Tag: now

The mermaid, the unicorn, and the silent marathoner.

When was the last time you saw a mermaid sheltering in the bay of a windswept harbour? Or a unicorn darting across a lush field of swinging daisies? Or a marathon runner who didn’t tell everyone he met he just finished a marathon, and it was epic and hard?

‘These things don’t exist Patrick’, I hear you say.

Possibly.

‘What do you mean possibly’, I hear you squeal, ‘’They DO NOT EXIST’.

And yet I have seen all three of them. For real.

The mermaid was a woman in costume at a parade in a seaside town when a strong wind blew a heavy shower of rain across the town. To protect the costume, she had to run for shelter.

The unicorn was a horse dressed up for a re-enactment of a medieval battle by a live role-playing group. After the scenes were finished, the horse was let to run in one of the fenced-off fields of the farm where the event took place.

And Yes, I do know a couple of marathoners who never share pictures or blogs about their races. All they are dressed up in is Lycra. And then normal clothes as they get in their cars and quietly drive home for dinner.

So, if I tell you that ‘just being’ is enough to live a fulfilling life, will you at least be curious enough to try and understand what it looks like when it is all dressed up for purpose?

Allow me to ask you if this sounds familiar:

I need to study hard so I can …

I should really sell more so we will be able to …

I have to put in all these hours if I want to …

Yep, I said those too. Doing in order to Be.

What if we learned how to reverse that sentence? Being leading to Doing.

‘Just Being’ is the basis, the foundation. The home from where everything emanates. The warm, cosy, feel-good, safe, comfortable place from where all adventure starts. From being comes doing.

How does that sound? A bit like the mermaid, or the unicorn, or the silent marathoner?

Having gone through the reversal I have great news for all of you curious people. It is possible and it has been put to the test.

All I had to do is discover my strengths, values, likes, and beliefs. Become aware of them. Find out which ones I really liked and use them to design a life for me that was based on ‘Just Being’ me.

No absolute goals, or targets. Yet clear intentions, based on my individual likes and strengths, and values. For every aspect of my life.

Being every day by taking actions in the direction of your crystal-clear intentions. Focused on how you can contribute to this world by simply being you.

Whether you are in a community organisation, corporate, business, public service, or household. You being you doing what is truly you.

Having A Life While Making A Living. Yes, you read that right. You can make a living while doing this. And you’ll be relatively stress-free. And have the knowledge you are being true to yourself. And go on a holiday. And spend tie with those that matter most.

Releasing your inner mermaid, unicorn, or marathoner.

To find out more contact me at patrick@theintentionalacademy.ie or WhatsApp 083-3008963

A cup of tea and a tuna sweetcorn sandwich.

I don’t have a driver’s license. Never had one.

I could list all the reasons, excuses, and justifications I use when challenged about this.

I could also share some of the hundreds of stories I have listened to while traveling on public transport here in Ireland. Stories of hope, despair, loneliness, pride, joy, depression, and love.

Today, I’ll share this one story. I travel from Dublin to Limerick and back on Irish Rail on a weekly basis. Upon arriving at Colbert Station in Limerick I go on a short 5-minute walk to the hotel I stay in for 2 nights every week.

On that short walking route, I regularly come across people sitting on cardboard begging for change. I must admit that this occurrence is so frequent (not just in Limerick by the way) that I often simply walk past them.

Every so often though my eye, soul, or intuition catches a glimpse of something different that makes me stop in my tracks. That one, rainy afternoon, the city was relatively empty. It seemed all the city folk were taking cover indoors.

This one young person sat on a soaked piece of cardboard that carried a logo of a well-known fizzy drinks company. There was an immediate spark of recognition in me. My gut told me I have met this person before.

I stopped. Asked if he was OK. ‘Do you have some change for a cup of tea?’. Like so many now I had no cash on me, only cards. I offered to go to a nearby shop and get him a cup and some food if he wanted to. I still felt I knew him but couldn’t place him.

I returned with a cup of tea and a sandwich and sat on my hunkers beside him. He started speaking as if he had to explain and justify his situation. What followed was a story of deep trauma, followed by a stop-start recovery, addiction issues, finding and losing jobs, and accommodation.

I let him speak uninterrupted. He stopped regularly to drink from the cup of hot tea and take a bite from the tuna and sweetcorn sandwich. When he was finished, I asked him if he wanted dessert. He declined. I didn’t insist. I asked was there anything else I could do for him. Once again, he declined. Then he thanked me about 10 times. Not just for the food and drink. But for listening. ‘You’re the first person who let me talk and didn’t tell me what to do.’

I still feel I met him before. I still don’t know where from. Nor do I know who he is. And I haven’t seen him since.

There are 2 reasons I share this story.

One is that I feel privileged that coaching has taught me listening skills. There was no need for me to talk or offer advice. Just being there, listening, and taking some small action was enough right at that moment.

Which people in your life can you think of right now that could benefit from you being present, listening, and taking some small actions.

Two is the realisation that the reason I think I recognised that person is that this could have so easily have been me sitting there, on a wet afternoon, on a piece of cardboard, begging for change.

