ACHIEVERS NETWORK

Often there are certain experiences or lessons that are best understood from the person who has undergone them. Here is an experience that one of our coaches would like to share 

“I am a Life Coach by profession living in the Southern Region of India. I was in my late 20’s when I decided that I wanted to be a life coach, the decision was not made in a rush of a moment. I find changing people’s lives for the better to be rewarding and an honest way to earn decent bread.

I never wanted to work for a firm or an organization, the reason being I wanted a sense of freedom when interacting with clients. I am a millennial and I have always looked at things differently in an unconventional way and I found the best way to help someone is with sheer empathy.

After acquiring my certification from a reputed organization, I thought I was ready to go on and start helping people reach their true potential, I was wrong to think so. My misery had just started playing out.

I put efforts in order to find clients, I created my own blog, but never really knew what kind of articles would interest my audience. I had read about Social media marketing but never quite grasped the concept well, I left my contact cards with all my peers and asked them to refer my name in the case they found someone struggling with certain aspects of their life. I thought I had my bases covered and any moment the clients might start flowing in!

To my surprise, I never received a call or I could turn a prospect I met on social media into a client. Being a life coach, I myself was struggling to kick start my career as a coach. The situation, to be honest, was embarrassing and I did not want to discuss the same with anyone.

I tried finding answers myself, I looked out for people who help coaches double their revenue through various schemes on the internet, and they charged money I dreamt of earning that very month, frustrated I gave up hope!

Thanks to the remarketing and search recognition pattern of Google, I started seeing ads of an online platform called the Achiever Network very frequently on my LinkedIn and Reddit handles. I never paid attention to these ads but was intrigued by the images they used, filled with curiosity I clicked on the ad and redirected myself to their website and that’s the exact moment I knew I belonged here!

I saw a Coach tab that had information to the point, it contained lines that encouraged me to create a profile on their website, the process of creating my profile was so much fun and it asked me if I had my own business that I would like to highlight which no one ever did!

A growing number of people are showing affinity towards the online world and the numbers are seen taking a hike every year, across the globe the people who depend on online resources to learn, grow and evolve are increasing by the day. For performing the simplest of tasks Majority of the population depends on online resources this is a great sign for businesses as the possibilities that can be unlocked for growth are many.

Online coaching whether it is life coaching, career coaching or any other niche is something that the coaches should be looking out for. It is pretty simple to operate and once established is comparatively more cost-effective than running a physical business. To facilitate online coaching there are certain coaching platforms that already have a set process, one has to register and make use of the various operations that are readily available, and this way making an online presence is easy and much more efficient when compared to traditional ways of running a coaching business.

Achiever Network is a platform where one can create, run and monitor new strategies when it comes to online coaching business, the platform allows its users to register for free and use certain elements, once comfortable a coach can decide to buy a broader set of services that are unlimited and can be automated according to will. This particular coaching platform also helps with finding prospective clients across various geographical boundaries, minimizing the time spent.

Making the shift to an online coaching platform might not be your cup of tea, so here is a list of pros that an online coaching platform offers:

·        Not only is it efficient, but it is also fast too and does not involve much travel time

·        There is no limitation of the geographical boundaries

·        Coaching platforms allows the addition of extra features to ensure that the clients get maximum value for their money

·        Automation of payment process, streamlining teachings and coaching material

How to stay positive when it comes to your career, some smart habits

“Having a positive mental attitude is asking how something can be done rather than saying it can’t be done.” –Bo Bennett

Positivity is something that is easier preached than followed, in career-related scenario positivity and its adaptation is very challenging. We often fail to understand that staying positive can help us gain perspective in the following ways:

· Achieving our goals

· Maintaining focus

· Maintaining a calm temperament

· Doing things that are in your best interest and more

Anything is possible when there is a positive mindset and in order to develop the same here are some powerful ways in which one can incubate and practice positivity in unfavorable circumstances at work.

1. Finding optimism in a negative situation — A negative situation might just be a blessing in disguise, finding positivity in such situation is difficult but never impossible

2. Cultivate and live In a positivity induced environment — Getting rid of elements or people that you feel are impacting your positivity is another sure shot way of maintaining positive habitat

3. Never make a mountain out of a molehill- Overthinking does more damage to an individual, thinking too much of a situation feels like you are more trouble than you actually are!

4. Taking criticism in a healthy way — Criticism is not always meant to hurt or bring down someone, sometimes it is an opportunity to thrive based on what one has to say regarding the way you function.

