Rebecca Rodskog, a change management coach and consultant, continues her journey with Monique Fields, a.k.a. Honeysmoke, our Passion Project winner, as Monique retools her 2011 writing/life goals.

For those of you following along, you know that I was part of the Passion Project prize (I like thinking of it as I was presented with a bow on my head!) with the mission to coach and support Monique through her Passion Project journey.  Where we left off at the end of October was the REFLECT phase – understanding what makes Monique unique, from her values system to her style to her ambitions. 

The past few months have been about ENVISIONING and then setting those visions into action, and getting into the third step, GROW.  With Monique’s priorities firmly aligned with her values, we were able to create some amazing intentions for this next year in each of the priority areas of her life.  We created each of these statements by thinking of how much movement she wanted this year in each area according to the wheel (i.e. in career she wanted to move from a 5 to a 9), and then asking ourselves what would have to happen to say we have “arrived” at the higher number, or goal.

And with those measures in mind, we created a simple statement for each area, using a technique called “future pull”.  Basically, we created the statement as if it had already happened – it’s January 2011 and she’s reflecting on what she’s accomplished.  Some examples from Monique’s exercise:

Career:  “I am happy and thankful that I have a book contract and I am getting paid to do what I love.“ 

Health:  “I am happy and thankful that I have maintained my focus on my health.”

Personal Growth:  “I am happy and thankful that I am focused on MY happiness.”

We completed statements for all the other areas in her wheel as well (finance, physical environment, fun & recreation, significant other, friends & family).   The reason why we developed them as if they had already occurred is to get your mind into a space of complete confidence that you can accomplish it, because it believes you already have!  You are literally re-mapping your brain’s thinking from “hope” to “certainty”.  This WORKS (just ask any successful Olympic athlete)!

The next step is to build an action plan that supports movement towards those intentions.  For Monique, the action plan around her career ambition is being guided by her Passion Project advisors.  What we are doing is making sure she’s included them in her plan along with all the other actions, so that she can ensure greater success in execution.We focused her plan on the next three months, as it can be overwhelming to take on an entire year of actions.  Every action must be:

• Specific (what exactly is it that we are going to do and how?)
• Measurable (how do we know it’s complete?)
• Realistic (can she actually accomplish this task with the available resources and time allotted?)

Examples from Monique’s “Career” area are:

Once Monique comes up with her actions, I help her drill into them, making sure they are specific enough (for example, who exactly is she following-up with, how and when is she going to do that?) and I also help her back up and say, is this really realistic??  Do you need to remove some things in order to have the movement you want in all the areas you identified?  Or do we need to lower our expectations of what we can accomplish this year?  

The guidelines around this are simple:  have a plan so you are moving forward WITH INTENTION, but then HOLD THE PLAN LIGHTLY.  The plan is not something you are allowed to beat yourself up with if you are not getting everything done.  The plan provides a marker, a stake in the ground, a set of guidelines to help you move forward and as you “work the plan”, you will want to change, delete, re-prioritize, etc. in order keep the plan working for you.

Our next step is simple.  Do it!  The GROW step isn’t just about coming up with the actions, but it’s about execution.  Getting it done.  Making the time, and putting one foot in front of the other to move towards our visions and goals.  I hope you’ll continue to follow along with us as we work the plan, and begin to NURTURE her growth journey.

Rebecca is a change management coach and consultant, an Innovation Catalyst at ?WhatIf!, an actress, writer, and mother of two who lives in Manhattan. Check her out at www.rodskog.com, and schedule your own consult through She Writes, right here!

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Read previous posts by Rebecca Rodkog here.