Fellow certified coach Judith Duhl compiled this List of favorite strategies to avoid bringing your gifts to the world. This tongue-in-cheek perspective reveals our self-sabotaging tactics in a humorous, insightful way.

ONE: Trust your fears.

Imagine everything that can go wrong. Dream up your worst case scenarios
— don't dream small here.

TWO: Say YES to everything.

Fill your life with distraction and drama. Make sure you don't have any time to reflect. Go for frenzy!

THREE: Believe that there is no connection between mental and physical well-being.

Eat poorly and don't get exercise. Check out those reality TV shows and
late night reruns.

FOUR: Seek out relationships that are demeaning
to self-esteem.

Cultivate critical, stuck, depressed friends and authority figures.

FIVE: Strengthen your "Yes, BUT" muscle.

Start small here. Determine the lack of feasibility in anything that you are interested or excited by. For example: "I want to write, but I don't have a good pen." Or how about: "I'd love to be a singer, but I don't have a good enough voice."

SIX: Stick with the three Cs: Compare, Compare, Compare.

Compare yourself to others. Be relentless here. Allow the expertise
of others to undermine your unique vision and credibility.

SEVEN: Practice the Safe Step Method.

Don't risk anything. This is simple. If it's not a sure thing, then don't waste your time. And besides, risk is way over-rated.

EIGHT: Look backwards.

Determine goals and outcomes based on what has happened in your life in the past. A new motto to repeat when you get a tad visionary: If it hasn't happened yet, it ain't going to.

NINE: See only two choices in every situation.

Create two equally unattractive options. For example, "I can make good money in a job I hate, or do what I love and starve." And if you get tired of this, see your options as dependent on some future success: "I can do my life's work when I win the lottery."

TEN: Commit and move back.

As soon as you commit, immediately decide you need to do something different, like work at a dead-end job. At that point, go back to #1: Trust your fears.

Inward Bound Coaching is a powerful way to move past these perspectives, and say 'Yes'
to your life's work. Call Cathy Perry, PCC at
(404) 869 1550.

© 2008 Judith Duhl CPCC