by Zen Benefiel (USA)
Many coaching clients want to find ways to actualise their vision of a brighter future by developing goals and objectives, yet have challenges in defining practical and prudent paths toward the implementation of their action plans. They tend to think big and get bogged down in the development of simple step-by-step activities. Large goals or visions are an ideal place to start, igniting the perfect brain storm. Breaking them down into simple steps allows their management and the ability to track success. Celebrating the success, however small, is important to create the emotional satisfaction.
The old adage of ‘start with the goal in mind’ creates the initial path. Breaking the goal down into manageable daily, weekly or monthly tasks is the key. As an example, a recent client wanted to build his practice and found that the daily routines often distracted their ability to work ‘on’ the business because the efforts to work ‘in’ the business took precedence. Sound familiar? What we found was that there were moments where priorities were askew. Crisis management tends to distract one from peak performance.
We took a look at the daily needs and restructured the priorities, defining immediate needs and whether they were truly immediate or whether they could be delayed in order to focus on higher priorities. Some things had to be addressed immediately. Some were able to be delegated and others could be addressed later as the impact on the flow of business was negligible. Life is also like a business; we tend to get caught up in the moment and are unable to differentiate priorities. Being able to pause, take a breath and do a quick analysis of the priority allows better focus.
Source: iCN Issue 26 (Life Coaching); pages 27-29
About Bruce ‘Zen’ Benefiel
Bruce ‘Zen’ Benefiel is an author, educator, facilitator, transformational business and life coach; a veritable “possibilities coagulator.” After a Near-Death Experience as a teenager his quest for understanding our form, fit and function in the world from a holistic perspective has driven his experience, questions, research and study of the evolution of mind, body and spirit and our ability to co-create a better world. The ancillary benefits have been opportunities to learn about systems thinking. His professional background includes leading change in aerospace manufacturing management, educational delivery systems, project management team building in building, road & bridge and waterway construction as well as small business development workshops. His avocations are golf and playing drums, with a 12-handicap and penchant for improvisational conversations. He resides in Arizona with his wife, Luba, from St. Petersburg, Russia and a conservatory-trained concert pianist, music theory and piano instructor. His digital vitae is at www.ZenBenefiel.com
Facebook: https://facebook.com/zenbenefiel
LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/zenbenefiel
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Be_The_Dream
Amazon: https://amazon.com/author/zendor
