Dates TBD
Open to the Public

The Blue Sky Visioning Master Class with Ben Dean and Anne Durand

To hear Ben lead a one-hour Q&A about the Blue Sky class and its approach to creating a life vision, click here.

What You'll Be Doing in this Course:

In the 12-week course, you'll design six BHAGs (Big, Hairy, Audacious Goals*). Together they'll comprise a very large vision of what your life could be. We have a very specific, concrete approach that guarantees you can succeed at this--designing a vision much bigger than you've ever done before.

Then using backward planning to back yourself back into the present. Then creating the focus and social support to bring it to life. You'll learn to do this first for yourself and then for your coaching clients. And you'll walk out with an outline of how to lead a virtual or in-person workshop for groups of any size as well.

This class has brought about transformative change and extraordinary evaluations.

The 5-Year Life Vision:

Most of us think far too small. Even the big dreams that we have are almost always constrained by our hidden blinders. This is especially true for therapists and other helping professionals who are not used to creating BHAG’s (big, hairy, audacious goals).(Collins et al, 1999).

Yet if you think back over your life and remember the most important accomplishments you've achieved, almost always they began with and were sustained by a powerful vision. In this workshop, we're going to hold your hand and help you create an expansive vision for your life.

What You'll Take Away from this Course:

Our atmosphere will be light, reflective, and at times playful. But make no mistake, we will lead you through an exercise which will allow you to create a vision of your life five to seven years in the future--a vision that is anchored by six specific outcome goals.

Then we'll show you exactly how to do backward planning from those goals, backing yourself back into the present.

Then you’ll learn how to create the focus and social support to bring your vision it to life. You’ll learn to do this first for yourself and then for your coaching clients.

And you’ll walk out with an outline of how to lead a powerful in-person (or teleconference) workshop on life visioning for groups of any size as well.

*Collins, J.& Porras, J. (July-August 1999). Turning goals into results: the power of catalytic mechanisms. Harvard Business Review.

What People Are Saying About Blue Sky:

The Blue Sky Visioning course changed my life. Here's how . . .

After I was successfully treated for a benign brain tumor, an insistent voice began whispering in my ear, "Do you want to die knowing you were afraid to live your dreams?" Gulp! What were my dreams? I had NO idea. None. Nada.

How could I figure it out?

Shortly thereafter, I heard about the Blue Sky Visioning class. Taking it helped me realize that I dreamed of being a best-selling author and a national speaker. And being in a sexy, romantic relationship. One where we talked and touched, and disagreed gently.

Since then, I've been taking tiny steps toward my personal destiny. I'm the happiest I've been in my life.

If you'd like to identify your own dreams, I heartily recommend the Blue Sky Visioning course to you.

--Doreen Stern, Ph.D., Hartford, CT

A huge personal thank you to you for the superb blue sky course. The class was so well designed and facilitated. It has already made a difference to me in helping me to articulate some very ambitious goals which I would not have dared to express without this encouragement. Your own style is so thoughtful, disciplined and yet with much heart and compassion for all the students. I hope to meet you one of these days. Thanks so very much!

--Susanne Rheault, Ph.D, Lincoln MA

Blue Skies Visioning is an outstanding class! You can't miss it if you want to get any place with your coaching business. You will be given a very cool process to help you figure out how to establish and accomplish your most important goals.

Our own class is still meeting 8 years later. We meet at least 4 times a year to catch up and support each other with current and long range goals.

We have written books, become best selling authors, secured important speaking engagements, won large six-figure consulting engagements, been presented various awards, been hired for important jobs or contracts, changed our way of living, moved to second homes part of the year, successfully gone through cancer, surgeries, divorces, marriages, mother's deaths, grandchildren's births and the usual and customary goals and BHAG's as a successful Blue Skiers.

--D'Arcy Vanderpool, MA, PCC, Las Vegas, Nevada

Thanks to the Blue Sky Visioning MasterClass taught by Ben Dean in 2002, I have achieved goals that I thought were impossible for me. Included in my original five goals were "having a full time coaching practice" and "owning a vacation house in Vermont". I achieved those and, in fact, all the goals on my original list and have used the Blue Sky method to continue to broaden and deepen my life ever since. If I could only take one MentorCoach class, Blue Sky would be the one. It's made a big positive difference in my life.

