And the journey continues in NYC~
 
New ideas, for a new Earth 
 
April 20th, 2010~ 7pm to 9pm
The Commons
388 Atlantic Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11217

closest subway is the Hoyt/Schermerhorn stop on A, C & G but also close to the Atlantic Avenue stop, B, M, Q, R, 2 3 4 5 F and LIRR2345
 
 Two Dreamriver Press authors – Meagan O’Nan from Colorado, and Olivier Clerc from France – will show how the ideas presented within their books can be planted as seeds to flower in our inner gardens. Sheila Applegate, seer, healer and teacher, will help us water them with a guided meditation.
 Speakers:
Meagan O’Nan, MA, MS, pioneer in the field of personal integration coaching, consciously directs her clients towards bringing together the ethereal world of Spirit and the grounded realities of everyday life.  Author of the award-winning book, Creating Your Heaven on Earth, Meagan’s passion is to help people commit their dreams to reality in steps that are sensible, practical, and real for them.  She encourages her clients to embrace their own power and pushes them gently and yet firmly to employ their spiritual strengths in creating the reality of their dreams. www.meaganonan.com

Born and raised in Geneva, Switzerland, Olivier Clerc presently lives in Southern Burgundy, France, with his three sons.  Olivier has crossed paths with many famous authors and teachers whose books he has translated into French, and with whom he often trained. Among them are Charles Rojzman, founder of Transformation Social Therapy, Marshall Rosenberg, founder of the Center for Nonviolent Communication, Don Miguel Ruiz, Dr Deepak Chopra, and many others. He is the author of six books, including Invaluable Lessons from a Frog: Seven Life-Enhancing Metaphors, published in the U.S. by Dreamriver Press (2009).  His latest book, The Gift of Forgiveness: A Magical Encounter with Don Miguel Ruiz, follows a week-long Toltec workshop with Don Miguel Ruiz, and is due out this summer by Findhorn Press.  www.olivierclerc.com

Sheila Applegate, MSW, internationally renowned spiritual seer, healer and teacher, is a high-level intuitive and clairvoyant who describes guides, people, and situations with astonishing detail and accuracy. She has the gift of being able to clearly see the guides, angels, and ascended masters of her clients and facilitates communication between them and her clients, lovingly providing information about their spiritual progress, relationships, and other practical, everyday issues from a higher perspective.  www.sheilaapplegate.com

Workshop with don Jose Ruiz!

AWAKEN!
Continue the Journey of awakening your authentic Self in this
 very special workshop that will help you pierce through old paradigms and belief systems, and take off old masks to uncover the truth of who you are.  Take your spiritual awareness to higher and deeper levels than you’ve ever known before!

 Triune 
  (Sheila Applegate, Ken Stone and Megan O’ Nan)
 and
don Jose Ruiz
 
April 17th ~ 11AM – 4PM
The Spring
Fayetteville NY
$140
  Ride the wave of love deeper into your own self journey of awakening. Enjoy a day of meditation, healing and integration as don Jose Ruiz and Triune share their gifts in a more intimate setting. 

Go to www.sheilaapplegate.com to register

Join us this weekend and beyond…

Triune Live!

Triune~Sheila Applegate, Meagan O’Nan
 
Featuring Internationally renowned authors
don Miguel Ruiz and don Jose Ruiz
 
Grammy award winning
Joanne Shenandoah
 
April 16, 2010
7-10PM
 The Palace Theatre
  Syracuse, NY
A down-to-earth evening of soul connection, meditation and music that will awaken your heart.
Triune partners, Sheila Applegate, Ken Stone and Meagan O’Nan, together with internationally renowned authors,
 
Don Miguel & Don Jose Ruiz, (The Four Agreements~ The Fifth Agreement)
and
Grammy-Award winner Joanne Shenandoah
 
invite you to spend an evening opening up to a refreshingly new approach to spirituality. 

