The Renewal Times

The Renewal Times is a publication of Renewal Technologies Inc. and is edited by Roger Ellerton.

This newsletter may be republished without permission, provided it is reproduced in its entirety and provided copyright is acknowledged. To reproduce sections of the newsletter, please contact Renewal Technologies Inc. at info@renewal.ca.

Please forward this newsletter to friends and colleagues. To become a subscriber or to view previous editions of this newsletter, please visit www.renewal.ca/newsletter.htm.

Please note: The material in this newsletter is presented for information only. It is not a substitute for medical, psychological or professional advice. Please consult a qualified professional.

Included in this newsletter:

• Thought for the day
• Health Notes
• Upcoming Seminars
• Feature Article
• Humour
• More Information

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Thought for the Day
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Nothing would be done at all if man waited until he could do so well that no-one could find fault with it.

         Cardinal Newman

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New e-book: 5 Step Action Plan
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Price: $6.47 US, taxes included.

Officially titled, Live Your Dreams Let Reality Catch Up: 5 Step Action Plan, this e-book complements the material presented in Live Your Dreams Let Reality Catch Up: NLP and Common Sense for Coaches, Managers and You.

I wrote this book to help those who are looking for more in life achieve what they desire. It provides clear instructions for eliciting and formulating your desired outcomes, together with a proven process to attain them.

My book integrates three effective and compatible strategies for success:

• Five Steps for Success.
• Ready, Fire, Aim.
• Continuous, incremental improvement.

with principles from neuro-linguistic programming (NLP). Together, they become an easy to use and powerful five-step process that makes a difference in how you identify and achieve your dreams.

The material presented is equally valid for individuals, groups (families) and organizations.

This e-book is a downloadable file in pdf format. You need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view it. If you do not have a copy of Acrobat Reader, you can obtain a free copy by clicking here .

Please forward this newsletter to friends who may be interested in the ideas and process presented in my book.

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Health Notes
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Apples Anyone?

Whether they're in pies, stuffing, chutney, cobblers, or other favorites, apples are super healthy, not the least because they're a top source of quercetin. What's that? It's a potent antioxidant that seems to protect against asthma, allergies, prostate cancer, heart disease, and -- the latest -- colon cancer. So grab a bushel before the best of fall's crop is gone. Then get eating!

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Brush in Moderation

Brushing too long or too hard can damage both tooth enamel and gums -- and it isn't any better at removing plaque than gentler, shorter bouts. The best advice: Brush for 2-3 minutes with a soft-bristled toothbrush, using short, gentle strokes. Be sure to brush along the gum line, and give your tongue a quick once-over, too, for fresh breath.

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Upcoming Seminars / Workshops
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We are pleased to offer the following public workshops/seminars in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada:

Introductory NLP Evening

October 9, 2007 7:00pm - 9:00pm

Please come as our guest. Invite a friend to come with you. Registration is required so that we can reserve a seat for you. E-mail your name and the number of people attending to info@renewal.ca. For more information, please see www.renewal.ca/freeseminar.htm.

During this event, we will have a book signing for Live Your Dreams Let Reality Catch Up: NLP and Common Sense for Coaches, Managers and You and offer you a special discounted price.

NLP Practitioner Training

Seven consecutive days: November 5 - 11, 2007.

NLP Master Practitioner Training

Four weekends: March 28 - 30, April 18 - 20, May 2 - 4, May 30 - June 1, 2008.

Get More Out of Life

A program designed to help you get more out of life through discovering who you are at many levels -- your place in the world, your mission in life -- and to inspire you to take action to pursue your mission with passion and joy in a way that is respectful of others.

January 19-20, 2008. Discover Yourself -- Find Out What's Holding You Back

Going Beyond the Limits of Traditional Coaching

Discover why goals don't work and experience what does! Learn the nuances in the NLP coaching model for resolving the most common, challenging coaching issues such as procrastination, values conflicts and life transition issues. Presented by NLP trainer John Overdurf.

November, 2008. Exact date to be determined

For our most recent schedule and a description of these workshops/seminars, please visit www.renewal.ca/neurolinguistic.htm

Click on the following link for the location of our NLP Training Centre in Ottawa (Stittsville), Ontario, Canada.

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Feature Article
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This article may be reproduced, provided it is reproduced in full, including author bio and a reference to Renewal Technologies' website (www.renewal.ca).

Coach Your Client from Stuck to Action

By Roger Ellerton Phd, ISP, CMC, Renewal Technologies Inc. www.renewal.ca

Something is holding your client back from achieving what she desires. Your client may be a coaching client, a friend you are assisting, a subordinate at work or one of your children. Your intention is to assist your client to be more resourceful and to take action.

Your client is most likely stuck as a result of one of the following:

• Mired in the details and has lost sight of her intended outcome. In this case, ask her, "You are working on this, for what purpose?" You may have to ask her this question several times before she can get out of the details and focus on what is truly motivating for her. This may be all the help she needs. Or, in getting the answer to this question, she may find that she is now held back by one of the following issues.
• Not able to focus on what she wants due to limiting beliefs, fear of the unknown, fear of ridicule or not feeling resourceful.
• Feels overwhelmed and does not know where to start.

