Need to stay resolute? A motivational speaker offers tips

Lose weight. Be less stressed. Swear off television. Get out of debt and save money. Travel to new places.

Resolutions can be easy to make but tough to keep, but according to motivational speaker and life coach Cecilia Gorman, there are ways to stay strong in the face of tempting desserts and stay committed if a new career path is called for.

Gorman, a Ladera Ranch single mom of two, said she developed an ability to coach

people when she was recruiting for Y&R advertising. She would speak at local colleges and national advertising schools, encouraging students to pursue careers in the field.

The more she spoke to students who were eager to get their professional careers started, the more Gorman wanted to inspire others. So she resigned her recruiting job and enrolled in the John Maxwell Certification Program, an online training program in how to encourage people’s personal and professional growth.

Then she launched her own motivational speaking business.

Five months ago, Gorman, who had been an advertising executive for 20 years, including eight years as a recruiter and creative services director, decided to host a motivational workshop.

She teamed up with women’s life coach Chelsea Szabo to present a half-day workshop, “Getting Unstuck: Turning Aspiration in Action.”

The inaugural event will be held at Crash Labs in Costa Mesa on Jan. 16. Gorman said those who sign up for the $89, five-hour session will be given tools for moving forward in health, finances, career and relationships. Guests will take home a packet intended to help them keep on track.

“It’s frightening and exciting,” Gorman said about making a big change. “I took a dose of my own medicine.”

“Getting Unstuck,” she said, also was inspired by her personal struggles in fitness and finances.

“I wanted to be more consistent with running and eating healthy, since I worried about how my habits were going to carry on into my 70s,” Gorman said. “And I realized, we all have struggles, but how do we take action?”

She developed a four-step system designed to show how challenges that might prevent a person from moving forward can be overcome.

The plan starts with aspiration. What part of a person’s life needs improvement?

It’s an important step, she said, because feelings are being acknowledged, and it’s the start of doing something good.

Then comes creating a vision of how a goal can be accomplished, followed by planning and taking action.

“It’s about making a person feel more confident on their goals and have a plan on how to do it,” Szabo said. “We want them to say they can do this and make movement toward whatever they want to accomplish. It’s enlightening.”

Szabo, a Santa Monica resident who worked in advertising for 10 years, including at Disney, left the industry to become a certified professional coach and founded Verbal Courage, a consulting service that aims to help women learn how to speak effectively. She and Gorman met through mutual friends.

The two said most clients are hesitant to make a change and may even try to justify staying in an uninspiring career choice. Paying a mortgage or wondering what parents would think are typical reasons, they said.

“They’re true and they’re valid feelings, but we want to talk about what will make for a more balanced and fulfilled life,” Gorman said. “The critic inside all of us can get loud and get us nervous.”

Gorman and Szabo said they would like to hold more weekend events and workshops.

“We want to make this more about intention and growth than accomplishing short-term goals,” Gorman said. “This is about long-term health and wellness.”

For more information, visit www.ceciliagorman.com