I was quite impressed by the television commercial that GM has been airing over the last couple of days, following their filing of Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Monday.

Talk about taking a coach approach to failure! In fact, seeing this commercial actually left me with the feeling that the "real world" was finally coming into alignment with the "coaching world" that I have been part of since 2002.

Writing prompt: Whatever target market you serve as a coach, I bet that you have a thing or two to say to them about reinvention, failure and starting over. Why not write some of those things down in an article or blog post?

With GM Canada workers voting today on an agreement designed to keep GM operating in Canada, I started thinking about the skill of negotiation, and how it shows up in different parts of our lives.

Here are some suggested coaching article topics:

• Career coaches: 5 steps to negotiating your next pay raise
• Life coaches: 5 situations where negotiation and compromise can save your relationship
• Money coaches: 5 services you could be paying less for if you just asked
• Parenting coaches: 5 tips for negotiating a curfew that everyone can feel good about
• Business coaches: 10 ways to communicate your value so that customers will happily pay what you're worth
• Divorce coaches: 10 negotiation strategies that will keep you out of divorce court

Writing prompt: How could improved negotiation skills help your specific target market?

I came across a local news blog post about Michelle Obama's vegetable garden at the White House, and then I followed up with a little more reading at the New York Times. It is exciting to think about how this seemingly small effort has the potential to influence so many important issues in the U.S. and the entire world – healthy eating, sustainability and other environmental, social and health concerns.

Here are some coaching article ideas that sprouted for me as I considered this topic:

• Parenting/Family coaches: 10 must-have's to start your own family garden
• Food/Cooking coaches: 10 vegetable side dishes from your organic garden
• Life coaches: 10 reasons that gardening is good for your soul
• Money coaches: 10 ways that healthier eating can save you money

Writing prompt: Did these topics spark any ideas for your newsletter or blog? What's the connection between your specialty area and the Obama garden?

I just heard a promotion that tonight on CityTV's 6:00 o'clock news they are only telling good news. I definitely plan to tune in and I'm looking forward to the positive spin.

[Update: 6:04 p.m. – It turns out that the good news stories will be interspersed with the "regular" news of the day.]

On the radio, I've been enjoying a new feature on 680 News, which now has regular good news reports on the air. They also collect good news stories on their website. [Update December 22, 2012 – No longer available.]

In the coaching world we talk a lot about positive affirmations, the Law of Attraction and the power to choose where we will focus our thoughts. But in the "real world" it's sometimes difficult to shield ourselves from the darker events going on in our communities and in the world.

Most of the time it feels like the media is the enemy of positive thinking, and our first defense against "doom and gloom" thinking is usually to turn OFF the news.

That's why it's so exciting to see these media outlets turning that around – even for just a few minutes a day or for one special broadcast.

Here are the coaching article topics I thought of in relation to this story:

• Executive coaches: 10 positive employee attributes you may be forgetting to praise

• Marketing coaches: 10 good news stories about your business that you could pitch to the media 

• Life coaches: 10 ways to put a positive spin on bad news

• Dating coaches: 10 positive topics to talk about on a first date

• Business coaches: 10 ways to use your influence to do some good

Writing prompt: Did these article topics spark any ideas for your own newsletter or blog? Are there any good news stories you could be sharing with your readers?

This is not a brand new story. It was actually Wednesday, March 18th that Michel "Giant" Andrew completed a 300-km, five-walk solitary walk through the wilderness to raise awareness of the high rate of diabetes in his Innu community.

I saw this story last weekend on CBC National. You can read more about Michel here.

I was fascinated to learn about Michel; not just his journey, but the bigger story this news report told of what's happening in his community (particularly their decision to ban alcohol in February 2008), and it led me to these possible coaching topics for your articles:

• Career coaches: How to turn around your past and create a new future
• Life coaches: How to keep going when the odds are stacked against you
• Parenting coaches: 10 signs your child may be involved with drugs or alcohol
• Business coaches: How to sell an unpopular idea
• Marketing coaches: How to sell people on what they need, when it's not what they want
• Spiritual coaches: How to express your inner spirit as a way of healing your outer world
• Non-profit sector coaches: How to rally a community into action

Writing prompt: Can you expand any of these titles into an article for your target market? Please comment below – I would love to hear what you do with it!