I had traumas in my life I couldn’t cope with at the time. I had flirtations with addiction, escapism, and depression. I also had a few people that cared enough to listen and encourage me. And enough resilience to overcome with the help of those others.

This is yet another reason why I became a professional coach. I understand the powers of listening, reframing, and encouraging actions. Regardless of where you are in life or what you do.

It is the WHY behind everything I do. Helping people, regardless of their position, to R.A.I.S.E. their profile. That is to become Resilient, Adaptable, Imaginative, Sustainable, and Effective.

Let’s connect. I am good at listening and would love to hear your story.

patrick@theintentionalacademy.ie

WhatsApp 00 353 83 3008963

How it all started (Part three).

May 13th, 2007.

A date etched in my memory. The last few months had really passed by in a blur.

Only it wasn’t a blur. I distinctly remember the dissertation, the book reviews, the countless pro bono client sessions, the PCG groups, the new modules of learning, and the weekends studying together.

It wasn’t a blur, but it felt as if it was. I would later in life figure out this is what’s called FLOW.

Flow is an optimal psychological state that people experience when engaged in an activity that is appropriately challenging to one’s skill level, often resulting in immersion and concentrated focus on a task. This can result in deep learning and high levels of personal and work satisfaction. (Mihály Csíkszentmihályi).

Flow can be experienced in any task in any field of activity, from music to writing to painting to sports. It forms one of the key ingredients of where I get my clients to guide themselves towards. In Flow, you perform and achieve effortlessly.

So, the blur passed, and on May 13th, 2007, I got my official Diploma in Personal & Business Coaching from the Irish Lifecoach Institute (www.ili.ie). I continued pro bono coaching for a few months and then set up my practice under the name Forward 2 Success. The business story is for another day.

In the 15 years since I have added certifications as a Trainer and a Master NLP Practitioner. I have niched in 1-to-1 Life Coaching & Career coaching. I have become a public speaker. I have a weekly radio show on Limerick City Community Radio (www.lccr.ie) for over 5 years. I have run 124 Marathons. I have met 1000’s of interesting people.

I’ve had high points, low points, successes, learnings, elation, sadness, and every other emotion imaginable.

I have learned to just be me. And I have learned that to just be you is good enough for everyone. How to be you is for another Blog Post coming soon.

Now, after 15 years, the decision has been made to share a message.

You can ‘Have A Life While Making A Living’. You can do so as you ‘R.A.I.S.E.’ yourself UP.

(R.A.I.S.E. = Resilient, Adaptable, Imaginative, Sustainable, Effective).

In September, to celebrate 15 years as a coach, I will be launching 4 products and 2 services that are an amalgamation of what I have learned from my clients. The stuff that worked for them, consistently and in Flow.

I’m looking forward to meeting with 1000’s of people each year on a mission to create a space in this world where people can be truly themselves while contributing and sharing. And making a living doing so.

I also look forward to your company on the journey and here on this Blog!

You can read Part 1 of this trilogy here: https://theintentionalacademy.ie/2022/06/23/how-it-all-started-part-1/

You can read Part 2 of this trilogy here: https://theintentionalacademy.ie/2022/06/29/how-it-all-started-part-deux-of-3/

For more info: WhatsApp 083-3008963 or email patrick@theintentionalacademy.ie

The power of intentions in work and business.

After the last blog post about the 1 sentence that drove me to play more, I got some great questions from readers. Apart from questioning my sanity, and wondering if I lived in the real world, I was asked how you could implement this in life, work, and business.

So let’s start with the same question I asked last time.

What if life is something to play at? Not to be taken seriously, just to be played at. And that this play, in itself, is all there needs to be.

What if life is not reaching towards some goal, instead life itself is the goal?

Which would mean that life is without real purpose other than us expressing that life. And it is meant to be without purpose. It is not evolving towards some ultimate destination or raison d’être; in this very moment, here and now, life is always ultimate.

As Alan Watts proclaimed: ‘The point of the dance is not to arrive at one particular spot on the floor. The point of the dance is the dance itself’. ‘The point of the composition is not the final note. The point of the composition is the composition itself’.

The person who masters the playful nature of this lack of purpose can make valid plans knowing these plans are entirely fluid and transient. They understand the importance of emotionally detaching themselves from any desires, targets, goals, or outcomes.

That they have within all there needs to be for them to play at life, work, and business. Presently.

By understanding the fluid nature of everything, they become resilient, adaptable, imaginative, sustainable, and efficient.

In the here, and now, they make plans that are resilient, adaptable, imaginative, sustainable, and efficient!

They become masters at setting really clear intentions for themselves, unattached to the way to get there or where it will get them.

Intentions like ‘I am spending each moment I work in my business on making the world a better, more intentional place for others to experience’.

Or ‘I respect my love for learning enough to make learning a daily habit’.

I have several of these really clear intentions. These intentions then get translated into ‘real’ things like marketing plans, client meetings, networking, etc…

All the while knowing these things are fluid and I am resilient, adaptable, imaginative, sustainable, and efficient. And that means I can have a life while making a living.

While playing at it.

Patrick

25/05/22

To find out more about how to R.A.I.S.E. your profile, WhatsApp me on 083-3008963 or email patrick@theintentionalacademy.ie