There are many ways in which one can know the powerful ways of staying positive, one of the easiest and a sure-shot way of making use of positivity is through a career coach who helps see the underlying meaning in every adverse situation.

Some interesting statistics about people and jobs

· Only 33% of the people were reported to be engaged at their workplace according to the survey of Gallup’s- State of the American Workplace.

· 62% of Americans told CareerCast that their jobs are highly stressful

· 61% of the working people, according to Monster Survey said they faced health problems as a result of stress.

It is not uncommon for us to hear someone quitting a high profile, well-paid corporate job in pursuit of a radical change, that benefits both mental and physical health. Instead of appreciating the efforts and understanding the intensity of such decisions, the most common question that we seem to think about is “Is there a life after a job?”

A job is just one phase of the career, where many of us either feel unhappy or stuck but still continue on the same path thinking there is no alternative way to make it large.

People who have actually made major changes leaving their corporate life, recommend others to be more honest as well as realistic in order to pursue the passion that drives them. They also assure with a strong voice that there is “life after job” if one is equally willing to follow it through.

One of the most common obstacles that people face is acknowledging the fact that they are unhappy and pinpointing the reason for their unhappiness. Once there is an understanding of the reason for unhappiness, taking meaningful action to improve the circumstances is easy.

Life after job is not scary; it is pleasant and high yielding if done right. There are many decisions that need to be made before considering quitting a job, hiring the services of a career coach is one of them. Career coaches are people who specialize and are aware about the multi-dimensions involving life after job. These experts help in not only in the process of decision making but also help with the emotional investment needed in order to make the change happen.

Opening a business of your own is often a process where one learns as they move forward and accordingly implement strategies that best suits their business needs. However, there are some decisions that are results of experience. For new business owners, here are some tips and advice.

· Simplicity is the key- as a new business owner, there are lots of things to be done and decisions to be made which, often snowballs into an overcomplicated mess. It is always best to keep the ideology and processes simple and clean so that there is a natural flow of business growth.

· Keep track of the costs- there are unexpected and hidden costs that can or cannot be anticipated while running a business, a small fund is recommended to be kept aside to meet these expenses when different bills start rolling in.

· Don’t forget about the legal requirements- Starting a business is adventurous and exciting but the laws to abide by for it are not. Government regulations are to be paid attention towards for no long term effects. The rules that apply to your business depend on factors such as the state, business, industry, and structure.

· Know how to sell- one challenge that many business owners face is that they do not know how to sell and depend on employees or professionals to do it for them. Even without training and experience, one can actively participate in selling and its related activities, this promotes learning first hand from the source and gives a clear picture of customer preferences.

· Listen to everybody- being a sponge while doing business is being effective, listen to the advice and opinions that your close circles have to say, even the bad ones. Do they like the idea? Do they think that you are heading in the wrong direction? The collective opinions of your peers are a reflection of how your consumers might be feeling too.

Sometimes hiring professional help to scale your business might not be a bad idea at all. These experts are well versed with highly volatile market situations and can help head your business.

The word confidence is derived from a Latin word called Fidere, which means “to trust”. Self-confidence refers to a feeling of trust in an individual’s own abilities and judgment. To be self-confident would mean that one is ready to rise to new challenges, grab opportunities, deal with unfavorable situations and take responsibility for actions and the aftermath of those actions.

In today’s world, sadly, the concept of self-love is slowly diminishing, without love for oneself, self-confidence seems distant. None of us are immune from the opinions of others nor are we sometimes able to identify our own strengths, these two factors affect self-confidence badly and the damage even though seems like it’s nothing, it takes its toll on all the other aspects of our lives.

Irrespective of professional or personal life, self-confidence plays a vital role in the regulation of all areas of life, working on it is nothing to be afraid or ashamed about, everybody has different adaptations of improving and working on their attributes. A coach is the one who identifies and thus helps build and enhance self-confidence amongst individuals so that they are better equipped to face oddities.

There are certain areas in which a coach through coaching helps identify the zones, an individual needs assistance with and further work on it, some of which are:

1. The highest form of self-confidence comes from validation, if a person seeks validation from outside all the time they depend on others for acceptance and approvals. One of the main issues with validation is that it can be tiring to perform for others all the time, a coach helps seek self-validation with the help of which one can stop depending on external sources and in turn perform better in various areas of life.

2. Self-confidence and decision making are interrelated, having authenticity is about having a very good degree of self-awareness and making choices that align with who you are as an individual. A coach, by identifying and amplifying on your traits helps boost self-confidence which invariably results in better and accurate decision making.

