In this episode, I explore Goal orientation and Goal setting from a different angle and a nuanced perspective.

Many of these things I learned from my mentor Kris Robertson while I studied for my certification in Personal Performance Coaching at the Coaching Academy in London, England.

During this conversation, we go beyond “SMART” Goals frameworks that we so often hear about in mainstream spaces.

From a coaching perspective, effective goal setting begins with getting clarity around the idea of “What Does Good Look Like?”

Dreams are often mistaken for goals and you might think of goals as falling into 4 different categories.

1. Practical Goals

2. Having Goals

3. Being Goals

4. Decision Goals

We dive into the idea of establishing “First Journey Focal Points or Objectives” and the importance of getting early wins and building psychological momentum. Breaking things into smaller bit works. The impact of “Hard Whys” are also emphasized and the idea of asking ourselves intentional questions about the future and possibilities is an instrumental part of this process. When we build a compelling hard why, we essentially connect our brains to our hearts and this is where the fuel and magic lies in regards to goal achievement.

Follow along as we talk about the reasons why New Year’s Resolutions so often fall flat and fail.

I share about my own struggles with maintaining a healthy weight and how constructing hard whys helped me make great strides in this area of my life journey.

Fleshing things out and choosing which area is most important to you in regards to making progress is also significant. Trying to do too much too soon and designing really big goals at the start often leads to overwhelm and defeat before we even get started. Early on, one of the most key obstacles to overcome is inertia.

A key takeaway is that we get there a little bit at a time. In closing, I discuss the movie “What About Bob” and how the central message in that film runs parallel to today’s discussion. The movie emphasizes the power and impact of “Baby Steps” in a humorous way, and we can take those words to heart on our path to achieving the goals that we’ve set out in front of us.

PerfectWhelm Podcast Links & Resources

- Schedule a free discovery call with me to find out more about my coaching services and to see how I might be able to help you attain the outcomes you want and create the change you are seeking.

- Email: eric@ericslivoskey.com

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In this episode, Eva offers more insights and details about the horrors of camp life at Auschwitz. She shares about some chance encounters she had with her father and also her luck in obtaining a job in “Canada”… the location where the stolen belongings like clothing, jewelry, food, and money were taken from the Jews as they were initially processed into the camp.

There is also a story where Eva’s mom is selected for the gas chamber after several months in the camp as she has grown thin and weak from the lack of food and terrible living conditions at the camp. Eva puts a plan into effect and scrambles to find her cousin from Prague who might be able to influence the Germans to spare her mother’s life.

Eva also discusses the liberation from the Auschwitz by the Russians and the absolute chaos that set on the camp as many of the Jews were forced into “death marches” by the remaining German guards. She loses contact with her father and doesn’t learn of her dad and brother’s fate until several months later.

Her experiences on the transports through places like Poland, Russia, Romania, Italy, and France and the isolation and uncertainty she faced while making her way back to Amsterdam is also discussed.

When Eva and her mom finally arrive back in Holland in late spring of 1945, they have no money and no place to go. They begin a search for Eva’s brother and father, and when they learn of their fate… Eva becomes severely depressed and considers suicide in the early months of 1946.

In the final segment of this conversation, Eva talks about the difficult decision to reclaim her Austrian citizenship and ultimately forgive the Germans for what they did to her, her friends, and her family. It is a hopeful and poignant story in the midst of so much heartache, pain, and suffering.

PerfectWhelm Podcast Links & Resources

- Schedule a free discovery call with me to learn more about my coaching programs and services.

- Email:eric@ericslivoskey.com

Please follow, subscribe, rate, and/or share the podcast with someone you think might benefit from it.

Join me in this episode as I take a walk back through one of the greatest horrors of the 20th century, Holocaust.

I am joined by a very strong woman who I have called a friend for more than 5 years now. Eva Schloss is the stepsister of Anne Frank, and a survivor of the Auschwitz Birkenau concentration camps during World War 2.

In this episode, we begin where Eva is 9 years old and living with her brother and parents in Vienna, Austria. It is the late 1930’s and Hitler is rising in power. There is already a great deal of Anti-Semitism brewing in Europe and it worsens as Hitler initiates war.

Eva recalls her best friends turning on her and her brother once the war started and there was harassment, shunning, exclusionary practices, and even physical violence that the family had to endure.

Soon they were separated and living in Belgium and then Amsterdam, Holland… which is where Eva met Anne Frank. Anne would later become her stepsister.

As the Germans advanced on Holland and heavily bombed Rotterdam, the restrictions and discrimination increased for the Jews and the Schloss family.

Deportations started in the early 1940’s and the Nazis began killing children, as was the case in Mauthausen, which Eva mentions in our conversation.

The family had to live apart most of the time between 1940 and 1944 and they moved around 6-7 times, hiding in the homes of connections they had and keeping a low profile. In 1944, the family was betrayed shortly after a move by a Dutch nurse who was serving as a double agent.

Towards the latter stages of the interview, Eva describes her interrogation at a holding camp, and also the journey to Auschwitz on cattle trucks where there was little room and horrible sanitary conditions.

Upon arriving at Auschwitz, she shares about the selection process, the horrible and emotional separation from her brother and father, the harassment and harsh treatment they received at the hands of the SS soldiers, and the conditions of camp life.

There are 2 miracles or great strokes of luck that happened to Eva and her mother during their early days at Auschwitz, and you definitely want to tune in to hear her describe this incredible chain of events.

PerfectWhelm Podcast Links & Resources

- Schedule a free discovery call with me to learn more about my coaching programs and services.

- Email: eric@ericslivoskey.com

Please follow, subscribe, rate, and/or share the podcast with someone you think might benefit from it.