The past three weeks have felt like a whirlwind. I set myself the challenge of writing a blog post a day.
I already had a lot to do. So it might seem foolish to have added in (turns out) a mammoth task on top of that.
But despite being ridiculously tired (I worked well into most evenings) it was hugely beneficial.
What have the benefits been?
I feel happier
I’m excited about work
I have had to ditch the perfectionism (out of necessity)
I’m clearer about what my business offer is
My self-belief has increased
I can write more quickly
Taking Action = Clarity, Clarity = Effective Action Taking
The essence of coaching is finding clarity and taking action.
The two go hand in hand. Experience helps you know what you want, and knowing what you want helps you take the right action.
There are so many parts of setting up my business that I have found challenging. Marketing in particular has been a sticking point because I’m uncomfortable with it. And for a while that made me shy away from producing content. Because I was always scared about getting it “wrong”.
The fact of the matter is that if you are doing something new, you will do it wrong sometimes. But also “wrong” is subjective. “Wrong” is also a learning experience, and chance to improve and a breeding ground for happy accidents (i.e. getting it really right by chance).
My plan with the challenge was to ditch the perfectionism, and to increase the frequency of my blog writing. As you can see I got considerably more out of it than that. And you can get a lot out of a challenge too.
Make Life Improvements Through Daily Challenges
My own challenge was quite substantial (for me), but small changes can make big differences. If you want to change some aspect of your life try the following exercise:
1. Identify one thing that you want to do but often make excuses for why you can’t.
(this could be anything from resting more, making time for yourself, making a decision, eating more nutritious food etc.)
2. Choose one small action that you can repeat daily that will start to shift the dial.
3. Commit to a timeframe (Mine was every working day for 3 weeks)
4. Find a way to hold yourself to account (I announced my intention on my blog: you could share your intentions with a friend, crate a check list in a bullet journal etc.)
5. At the end of the challenge reflect on the positive changes, and whether you want to add to your challenge.
The actions you take don’t have to be huge to make a big difference. For example one of my clients committed to playing the ukulele for 5 minutes every day. This had extraordinary positive impacts, and enabled them to see the importance of dedicated time just for them and commit to finding that space for themselves. The fact that it was only 5 minutes meant that it wasn’t too demanding (which is something that often trips people up).
Hopefully by the end of your challenge you will see as many benefits as I have.
When I work with clients, they often feel like some area of their life is lacking. I frequently suggest small challenges and experiments. We are then able to work together to identify things that have changed and to plan to expand on these. Time and again I see that these small challenges bring about some of the biggest changes in mindset, habits and behaviours. They have impacts across all the different areas of people’s lives. So if you are planning a change, challenge yourself to doing something small every day and see improvements across all aspects of your life.
Hi,
I'm Jodie Lamb and I have been running Trevnee Coaching since early 2020. I've been an accredited life coach since 2008. I help you make the most of career and lifestyle change.
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