 
 GENERAL ADMISSION  $35
 
VIP $95
 (Includes priority seating and private meet and greet)
 
 Purchase tickets today at
 
 PALACE THEATRE
or
THE SPRING
 
Go to www.triunelive.com for tickets!
 
 
SPONSORED BY Heaven To Earth Creations, Fayetteville, NY,
The Spring, Fayetteville, NY,
 Barnes & Noble Booksellers, Ithaca, NY.

MEDIA SPONSORS include Laura’s List: Books for Women (www.laurasbooklist.com), Dr. Robert Kiltz (www.cnyhealingarts.com)

Don’t Stop Believin’…

You can live your dreams if you can embrace change. It’s by taking
chances that you’ll learn how to be brave.
- Nikita Koloff

 

Looking back over the years, I wonder how it all happened. How have I come to a place of actually being able to touch my dreams? Not just vision my dreams, but touch them. How is it possible that I have my own organization to help teenagers across the world? How is it possible that I am working on my third book? How is it possible that I am surrounded by people that love and support who I am? How in the WORLD is it possible that I get to stand on stage with don Miguel Ruiz and don Jose Ruiz in April? HOW?

 

Just a little over a year ago I quit my 8-5 job with no idea where I was headed or what my life would look like. My first book, Creating Your Heaven on Earth, had just been published, and I knew that it was time for me to walk my talk. ”TAKE THE LEAP, MEAGAN!!!” yelled a voice. So, I did. The moment I heard it, I acted…I turned in my two-week notice. Scared at the time? More than you know. Scared along the way? More than you know. Still scared at times? Yep.

 

Some people look at me and ask me how I am so confident in trusting how things will unfold, how I am so willing to have faith in life. The truth is, I have my moments, but behind those moments lies a belief that cannot be broken. I believe in the power of love…that I am so loved and that no matter what happens, I know I will be just fine. I trust that with everything inside of me. It’s simple really…dream it, believe it, act on it, live it. The hard part? Pushing through when you can’t believe it, continuing to take steps when you cannot see any results, and embracing that you deserve it. Yes, you deserve it. I deserve it.

 

The biggest part of my journey has been loving myself. As a lesbian, I have learned fantastic ways of protecting myself from getting hurt. I still avoid the conversation every once in a while when someone who doesn’t know me wants to know where my husband is. To this day, there are people who shut me out for who I am. I thank them for that. Thank all of those people who didn’t believe in you…who don’t believe in you…because they are inspiring you to dig deeper, reach further, jump higher! There will always be someone along the way who may detest your choices…thank them.  

 

I don’t know the answers to all of life’s questions. What I do know is that if you hold on to what you know you want, one day it will appear. I do know that who you are is the most important thing for other people to see. I also know that if you honor yourself, your relationships are richer and your appreciation for life grows. I know that if you believe in something and you continue to follow through with your heart, there is no wrong direction that you can take. I know that no matter what happens outside of yourself, even if it feels like it is killing you, it is happening for you in some mysterious way. I know that we all have the opportunity to enjoy life, and that in each moment that joy is available. I know that we are all meant to be someone and to do something great; no matter how big or small, the greatness in the action is what matters. I know that we all make choices that we aren’t proud of, but if we act on what we know is right, then we are satisfied. I know that if you are willing and open to the possbilities of life, you will be surprised in every moment. And I know that if you speak up or if you stand silent on your own mountain, people will climb the mountain to join you.

 

Surround yourself with people who love you for who you are. You deserve that. Surround yourself with people that build you up and support your every choice. You deserve that…we all do.

 

One day you will be looking back, wondering how you got to where you are and you will remember…you believed.

Believe in your dreams, For even those that seem out of reach,
Are safe in unseen hands.
- Unknown

2009: A Year of Miracles

Last week, I went to record the final payment I received for 2009 and added up my total income for the year. I made roughly $7,000 in 2009, and I don’t own a credit card. I look at the number that represents my “status” for 2009, and I’m taken aback. How can the most satisfying and happiest year of my life not have included very much money? Oh yeah, I remember; there is a belief floating out there somewhere that money and status are what make you happy.

