So as you now know, I had a few topics that I wanted to share with you, one of which was suggested to my husband after reading a report. It had so much to do with my “Engaged Parenting” method.
Unfortunately having a poorly child for the last 1.5 weeks and myself feeling a little blah with the same cold, I needed to change the direction the morning of my decided shoot.
I wanted something that will also help lift my spirit.
Facial massage, in the context of anti-ageing, should really be done every day.
So why should you do facial acupressure massage?
It helps with anti ageing and keeping your skin youthful
Massaging your skin helps absorb skincare more potently
It triggers your body to release hormones good for healing
This 5 minute of self-care is necessary for good mental health!
So how do I make it work with a busy motherhood schedule?
As a busy mum of 4, I try and incorporate things that are necessary with things that need doing. For example, when I’m showering, I wear special scrubbing gloves and massage my entire body while soaping up.
Not only do I get clear skin, but I also increase my blood circulation and get a little massage at the same time by increasing pressure in certain areas.
So when it comes to facial massage, as I mentioned, you can do it either at the start of the day and/or the end of the night.
I have been known to be so tired after a long day, after removing my make-up, I took a blob of salve in my fingers, plopped on my bed and massage my face to sleep!
Every time you are ready to start the day, why not make it a habit to give your face that quick plump-me-up 3-5 minutes of care? With your normal skin care (which ALL women should have by the time they are teenagers):
Give your face those movements to help with circulation and to fight gravity.
And if you enjoy it for yourself, why not try it on your loved ones? I am pretty sure the partner or a child will love it. Mine does!! 🙂
So have you got more questions, please feel free to ask me! I am here to help solve your niggling problems.
Wow!! I can’t believe, in a way, that within 3 months of making the decision to move back to England to be with the Mr. (who was already working in London for the past year) I’m already here. Boxes are ALMOST all unpacked and we’re slowly settling into a sort-of-routine. 3 weeks after arriving, I’m already thinking of starting work again.
As some of you may know, this is now my 5th home in 5 years. Whoa…! Now that I’ve written it down, it does sound crazy. Who moves home every year for the past 5 years? Well, US really!!
Someone asked me recently, do you not get tired or bored of moving? Well, how do I answer it correctly?
I believe change is the only constant thing in life. In order for life to keep moving, an organism need to keep changing with its environment, to adapt and move along. If it stays the same, it might be the victim of evolution and no longer be necessary in the ecosystem.
I have always been a nomad. I guess it runs in the genes. My grandparents and parents were all migrants, seeking out another country, away from their birth land, to find greener pastures. This moving around means I make lots of new friends, whom many have ended up becoming like family. Meeting new people and inevitably learning new things from them, has always given me so much renewed energy. It’s like new atoms joining and exploding in my brain, constantly giving me bursts of light.
Now it’s not all romance and rose tinted glasses this nomadic life, mind you. The downside to this life is when you start having children. My DD1 is coming up to 14 years old and soon to enter Year 9 in school. She has made 3 different best friends, gone to 5 different schools since age 3 and has chalked up more stamps on her passport than some adults 3x her age. She is one of the most level headed young teen I know. Very knowledgeable of world politics and social decorums like many other Third Culture Kids. It was all easy for her to follow us (or more Daddy’s work) around the world till recently. As a teenager, she wants to stay put, make friends for adulthood and have stability in putting down roots.
We promised ourselves and our DD1 that this time, London will be for a long while. The Mr. has to try keeping consulting clients in the UK so children could stay in one school for a little longer.
I am happy too, to stay longer than the 2-4 years we’ve averaged everywhere. For building a business, an entrepreneur like me DO need to grow roots deep enough to have stability. It has been a LITTLE tiring in the past starting a company, building clientèle, then saying goodbye to all before restarting it all over again in a new country.
