Fear of social isolation in retirement

Posted on October 20, 2019 by mgauthier

Loss of social network is a big concern among pre-retirees. When you will retire from your career, you more than likely won’t be seeing your colleagues and / or work friends everyday but that doesn’t mean that they are gone from your life forever. If you had good work and personal relationships with your co-workers, then these friendships may be strong enough to continue once you have left work.

Like all relationships, however, you need to make time and work on your friendships to stay connected.

If you don’t really have any close friends at work or outside of work, then you may need to nurture your existing relationships and even expand your network.

Some ways to do that are to:

Identify your interests and hobbies and join a local club e.g. if you love gardening, look for local gardening clubs
volunteer for a personal cause
join service clubs or associations – there are lots of service clubs who welcome new members, identify the service clubs in your area.
A club that I will be joining when I retire is PROBUS club. Their goal is to provide fellowship, friendship and fun in their retirement and semi-retirement years. Some of my retired friends are members and they are loving the people they are meeting and the experiences they are having. Visit www.probus.org for more information and for a club near you.
attend a class at your local college or
attend community or church events

There are probably lots of events going on in your community so pick up the local paper or read it on-line and get plugged in to find out what is happening in your community.

Visit www.powerupyourretirement.com to watch the ‘Ten Most Common Fears About Retirement’ Masterclass video.

Fear of a Lack of Purpose in Retirement

Posted on September 11, 2019 by mgauthier

A purpose is very important to living a meaningful life. Ernie J. Zelinski, author of How to Retire Happy, Wild and Free says that, “Two essentials for successful retirement are sufficient funds to live on and sufficient things to live for.”

You may have a lot of hobbies, interests and leisure activities that may keep you busy, however, if you want your retirement to be meaningful, these will most likely not be enough. You may need to find your purpose.

So exactly what is ‘purpose’? Think of ‘purpose’ as your ‘why’ – The ‘why’ behind what motivates you to get out of bed in the morning and excited about your day.

Your purpose is your authentic path, being the best ‘you’ are here to be by sharing your unique gifts and strengths to make a difference in this world. By doing this you add value to the lives of others while creating value in your own life. It’s win-win. Your purpose defines who you are and how you will live.

Just because you will be in retirement, doesn’t mean you can’t continue to live your purpose. In fact, if you don’t live your life on purpose, you are more than likely going to feel unfulfilled and dissatisfied with your life in retirement.

Knowing and living your life on purpose is key to a meaningful life.

Fears can be debilitating as they can stop us from achieving our dreams and doing the things we want to do. So, don’t let your fears stop you from living the life you want.

Identify, understand and take action to overcome your fears. These are important steps in preparing yourself psychologically for your retirement.

Visit www.powerupyourretirement.com to watch the ‘Ten Most Common Fears About Retirement’ Masterclass video.

Marielle Gauthier, owner and principal of Redworks Communications, is a certified Results coach; an Associate Certified Coach (ACC); and a Conversational Intelligence Coach.

Ten years after the Chilkoot Trail

Posted on October 6, 2016 by mgauthier

This year I celebrated my 10^th anniversary since I climbed the Chilkoot Trail. Luckily, I was in the Yukon this past August for both personal and work reasons, and definitely on my ‘must do’ list was to go back to visit the Chilkoot Trailhead.

After a lovely visit in Skagway with my sister Lucille, and my niece Sophie, we drove off the main highway and made our way to the trailhead to where it all started.

Once there, I was surprised to see how much the area had filled in with trees and vegetation. The little registration station is now gone most likely opting for an electronic sign-in. The beautiful Taiya river, however, was flowing ever so strongly and majestically, and I felt like I was being greeted by an old friend.

My sister and I started talking about our experience on the Trail as well as what had changed in our lives since our hike. Certainly there had been a lot of changes in the past 10 years, most memorable being changes in our work life and career; the loss of so many loved ones including our parents; and health issues. But for the most part, despite heartache and losses, there was a lot of personal and professional growth as well. We both had had new wonderful and rich experiences to meet great new people and to try new things that provided us with purpose, fulfillment and happiness.

