The Power of Self – Coaching
Few days ago I felt unfocused. I was thinking about the new month coming up and I felt I a bit confused about my priorities. There are millions things you could do when you are building your online venture!
Becoming an online “edupreneur” implies lot of knowledge I didn’t have and that I’m building “on the field”, day by day, by studying and testing the various online marketing strategies and techniques. Creating and teaching a course or a coaching program is not a problem for me since I’ve been doing it since 2007. I also thought that sales was going to be quite easy for me since that also was my job since 2001. I realized that doing it on the Web is a completely different story, even thought building quality relationships with your customer is always key, both off and on line.
I’m sharing these things to make you understand why I said I felt a bit unfocused. Here’s where the title of this post starts to make sense. Few nights ago I helped myself with a self-coaching session.
You might be thinking “How do you do that?”
In practice, I asked myself some of the questions that I usually ask to people I coach. Of course, It was not like having a one to one session, but I ended anyway my self-meeting with a clear goal and a list of actions to put in place for November month. This gave me a sense of certainty and direction, increasing my excitement for what I’m doing in this phase of my life.
Do you want to know what are the questions I asked myself so you can test them? Here they are! Follow these steps.
1. First of all, make sure you are alone, in a place where nobody could disturb you, for about 30 minutes or so. Switch off your phone and other electronic devices you might have.
2. Make sure you have a pen and a piece of paper.
3. Clear your mind. Write the major concerns/thoughts you have in your head in that moment. Use few words. For example: In this moment I’m thinking about: the call I have to make, the e-mail I have to send, dinner, movie to watch…(3-5 points are enough).
4. For every thing you wrote, write what are the key emotions associated with that. For example: call I have to make = excitement and also a bit of tension.
5. Destroy your list, as a way to clear your mind. Close your eyes and take some long breaths.
6. Open your eyes, and ask yourself “What is the most important goal I want to achieve in this month?” Write your goal with a concrete and short sentence. Example: By the end of November I want/I will/I have/I’am (choose the verb you prefer and identify the concrete result you want to achieve).
7. How would I feel once I achieve this goal? Close your eyes and connect with those feelings for at least one minute.
8. Open you eyes again. Next question to ask yourself: How will I achieve this goal? List all the ideas you have in mind, even if they are generic.
9. Among all the ideas I wrote, what concrete actions will I put in place? By when/starting from when? List between 3-5 actions.
10. How do I feel now that I have a goal and a plan in place?
This is a simple framework you can use to manage uncertainty and to make sure you channel your focus and energy towards your goals. It’s also a motivation booster!
I wrote a book where you can find other tools. It’s available in Italian and in English. “Improvvisare per Vincere”& “Improvise and Succeed”. Check it out on Amazon.
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