This past year, I started leaping toward my dreams. When I began this journey, I had no destination in mind. I simply wanted to commit to doing things I loved and focus on making a difference in other people’s lives by inspiring them to live in the moment and go for their own dreams. Looking back, I wonder how it all worked, getting by on so little. Was it all the pasta I ate over and over? The precise planning of my outings to save as much gas as possible? Or maybe it was my “insane” approach to life, “oh, it will work out…”

I know, I know, its one thing to say that money doesn’t bring you happiness (which is very true, in this case), and it’s another thing to say, “Well, Meagan, don’t ya think you could rest easier if you had just a little more dough?” To be quite honest, yeah, I could possibly avoid some of those hysterical crying fests that I put on this year due to fear and unknowingness – but in truth, even that wouldn’t be guaranteed. The only thing guaranteed in life is change, and with that, deep down, I trust the process. I know what my dreams are, and I’m willing to experience whatever comes my way, no matter what it looks like. I know that when I hold my visions and enjoy the journey every moment fulfills my purpose.

I never dreamt that I would form a nonprofit in the state of Mississippi. In fact, I had sworn I would never go back to Mississippi for the rest of my life. But the vision popped into my head, and my heart said “go,” so I did. Looking back on the year, I have witnessed some magnificent moments, moments that could not be traded for any amount of money. I won an international book award, I’ve been published in numerous publications all around the nation, I’ve been in the news, I’ve made it on television and have been supported by Hay House and many others, I’ve have been all over the country and have met hundreds of people, and I’ve found myself truly beginning to comprehend my purpose on this earth.

Would I do the year over again? Yes, I would, simply because it has shown me how to heal. The year has taught me some very tough lessons, how to be ok with the unknown, how to embrace my fears, how to love myself and others on a deeper level, how to dream bigger dreams, and most of all, how to believe. I have never once, in the midst of all of my doubts, wavered from what I know to be true…that is, that nothing ever happens to me, it happens for me. I believe from my core that we are meant to live happy lives, and all of that happiness comes from the satisfaction we have within. Our fear of not having enough money is really about our fear of dying, and at times this year, I did feel that way. But, the truth is, in the end, what I learned from this last year has actually taught me the opposite. I have finally learned how to live.

This Ain’t for the Faint Hearted

Did you have a dream once? Are you living it, or are you, like a lot of people in the world, leading a life of mediocrity, settling for much less than you know you’re capable of? Do you think kids should leave high school feeling like that? Middle school? God forbid, elementary school? Because that’s what we’re teaching them. That’s what we were most likely taught.

Since I first began working with teens, I have become increasingly inspired. And I am determined to pass that inspiration on to whoever will listen. Teenagers, like everyone else, have great potential but can’t seem to get past their anger, their doubts, or their way of doing things, and so they end up in trouble, expelled, suspended. We adults end up in the same place, with our lives suspended because of our fears, our doubts, and our own “way” of doing things.

Although I don’t personally relate to the specific situations all the kids I work with come from, it doesn’t mean that I can’t meet them where they are. I know what it is like to feel unloved, to feel misunderstood, to feel alone, to feel angry at how things are, and to feel what it is like to watch the people around you question who you are. We ALL know what that is like. At some point or another, we have all been disappointed, treated unfairly, or felt betrayed by life. This is exactly why we must reach out and tell our children that it’s normal to feel what they feel, that it’s ok to hurt, that it’s ok to be angry, that it’s ok to feel all of these things so that they can heal and move on with their lives.

Whether we like it or not, we, as adults, are leaders. We are leading today’s children into either a life of inspiration or a life that will pass them by. As leaders, we have to stop covering up the past as though it doesn’t matter. We have to be willing to look at how it’s “always been done” and identify what isn’t working anymore. We need to help our kids empower themselves to be who they know they are. If a child is acting out, doesn’t it make sense that there’s a reason for it? Why would someone “act out” just for the sake of acting out? Don’t we act out? We blame our spouse, our boss, our partner, the driver in front of us who’s going too slow…How “adult-like” is our behavior, really?

