Coaching Freedom From Fear by Joseph Umidi

Joseph is a friend and partner. At some level, we are all coaches whether intentional or not. We are called to guide others to the Way, the Truth, and Freedom Life in Christ. We will be sharing some ways in the next few weeks for those of you who desire to be intentional coaches. The world needs us. Below is a gift from Joseph that keeps on giving... Robert

What fears are your clients expressing this Christmas season?  What fears are you facing as you look at the horizon?  What would Freedom from Fear look like for you and them in 2011?

Here is the gift of Christmas for all coaches who are willing to receive it and give it to others...FREEDOM FROM FEAR!

1.  Fear of INADEQUACY (Luke 1:12-13) 
Zacharias and Elizabeth were just too old, too competent in their profession, too planned for their twilight years to take on this new venture, calling, paradigm...this 'wild at heart' John the Baptist baby who would "turn the hearts of the fathers to the children..." v.17)

Every coach who has this Freedom from Fear can approach any employee of the major name brand stores who will be closing down or downsizing at the end of this year to help them face their vocational and transitional Inadequacies without fear.  There will be no timelier gift to many in the coming months than a Fearless Coach who is focused on helping people embrace their new assignments in life without fear.  Some of them may compare the impact of your life on them like a visitation from an angel!

2.Fear of INTIMIDATION (Luke 1:30, 74) 
Teenager Mary knew what it meant for her to be pregnant out of wedlock in her day and culture...she had seen and heard the voices of mockery and shame that had intimidated and marginalized others in her day.  Who would believe her dream and "visitation" and how would this affect the most important person in her life, Joseph?

Every coach worth their transformational training knows what it means to conquer our own intimidating voices within before we tackle those around us.  What assignments do others or we have that intimidates our own comfort zones or the 'group think' of those around us?  Who are the significant people around our clients or us whose opinions are keeping us from our own destiny significance?  What 'for such a time as this' dreams are being busted by the intimidators who control the gateways of our lives?...here is the answer; YOU HAVE FOUND FAVOR WITH GOD!

3.Fear of INSIGNIFICANCE (Luke 2:9-10)  Shepherds don't count for much in any culture.  Out in the hill country they could see the glow of the city where the VIPs lived their lives in significant busyness while they followed generations of sheep trails by day and quiet star gazing by night.  Seems like the same old purposeless driven life....until they heard that 'tailor made", just for them Word, UNTO YOU THIS DAY...."are you REALLY talking to ME?"

Every coach knows that they have stayed the course on their search for significance; not settling for the ordinary but pressing on to the extra-ordinary.  We are qualified by our own example of freedom to call the shepherds and the sheep around us to the higher ground of living their lives on target.  We have discovered that the freedom is in the journey, not the arrival.  The issue is what we are aiming at, not what we have hit.  At the end of 2010 we simply need to ask others, and ourselves "What have we done with 'Unto YOU this day has been given...'?"

4.Fear of INDECISIVENESS (Matthew 1:20)  Joseph's mind and heart was a battlefield of emotional and mental contradictions.  Every decision was a lose/lose.  Like so many indecisive men down the ages he felt he was caught in a double bind with no way out.  Even not making a public example of her left him numb.  He feared the consequences of every decision that his mind paraded before him.

Every coach knows that they need a coach when the options before them leave them paralyzed with indecisiveness; someone who can help them re-frame the situation, get another perspective on it, come up with creative options that have been overlooked.  We know that someone will appear to us by day or night who will help us see in a new way so that we can decide with a new freedom.  In days of political spin, corporate speak, and religious hype we can be a sounding board for others who can get the clarity that says "This is the way, walk in it", "Choose this day...", "As for me and my house, we will..."

Freedom is best known when the landscape is subject to the bondage of pessimism, anxiety, worry, dread, all contributing to a FEAR of the Future.  That is why our own Freedom from Fear is the greatest qualification to coach others this Christmas and beyond.  Here is your gift.  Why not open it now so you can serve others and set the captives free from fear, one conversation at a time.

Because He came,

Dr. Joseph     www.lifeformingcoach.com