If you want to initiate change in your life, start small. This has long been been my personal philosophy, but one I found I had to defend when applying it to business. In business, people tend to want to think big, project big, a big logo - they present themselves big to imply that great results will follow. I took comfort in the Chinesse philosopher, Lao Tze's wisdom: "If you want to be fast, go slow" and it all fell into place, as his solid explanation justified my approach.
It is understandable that people perceive their own problems as huge obstacles that can't be overcome easily, otherwise they wouldn't contact a coach for assistance. Clients often come to me and ask for some great miracle that will take away the great burden that they have. And it is only natural that a coach may sway with the clients' perspective and indeed suggest great changes when listening and asking questions. However, a sudden big change can induce an avalanche of stress and confusion, emotional reactions start exploding like a newly awakened volcano, while the person is trying to pick up on the new challenges that these changes bring. To put it simply I'll quote the famous proverb: "Be careful what you wish for, you may get it!"
Recently I worked with a client interested in changing their career, which would be a big change that they had been striving towards for a long time. Understandably, there was a dose of fear preventing them from moving forward. I generally believe that people can follow their dreams and money will come effortlessly, but suggesting such a jump to this client would mean working with a large fear factor and crossing many boundaries heading straight for the risk zone. Instead, the client created a financial plan and visualized their desired future in which they were ready to leave their current work and start with a new profession. The client is ready for the change when their confidence increases, in the meantime you ask yourself (and them) what is the smallest step that they could make to demonstrate that they are moving toward the desired future. Keep adding steps like polishing a sculpture before you are ready to show it to the world.
With changes taken in small steps we create a ripple effect: one after the other more changes follow and initiate the creation of lasting positive change. These changes may include changes of attitude, adjustment of beliefs, even something as simple as clearing your working space to create more clarity in how to manage your time and work efficiently.
As Insoo Kim Berg and Peter Szabo in "Brief Coaching for Lasting Solutions" say:
"Just having a map of where we want to go is the first step of a thousand-mile journey. Since the next step of carrying out the plan depends on the client, and not on the coach, the next phase of discussion must center on what the client needs to do to carry out which step first and what comes second, third, and so on."
Enjoy the art of taking the small steps to inspiring change! Copyright 2006 Dalida Turkovic
Think about it.
Cubicle-minded professionals start making plans, resolutions, and target objectives just moments after they've put away their December decorations.
By March, goal gusto diminishes significantly.
By the end of June, it's all but non-existent. Why? Because everyone's waiting until September to ramp up and maestro that last-quarter push to cash flow success. And by then, they're lost in the stressed-out mix of everyone else desperately trying to make their numbers work miracles.
Please, don't be a biz calendar lemming!
Use July and August to Review, Reward, Regroup, and Reinvent your path and plan, so you'll be toasting to your amazing, breakthrough success come New Year's Eve.
Here's how.
1. Review. Block out time to check in on the progress you've made on your January goals. No taking or making phone calls, no sending or receiving emails. Don't judge or sulk, just breathe in the summer vibe, evaluate with objectivity, and review the steps you've taken to achieve (or thwart) your goals so far.
2. REWARD! One of the things small business owners almost never do is stop to appreciate what they've already achieved. Well, what DID you accomplish during the first six months of the year? Identify five specific successes, and celebrate them by doing something nice for yourself and/or your business team.
3. Regroup. Okay, so you're not in the exact place you thought or hoped you'd be way back in January. Who is? The question is, where ARE you? What's working? What isn't? Are you on (or near) the right track? Have your vision and priorities changed? Once you understand the reasons behind your progress or shortcomings, you'll have a much easier time with the fourth and final step.
4. Reinvent. It's time to course correct. Look at your successes, challenges, and other discoveries, and decide to either:
? Keep doing what you've been doing, because it's working or you're convinced it will if you give it more time.
? Make changes to your tactics, strategies, and methods, because you think the ideas are good, but the execution needs tweaking to make it effective.
? Abandon the goals altogether, because they're hurting your business, or taking too much time away from things that are working well in your business, or because you're just not getting the kind of results you hoped from them.
So after a long hot July day, take some time in the cooler evening to pour yourself an ice-cold drink, enjoy the late sunset, and reflect on what you've done so far this year. Allow yourself to be pleasantly surprised at how far you've come, and use the quiet space to decide how to make the rest of your year even more successful.
And by the time everyone else jumps on the second-wave goal wagon come September, you'll be cruising with confidence on your new-and-improved path, enjoying the gifts of autumn as well as your well-deserved prosperity.
Both Dalida Turkovic & Lani And Allen Voivod are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Dalida Turkovic has sinced written about articles on various topics from Organizational, Work Life Balance. Dalida Turkovic - Master Coach and Master NLP Practitioner has lived and worked in China since 1990. Please visit her business coaching website