As a coach, your main activities are to assist her to:

• Stop dragging problems from the past into the present. Problems only remain problems for as long as we continue to focus on them and look for evidence to verify that our problems are 'real', while ignoring facts to the contrary. Take the energy out of the problem and put it back in the past where it belongs.
• Create a resourceful state from which to move forward. Each of us has the ability to be resourceful. Sometimes we get ourselves into an unresourceful mental state and hence do not have access to all of our resources.
• Identify the next reasonable small step and commit to completing it.

The Process

The following, based on concepts from NLP trainer John Overdurf, is one way to expand the above into a process you can use with your clients.

Two critical assumptions:

• You have your client's permission to assist her in addressing her issue. How many times have you seen someone jump in to help a friend when all the person wanted was someone to listen to them?
• Your client feels safe with you and the process.

1. Identify What the Problem Really Is

Inexperienced coaches far too often attempt to help a client without a full understanding their client's problem or may attempt to resolve too large a problem. Begin with a specific situation¹ and ask questions such as: "What's the problem?", "How do you know this is a problem?", "Where, when or how do you do it?" Continue until you are clear as to what the problem is.

¹Begin with a specific situation. Once that is resolved, allow/assist your client to inductively generalize the new way of life to all other situations. After all, this is most likely the way her problem became so pervasive – she generalized a few situations to a much larger context.

Summarize the problem state using the same words used by your client. Verify if this is the issue to be addressed.

2. Identify Your Client’s Desired Outcome

Be clear in what her outcome is by asking questions.

Summarize your client's desired outcome using the same words as she did.

3. Take the Focus Off the Problem

Begin by acknowledging your client's current situation using her choice of words. At this time you would use the present tense, as she is your client because she has dragged something that she perceived to be a problem from the past into the present, thus sustaining it.

Through conversation (using questions and reframing as often as possible), take the energy and focus away from the problem. You may begin by referring to the problem as something that occurred in the past - at first the near past, gradually putting it further into the past. If in describing the problem, she used adjectives to describe it as a 'huge' problem, at some point refer to it as a problem and then perhaps a small problem. Help her realize there are many times and places where this problem doesn't even arise.

4. Assist Your Client to be in a Resourceful State.

To make the transition from leaving the problem in the past and becoming resourceful, say to your client, "That's the way you were. How do you want to be instead?"

Once your client responds with a resource state, help her take this on by asking, "What’s it feel like when you’re … ?" Use your voice tonality and physiology to guide her as she takes on this new resource. If she hasn't done so, encourage her to also take on a corresponding physiology.

The resource state should be one with a great deal of energy associated with it - excited, motivated, energized; rather than something such as calm. If being calm is important to her, you may wish to augment this state with other resources. For example, in addition to being calm, perhaps she would also like to feel confident and respected. For those of you familiar with NLP, this is called stacking anchors.

5. Collapse the Resourceful State on the Unresourceful Problem State.

With your client fully in a resourceful state, have her take these feelings/energies and overwhelm any of the feelings of the stuck state - for those of you who know NLP, this is a version of collapse anchors. To do this, ask your client, "As you are fully enjoying and in the feelings of (resource state from step 4), think of what use to stop you in the past and how do you feel now?"

Test (several times) to verify your results and to fill up her convincer strategy by asking, "As you think about achieving your outcome (Step 2), how do you feel or what comes to mind?" If your client talks about being stuck or is neutral, repeat steps 4 and 5 and perhaps step 3.

6. Next Reasonable Small Step

From this perspective of resourcefulness, ask your client, "What is the next reasonable small step that you can take towards achieving your outcome?" Get timeframes and a way to measure progress.

7. Continue with a Sequence of Small Steps

As each small step is completed verify the outcome, as originally stated, is still valid and identify the next reasonable small step.

Occasionally after completing a step, the new information or perspective that she has may lead her to modify her outcome or in some cases abandon it for something that is more motivating/desirable.

Enjoy and best wishes for success and happiness in your life.

Author: Roger Ellerton is a certified NLP trainer, coach, certified management consultant and the founder and managing partner of Renewal Technologies. The above article is based on his book Live Your Dreams Let Reality Catch Up: NLP and Common Sense for Coaches, Managers and You.

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Humour
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Salespeople

Two shoe salespeople were sent to Africa to open up new markets. Three days after arriving, one salesperson called the office and said, "I'm returning on the next flight. Can't sell shoes here. Everybody goes barefoot."

At the same time the other salesperson sent an email to the factory, telling "The prospects are unlimited. Nobody wears shoes here!"

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Three violin manufactures have all done business for years on the same block in the small town of Cremona, Italy. After years of a peaceful co-existence, the Amati shop decided to put a sign in the window saying: "We make the best violins in Italy."

The Guarneri shop soon followed suit, and put a sign in their window proclaiming: "We make the best violins in the world."

Finally, the Stradivarius family put a sign out at their shop saying: "We make the best violins on the block."

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More Information
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For more information, please visit our website or contact us at 613 692-1424 or info@renewal.ca

Copyright © 2007, Renewal Technologies Inc. All rights reserved.

Renewal Technologies Inc.
5423 North Drive
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K4M 1G5
www.renewal.ca
info@renewal.ca
613) 692-1424