Author: Principle Michelle

Principle Michelle is a middle school leader, master teacher, and a Certified Parent Empowerment Coach. She currently resides in the Washington D.C. area where she serves kids and their parents who have entrusted her to help them navigate the middle years. Principle Michelle loves "the middle" -- it's the place where the rubber meets the road. Kids in middle school are at a pivotal stage in their lives, and they can go left or right. Because this is where God positioned her, she gets to direct and guide middle school students in the way that they should go. She also enjoys helping families build strong biblical foundations by offering them strategies, resources, and tools to help them to train up their kids and to build the life God intended.
Coaching 101, Faith, Perserverance

Be That Girl: Take the Next Step

Principle Michelle

It doesn’t take much to motivate some folks. They are intrinsically excited to move forward with passion. Their vision is clear, and they remain focused on achieving their goals. There are others, however, who have the vision and the passion, but their fears outnumber the reasons why they should keep moving forward. They lack the courage to keep going because they don’t know where this road will take them. They’re fearful that they’ll be labeled a copycat or even a failure. These are all legitimate fears. But are you willing to defer or abandon your dreams because of a little fear?

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go. ~Joshua 1:9

Being strong and courageous doesn’t mean that you aren’t fearful; it simply means that you know who has your back, who knows the way, and who travels with you. The journey may even seem lonely sometimes, but God sticks closer than a brother and wants to hear from you. Go to him in prayer, and tell him what’s on your mind. Ask him to guide you through this uncertain season as you fight the urge to tarry. Be the girl who takes the next step that leads to her destiny.

GoForIt

Five Ways to Go For It

  1. Pray for divine guidance.  Mark 11:24
  2. Write down the vision that God reveals. Habukkuk 2:2
  3. Ask for help to achieve your goals. John 15:7
  4. Thank God for his vision and provision. Matthew 6:26
  5. Repeat steps 1-4.

This is a tried and true method that I use each day. Stepping out on faith to become a Certified Life Coach was a tough decision. I knew that God had given me this vision to minister to women, but most days it just seemed too big for me. I feared that I might fail. I feared that I’d be called a copycat or a bandwagoneer, but God whispered peace and assured me that I was on the right track.  He removed my fears and replaced them with a promise that he had already put his plan in motion. He showed me how all my experiences to date were necessary for me to be the Coach he wants me to be. He told me that I am that girl who goes for it, and you can be her too.  Take the next step. Reach out to me when you’re ready, but don’t wait too long. I’d love to be your Coach. After all, we’re Better Twogether. ❤

NOTE — Trailblazer’s Coaching Special ends 12/31/17. Click here to take advantage of this offer.

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Coaching 101, Faith, Growth

What Are You Building?

Principle Michelle

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Scripture reminds us of many things, but this message is truly life-saving.

Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing. ~ 1 Thessalonians 5:11

We should all be in the construction business — building, pouring, and shaping ourselves and others into the masterpiece God envisioned. Words have the power to heal, and your actions can speed up the healing process.

Every person has experienced something that delays construction — stormy weather, layoffs, and lack of resources. Today I encourage you to be a Trailblazer who shows up no matter what the weather is like. Be a Trailblazer who volunteers her time –whether invited to do so or not. Today I encourage you to freely give your time and talents to those who need them most. That’s what Trailblazers do — they do ordinary things in extraordinary ways. Always remember that we’re Better Twogether.

NOTE – Ladies, please join our community of Trailblazers here. We strive to encourage and empower you daily as we blaze a trail to excellence.

Coaching 101, Faith, Growth

In Need of a Coach?

Principle Michelle

Good morning, friends! As I reflect this morning, I’m so grateful to serve as a Women’s Leadership Coach. What a blessing it is to help women take their wildest dreams and transform them into a vision. From there, we backwards map our route to realizing those dreams. Hearing God’s voice allows me to help move them from where they are to where they want to go. I merely serve as their facilitator.

As an experienced educator and administrator, Coach Michelle has been a blessing in the lives of students and the faculties she has supervised. Her empathetic, yet straightforward style has positively impacted many. She is now using this expertise, along with a faith based approach, to make a positive impact as a certified life coach. Coach Michelle applies biblical principles to today’s problems to create positive, workable solutions. I highly recommend Coach Michelle! ~Rodgers Speaks

Today is the day to take a step in another direction — toward your destiny. Drop me a line at michellemalone@bettertwogether.org to set up your FREE Discovery Call and to take advantage of this limited time offer. Let’s blaze a trail to excellence twogether.

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Faith

Help Is On The Way

Principle Michelle

What was your first thought when you read the title of this post? Was it positive or negative? Did you conjure up any images when you read it? If you didn’t then, I bet you are now. What does help look like to you? Do you see the cavalry coming on horseback to rescue you? Perhaps you see a trusted friend or parent coming to your aid. Though most might see help as a good thing, there are some who view help as negative — a sign of weakness. Scripture reminds us that help is truly a good thing.

Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor:
10 If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls
 and has no one to help them up. ~Ecclesiastes 4:9-10

It is a blessing to have people in our lives who are available and willing to help during our times of need. The only responsibility we have is knowing when to say when and actually making the call. There’s no shame in asking for help. Giving someone the opportunity to serve you in this capacity may in fact be an answer to his or her prayers. As I always say, we aren’t meant to navigate this world alone. We’re so much Better Twogether.

Coaching 101, Faith

The Staircase Effect

Principle Michelle

This morning as I was praying about this post, I was reminded of my first position as a school leader.  I worked in a comprehensive high school with lots of stairs. Each set of stairs had a color, so it was really important to know which set of stairs to take in case of an emergency. All day long, I traveled up and down stairs — up green and down blue — up yellow and down red. Though all those steps helped me to stay fit, going up one more set of stairs seemed like a Herculean task by the end of a busy day — at which point I needed a better strategy for getting upstairs or an elevator.

That feeling you get when you’re at the bottom of the stairs looking up can be overwhelming — especially if you just came downstairs or you have a huge basket of laundry to carry upstairs. I call that The Staircase Effect. That’s the feeling we sometimes get when we begin vision casting or are well on our way toward the vision and get stuck.

Knowing exactly where you are and noting why you’re there is essential to taking the next step. If you’re stuck because you’ve run out of steam, note it and do what you need to do for yourself. For instance, I sometimes get stuck because I’m mentally or physically exhausted. I note it, and I take a nap (if that’s what will help me). If I just need to turn in early so that I’m refreshed tomorrow, that’s what I do. There’s no shame in tapping out temporarily — as long as you get back up and go toe-to-toe with your obstacles.

If you visualize your goals toward your vision as steps, you’ll realize that you can only take one step at a time without hurting yourself.  Taking two at a time might get you there a little faster, but at what cost? Be S.M.A.R.T when goal setting. Know exactly what you want, know exactly where you are, and set realistic goals that will get you there one step at a time.

As always, I’ll see you back here next Wednesday with another coaching tip. If you haven’t yet subscribed to my blog, do it today. Never miss a post! You weren’t meant to navigate this world alone. We are so much Better Twogether.

 

Note – If this post resonates with you, kindly scroll down to the comments and share your experience with me.

Faith, Growth, Hope

Did You Plan to Fail?

Principle Michelle

Nearly every person I know is a planner and has a planner. If not for these organizational whizzes, there would be no need for businesses that allow you to customize your own planners each year. I must admit that I marvel at those who can sandwich their lives in between colorful sleeves and onto decorative pages — all neatly captured between two beautifully-crafted  covers — events noted on various dates — highlighted, underscored, and stickered in place. They’re almost too pretty to move around, modify, or delete altogether.

The truth is that the best-laid plans often go awry even with the vision of the most persnickety planner. So, what do you do when the plan falls apart or just never seems to come together? An obvious answer might be Get back up and start over; however, we all have been found guilty of just giving up. It’s easy to give up, but the thought of leaving all your hard work on the floor haunts you — causing anxiety and sleepless nights.

Fortunately, a failed plan isn’t the end of the world. It can be, however, the beginning of a whole new world filled with possibilities. Seeking the support of a Life Coach to walk alongside you as you begin vision casting is essential to stretching further, digging deeper, and seeing past your perceived boundaries. That plan you created had lots of obstacles, but instead of accounting for them, you looked past them. In reality, looking past them isn’t as easy when that obstacle is sitting right in front of you — nose-to-nose. Talking out your plans with someone other than yourself will greatly increase your success rate. In the event that your plan starts to fall apart, you’ll have a trusted Coach to help you regroup and put the pieces back twogether — nice and snug.

Assessment, Coaching 101, Faith

You Are Here

Principle Michelle

Have you ever been at an unfamiliar mall and tried looking for a map? Once you get there, you look for the spot on the map that reads You are here. By looking around at your surroundings, you can see what’s near you and what’s a little further away. What you can’t see are all those stores and restaurants in the distance. That’s where the map comes in handy. It’s a great tool for seeing what else is in the mall and how far away you are from all those places.

Having an awareness of exactly where you are is important. Knowing where you want to go is just as important, but you need to have a map of sorts, a plan, and the will to go where you said you wanted to go. Coaching is a lot like this mall scenario. Coaching clients are sometimes stuck and can’t figure out where they are or why they’re stuck. That’s the ideal time to seek the support of a Life Coach who can listen intently and ask relevant questions to assess exactly where you are and why you’re stuck there.  Together, you and your coach can begin to get you unstuck and moving in the direction of your goal. It’s not easy, but an investment in your future is priceless. As always, we’re Better Twogether.