I've read numerous books, watched a few videos and despite my efforts, I realized that I needed some help.
After making a few phone calls and speaking with a number of trainers, I settled upon Chanone at Canine Harmony.
Her philosophy meshed with what I do as a stress coach, so it was a natural fit to work with her.
We officially adopted Holly in January. She is approximately a year old and had been found tied to a fence in a warehouse district. Her previous owners had not done any training with her and she had no vocabulary. We even tried a number of other languages.
In the short time we've had her, she has come a long way. However, I recognized that in my efforts to train her I was reinforcing some negative habits and was beginning to lose confidence in myself, which she was quick to use to her advantage.
Working with a coach, trainer, teacher or mentor is good for a number of reasons:
- You benefit from their considerable experience. They've put in the hours to learn what they're sharing with you.
- Tips and techniques are provided that help you integrate what you are learning and achieve your goals faster.
- They identify what you are doing right, so you can build upon that.
- Point out what you are doing incorrectly, so you don't repeat and make it a habit that becomes more difficult to unlearn.
- Accountability - you may have good intentions of learning something new, but without the encouragement, those good intentions may end up sitting on the shelf collecting dust like that language program you were going to follow or those exercise DVDs you were going to regularly use.
As for Holly and I, the learning continues. We are learning from each other. She is learning that she is now safe and that she can trust us. I am deepening a number of lessons about patience and practice - the platform for building new and resourceful habits.
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As you probably know, I mentor a few young entrepreneurs as part of our local Chamber of Commerce and Industry initiative. It is amazing how little these young men know of business intricacies and once they get the confidence to trust me, things rapidly move north. It has been the most satisfying experience to see them succeed and become important members of their communities. I however do not get involved in their stress situations for I am not quite the right kind of coach for that. It is unfair to expect them to become clones!
I love coming over here. I always learn something, or nicely reaffirm some truth that I already knew.
Ramana,
Those young entrepreneurs are fortunate to benefit from your experiences.
Your willingness to share with an open-heart is a great stress transformer.
Gaelikka,
Thanks! Next time, we’ll share a cuppa! 🙂
Marianna,
What a sweet picture of Holly!
Your point about choosing a coach/trainer, etc. whose ‘philosophy meshes’ with yours is important!
Recognizing our need to learn new techniques and receive compelling encouragement to act on our good intentions is something we must ALL do from time to time.
Lovely to hear how you and Holly are coming together, and that she is learning she is safe and can trust.
Lucky girl that she was brought into your wonderful and warm home!
Jacqui
Jacqui,
Yes, we do all need a little help, encouragement and expertise to get us to where we want to go.
You have a wonderful way of distilling a post or a comment down to its essence, Jacqui!
We are very fortunate to be able to share our home with “Miss Holly Berry”. 🙂