I enjoyed our little journey down memory lane and am very grateful for all of the lessons that I learned while on the Trail. I truly believe that the strength and courage that I had to find within me to complete the trek has helped me tremendously to weather life’s little storms and to come through the tough situations even stronger and more resilient.

If you’re interested in finding out the life and leadership lessons I learned while on the Chilkoot Trail, I invite you to visit my six part ‘What the Chilkoot Trail Taught Me about Leadership,’ blog series.

Here is Part 1 of the series. Enjoy.

Marielle Gauthier, owner and principal of Redworks Communications, is a certified Results coach, an Associate Certified Coach (ACC) with the International Coaching Federation; and soon a Certified Conversational Intelligence Coach.

To receive updates about Marielle’s coaching program, training and webinars or for more information on coaching services connect with Marielle at marielle@redworkscoaching.com or visit www.redworkscoaching.com. She is based in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

Power of Coaching Interview with Mindfulness Coach, Satyam Chalmers

Posted on July 17, 2014 by mgauthier

In my blog series, Power of Coaching, I interviewed Satyam Veronica Chalmers founder and principal of Mindfulness Coaching based in Brisbane, Australia.

Satyam has 14 years experience in coaching, facilitation, mentoring and assessment. She has trained and mentored hundreds of individuals in coaching skills, including working with various large organisations to create an internal resource of coaches.

In this interview we talked about:

•how coaching facilitates another person’s awareness and understanding of what’s happening for them
•how coaching also provides a place of reflection through questioning, listening and supporting an individual to understand what is happening for them and gaining insight about that situation
•what is mindfulness coaching
•how being more mindful can help increase an individual’s productivity and effectiveness
•why it’s important to ‘switch off’ from work
•the 4- day work week and the benefits
•success stories

Listen to the interview.

Loading the player …

A special thanks to Satyam for a very informative interview.

Connect with Satyam at
satyamchalmers@neuroleadership.com
www.mindfulnesscoaching.com.au

Bio:

Satyam Veronica Chalmers

Satyam has 14 years experience in coaching, facilitation, mentoring and assessment. She has trained/mentored hundreds of individuals in coaching skills, including working with various large organisations to create an internal resource of coaches.

She is qualified as a Professional Certified Coach (PCC) with the International Coach Federation (ICF). Currently she focuses on supporting busy professionals to develop a sense of wellbeing in their lives, as well as mentoring/training other coaches to achieve mastery.

Power of Coaching Interview with Leadership Coach, Sharon Maher

Posted on April 7, 2014 by mgauthier

In my blog series, Power of Coaching, I interviewed Sharon Maher, owner and President of Matrix Point, Inc., based in San Francisco.

Sharon is a Leadership Coach and Consultant specializing in helping experts from various technical industries become expert leaders. She has developed a Leader Personality Model, a useful tool in leadership progress.

In this Interview we talked about:

•how coaching is a method for someone who is highly motivated to accomplish something that he/she has not yet done
•how coaching creates areas of individual possibilities
•the role of the coach
•how technical experts can be coached from expert to leader
•how individuals can identify and apply their “magnificence” into their work environment and how this impacts others and the organization’s overall measurable results
•return on investment as a result of the coaching process
•how the impact of change in one area of an individual’s life can impact other areas
•success stories

Listen to the Interview

A special thanks to Sharon for a very informative interview.

Connect with Sharon at www.matrixpointinc.com

Bio:

Sharon Maher, owner and President of Matrix Point, Inc., based in San Francisco.

Sharon is a Leadership Coach and Consultant specializing in helping experts become expert leaders.

In her previous 15 years as a successful business leader, Sharon led large technical project teams as well as Finance and HR teams. She learned that a successful transition from expert to effective leader was not intuitive so she became a Leadership Coach to directly impact this increasing business need.

