“The world is what you think it is. Change the way you think, and you will change the way you experience life,” says best-selling author and transformative coach Michael Neill, in his new book, Supercoach: 10 Secrets to Transform Anyone’s Life (Hay House, March 2010).

In Supercoach, Neill presents 10 coaching “secrets” that can be applied at a reader’s own pace. Each secret, which is illustrated with case studies and anecdotes, is designed to be a catalyst – something that will spark a reader’s own insights about how he or she thinks, lives and works.  The book also includes specific actions that people can take to actually experience change and incorporate it into their lives.

“The key to transformation,” Neill says, “is making changes from the inside out.  When you learn to live your life from the inside out, stress disappears, and worry becomes almost nonexistent.  You realize that you were born happy, and the worst thing that can ever happen to you is a thought – a thought about whatever you think is the worst thing that could ever happen to you.”

Counterintuitive Concepts

Many of Neill’s coaching secrets are counterintuitive - goal-setting, for instance.  “Obsessing about goals is like playing a game of fetch with yourself, using your happiness and self-worth as the bone," he says.  "Even when you do reach your goals, you only allow yourself a fleeting moment of satisfaction before throwing your happiness even further away into the future than before.”  It’s not that you can’t get what you want – on the contrary, many of Neill’s clients have achieved great success in the world.  It’s just that people don’t have to wait to be successful in the future to begin really enjoying their lives right now.

Have an Average Day

Another of the book's important insights is why having an “average day” is more powerful than having a “great day.”  This concept refers to people’s unquenchable thirst for overachievement and recognition.  “Everyone wants to have an ‘amazing day,’ but the truth is, most days aren’t ‘amazing’ – and when you think they’re supposed to be, you wind up feeling like a failure.  Stringing together a series of average days doing what you love and want to do is actually quite extraordinary,” he writes. “Imagine how much can be achieved in six months, for example, by spending 45 minutes on a particular project, every single day.” 

More Supercoach Secrets

Learning how to feel comfortable asking for what you want is another step to transforming your life.  As Neill says, “you can ask anyone for anything if you make it OK for them to say ‘no.’  Once you recognize that ‘no’ is never personal, it gets easier and easier to ask for what you want.”

Neill also addresses money matters in an in-depth chapter titled "The Secret to a Lifetime of Financial Security." Here he helps readers change their relationship to money by absorbing the concept that “financial security does not come from the amount of money you currently have; it comes from your ability to get more of it whenever you want.  Master the art of serving others, and you will secure your financial future.”

Supercoach also covers:

• The secret to financial security in any economy.
• Proven techniques to produce significant changes in yourself and others.
• Simple ways to create lasting relationships.
• Strategies for increasing productivity, energy, and well-being.