The kids I work with all tell me things that they have never shared with anyone…they trust me because I take the time to meet them where they are. I don’t judge their choices. I accept their choices because they are the ones who suffer their own consequences. We need to show our kids that they are creative, that they are magnificent and great human beings, instead of telling them they are bad and that they need to be fixed. We only tell them that because that’s what we’re telling ourselves. They don’t need to be fixed, they need to be loved. They need someone to show up for them.

Each of my students in the O’Nan Project for Change has come up with their own project for this first school year. One of them is creating a mentoring program for 2nd grade students where she wants to empower young kids to find their courage now. The program is called “The Real You.” Another student wants to create the first skateboarding club for kids in the City of Starkville. Another student wants to create a summer fun-camp for kids all ages. Another student wants to get her babysitting certificate and create a tutoring program called “Tiny Learners.” And our 5th student has a desire to be a clothing designer one day and wants to start by creating her own shirts. Each of these things is easy to help support.

Imagine if there were a class in each school that allowed kids to explore their current dreams, to see where they may take them? Imagine if our students had the opportunity to be supported in something that they loved and know that they were going to get that support? Imagine, when you were their age, if you had had someone come and tell you that you could do and be anything you wanted to be? Imagine that. Imagine a world where we all took the time to help one another find our greatness and we actually supported each other in doing what it took to make it happen? Imagine it.

We have to stop placing expectations on our kids and start allowing them to see the world as a place of possibility, a place of fulfillment, a place where their dreams can actually happen. If we empower our kids, then we empower our world. It’s time to step up.

But how can we empower anyone if we’re not empowered ourselves? How can the kids of today’s world learn about pursuing their dreams if all they see around them is adults who have given up on theirs? How can we acknowledge greatness in anyone else if we haven’t acknowledged our own? How can we dare to tell someone to go after their heart’s desire if we haven’t had the courage to even look at our own? We are put on this earth to serve each other. We are put on this earth to be great. We are put on this earth to love. How can we do any of those fully if we can’t admit to the calling of our heart, if we can’t be “as little children” and return to the excitement of asking “what if?…”

It’s time to rise up! It’s time for us as adults to choose our own dream so that our kids know it is ok to choose their own. It’s time for us all to step up and step out boldly. We all have dreams, and we all know what it’s like to lose heart. There’s an old saying that says, “it’s better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all…” The same can be said for dreams. When was the last time you “indulged” in contemplating your own dream? Now is the time. It’s time to wake up. Your dream was given to you to manifest in this life, not to rest in the safety of slumber. We all need to be empowered. Find someone who will support you. Believe in yourself. Believe you were made for greatness! If you don’t, I will until you do.

Coaches: Elevate Your TEAM Through Balance!

As an athlete, it is a myth that everything you do has to be about your sport. 

 

As a Sports Life Coach for athletes, I have discovered that achieving balance in all areas of an athlete’s life is the answer to taking performance to the top. This may seem like a new paradigm to some, and it may sound “out there” to others, but if you talked to the athletes I work with, they would tell you that they are more confident and more prepared for their games, that their performance has improved in their chosen sport, and that they feel more fulfilled in life overall.  I am not saying that an athlete doesn’t have to work hard to make great achievements, but if there is one area of their life that they are struggling in, then it runs over into other areas of their life, and that includes their sport.

 

Let’s say that one of your athletes just took a test at school and failed it miserably.  Or they’ve just had a fight with a friend.  They go to practice down on themselves, or angry, and they have a horrible practice. Or the athlete goes to a game and their performance is nowhere near where you–or they– would like it to be.  So the athlete goes home and lies on the couch all night watching TV because they are too depressed to do anything else.  Or the athlete blames their teammates, or you, the coach, leading to drama for days and weeks to come.  Although we all know anger can serve as fuel for an aggressive and sometimes powerful performance, there is less satisfaction in the outcome for the athlete because it doesn’t feel controlled.  This then further impacts your athlete’s performance because instead of their using their emotion to control their game, they allow it to control them, leading to unpredictable results each time.

