John McKay - Business and Personal Coaching

04/07/2025

There is a really good book I read recently, called The Power of Systems by Steve Chandler and Trevor Timbeck. I’ve read a number of other books on systems, usually business systems, but this one was about more about the nature of systems, how the results we get in various areas of our lives are the product of our systems....

There is a really good book I read recently, called The Power of Systems by Steve Chandler and Trevor Timbeck. I’ve read a number of other books on systems, usually business systems, but this one …

03/11/2021

My latest contribution on Medium.

When I work with clients, I sometimes ask this question:

12/08/2020

I recently have been writing on medium a bit. Here’s an article I wrote a little while back, about finding our common humanity.

Thoughts on fellowship, humanity, and thinking

08/20/2020

Venn Diagrams as coaching tools...

I love Venn Diagrams, as a way to show where we are not in alignment, and how that causes our frustrations and failures. It becomes obvious when you see that you are only overlapping ever so slightly and when you are near total alignment. The first Venn Diagram I’d like to consider is the one that...

01/02/2020

The end of the year is a time for looking back over the past year, and planning for the year ahead. When we look back, we can see our accomplishments and failures, the good times we had, and the hardships we overcame.

10/17/2017

Thinking today about the foundation of our lives.

Like a well built building, we have to have a strong foundation. The higher we intend to build, the more important the foundation is. In a building this might mean digging deeper, etc. But in our lives, the foundation is really threefold. It is the same basic needs of any animal:

Rest - We need to get good sleep, relax and recharge. Often, as we build the building of our lives higher, we spend less time resting and relaxing. While it feels good to be busy and making progress, this isn't unlike keeping a horse pulling a cart without stopping. The progress is good, and everything feels ok until the horse drops dead.

Nutrition - As an animal, we need to eat the right foods. Just as you don't feed lettuce to a cat, we have to know what foods are right for us. I'm not a nutritionist, but I think we all have a basic idea of what good food looks like. As Michael Pollan says, ""Eat food, not too much, mostly plants." And by 'food' he means real food, not packaged, processed 'faux' food.

Exercise - Again, a reminder that we are animals first, people second. You have to maintain your biological self, or nothing else matters. Exercise keeps us healthy, and our brains are designed to reinforce these activities. We get boosts of 'feel good' chemicals when we exert ourselves, and that good feeling lasts all day.

This simple triad isn't something you can add when you want to, or only when you're on vacation, or feeling a little slow or pudgy. It is the foundation on which everything else is built.

Create a strong foundation, before cracks start showing up in your walls.

09/06/2016

Fear is the feeling of growth. New things are always scary. If you're not feeling fear, you're not growing.

09/06/2016

Working with a client today, and he had a pretty significant breakthrough. A simple way to add value that will net him several thousand dollars more every month, with little added work, and almost no cost. Always feels good to be part of that kind of moment!

07/13/2016

Been reading the really good book, The Big Leap, by Gay Hendricks. One of the best insights in the book, which is a tiny little bit of the book, almost an aside, is the insight that most arguments, squabbles, etc are the result of both participants 'racing to occupy the victim position.' If you think about it, when we argue, we are generally saying that something the other person said or did hurt us in some way, and they are trying to say that we hurt them. If one party takes ownership of the conflict, and says that they indeed hurt the other, and that they should have handled things differently, that person ends the conflict, while moving out of the powerless 'victim stance.'

Well worth reading, if you're looking for a great book. And the rest of the book has some great insights into finding your genius zone, 'creating' time, etc.

“Gay Hendricks is a great role model for true success. He enjoys abundance and a deep connection with his own spiritual essence, and at the same time has lived for three decades in a thriving marriage. Now, he shows us how to do it for ourselves.” — Mark Victor Hansen, co-author...

03/21/2016

A great question to consider:

"What’s Missing From Your Life Right Now, and How Are You Keeping It Out?"