3. Embracing the fact that we are not perfect or in other ways embracing our vulnerability also is a contributing factor towards self-confidence. If one cannot appreciate and accept the fact that he/she isn’t perfect and dwells on a small mistake for a longer period of time, the effects directly reflect on one’s self-confidence. A coach helps by continuously working and reinforcing on one’s ability to accept vulnerability which allows an individual to prosper.

Stress is subjective, sometimes a person is in a position to understand that he/she is stressed and accordingly opt for some stress management techniques or even life coaching. There are also times when one fails to realize that what they are facing is a stressful situation and without proper care and preventive measures, the same situation becomes a cause of anxiety.

When we feel stressed, our body releases certain hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline, it is our way of reacting to a threat, further actions include a response commonly known as fight, flight or freeze response. These days our threats have evolved into a more human-induced form rather than an external threat like the ones our ancestors faced, but our brains response has not changed.

Stress management comes after one has identified that they are actually going through stress. Here are a few symptoms to look out for in order to identify:

· Racing thoughts

· Difficulty in Sleeping

· Feeling tearful

· Chest pains

· Digestive issues

· High blood pressure

· Muscle tension

· Headaches

· Shallow breathing

· Snapping at people Etc

Identifying and accepting the fact that one is going through stress itself is a difficult process, once the root cause for stress inducer is found, taking corrective measures becomes easy. Stress management and life coaching are two options.

Stress management is often regarded with self-help; it includes working on oneself by identifying factors that cause stress, adopting a healthy lifestyle, connecting with others and most importantly making time for fun and relaxation, stress management works best when the levels of stress are manageable.

Life coaching, on the other hand, aims to offer a sense of calm, reflection and clarity, a life coach peculiarly identifies the root cause and subsequently helps by fixing it; this is done through a series of conversations and introspection. By working with a coach you can develop emotional resilience and techniques to cope better with every day difficult challenges.

Life coaching is beneficial not only from a stress point but with various other aspects of life, a life coach can help excel in various feats of life.

It is a common misconception that professional profile building is relevant only to working professionals and not to freshers and students who are pursuing their studies. The first impression counts irrespective of the designation that one holds when it comes to a professional career. It is important and vital that a professional profile building is a part of one’s routine, and the habit of constantly updating details has proven to help in many aspects.

However, with so many forms of profile building in existence, it is so easy to get confused between which medium to opt and what exactly could be the functionalities of the same.

Here is a quick guide on the different types of profile building and what one can do to optimally utilize each of the said mediums.

1. CV’s

There are no specific rules for writing a CV, but here are some tips to help!

CV’s are said to be more appealing when it is structured with information, relevant, neatly presented with a crisp layout, updated and reviewed to make sure that there are no errors, and is not more than 2 pages long. Having a professional-looking photograph within the CV is also a contributor of cookie points.

2. Cover Letters

A cover letter is a great opportunity to give an employer a more complete picture of who you are and the motivation behind the job you are applying for. A good cover letter is drafted in an ICME structure whose acronym stands for Introduction, Capabilities, Motivations, and Ending.

3. Application Forms

Employers use application forms as a source of ensuring that all the applicants get a fair chance for the selection of the right candidate as well as carefully reading the instructions and answering the questions with utmost care.

4. Developing a digital presence

An approximate 45% of recruiters look at social media profiles in order to scrutinize applications. Using social media is an art, it conveys a lot about an individual’s strengths, characteristics, and integrity. It is crucial to maintain your social media profiles especially on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter or in short any online media where a company can exist.

Employers often research candidates or are looking out in social media channels to see what one is posting and how the usage is being driven.

Though professional profile building seems easy, there are a lot of factors to be considered regarding how one chooses to portray themselves.

Career planning is an important step while considering one's professional career. However, the step is often skipped which leads to a snowballing effect of consequences.

Before even understanding the benefits of having a successful career plan, it is important to know what career planning actually means- 

“Career Planning is a continuous and on-going process that requires an individual to set professional goals and find the best ways and means to achieve them. The process involves market research, exploring, evaluation and continuous learning.”

A successful career plan is like a road map to where an individual wants to get and how to get there, the benefits of having a successful career plan are as stated below:

Being able to determine a clear career path to follow is one of the major benefits of a career plan, it helps in avoiding the feeling of getting lost and lets one focus actively on keeping track of their plan.

Making bold and definitive decisions- Having a successful career planning is like putting oneself in the driver’s seat in the career journey, it helps in decision making that is bold and complements the set of a career plan.