The beauty of restarting in England/London is that I am not completely a newbie here. I’ve got so many friends and old clients/students from when I lived here before. Reconnecting with old friends gives me just as much buzz as making new contacts. I feel so much joy to be here, in one of my favourite city in the world. The coaching and therapy industry here is vibrant and growing. And yet the wonders of technology means I can still have clients all over the world (Thank you Skype!). I am sure I will have no problems in restarting this time.
London has so much to offer and being a cosmopolitan city, with lots of other nomadic people like me, I feel right at home. And they say, home is where the heart is, right? 🙂
Happy A Krogh Family in London. Back after 7 years away.
“No matter how dark your past is, think of it as your shadow. As long as you always face the light, the shadow will always be behind you”- A. R. K
When I was invited to be interviewed by Singapore’s flagship Malay newspaper, Berita Harian, I was naturally excited and super elated. A newspaper interview is another way of sharing the joy of my work and the passion it comes with.
It was smile inducing to see my blurb on the font page, sharing space with an Asian singer of the moment: Anuar Zain.
Here I am again trying my best to translate the Malay language article into English as I did the last magazine article.
This particular article appeared on Thursday 6th Feb 2014. Unfortunately I am not able to get my hands on a hard copy and relied on friends to send a snapshot of it via messages and Whatsapp. Quality of the photo reflects on that fact.
For the unofficial English translation of the article, please click the link here —-> Harmoni Dec 2014 Interview
Please excuse me if my translation skills are not up to par. It has been years since I last used such skilled Malay language and therefore I took my time to translate to do justice to such a well written article.
Myth #1: Life coaches are professionals who can help you achieve your goals.
Fact:Some, but certainly not all coaches are professionals who can help you reach your goals. One of the problems in the coaching industry is that anyone can call themselves a professional coach, life coach, personal coach, etc. Jennifer Corbin, the president of CoachU, one of the largest and oldest coach training organizations in the world, has said, “Technically, anyone can hang up a shingle as coaching is not regulated. Many people ‘coaching’ have no idea what coaching is as they haven’t been trained or haven’t been coached by a professionally trained and credentialed coach. There are ‘schools’ that will offer a credential after three hours of training and people read a book or watch a TV program and decide ‘I’m a coach!'” As a result, the quality of coaches vary dramatically. I strongly suggest working with a coach that has been accredited by the International Coach Federation (ICF). The ICF provides independent certification that is the benchmark for the professional coaching industry.
Myth 2: Executive coaching is a nice employment perk.
Fact:Coaching is as much a perk to your employees as are their computers. Employees may view coaching as a value added benefit, but the successful organizations see coaching as something much more than a perk. Done right, professional coaching can drive sales, employee engagement, creativity, workplace satisfaction, and bottom line results. Wellness programs have been shown to provide approximately a 300% return on investment (ROI). In other words, companies who spend $1 in a wellness program (e.g., exercise clubs, personal trainers, smoking cessation workshops) earn $3 as a result of decreased turnover, fewer sick days, reduced health insurance costs, etc. It’s no wonder wellness programs have experienced such tremendous growth — it makes financial sense.
The ROI from professional coaching is even more astonishing. According to a Manchester Consulting Group study of Fortune 100 executives, the Economic Times reports “coaching resulted in a ROI of almost six times the program cost as well as a 77% improvement in relationships, 67% improvement in teamwork, 61% improvement in job satisfaction and 48% improvement in quality.” Additionally, a study of Fortune 500 telecommunications companies by MatrixGlobal found executive coaching resulted in a 529% ROI. The CIPD concludes “coaching is not just perceived as a nice-to-have intervention.”
Myth 3: Personal coaches can only help you reach personal goals / Professional coaches can only help you reach business goals.
Fact:A good coach is someone who is an expert at helping others create positive change in their lives. For some clients, the positive change they most want may be focused on personal goals such as relationships, time management, work-life balance, stress reduction, simplification, health, etc., but other clients may be more interested in professional or business goals such as leadership, getting a promotion, starting a business, etc. An effective coach works with the client to help them live a better, richer life – regardless of their type of goals.
