“I signed up for career coaching to gain a greater awareness of the roles that suited my skills and knowledge… but it actually gave me a whole lot more.
I found Johnathan easy to talk to and with the varied activities in the sessions trigger thought provoking conversations that enabled me to identify what I really value in myself and how I can use them and allow me to develop in my current and prospective roles.
It gave me clarity and showed me what is important to me and what makes me tick as an employee, what gives me personal satisfaction and why. With careful questioning and probing Johnathan helped me discover these. The approach that Johnathan comes with gives a fresh approach. At times it was challenging but enjoyable!”
I would recommend giving it a go to anyone.” – RB
Walk in Peace;
Walk in Beauty
until we meet again…
BIO: Johnathan Brooks MA, PG Dip, FMAC is an experienced Life/Career Executive Coach with 1,500+ hrs in the field, who has trained in a wide range of personal development methods including CBT Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (postgrad), EFT Emotional Freedom Technique, Master NLP Neuro Linguistic Programming, has a Postgraduate Diploma Degree in ‘Coaching and NLP’, which he passed with a ‘Commendation’, a Master of Arts in ‘Applied Coaching’ and certified Firework Career Coach. He is based in Tunbridge Wells, Kent.
Bio Trivia: Johnathan is an enrolled member of the Northern Cheyenne tribe.
He is a full member and Fellow of the Association for Coaching (FMAC), master coach of the European and Mentoring Council (UK) and a professional member of the Association of NLP.
I’ve always been interested in how cards can be used in coaching sessions, some directly and in-directly.
In my personal practice I normally work on a new client about 30 mins before they arrive not necessarily knowing what the problem is yet. One of the first things I do is draw an angel card and I see how this relates to the client’s issue that day, but without telling them about the cards during the session. I’ve been working like this for the last 23 years. I think of it as observational research and the cards always without fail relates to the clients situation in some way. Cards have been a great aid for asking insightful coaching questions that then lead to very creative and resourceful sessions.
Recently for a new client, I drew the angel card of Fun, next I pulled the Trickster from the Native American Path cards, which is also as it happens to be about laughing at the realisation of the crooked path one is on and not to be so serious. The next card I pulled from the Medicine Cards deck was Beaver, which is about working hard and working together. I then let it be to see what opened up during the coaching session.
During the session he mentioned social anxiety (not working together), he was retired and wanted to use his time more effectively but didn’t know what to do with his time, but wanted fun. He also mentioned that he got frustrated with others and gave the example of road rage that he gets. So anger became our first piece of change work that session, as the anger also affected his personal relationship with his partner.
When he left, guess what his personalised car number plate was? Ans: FUN
If this reflection has offered insight or comfort, and you’d like to help sustain this work and help make coaching accessible to others, you’re welcome to contribute here.
Each year a local church sends out a card with the times of its Christmas services. The picture on the front changes annually, but the headline is always the same.
HOPE IS BORN
The idea of decorating Christmas trees has its roots in Winter solstice
This is sent to us at a time of darkness when we are in such desperate need of finding a better way for living our lives in creative harmony and support for each other.
Just when the power of the sun is at it’s very lowest, and the night of the beginning of Winter solstice (about 21st – 23rd December, this year 21st) the very longest of the year, if we will give ourselves the opportunity, we can focus on our own dark shadow side and begin to realise when and where we, as individuals have not lived up to the ideal of expressing Good Will to all men.
If we can but acknowledge it, this dark place within is our place of hope and creativity, and the place where we begin to know ourselves as ultimately ‘light’ filled. Here we can transform our deep and long held (and mostly unconscious) fears of being exploited by betrayal, abandonment, rejection, humiliation and being the victim in an unjust world. Here we can convert those fears back to their original positive expression as at our very beginnings.
Faith in the ultimate goodness of all life, and charity as our way of serving that ideal, while Hope, with the returning power, the rebirth of Light at Christmas can inspire us to a changed future.
Have a M-E-R-R-Y C-H-R-I-S-T-M-A-S !
’til we meet again,
Walk in Beauty;
Walk in Peace.
‘Causing the Miraculous by Spreading Beauty, Truth & Harmony‘
Johnathan Brooks MA, PG Dip, MAC is a Life Coach who has trained in a wide range of personal development treatment methods including the “Power Therapies” (CBT Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (postgrad), EFT Emotional Freedom Technique, Master NLP Neuro Linguistic Programming) and has a Postgraduate Diploma Degree in ‘Coaching and NLP’ which he passed with a ‘Commendation’, and a Master of Arts in ‘Applied Coaching’. He is based in Tunbridge Wells, Kent.
He is a full member of the Association for Coaching (MAC), a Gold member of The Professional Guild of NLP and a full member of European and Mentoring Council (UK).
At Christmas time we light candles to hope and look forward expectantly for the rebirth of goodwill between all men. But then we read or hear the world news.
Christmas candles of Hope for the rebirth of goodwill between all men.
The visions of Christmastide show no signs of becoming reality in the New Year, rather, there seems to be an increase in divisiveness. But there is still hope.
Even while candles are still burning on our Trees of Life, and daylight hours are lengthening, the news of a new shadow of darkness, of deprivation, greed and hostility appears to be separating us further from some of our fellow men.
In earlier epochs it was understood by mankind that prosperous, peaceful communities were created by women using their intuitive wisdom and inspirations, while men, providing qualities of physical strength and focus could turn those inspirations into the practical realities of daily living. Both were necessary in the creation of meaning for authentic lives, but if one quality became devalued (as those of womanhood still are) then mankind could not prosper, and wars initiated by males seeking to demonstrate or prove the superiority of their strength and dogmatic ideas compared with the wider less fixed viewpoint of women ensued.
But now we are at the very beginning of a new 21 hundred year cycle of a new era – the Aquarian Age who sign is that of female nurturing water being poured onto a thirsty earth. In the culture of some First Nation Americans, understanding this ancient scenario, after years of infighting between some tribes (including my own Northern Cheyenne) The Great Law of Peace was written.
This is called the Iroquois Constitution (around 1142 AD), and the Chiefs declared that in future leaders of tribes will be decided upon by women, for two reasons:
The first was that only women could decide with detached selflessness that which was best for the tribe – men often being influenced by the power of their personal egos; and secondly, because women were the ones who suffered the greatest pain of giving birth and losing loved ones in battle only they were the ones who can decide if war was worth dying for.
Today we have to ask ourselves if the influence, of women is going sufficiently to bring the visions of Christmas closer to manifestation. Hopefully, the time is approaching when both men and women are able to demonstrate the qualities of both, and lead integrated whole lives, able to overcome the distortions in the heart and minds of our sick presently seemingly separated brethren.
’til we meet again,
Walk in Beauty;
Walk in Peace.
‘Causing the Miraculous by Spreading Beauty, Truth & Harmony‘
Johnathan Brooks, MAC, PG Dip is a Life Coach who has trained in a wide range of personal development treatment methods including the “Power Therapies” (CBT Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (postgrad), EFT Emotional Freedom Technique, Master NLP Neuro Linguistic Programming) and has a Post Graduate Diploma in ‘Coaching and NLP’ which he passed with a ‘Commendation’. And is based in Tunbridge Wells, Kent.
He is a full member of the Association for Coaching (MAC), a Gold member of The Professional Guild of NLP and a full member of European and Mentoring Council (UK).