Figuring out objectives that are personal is easier through a successful career plan. Personal objectives and agendas differ as life comes, but having a plan and working towards achieving it enables setting expectations, and objectives more precisely when it comes to one’s personal life.

A successful career plan helps save time and energy by avoiding going after profession or goals that do not align or is in the best interest of the already created plan.

COACHING, be it for a professional career or for personal advancements, these are financial and an emotional investment, whose expectations of returns are very high and when not met can be very upsetting. The stakes are even higher when one is looking at solutions or suggestions pertaining to international boundaries.

Many questions cross our mind when considering hiring the services of an international coach, which end up creating barriers and a sense of hesitation while looking for one.

If you doubt the benefits of working with an international coach, here are 5 pointers that highlight, why one should consider employing the services of an international coach:

1. Strategizing job search- Whether you live abroad or are planning to move and are not sure of what your next move is going to be, an international coach can surely help by charting out a plan and also be accountable to it by considering various circumstances of the country one is considering. Not only they can help you while coming up with a long term plan, but also provide guidance in the right direction and check progress from time to time so that you can go on and live your international legacy.

2. Explore safely- The international employment market is ever-changing and at times unpredictable. An international coach can help you make a safe career transition to explore what you want and potentially find the perfect career without having to leverage the safety aspect risk-free.

3. No need of face to face coaching-  A common challenge while seeking the services of a coach is the necessity of meeting the coach face to face, with evolving technology, one can hire the services of a renowned coach without having to physically make the appointments.

4. International employability and trend adaption-  Understanding the employability market or the trend that follows in a country that is not our own can be challenging. An international coach provides the required practical support and helps put together the pieces of your international picture together without much hassle.

5. Easy transition to a new culture- Adapting to a foreign country is stressful and confusing, given the fact that one is far away from family and home. Chances of missing a great opportunity in this state are very common. An international coach can easily relate to what you are experiencing abroad and give the required guidance to make your transition fit into a new environment in an easier and smoother manner.

A challenge that lies in employing the services of international coaches is finding them.

If you want to achieve your career goals and work in a profession that makes you happy, then career strategists are the people or experts who are well versed in this arena. Whether it is a plan to make a career change or ways to make some advancement in the existing industry. A career strategist can help you by creating a reasonable plan of action and help you actively pursue it.

Even if you are in college and trying to determine a major or are confused with the kind of role that you see yourself in, post a degree a career strategist can help chart a plan keeping in focus your strengths and interests.

A career coach who can also be called a career strategist is a person who has been trained in helping other people develop their professional goals. Even if you are unsure, the coach closely works with you in order to deliver the best possible results.

If you have goals of progressing towards becoming a manager or an executive, there is another niche of coaches called the executive coaches. They are a specialized type of coaches whose prime focus is on aiding individuals to climb up the ladder of hierarchy with the required training and tools.

Career strategist is a boon to those who seek measures for career advancement. They are knowledgeable, well versed with the current market scenario and most importantly, they put your needs first before delivering an actionable plan.

A life coach does for the rest of your life what a personal trainer does for your health and fitness.~Elaine MacDonald

A life coach is an individual who works with clients in order to help them achieve goals, overcome obstacles and make changes that are positive to their life.

Life coaching is based solely on the principle that the client has the ability required to determine as well as achieve their goals and a coach helps by making sure that they realize it.

Becoming a life coach, however, is a business decision rather than a personal decision. If you feel the life coach is what you aspire to be here are 5 simple steps to guide you through.

Step 1- KNOW WHAT A LIFE COACH DOES AND DOESN’T

There are numerous myths surrounding, with regards to what it is a life coach does and doesn’t. It is very important to have clarity regarding what their roles are and accordingly go about pursuing an active career as a life coach.

Step 2- FIND A NICHE

Once you have made up your mind, it is important to find your niche, there are so many paths you can choose to walk as a life coach, and here are a few!

· Business

· Spirituality

· Academic issues

· Work-life balance

· Weight loss

· General wellness etc

Step 3- Get an Accreditation

Once you have all the plans sorted regarding your niche and made a decision accordingly, find premier institutes in your locality or in the nearby vicinity and get certified as a coach, not only does this help build your credibility but also helps you gain exposure regarding the field prior to you venturing it.

Step 4- START BUILDING A BUSINESS

Change is inevitable and this concept is not new when it comes to changing careers. Whether one is a recently graduated and looking forward to pursuing their ambition in a non-stereotypical field or whether it is an experienced professional looking to change industries, change can be a requirement for anyone at any point in time.