She now coaches experts from various technical industries wireless telecom, academic medicine, national communication bureau, high level judges. She has also developed a tool in leadership progress called Leader Personality Model.

Sharon has a College of Executive Coaching Certified Professional Coach designation (CPC), a BA Psychology, an MS Business Management, and Sloan Fellow, Stanford University

Power of Coaching Interview with Cathy Graham

Posted on March 11, 2014 by mgauthier

In my blog series, Power of Coaching, I interviewed Cathy Graham, a Registered Certified Coach (RCC), organizational development expert, and a Human Resources executive with over 20 years experience working with leaders and teams. She is currently the HR Director with Strickland Insurance Group and coaches high potentials and newly promoted leaders within the organization.

In this interview we talked about:

that coaching is about asking the right questions and letting people find their own path forward
using assessment tools to assist in the coaching process
the impact of coaching on coachees and their direct reports
numerous impacts on the organization
that the removal of roadblocks or ‘self-limiting beliefs’ can lead to achieving personal and professional goals
how the impact of a change in one aspect of your life can impact other areas

Listen to the interview.

Loading the player …

A special thanks to Cathy for an informative interview.

Connect with Cathy at http://cathygrahamcoaching.wordpress.com/

Bio: Based in North Carolina, Cathy Graham is a Registered Certified Coach (RCC), organizational development expert, and an HR executive with over 20 years experience working with leaders and teams.

She’s certified in Hogan; Everything DiSC; Franklin-Covey; DDI; and Results Based Coaching.

Cathy earned:

a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) credential from the Society for Human Resource Management.
an undergraduate degree from Cornell and
a Master of Arts in Human Resources and Organizational Development from University of San Francisco.

Cathy is the principal of Cathy Graham Coaching and writes a blog called Workplace Navigator.

Power of Coaching Interview with Pratt Bennett

Posted on December 12, 2013 by mgauthier

In my blog series, Power of Coaching, I interviewed Pratt Bennet, Coach and Owner of Make That Leap Coaching. Pratt Bennet is a brain-based coach and college professor in Boston with over 23 years of experience in the classroom. He has developed a unique set of evidence-based, interdisciplinary, classroom-tested approaches to a wide variety of learning challenges. In this interview we talked about:

how coaching is all about expanding one’s consciousness
how goals can cause big, positive shifts in a person’s life
why introspection is important for developing leadership skills
the benefits of introspection
how commitment of time and energy changes habits and gets the desired results
the impact of making small changes can achieve big gains

Listen to the interview.

Loading the player …

A special thanks to Pratt for an informative interview. You can connect with Pratt at www.makethatleap.com Pratt’s bio: Pratt Bennet is a brain-based coach and college professor in Boston with over 23 years of experience in the classroom. Pratt has also been career coaching for over 20 years. He received his training from Results Coaching Systems, the world leader in neuroscience-based coaching. He has designed and led intensive training programs for employees and executives from hundreds of corporations/organizations, including Deloitte, Sony, Nokia, Coca-Cola and many more. Pratt’s cutting-edge programs for faculty and administrators blend research from many diverse fields including Education and Cognitive Neuroscience, Psychiatry and Psychology to shed light on why students sometimes struggle to learn and how educators can help them not only survive, but thrive.

Power of Coaching Interview with Paul K. McGinniss

Posted on September 25, 2013 by mgauthier

In today’s blog series, ‘Power of Coaching’ I am interviewing Paul K. McGinniss, Professional Certified Coach, New York, NY.

Paul uses neuroscience-based models, relevant coaching structures, and appropriate strategic planning tools and assessments to help his clients identify, clarify, and move towards their mission-critical goals.

In this interview we talked about:
• the difference between brain based coaching and other types of coaching
• the benefits of building a coaching culture
• the reasons why telling people what to do to is no longer working
• how to effectively grow leadership
• how to generate insights to impact performance
• Return on investment on coaching

Listen to the interview.

