Articles

One of the main reasons why marriages are successful is«chemistry», the two get along and understand each other and lots and lots of sacrifice.

Marriage is a constant give and go relationship with its roots firmly found in the soils of love, faith, dedication, trust and respect.

With all of that, why am I focusing on you, and not on your partner? Would you care to hazard a guess? Let us review the requirements.

If you really think about all that is needed, the next step is to ask yourself: Can I do this? And if yes, what are the best possible scenarios for me to do this? You see marriage, like any relationship, depends on us being able to do what is required, needed and expected of us.

With that in the background, I need you to think about when you are at your «best behavior» if you will. Is it when you are angry, frustrated, not comfortable with yourself, or within your own skin? Are your best days when disappointment ...

Prestige is defined as “widespread respect and admiration felt for someone or something on the basis of a perception of their achievements or quality”. Prestige, it turns out, is something we might earn, but it has to be given by others. So, it stands to reason that others have to see it, feel it or experience it in us so they can recognize it and acknowledge it. The easiest example given is the prestige of wealth. People tend to show their assets and flaunt their belongings. We all do at some point. A new car, a new watch or clothes, cell phone and so on and so forth. And that, in the eyes of others, gives us prestige. But I want to shift your attention to a different kind of prestige. One that is perhaps tougher to earn, harder to manage and more difficult to sustain. The prestige of health!

            Do you impress yourself? Are you proud of your achievements? Are you satisfied with where you are? Such...

As I watch my daughter getting ready for summer fun after she finished her Brevet examinations, I see the joyous and wondrous look on her face. The excitement is palpable. She cannot contain herself. I ask her what she wants to do and she answers: Sleep. And then sleep some more. And then, have fun. I ask her what kind of fun? And she answers: Any kind, it does not matter. In her wonderful wisdom, she emphatically told me that if she does not rejuvenate and have fun, she won’t make it next year in school. She has to “get rid” of all the pressure of the school year to have the ability to face next year. How prophetically correct of my not-so-little one. She is absolutely correct. If we do not rejuvenate, we won’t have the ability to perform at any level. We would be burned out, pardon the pun of summer.

            Pressure. That is what Lebanon and work is all about. Relentless unforgiving press...

Is it not amazing how mothers know exactly what their children want from the day they are born. Everyone else hears screams and cries, but moms know how to differentiate between a cry for food, a cry for affection and a cry for dirty diapers. How? They just know. They have a connection and a bond with their children. Now, fast forward to teenage hood and is it not amazing how not even mothers understand what their kids mean when they talk? We can blame it on hormones and teenage mentality, but the truth is it is beyond that.

            I want you to recall how much time you spent with a new born. Contract that to your five year old, your ten year old and your teenager. Granted, time becomes less because of more responsibilities, school, activities, television and games, friends and social media to name a few distractions. But there is something else that helps separate us from our children. Us!

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It is very common knowledge that the relationship between a mother and her child is extremely important. It is also very well known that the mother as well as the child are vital influential parts of each other’s lives. In this article I am not reinventing the wheel, I am merely pointing out the special nuances and strengths as well as the fragility of the relationship between a mother and her daughter. For as strong and wonderfully powerful this relation can be, it has the potential, if not understood or conducted well, to be just as devastating and destructive. I know from my own experience that I constantly have to work on my relationship with my daughter to make sure I am the best mom I can be. I chose mother and daughter not for any particular reason. Sons are no less important!

            The most influential person in a girl’s life is probably her mother. She helps shape her, mold her and the woman ...

“Almost no one is foolish enough to imagine that he automatically deserves great success in any field of activity; yet almost everyone believes that he automatically deserves success in marriage.”
Sidney J. Harris

I hope the title has raised an intriguing question that will make you ponder this for a moment; and drive you to read the article. Coaching is a wonderful science and art. It takes what people have and helps them get to what their goals are. Everything in this life is about finding out what you want to do and figuring out a way to do it while realizing your own potential and understanding your limitations. With that in mind, let us talk about marriage.

            Marriage is the union of two people with the blessing of their respective religion or law, depending on where you live. Marriage merges two people trying to live with each other, start a family, love and care for each ot...

We often want our children to take responsibility for what they do, and at the same time, we limit their responsibility. This is a balancing act that starts with us having full control over their lives in infancy to having little control over their lives as adults. Throughout the maturation process, the modus operandi, or the approach will always need to rely on four pillars: love, respect, trust, and support.

            Responsibility means freedom and power. And as you give your kids more of it, you need to make sure of two things: know who they are and be sure your prepared them well. While some of us are natural born leaders and responsible, the majority of us, even those natural leaders, need to be taught and guided and groomed. The translation of that is do not expect your children to act responsibly and be held accountable if they are not ready for it, if you are not a good example for them and if they are not ...

Communication is one of the main aspects of healthy relationships. Relationships between children and their parents need a lot of communication. Children need your attention and understanding, and they need to feel that you  are there for them when they need you. However, children often do not know how to express their feeling and talk to you about their problems. Their need for communication can come out as misbehavior and chaos.

I want you to think about the complexity of who we are as human beings. Now focus on everything that makes you “tick”. You are an adult who has been through a lot to get to where you are. Even with that you struggle sometimes to make sense or meaning of what isaround you and who you are. Further, sometimes you find yourself expressing things that do not reflect your true natture, or you misspoke, or misrepresented your intentions. I have not even touched on the times when we get so angry or frutsrated and then explode at nothing ...

Two letters defined the 20^th century approach to quantifying human cognitive abilities: IQ. This test was created with the sole purpose of trying to quantify our abilities to think and analyze and solve problems. From a mathematical stand point, it is a great test and does predict brain function abilities in problem solving. From a human interaction, leadership, family and parenting, relationship and social stand point, it is utterly useless. If our worlds were an interaction between paper, pen, computer and tablet, phone and us, then IQ is all you need. After all, when solving a problem through cognition, it is your mental abilities that are called upon. IQ refers to a person’s analytical, intellectual, rational and logical abilities. As such, IQ focuses and is concerned with mathematical and visual skills, spatial and verbal abilities. But as human beings, our world is more reliant on how we interact with each other…much much more. It has been shown that IQ...

How do you know your children are well prepared for their adult lives? Let me focus here on adolescents but the same can be said about those who are younger. As well try to be the best parents we can be, we hope that by sending them to school, enrolling them in activities, making sure their needs are met and trying as much as possible to listen to them and be there for them. But how do we know we are preparing them to the best of their abilities? Well, let us go through what they need to learn to become successful adults. And by successful, I mean across all phases of life: Health and wellness, career and family.

Literature and extensive professional experiences show that when teenagers take ownership of their own lives in a positive way and are confident in their appropriate decision making and action steps, they become the cornerstones and successes of the present and the future. To do so, they need to develop the following abilities:

1. Self-awareness