However, there are challenges to seek career change and one might feel demotivated, stressed or even anxious throughout the process. What’s important is to retain confidence and take the journey while accepting the facts of career change as it comes.

Achiever Network is one platform that you can always depend on when need a companion who can help you get through a difficult process such as career change. With the right set of tools and the needed expert help the process is simplified and seems like an eventful part of one’s career.

If you are looking forward to a career change, here are some prospect options that one can consider

Starting a business-  Finding something you love and turning it into remuneration is the best feeling there is, however, we suggest that you pitch the idea to your peers and work around their opinions.

Find your passion- Today there are people who help you align your passion with a stable career. You can seek career expert’s help on Achiever Network and turn your passion into a viable career option and witness all the areas of your life prosper accordingly.

Everybody has some milestones that they wish to achieve in either a long or a short term basis. Knowing what one is passionate about and further actively pursuing helps create a niche and subsequently become an expert in the chosen field.

However, in today’s world it isn’t enough to just know the latest tools, software and skills. Self branding is one such way where your expertise or your passion can be showcased and tailor made for the lookers to conceive a positive perception about what one has to bring to the table.

Here are 3 tips to help you get started

1. Own a personal website

A personal website is a digital way of showing your life story with intricate details that you wish to highlight, not only are the websites easy to monitor but today’s platforms that lets us host websites in majority possess analytical tools which help you understand and further keep building on how you choose to interact and showcase your online presence. The best part though is the fact that there are no limits to creativity just like there are no limits to your growth.

2. Social media

Even though many people shy away from social media and limit the way their profiles look, it is a great tool of disposal for self branding. Make sure that all your social media handles have identical user name so that it is easy to find you and connect. There is always an option of aligning your website content with that of your social media communications

3. Start conversations

Whether in the online space or in the virtual space, making conversations and keeping interested parties engaged with the kind of work you do helps in having more clarity and makes one approachable when it comes to self branding, it also helps in making meaningful, long term connections.

Failure in retrospect is your friend, it is just temporary and how you manage it is what truly matters.

So you set your goals and failed to achieve them? What should you do? Here is a guide to help you through it.

For starters you have to understand that failing to achieve certain goals does not mean that you have failed per se, it just means that something while strategizing went wrong and you just simply need to change them.

Here are 6 things you can do to help you get out of the failure cycle.

1. Break down you experience into finer bits and learn from them

2. Get away from the situation for a breather

3. Ask your sources some brutally honest feedback

4. Ensure the credibility of the sources

5. Find your spark again

6. Take some time off and restart your efforts

The International Coach Federation or the ICF which is leading global coaching organization and professional association for coaches defines coaching as “partnering with clients in a thought provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their professional and personal potential.”

As all other professions, professional life coaching is also a career which is surrounded by lot confusion and therefore a victim of many baseless myths, read on to find out the top 3 myths.

Myth 1- Life coaches are professionals who can help you achieve your goals

The quality of coaches vary dramatically, not all life coaches can deliver the best of results even if they try in case the client is not willing to put efforts. Life coaching is a two Way Street that requires equal and ample efforts from both the parties involved, working with certified coaches is highly recommended as they are better equipped

Achiever Network, A platform where coaching seekers and coaches are connected in harmony for career excellence, lets you connect to certified coaches who are spread across international boundaries to respond with custom made proposals to fit your unique needs.

Myth 2-Professional life coaches can only help you reach professional goals

A good coach is someone who is an expert in helping people and creates positive changes in their lives. For some people the positive changes can be in their personal lives and for some changes might pertain to their professional lives

Myth 3- Life coaching takes too much time

Career management consultants are professionals who provide guidance to people making choices about their careers; they undertake a wide range of duties which includes assessing client’s personal characteristics, skills and interests through interview sessions and group sessions.

Though there are many benefits of hiring the services of a career management consultants we have charted out the 3 best things, which are as below

1. Flexibility- consultants are more likely to be flexible to your timings, online portals make sessions easier and friendly for those with a busy schedule, flexibility can also be in the kind of career related problems that the consultants can help an individual overcome in a world where change is prominent and a necessity

2. Every day is an experience- with career management consultants, every day is different, the kind of challenges that one faces in a career scenario is different and the way in which it has to be dealt with is unique to those situations, consultants enable this differentiation and make career seem like it’s an experience

3. Growth opportunities — career management consultants are trained to keep an eye on the industry trends and things that impact ones employment and career paths, they are also a great source to identify opportunities in a particular industry and help take informed decisions that help career growth.