So much of being effective and getting the results you want is your ability to see how you are being and how the hardwiring around your being creates your habits and patterns.
Now what if you could see all your habits and patterns in a 3-D physical form, actually see the sum total of your actions, what you prioritize, what you neglect, what you dabble in.
The other day, we were blessed with an enormous snow storm and the Chamonix valley woke up to a blanket of white snow; at this point untouched, a white canvas. Very quickly, the community started to etch a work of being onto this canvas; the paths started to appear.
The paths to the garage, school, work, bakery, cafe; the areas considered important were cleared immediately, the areas less important gather more and more snow.
I was fascinated by the shapes that formed around our house and what this said about our family; it showed us what we got up to, where we went, what we took care of, what we neglected. Some paths were very deep, some shallow, some non-existent.
And it made me wonder what paths I was creating with all my daily activity and what this said about me; what did the paths look like to my wife and children; to friends and family; to my clients and coaching practice; and I became sad.
There were some things that were important to me that had no paths to them; none at all; these relationships remained unconnected to my network of activity.
These moments of realization, of what we are doing and how we are being, come up in my coaching conversations the whole time. Some of these, you might be familiar with:
* “I just don’t have the right balance in my life at the moment”
* “I totally lost sight of some things that really mattered to me”
* “Somewhere down the line I stopped listening, truly listening”
* “I started to take my clients for granted”
* “I woke up one day and realized that I was out of touch”
If you experience these moments, yelp for joy. These are gifts, opportunities for change; moments to grow, expand and change. Moments when you see what you were unable to see before. The nuggets of all coaching.
Something practical
How would you like to make the invisible about you visible? Let’s try a completely unproven exercise and see what happens. Can I invite you to come to these instruction with a sense of playfulness and the ridiculous. And of course, curiosity.
1. Think of an area in your life where you are not being effective, not getting the results you want
2. Imagine an untouched field of white snow
3. Reflect on the area in which you are not being effective and start to carve out what this might look like as a pattern of paths in the snow
For example, if things are not going well with your family life, draw a diagram of paths/OR lines that represent how you spend your time; if you spend 80% of your time in the garden shed show this as a thick/wide line to a node (the shed), 5% of your time on electronic gadgets mark as a thinner line, likewise 5% with your children and partner.
4. Now look at those line/relationships and start to note down what this says about you.
5. Review your diagram and assess where your current priorities lie - what are you taking care of, what are you neglecting and what is not even there.
Something new
Our coaching engagements normally incorporate some sort of learning experience. We have had clients incorporate bike events, swimming challenges, climbing mountains and running marathons but we have never had a client do cross country skiing.
Something we’d love to change.
We are convinced that cross country skiing as a learning framework would be extremely powerful. The skills required for this activity are the skills for life.
* how to be responsive at all times
* how to remain centered and in balance
* how to manage emotions
* how to stay focused
What we are looking for is a client that is willing to step forward and allow us to prove the power of this program. In exchange for this leap of faith, we would like to offer you a reduction in the coaching costs to £350 per month (a minimum of two sessions)
If you would like to know more about the details of the program and what the costs include, please call us on +33 (0)6 71 18 48 27.
Don’t take too long. The snow won’t last long.
