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A Coaching Secret

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A Coaching Secret

I’m going to share a secret with you that I learned a long time ago.

It’s a secret about effective time management.

Now some of you might already be aware that effective time management is perhaps THE most important skill for ANYBODY to have – whether you are an artist or a bureaucrat – if you use your time well, you do well. If you don’t, you don’t.

This secret time management tool is one I routinely teach to my Personal Success Coaching Clients because it is so simple and yet so effective.

It actually integrates into the E.A.S.E. principles so well that it is almost a part of it.  (You can read about E.A.S.E. in the e-book available on this web site for free when you sign up for the newsletter.)

I discovered this tool when I was a music student in college. I hated playing scales and so I rarely did practice scales. Every music teacher I ever took a lesson from insisted I learn them but I resisted.

I persisted in my resistance until one day a young concert pianist named Dickran Atamian came to town to play a recital and give a master class. In 1975 Atamian won first-prize at the 50th Naumburg Competition in New York City at the age of 19. He was a remarkable talent and wowed everyone with his immense musicianship.

During the master class someone asked him what was the secret of his success and I was shocked at his answer. He said, “Find a good teacher and then DO EVERYTHING THEY TELL YOU.”

I realized I had a good teacher but my resistance was futile. I was getting nowhere. So – I changed. On the spot.

I went out and bought a KITCHEN TIMER. You know – the kind you use to time how long you’re baking the cookies – and I used it in practicing my scales.

I would go into the practice room and close the door. I set the timer for twenty minutes and resolved to do nothing but scales for those 20 minutes.

It was hell at first but I turned my talent of perseverance to good use and stuck it out. The next day it was easier.

If you know the E.A.S.E. principle you know how I varied that time interval, but everyday I did SOMETHING. And as Dan Millman says, “A little bit of something is better than a whole lot of nothing.”

About Doug O'Brien

Doug O’Brien is a Master Practitioner and Trainer of NLP, and a Certified Hypnotherapist. In 1988, while assisting at NLP and NAC training seminars with Anthony Robbins, Doug achieved the designation of Master Trainer. He now conducts numerous seminars of his own around the globe (specializing in the “Sleight of Mouth” patterns of Robert Dilts, NLP Certification Courses, and Ericksonian Hypnotherapy) and helped found Columbia-Presbyterian’s Department of Complementary Medicine with Dr. Mehmet Oz.

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