Myth 4: Professional coaching is for “problem” employees.
Fact: Coaching used to be a euphemism for “you’re doing lousy work, but before we can fire you we need to show that we’ve done everything we can to support you so we don’t get hit with an employment lawsuit.” No more. According to Paul Michelman, editor of Harvard Business School’s Management Update, “whereas coaching was once viewed by many as a tool to help correct underperformance, today it is becoming much more widely used in supporting top producers. In fact, in a 2004 survey by Right Management Consultants, 86% of companies said they used coaching to sharpen the skills of individuals who have been identified as future organizational leaders.”
Good coaching focuses on an individual’s strengths and aims to help the client achieve what they want more of in life and at work. The goal? To help the client identify and achieve their greater goals and to help them live a better life. A good coach isn’t there to “fix” anyone, but to help the client navigate toward a more engaged and compelling future.
Myth 5: Personal coaching takes too much time.
Fact:Professional coaching is a high-leverage activity. Clients can achieve remarkable progress toward their desired future in less than an hour per month of coaching. There is a wide spectrum of how coaching is delivered. Some coaches prefer to meet one-on-one with clients in an office, but most recommend telephone sessions for the ease of use, minimization of distractions, better privacy, greater efficiency, and for (yes, apparently) better connection to the client. Best practices in coaching call for between two and four sessions per month that last at least 20 minutes and up to 60 minutes. A sweet spot for many coaches and clients seems to be three sessions per month for 20 to 45 minutes a session – a miniscule investment of time for the results achieved.
Myth 6: Life coaches are like having a good friend to bounce ideas off and to keep you motivated.
Fact:Your coach may be friendly, but they are not your friend. Your coach is your advocate. They want the best from you. They will work with you to help you reach your goals and to succeed. Your coach will hold you accountable and challenge you to grow and do more than you think you can do. They may push, pull, and stretch you in ways that may feel uncomfortable. And unlike a friendship, the coaching relationship is unilateral – it is exclusively focused on you and your goals, not the coach, his family, his golf handicap, or what she did over the weekend.
Myth 7: Executive coaching is only good for upper management / Coaching is only good for entry level employees.
Fact:Coaching is good for anyone who is motivated to create a better life. Initially professional coaching or executive coaching was for upper management, and some organizations still focus their coaching efforts on their top performers. For example, a column by the Economic Times titled “A Personal Coach” says coaching is “designed to help senior leaders create and execute breakthrough ideas, develop strategic pathways and set milestones. Companies across the board are similarly opting for coaching to help their high-potential executives perform in larger, rapidly-changing roles in a globalized world.”
But professional coaching isn’t just for the executive suite. The CIPD research study shows just under 5% of coaching is restricted to senior executives. Now, more and more companies are recognizing the powerful benefits of providing coaching to rank and file employees. For example, online shoe and clothing company Zappos.com, known for their outstanding commitment to creating a culture of unparalleled customer service (they even teach this through Zappos Insights), has a full-time goals coach who works with any employee – not just management – on helping them create better lives.
Myth 8: Professional coaches tell their clients what to do and give them advice.
Fact: Bad or inexperienced coaches tell their clients what to do and are constantly giving advice. Good coaches do not. Most clients realize they don’t need another parent, sibling, friend, or co-worker telling you what you should be doing. Instead, coaches help their clients explore and come up with the best choices for them based on where they are and the client’s vision for their future. Coaches are experts at the process of changing behavior, which is much more valuable than giving instructions.
Myth 9: Executive coaching is expensive.
Fact:Coaching can cost a great deal of money. Harvard Business School’s “What can Coaches do for You?” research whitepaper reports some executive coaches cost up to $3,500 for an hour of coaching. While this is an extreme, most personal coaches charge a monthly retainer between $500 to $2,000 a month. What this means is that either there are a lot of really stupid people wasting their money on coaching each month or they are getting results worth at least the cost of their coach. I have trouble paying $12 a year for a magazine subscription I don’t read, so I’m guessing coaching is paying off. According to the ICF “Global Coaching Client Study” commissioned by the International Coach Federation, individual clients reported a median ROI of 3.44 times their investment in coaching. Bottom line, coaching is an investment that can produce monetary rewards above and beyond the cost.
