“If you can dream it, you can do it”
Walt Disney
Choose the festive season and the approach of another year to draw up your personal balance sheet and plan to invest in yourself in the year ahead with some self-coaching. Self-coaching means you take the initiative in creating positive changes in your life without professional help. There are the many benefits to this empowering process of realising your own capabilities and setting your own goals (not the least of which is that you won’t have to pay anyone). Like any new skill, self-coaching needs to be learned and practised for it to be effective.
1. List the highlights of the past year in all aspects of your life ( work, home, relationships… )
2. Write down your successes and identify areas that could benefit from some improvement.
3. Be honest and admit where you are going wrong.
4. Ask questions that help identify positive solutions e.g. what could you have do differently.
5. Decide what your goals will be for the next year and break them down into realistically achievable chunks.
6. Focus your attention on the things you really want to achieve and commit to them.
7. Identify / use outside resources such as supportive friends or read up on coaching techniques that can help you.
8. Track your progress consistently with a diary or a worksheet.
9. Revisit and revise your goals but keep your eye on the prize, especially with long-term goals.
10. Celebrate your successes and think positive thoughts.
Self-coaching techniques form part of our Focus Area “Personal Mastery”
The following posts in our Treasure Chest are also relevant:
Manage your inner dialogue
Mirror, mirror in the brain
I believe, therefore I am