 

So how does an athlete control it?  How does an athlete get the tools necessary to separate their sport from their relationships? How do you, as the coach, keep your athletes from carrying disappointment from one area of their life into another?  Although it is sometimes tough as a coach to know how to help your athletes, I have found that by using a few techniques each week you can help your athletes focus on improving what is important to them in their lives, thereby improving their performance.

 

You can start this process of self empowerment by meeting regularly with your athletes, whether it be once a week, once every two weeks, or once a month.  Call these meetings “balance meetings,” or whatever works for you and your team. Even better, encourage participation by having your athletes come up with a name together so that they accept some sort of responsibility for its development. Take an hour for the meeting to occur. 

 

In these meetings, you will begin by having your athletes choose the five most important areas of their lives from the following categories: Appearance; Sport; Family; Fun; Health; Money; Home (living situation); School; Personal Discovery; Relationships; Service; and Spirituality.  Once they have each chosen the five areas that are most important to them as individuals, you can then help them begin to explore these areas further. 

 

Ask them the following questions about the five areas they have chosen, and have them write their answers down (I have included examples after each question, but you may choose to offer your own examples that you feel are more pertinent to your team): 

 

• If each area of your life were exactly how you wanted it to be, how would you feel? For example, if I were an athlete, in the area of Sport, I would want to always feel confident. I would therefore write down the word, “confident.” (This exercise is meant to get them thinking about what is important for them to feel in the moment; it allows them to set a goal without knowing they are setting a goal.)
• For each area of your life, write down 3-5 things you can do this week or month that will help you feel better in this area of your life. For example, if I wanted to feel confident in my sport, then I could be more focused at practice, I could study signs or plays after practice, or I could spend time talking to my coach on how to improve my game.

Once your athletes have written down three to five things they can do in each area of their life, then give them the freedom to take what they have written and apply it in their life. You can check in with them as a group each week or month to see how they are doing. This will allow the team to come together by sharing what is most important to them.

To strengthen this process further and encourage team building beyond the court/field, have your athletes form “accountability partners” on the team to work with on a weekly basis so that they can check in with each other and see how they are doing on all the important aspects of their lives. And finally, meet with each athlete individually yourself on a consistent basis, so that they know that their well-being is important to you.

There are a lot of options when it comes to helping your athletes, and becoming more involved in their lives is a crucial one. Having team meetings that focus on their personal lives is an excellent way for you to do this without becoming caught up yourself in each athlete’s own personal drama.  Allowing your athletes the space and time to reflect on what is important to them gives them more meaning and purpose for each area of life, which in turn increases focus and performance.

Believe that your athletes’ performance doesn’t have to be a rollercoaster ride.  If you believe it, so will they.  Believe in your athletes.  Know that you can be the best coach you can be, all the time.  And believe you can believe that.

WHAT IS The O’Nan Project for Change??

If you’re reading this, welcome to an exciting new venture that’s changing the lives of teenagers in our country!

The O’Nan Project for Change was birthed by the vision of its founder, Meagan O’Nan, whose passion is to empower teenagers to embrace their potential, to see beyond their life circumstances and to think outside their box.

Our Mission Statement: To bring resources, life skills, and hope to teenagers through workshops, community based mentorship programs, and professional life coaching services; ultimately, to enhance and empower our future leaders to make decisions based on their dreams while attaining a foundational mindset that anything is possible.

