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At the beginning of the year I asked coaches in the Wellcoaches community to submit a list of ten ways in which they want to thrive in 2009. Diane is dealing with some challenging health issues and asked me for a series of coaching sessions to work on her health and life satisfaction.
Diane has started on the path to achieving her vision of being “in a state of health with sufficient energy and vitality that enables me to support myself in all realms – physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, and financial – and that enables me to explore and pursue my life’s mission.” In our second coaching session, Diane began to set goals that would lead her deliberately and wisely along her path.
“Around here, however, we don't look backwards very long, we keep moving forward, opening up new doors and doing new things, because we're curious...and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths." – Walt Disney
This quote from Walt Disney can teach us a lot about how to approach the journey toward health wellness. Here are three ideas to get, or keep, you moving forward:
1. Temper reaction with reason.
As you prepare your plan, allow your energy and enthusiasm for change to be tempered by wisdom. Choose goals that are both challenging and match your current level capability. Stretching too much can break your spirit if you don’t experience the success you hope for. It’s better to challenge yourself with goals that you whole-heartedly believe are possible than to go for the outrageous goal that isn’t really possible quite yet.
2. Keep moving forward.
Even the smallest steps mean you are in motion. You don’t have to take giant leaps to gain momentum. So, don’t downplay your progress with the belief that what you are doing is not “enough”. Celebrate and savor your successes and reflect on why they occurred. Each time you’ve taken an action toward your ultimate goal of better health, allow yourself a moment to acknowledge it and linger in the joy of it. Then, try something else and keep moving!
3. Shift from the win-lose to the win-learn mentality.
Unfortunately, one of the ways we sabotage ourselves in striving to reach our goals is by focusing on our failures. We allow disappointment to dictate our future instead of using it as leverage for growth. Instead, look back at your experience, but only long enough to learn from it. Ask, “What did I learn from this and how will that information lead me to greater success next time?” Reconnect with the curiosity that a young child brings to a situation – Asking “Why? And why is that? And why is that?...”
Margaret Moore, also known as “Coach Meg,” is CEO and founder of Wellcoaches Corp. in Wellesley, MA and can be reached by email at:
coachmeg[at]wellcoaches.com
http://www.coachmeg.com
http://www.wellcoaches.com
http://www.harvardcoaching.org