A special thanks to Paul for an informative interview.

Connect with Paul at PaulMcGinniss@NeuroLeadership.com or +1 (516) 216-4233.

Paul’s bio:

Paul is an International Coaching Federation (ICF) Professional Certified Coach, a Results Professional Certified Coach (RPCC); a NeuroLeadership Group Master Trainer, Mentor Coach, and Coach Assessor. He also holds a Masters degree in Human Resources Management & Labor Relations.

He currently works as an executive and workplace coach, trainer, and consultant and has an extensive management and people development background.

As a human performance consultant, the focus of Paul’s work is on helping leaders create new thinking, reengage their employees, jumpstart performance, and maximize their results.

Power of Coaching Interview with Penny Paucha

Posted on September 9, 2013 by mgauthier

In my blog series, Power of Coaching, I have interviewed Penny Paucha, Founder and Principal of ‘Instincts at Work’ based in Toronto, Ontario.

Penny is a certified Coach through the Neuroleadership Group, with extensive experience helping healthcare leaders and their teams remove the barriers to stellar results.

In this interview we talked about:
• how coaching is all about expanding one’s consciousness
• how goals can cause big, positive shifts in a person’s life
• why introspection is important for developing leadership skills
• the benefits of introspection
• how commitment of time and energy changes habits and gets the desired results
• the impact of making small changes can achieve big gains

Listen to the interview.

A special thanks to Penny for an informative interview.

Connect with Penny at www.instinctsatwork.com

Penny’s Bio: Penny is a certified Coach through the Neuroleadership Group, with extensive experience helping healthcare leaders and their teams remove the barriers to stellar results.

With 20 years of experience in the health care sector, Penny has held diverse positions such as operating room desk clerk, mental health counselor and program manager.

She specializes in leadership coaching and team performance for leaders in hospitals, family health teams and other health organizations and was a key contributor to the development of the Ontario College of Family Physicians’ Leadership Development Program.

Her evidence-based approach incorporates the latest findings from the field of social neuroscience as well as instinct-based assessment and proven models of leadership development.

Power of Coaching Interview with Jennifer Britton

Posted on April 26, 2013 by mgauthier

In my blog series, Power of Coaching, I have interviewed Jennifer Britton from Toronto, Ontario. Through her company, Potentials Realized, Jennifer works with professionals and organizations to realize their full leadership and business potential, through the provision of consulting, coaching and training services.

As the author of Effective Group Coaching, Jennifer is considered a leader in the area of group coaching and team development. The founder of Potentials Realized, she weaves together her rich experience as a former manager with the UN, coach, trainer and performance improvement specialist.

In this interview we talked about:

the difference between coaching, consulting and training
how coaching is a different type of conversation
how coaching is an opportunity to pause and reflect
the coachee as the driver of the process
how coaching can support culture change and organizational change
how a coaching conversation can attain better results
the impact of coaching on individuals, teams and organizations
how coaching can help individuals and teams get more focus and results
return on investment as a result of the coaching process

Listen to the interview.

A special thanks to Jennifer for an informative interview. You can connect with Jennifer at http://www.potentialsrealized.com

Jennifer’s Bio

As the author of Effective Group Coaching (Wiley, 2010), Jennifer is considered a leader in the area of group coaching. The founder of Potentials Realized, she weaves together her rich experience as a former manager with the UN, coach, trainer and performance improvement specialist.

Since 2004, Jennifer has been coaching individuals, teams and groups from a range of industries spanning financial services, safety, pharmaceutical, education, health care and the international sector, focusing on leadership, performance, and teamwork issues.

Jennifer is a PCC with the ICF, and will be releasing her second book this summer entitled- From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching.

Since 2005, her Group Coaching Essentials teleseminar, an ICF CCE program, has been taken by hundreds of coaches around the world, supporting them to design and deliver their own group coaching work.