How It Works:

Two Branches: The O’Nan Project for Change is a nonprofit organization that has two branches. The first provides life coaching scholarships to middle school students (7th and 8th-graders) whose parents can’t otherwise afford it. Life coaching is a powerful process that empowers people to move beyond their present circumstances by embracing their skills and taking responsibility for their lives both as individuals and as members of their community. Life coaching has become very popular among adults across the country but is as yet untapped among teenagers–where we believe its greatest potential lies–partly because its cost is prohibitive to a large part of the population who could benefit from it the most.  The O’Nan Project for Change addresses this by offering partial or full scholarships for life coaching services to ANY 7th or 8th-grader who applies. We have a team of life coaches who have offered their services at a reduced rate so that this project can reach as many teens as possible.

The second branch of the O’Nan Project for Change is a two-year program that is offered in middle schools to select groups of students that the schools have deemed “problem students with potential.” This year, the O’Nan Project’s pilot program is being implemented in the State of Mississippi to serve as a vehicle to bring hope and offer inspiration to those who feel there is no way out of their restrictive circumstances. The O’Nan Project for Change offers monthly coaching and community based mentorship programs where students set goals for themselves and work together over a two-year period towards character building, personal responsibility, and a community-responsible mindset.

Why start with Mississippi schools?  Mississipi ranks among the highest in the nation in teen deaths, middle and high school dropouts, teens not attending school and not working, and teen pregnancies.

Local Community Involvement in the Project: An incentive approach provides local businesses opportunities to support and engage in our program by offering mentorships and merchant discounts to participants. Character building is a core concept in the program, and these concepts are filtered into the community via a network of leadership-based educational opportunities that are offered to the business community by the O’Nan Project for Change.

Our Leaders of the Future: Our teenagers are our leaders of the future, and they need our attention. The O’Nan Project for Change intends to inspire entire communities to take responsibility for establishing a new mindset that will create more opportunities for growth. There is currently no program that offers long-term life coaching services that empower teenagers, and we are changing that! Our vision is to partner with programs throughout the State of Mississippi and the entire United States to provide tools that teenagers can use to empower themselves and teach one another, thus creating a more productive and content society.

“I Have a Dream!”: All over the United States, we receive messages from many sources that tell us we are not good enough, smart enough, worthy enough, or courageous enough to have what we want for our lives. We easily forget to dream the dreams we had when we were children because we do not feel that we can achieve what we truly want. Some of us have been lucky enough to receive an encouraging message or two from someone when we were children; however, the majority of our nation’s children are not being told to “dream big and follow your heart.” Many of us end up in jobs that we do not care about, thereby lowering our collective quality of life and sabotaging our ability to prosper. We are in the middle of a time when our economy is a challenge, and this is creating an opportune time to encourage others.

The Sky’s the Limit: There is no limit to how far The O’Nan Project for Change can reach! Every teenager that is a part of this initiative is given complete trust. When we, as current leaders, allow our leaders of tomorrow to take responsibiltiy for their own lives through trust and expectation, then space is created for them to begin creating meaning and purpose for their own independent and collective missions.

To make change, we must create change…As we create our own heaven, we change the world…

Elevating Your Game Through Balance!

Reflecting on my career as a Division I multi-sport athlete, I wish I had known then what I know now. Being a National Strength and Conditioning All-American was certainly something I cherished, but it would have been so much more rewarding had I known that I could have achieved that honor while still enjoying all the other aspects of my life.  As an athlete, it is a myth that everything you do has to be about your sport. 

 

Wait. Meagan, what are you talking about? We all know that to receive any type of All-American honors you must make your sport your life and your life your sport. Confused yet? 

 

Receiving numerous awards as a college athlete was amazing, but all the while the rest of my life was falling apart while I focused only on my sports. I was so dedicated to my performance that I was oblivious to the fact that my education was suffering, my relationships were suffering, my spiritual life was suffering, and deep down I was not happy with who I was.  If someone had asked me to describe my life in those days, my answer would have been, “just fine.”   But it wasn’t, and little did I know that therein lay the true key to outstanding performance.

