So many of my clients are overworked, perpetually busy, and burnt out. They're stuck on a hamster wheel and it's taking its toll. Day after day, the To Do list gets longer and the opportunity to relax gets pushed farther and farther away. "I'll relax when the kitchen is clean," says the mom of two boys. "I'll take a break when the presentation is perfect," says the junior employee. "I'll sleep in when I'm on vacation," says the overworked executive. Robert Holden, a coach,

When I’m in the grip of my saboteur, I should all over myself. It’s not pretty. Let me break that down a little. The saboteur is one of the voices in my head that just wants me to stay small and play it safe. It’s got a handful of really attractive techniques it uses to keep me small (fear, shame, comparison, derision, judgment – to name but a few) but shoulding is one of my favorites because it’s so subtle. Sometimes the saboteur feeds me one (or many) of the following l

I've been doing a lot of perspective work with my clients recently and it's been a good reminder that the way we see the world is just one possible way to see it and interpret it. I remember when I was in my 20s and acting, I went through a phase where I really felt like I was failing as an actor because I wasn't getting any roles that I liked. I was sucking at my auditions, I thought, and probably needed to lose weight and learn how to sing and dance. I believed that the w

Whenever I embark on something new -- working with a new client, a new freelance project, even trying a new schedule with my baby -- I hear a sneaky, unfriendly voice offering me sixteen different ways my new endeavor will fail. I recognize the voice; I've been hearing it for as long as I can remember. But it wasn't until I came to coaching that I understood what that voice is. It's my inner gremlin, my personal saboteur, my stuck-maker. Originally, that voice helped keep

One thing I've always struggled with is borrowing trouble. Making mountains out of molehills. Playing the end of the act before the curtain even rises. I look for every way something could go wrong, every way I could mess something up, and then obsess about it... until it actually happens. Not because it was inevitable, but because I made it inevitable. I'm a bit of a Girl Scout; I like to be prepared for every possible outcome. In my purse at (almost) all times there a