PERSONAL COACHING FOR RESULTS by Lou Tice

Life is all about doing good and doing it right every time. Your purpose on earth is to learn the craft (which ever is your passion) and pass the knowledge to others.THE title of this book may read like a manual for a football coach.
The cover is also visually unimpressive but fortunately, that's where
the bad news ends.
From the preface onwards, it is inspiring. It lifts your mind very
gently to envision loftier ideals. Somewhere along the pages, it makes the
reader want to jump up from his seat and do something wonderfully good for
a complete stranger.
At this juncture, I must confess I have not heard of the writer Lou
Tice. In a way, it was an excellent premise to begin with because I had
absolutely no preconceived notion of what kind of person he is, or what
kind of social service he is performing.
Tice has dedicated this book to a certain Father James McGoldrick. The
fact that he had taken the unusual step of honouring a man of the cloth
caught my attention.
The gist of this book is to help others to achieve their optimum level
and help them attain maximum results from personal strengths. But in order
for this to come to pass, the student must first achieve personal mastery.
Tice's special ability to hold a reader's attention is obvious from the
Introduction. From there, he opens the first chapter on how the mind
works. He talks about the personal traits that are common to all of us.
The ambition to be rich and successful, the need for recognition, the wish
to have a happy home, and the desire to realise our full potential.
The power of imagination comes to the fore. You are encouraged to think
success first before anything else can happen. One of the main principles
stressed in the book is that `we move toward and become like that which we
think about. Our present thoughts determine our future'.
This is not a new idea. It does not even belong to this century. In
fact, it is an idea borrowed from Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus
of the second century. However, this great thought bears rekindling. Tice
holds up the concept high, like a shining beacon, for all to see.
We are taught to recognise our `blind spots' or scotomas. It is prudent
that we identify our weak areas before we can overcome them. Reading this
book is like having tea with a world-famous philosopher. As you sip a
cuppa, the philosopher tells you spellbinding tales of how you can turn
your mediocre life around.
The master tells us that greatness is within our reach. All you have to
do is believe, and in believing earnestly you alter your present sense of
reality and thereby shape your own future.
Before you knock yourself down again, there are some magnificent
examples of early failures. People like Albert Einstein, who was described
as `mentally slow' by his teachers; Thomas Edison, who was regarded as a
hopeless case; and Abraham Lincoln, whom teachers called a daydreamer who
`asked foolish questions'.
All these historic characters became extraordinary people later in life
after they had learnt to overcome personal weaknesses. The line that
separates the winners from the losers is called Self-Esteem.
People with high self-esteem are not afraid to make mistakes or are
frightened to admit them. They know they can be wrong but mistakes do not
weigh them down. These people also have powerful self-efficacy. Self-
efficacy means trusting in one's own ability to make good things happen to
oneself.
Then there is the matter of comfort zone. It is a psychological concept
of how wide your comfort zone can expand when you have growing self-
confidence and a positive self-image. If all this begins to sound like
psychotherapy to you, it probably is.
Personal Coaching for Results is just the thing for mental laggards who
desperately need a wake-up call before they degenerate into social
misfits. Tice advises against getting used to an ordinary way of life
because that is not the way it is meant to be. We must get out of our
comfort zones, not because they are cramping our lifestyles but because we
can be so much more than what we are if only we allow our inner strengths
to overtake our self-doubts.
When all is said and done, perhaps you will attain master status at your
journey's end. When you finally emerge from that long tunnel of self-
exploration, you will be ready to inspire others and be a mentor to those
who need your guidance.