Thirdly, what are the benefits of life coaching? I would like to use the acronyms CAFES to illustrate my points.
C = Care and challenge. I will be there to provide support as well as challenge to push you forward, but the ultimate decision to do it or not is always yours.
A = Awareness and blind spots. Everyone has his/her blind spots and I am here to increase your awareness of them.
F = Feedback will be given by me, letting you know what you have done well and what needs more work.
E = Execution and review. I will help you track your progress.
S = Sounding board. I will be your sounding board as well as providing an objective framework for ideas and suggestions.

Secondly, what is my philosophy of life coaching?
I believe in two key elements of life coaching. The first one is equality, meaning coach and client are of the same status. The coach is not more superior than the client. Guidance and help will be provided by the coach but it is not a transfer of expert knowledge in coaching. The second element ownership which is closely related to the first one. The client should be the one making all the decisions for himself/herself and the coach is there to provide support and guidance. Thus the client should have full ownership of the whole progress.

I would like to devote the next few blogs on introducing life coaching.
First of all, what is the definition of life coaching? There are many different definitions, but my own definition is as follows.
A life coach is someone that walks or runs alongside you offering help on your journey of progression on the goals set forth by you.

I had a bit of a debate with some friends yesterday over my likening of the new James Bond movie.
To set the record straight, I do agree that the plot is not complicated and there could be more room for the excellent cast of actors/actresses to shine. However, my perspective is to view it as an atmospheric movie with style and class (mostly in the use of camera and scenery of interesting places). Enough said about the movie, we can agree to disagree and there are many different ways to view a movie.

Tonight I attended my very first Halloween party dressed as a nerd (I know it is not a long stretch of imagination) with broken thick glasses and a long-hair wig. My British friends asked me why a nerd was scary. I said Halloween costume was not supposed to be scary only because in the American Halloween culture, it could be funny as well.

Commercial reason aside, I think it is definitely more fun to allow both. Why not?

I saw the latest Bond movie last night.
My personal rating on it is 8 out of 10.
The acting in general ranged from good to competent.
The cinematography was breath-taking – such stunning camera work.
A friend asked me why it was not 9 out of 10, I said because Monica Bellucci only got approx. 3 minutes screen time.
And she asked me what would make the movie reach 10, I replied with an air of confidence that I would have had a role in the movie :>

Yesterday I had lunch with a group of friends and one of them is very precise in his speech. Being a person that appreciates a certain degree of precision, I can relate to him though other people thought our conversation was a bit strange as it usually took a few rounds of questioning and confirmation so both sides know precisely what we were talking about. However, for my “precise” friend and me, it was absolutely fine and effortless once we had established the common ground,
It goes to show the importance of “speaking on the same wavelength” and knowing your audience.

This weekend is the start of the half term (1-week school break) in the U.K. As a result, London is filled with young children with their parents visiting museums and other attractions. I adore children and we can learn from them at least the following aspects:
1) Curiosity – Children love to explore and have endless questions with “why, why, why”.
2) Enthusiasm – They are excited about the world around them.
3) Fearlessness – They tend not to be afraid of embarrassing themselves like most adults. They just want to have fun.
4) Loyalty: In particular to their parents that love them. Just look into their eyes, you will see the total trust and loyalty they have towards their parents.

Wake up that inner child of yours and have more fun in life :>

As the clock will be moved backward for an hour this weekend in the U.K., some people have started worrying about the fact that it will get dark earlier in the afternoon.
Well, a few thoughts from me.
1) We will gain an hour extra sleep this weekend (just once, not every day). That is a plus.
2) Enjoy autumn, winter, spring as well as summer. There are seasons for everything.
3) It is a cycle and it means there is light at the end of the tunnel if this period of the year is not your cup of tea.
4) After all, embrace it because it is going to happen regardless you like it or not.

Last week I had tea (yes, this is England) with a friend and he told me that he had read my book while he had been on vacation this summer. He mentioned, in particular, that he had similar experience in life (as a mature person) that he needed to persevere and bounce back from tough times. I could not agree more.

For better or worse, there are always difficult times in life, but keep your chin up and march on with your head holding high :>