sample for yourself.

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