Interviewee Name: Irene Becker
Company Name: Just Coach It
Website: http://justcoachit.com
Avil Beckford: Tell me a little bit about yourself.
Irene Becker: I’m a coach, a speaker and writer who helps people to work, communicate and lead happier and smarter lives in high stress, high change environments.
Avil Beckford: When you have some down time, how do you spend it?
Irene Becker: I make sure that I take downtime for a couple of minutes, three times a day to do exercises that build my 3Qs. I do a little exercise called the Pause that’s a two-minute stress buster and mindfulness meditation. When I have downtime, I’m either learning, praying and meditating, or I’m sharing and doing something of service that’s relationship-based.
Avil Beckford: What are five life lessons that you have learned so far?
Irene Becker:
- Always be solution-focused. We know that our brain is automatically set to negatives, so being solution-focused is retraining our brain. But today more than ever before, we all need to move from being problem-focused to solution focused.
- Don’t forsake your courage, integrity, or humanity.
- Give more, share more, care more and contribute more because they are all roads to fulfillment and happiness.
- Love more.
- Live more and laugh more. Appreciate and be grateful for your life-inject humour wherever and whenever you can.
We look around and there are parts of the world where people go to bed hungry and yet they seem to be happier than people in North America and Western Europe. Life is a gift.
Avil Beckford: What’s your favourite quotation and why?
Irene Becker: My favourite quotation is from Pierre Teilhard de Chardin who was a palaeontologist and Jesuit priest. He said, “Someday, after mastering the winds, the waves, the tides and gravity, we shall harness for God the energies of love, and then, for a second time in the history of the world, man will have discovered fire.”
Avil Beckford: How do you define success? And in your opinion what’s the formula for success?
Irene Becker: I don’t think that my formula for success would resonate with everyone, so I’m going to give you two answers. My definition for success is service above self. I had a client who was the Bill Gates of the country (Canada), and I’m really curious, here is a man who has everything, had built everything from scratch. And I asked him, “How do you define success?” and he told me in two seconds, “happiness,” so I think that’s the ultimate definition because when I define success it’s service, it makes me happy to feel that I have been of service. So success is happiness. I think the formula for success is timeless, it’s creating value for others. Whether you’re talking about business or personal success, it’s only when we’re creating value for others, that’s what success is. It’s that feeling of contributing that makes us happiest, and a sustainable business is about creating value for others. A sustainable relationship also depends on creating value for others.
Avil Beckford: What are the steps you took to succeed in your field?
Irene Becker: Learning, continuously learning, being passionate about my craft, working hard, contributing and understanding the difference between wants and needs. We used to be in a marketplace where Marketing 101 used to say, find the need, that’s no longer true. We’re so deluged with everything. When you have a product or service you have to understand the want.
Avil Beckford: What advice do you have for someone just starting out in your field?
Irene Becker: Find your passion then search for the want. Work hard, work honourably and work consistently.
Avil Beckford: If trusted friends could introduce you to five people that you’ve always wanted to meet, who would you choose? And what would you say to them?
Irene Becker: This was such a hard question because there are so many people I want to meet. So I decided that I would pick people from the past.
- Abraham from the Bible
- Rumi the Sufi mystic and poet
- Dr. Martin Luther King
- Albert Einstein
- George Washington Carver, the peanut farmer: He was a man of such values and principles, a true leader. He was offered a lot of money but would have to give up his values and he never would. Corporations wanted to buy him out and I think it was the most incredible story.
- Anne Frank
I would say, “Thank you!” because they all made the world a better place, and they all truly came from a place of love and service – extraordinary people.
Avil Beckford: Which one book had a profound impact on your life? What was it about this book that impacted you so deeply?
Irene Becker: I actually have a few books. I couldn’t come up with just one. The Torah, Bible, the Psalms, The Zohar, The Prophet
Avil Beckford: You are one of the 10 finalists on the reality show, So, How Would You Spend Your Time? Each finalist is placed on separate deserted islands for two years. You have a basic hut on the island and all the tools for survival; you just have to be imaginative and inventive when using them. You are allowed to take five books, one movie and one music CD, and whatever else you take has to fit in one suitcase and a travel on case. What would you take with you and how would you spend the two years? T he prize is worth your while and at this stage in the game there really aren’t any losers among the 10 finalists, since each are guaranteed at least $2 million?
I would take books: The Psalms, The Bible, The Zohar, Writings/Essays by my children, Poetry by Rumi.
I would take my favourite movie, Bruce Almighty as it is both very funny and very profound, spiritual.
Irene Becker: For the two years I would be praying, meditating, reflecting, and writing thoughts of value that I’d like to share with others – Thoughts about how life is a gift and how to use it. I would try to develop a routine that taps into my head, heart, soul and body. Never giving up faith that my two years was for a purpose that I cannot see, but that will be of service to others.
Avil Beckford: What excites you about life?
Irene Becker: Love! The ability to cleave to the spark of Godliness, the spark of eternal love that is the source of all.
Avil Beckford: How do you nurture your soul?
Irene Becker: Love and prayer!
Avil Beckford: If you had a personal genie and she gave you one wish, what would you wish for?
Irene Becker: I would wish for what Pierre Teilhard de Chardin said in my favourite quote that I would see a day when…. “We shall harness for God the energies of love, and then, for a second time in the history of the world, man will have discovered fire.”
Avil Beckford: Complete the following, I am happy when…..
Irene Becker: I am living and leading in service to the greatest good, because it is only in service that we realize our true purpose.
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The Invisible Mentor Interviews Life and Leadership Coach Irene Becker Part II http://t.co/klicd8mC