 

As a Sports Life Coach for athletes, I have discovered that achieving balance in all areas of your life is the answer to taking your performance to the top. This may seem like a new paradigm to some, and it may sound “out there” to others, but if you talked to the athletes I work with, they would tell you that they are more confident and more prepared for their games, that their performance has improved in their chosen sport, and that they feel more fulfilled in life overall.  I am not saying that you don’t have to work hard to make great achievements, but if there is one area of your life that you are struggling in, then it runs over into other areas of your life, and that includes your sport.

 

Let’s say you just took a test at school and failed it miserably.  Or you’ve just had a fight with a friend.  You go to practice down on yourself, or angry, and you have a horrible practice. Or you go to a game and your performance is nowhere near where you’d like it to be.  So you go home and lie on the couch all night watching TV because you are too depressed to do anything else.  Or you blame your teammate or coach, leading to drama for days and weeks to come.  Although we all know anger can serve as fuel for an aggressive and sometimes powerful performance, there is less satisfaction in the outcome because it doesn’t feel controlled. 

 

So how do you control it?  How do you get the tools to separate your sport from your relationships? How do you keep yourself from carrying disappointment from one area of your life into another?  How do you learn to use anger or frustration or sadness as

“fuel” in your life without feeling like they’re controlling you? 

 

Sports Life Coaching is not therapy.  And it isn’t going to give you the answers if you’re not looking for them.  Rather, Sports Life Coaching creates a partnership between you as an athlete and your life coach. Your life coach guides you in making personal choices in your life that will elevate your performance by creating balance. Your Coach helps you as an athlete to acknowledge what is important to you, to find purpose and meaning in all the areas of your life. Once you have a purpose that is your own, that comes from deep within yourself and not from the world around you, then you have a much more powerful reason to perform at a higher level.  Through learning to commit to purpose in all areas of your life, balance is created and maintained. Then, working from this understanding of your own purpose, you shift from your head to your heart and begin to perform more naturally, from a place of personal power and true control rather than from the whimsical arena of your emotions.

 

Every athlete has fears and performance anxiety.  “Performance anxiety.”  Two simple words for something that’s anything but simple.  But the truth is that the anxiety is probably not about the performance at all.  Sports Life Coaching isn’t therapy…but it can take an experience and help you quickly get to the core of the issue, which rarely has to do with the sport.  And having identified the issue, you then have the tools to work with it.

 

So what are some of these tools?  What was the best performance you ever had?  And are you still trying to live up to that?  Why was your performance on that day so great?  Why can’t you have that performance all the time?  Do you believe that you can perform at your best all the time?  If you don’t believe it’s possible, how can you possibly do it?  If you don’t believe in yourself, no matter how much other people believe in you, you’ll always fall short of the mark. 

 

Try this.  Take two minutes right now and imagine the best performance you could possibly have.  Picture it, hear the sounds, smell the smells, feel the adrenaline …you’re in the moment…you feel ease, flow…you feel centered inside, quiet, and you know that you are about to make the perfect play…and you do it.  Spend a moment there.  What does it feel like?  What does your body feel like?  What thoughts are you having? 

 

It’s no revelation that envisioning a perfect game can lead to an outstanding performance…star athletes have worked with this concept for decades.  Envisioning…or visioning…is an extremely powerful tool, and one that is used frequently in the context of Sports Life Coaching.  But it is also only as powerful as the commitment to balance of the person doing it.  Sure, it may help one time, or even twice, but if you aren’t committed to the process, its effectiveness will fade quickly.  And if you aren’t balanced in every area of your life, you won’t stay committed. 

 

Believe that your performance doesn’t have to be a rollercoaster ride.  Believe in yourself.  Believe that you can be the best athlete you can be, all the time.  Believe that you can believe that.  

 

 

Meagan O’Nan, MA, MS, is elevating the game for women in sports through her Sports Life Coaching practice, Life on Purpose (www.meaganonan.com). Award winning author of the book, Creating Your Heaven on Earth, Meagan strives to help athletes find balance and purpose to achieve better results in performance, overall satisfaction, and fulfillment in all areas of life.

 *To be published in the NFCA newsletter