Myth 10: Professional coaching is spiritual and relies on “harnessing the energy in the universe.”
Fact:I have no idea what “harnessing the power of the universe” means, and my guess is that most professional coaches don’t either. When I first started researching coaching, I was under the impression coaching involved lots of chanting, incense, meditation, and other spiritual practices. While there are many great spiritual coaches that may incorporate these practices into their session, most coaches are practical, professional, business people who are focused on tangible results, not airy-fairy mysticism. You can leave your granola and Birkenstocks at home.
So….what did you think coaching was all about? Comments below.
Original article written by:
Robert Pagliarini and first appeared here: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505125_162-57345386/
There are many people that still don’t understand what is Life Coaching in this part of the world. When I mentioned that I am a certified Life Coach, I get quite a few blank stares. The first association that comes to people’s minds is sports. They can imagine a football coach or a basketball coach but for LIFE?
There are many who seems to know about Business Coaches or Wealth Coaches. In Asia, coaches seem to be doing quite a lot of mentoring work. In actuality, a coach doesn’t do or shouldn’t be doing much mentoring. A coach is a coach, a mentor is a mentor. They occupy 2 separate positions, equally important depending on the aspects of life a client wants fixing.
A quick Google search will yield this result:
life coach
ˈlīf ˌkōCH/
noun
noun: life coach; plural noun: life coaches.
a person who counsels and encourages clients on matters having to do with careers or personal challenges.
To know more about what life coaching is all about, I’ll be sharing that in a separate post in a few days. Today, I just wanted to share how life coaching in Asia is different from when I was practising in Europe. It has all got to to with the varied cultural, religious and many other nuances and differences here in Asia.
Being a coach means I listen patiently to all clients stories and sharings and cannot judge them on their past or current situations. It takes a lot of sensitivities to be a really good coach. And yet here in Asia, I have to ‘up’ my professional level even more and yet lower certain emotions. I have to deal with clients who are potentially facing life challenges and that could be associated with religious beliefs, cultural clash and even parental roles that conflict with their ‘modern’ lifestyle.
I am now dealing with a very professional medical personnel who is having a major shift in her life. She is not only dealing with self- esteem issue, she is also dealing with internal religious conflicts coupled with the expectation of Asian parental filial piety AND marital questions. It is not easy to keep schtum from offering my own personal opinions when it comes to these issues. I too have had these issues in the past and it only serves to help my clients more. I have been in their shoes.
These issues I believe are not as prevalent in Europe or America, where coaching is as common as seeing a ‘shrink’ (psychologist) was in the 80’s. In Europe, the reverse is happening. I saw clients who were facing a need to come back to spirituality and only to sort through their jumble of thoughts.
Here in Asia, the individuals and couples I’ve met have the same issues as their American or European counterparts and yet, I have to be very wary of the religious and cultural beliefs and the need to thread very carefully less I offend someone. So it’s the same yet so different.
Though that’s the beauty of coaching. I do not offer personal solutions, I let them come up with their own solutions (that is already deep in their sub-conscious mind) and only help them sort through the jungle of a mess that’s in their hearts and in their minds. I may offer suggestions and those suggestions are already in line with their values.
I hope that more Asians will value what a coach does in raising their happiness level in life. You do not need to be mentally ‘disturbed’ or to be at a depression level to see a life coach. You just need to be serious about changing something negative to positive and need a coach to hold you accountable and be your guide in your new journey. All keeping in mind your religious and cultural beliefs and understanding that us Asians have unique upbringings that forms our future.
Do keep in touch if you have any questions for me. I welcome any questions.