--Kevyn Malloy, Ph.D., Washington Crossings, PA

Blue Sky Visioning provides an energizing jump start to anyone who has goals and visions, but has not been really able to realize them. Ben and Anne encourage students to stretch their hopes and wishes for their lives well beyond what they have yet been able to achieve. I worked from Ben's Pillars of a Balanced Life and Sonja Lyubomirsky's Best Possible Selves exercise to develop a 5-year set of visions and then worked backward to the present to create steps toward those visions. The system is flexible enough to allow additions, changes, and deletions to chart progress. I added photographs and other mementos to create a vivid visual display. Blue Sky encourages creativity, flexibility, and vision, and it was and continues to be great fun.

--Caitilin Stetson, Ph.D., Bethesda, MD

I wanted to let you know how sorry I am that I missed the last few phone ins. I had a nasty accident and did lots of damage to my left hand so was in hospital for a while. I'm now without a left thumb but on the way to recovery.

Your course was so inspiring and definitely just what I needed, in view of missing a significant part I'm going to sign up and do the course again when you next run it. I've spoken to a other UK dwellers who are interested in joining the next one.

I just want to thank you both so much for sharing such a fruitful course and for all the heart you put into it. i really look forward to joining you both again in the future.

Bright Blessings

--Miriam

The Blue Sky Visioning course was perhaps the best course (of many excellent ones) I've taken from Mentor Coach! Since goal-setting is at the heart of coaching, this course in goal-setting underpins everything we do as coaches. The instructors were truly inspiring, encouraging us to reach high in developing our own personal 5-year plans. In this way, they modeled how we can support our clients as they dare to set challenging goals. Beyond just learning "how to," taking this course was also exhilarating!

Connie Hillman, LICSW, Boston, MA

It is so easy for me to get bogged down in checking off my daily “to do’s” that I can lose sight of our bigger aims. Through class presentations and exercises, Blue Sky truly inspired me to think carefully about how I want to live this “one precious life of mine,” as Mary Oliver put it. I walked away with a laminated page of 10 deeply important goals and a support group to spur me on. Among those goals already achieved: published my first book, got certified as a coach, started a wellness plan, began a spiritual group in Argentina, widened my ties with colleagues, and deepened my relationship with my husband. More are in progress! What was so great about doing this in community was hearing others let go their “bargain basement” dreams in favor of “premium” dreams full of passion. As passion for living is contagious, I highly recommend this class taught by two super coaches!

Gayle Scroggs, Ph.D., C.M.C., Argentina

One of the best decisions I have made was to take the Blue Sky Visioning Class. I recommend it highly. I received major benefits from taking this class.

· It helped me to release limiting thoughts about possibilities for myself. Prior to the class I thought of myself as a very positive person who operated with few self imposed limits for myself. This class showed me a different picture and opened me up to even more possibilities. Thank you so much for this. As a result, I feel a greater sense of self-empowerment.

· The support I received from you and Anne and the members of our group was wonderful.

· The course was not only a valuable learning experience but it was also a lot of fun.

· I am a clinician and find what I learned in the course very helpful in the work that I do with my clients.

· Finally, I am still meeting with some of the members of the group from class on a monthly basis. I/we continue to use the tools we were given in the class and support each other in achieving our goals.

Taking the Blue Sky Visioning class was money well-spent. Thank you.

Very sincerely and with appreciation,

Abisola Gallagher, Ed.D.,
Director for Counseling & Wellness Services
New Jersey City University Counseling Center

Blue Sky, which I took twice, was very helpful in gaining clarity on what I want for my life. The tools and techniques to keep my focus and move forward have all been worth taking this program twice to really get them down. I made great and lasting connections in Blue Sky. Ben and Anne are a skillful teachers and leaders. If you want to move your life to the next level, I recommend taking Blue Sky [maybe do it twice :)].

Marnie McNamara, Nashville, TN