Your Unique Process
Coaching Tip #47
Have you ever considered how you work best to achieve your goals? If you have not, this is a perfect time to pause and consider this important question.
When things are going right, we tend to just keep doing what is working. However, when things are not going according to plan, it is here that doubt, procrastination, berating self-talk, or low energy can rear its ugly head, throwing us off track.
Process matters. But my process might not work for you and your process probably will not work for me. Understanding your unique aspects of process can help you when things are not going as well as you want.
This week’s coaching tip asks you some important questions to determine the elements that make up your process. Let’s make it real; let’s focus on helping you understand and consciously control your process.
Think back on a goal that you have achieved as ask yourself the following questions.
When working on that goal did you think in broad steps or detailed step? Using a simple example of staying fit, a broad step process would be knowing that Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday are workout days. A detailed step process would be more specific to the time, type and duration. On Monday I will do a cardio workout at 730 am for 40 minutes. The details of each step are clearly articulated.
What was the best way for you to stay focused on the tasks at hand? Did you write down the important tasks to get accomplished and if so, how detailed were those to-do lists? Everyone has their own unique way to keep track of must do tasks. Goals are not achieved by wishful thinking.
How did you mark progress? Did you celebrate the major milestones toward your goals, or did you think about your wins on a more frequent basis? By looking back on a past goal achievement, you can ascertain aspects of how you motivated and thought about your progress achievements.
How did you handle obstacles or setbacks? Spends some time on this question and write down all your thoughts that come to mind. Think about if you engaged in an introspection process or just jumped back into the fray of action. A couple of introspection questions might be …
Why did I behave that way?
What are my thoughts telling me?
Why did I not follow through on my action plan?
How did you adapt to new information or personal learning as you engaged in your process?
By using a past example of success, the information gleamed from these questions can provide a deeper awareness of your deeply embedded process. When you experience those times when things are not going well, you now have a reference tool to provide your best practices to move forward. I am hoping that you now understand at a deeper level, “Your Unique Process”.