I mentioned in this blog post I had one of my favorite coaching sessions with Sue recently. If you are confused about the coaching part, do a search for "coaching" in this blog's search window and you'll find the entire back story, plus a bunch of posts on the topic and Sue.
This particular coaching session I had with Sue was the first of 2014 and Sue asked a ton of curious questions about 2013 - high, lows, lessons learned, etc. - and then delved right into 2014. Two of my favorite parts of that session were these:
One: Sue asked me if I wanted to set some early 2014 goals. Why, yes! I love a good goal - it keeps me focused and aligned with my values. I set three early 2014 goals for myself:
- Teaching a parenting class that infuses coaching and teaching strategies (that are well-suited for parenting) and collaborate with a new entity to do so. I have the class all set and I will blog about the class tomorrow in case you are semi-local and can attend.
- Having coffee dates with friends whom I have neglected. My goal is ten. I am currently up to eight coffee dates! Woot! I will share some pics of those later in the week. To reach my goal (and surpass it), I have coffee dates (hikes, lunches, etc.) all set up for the next few weeks with Carey, Shannon, Erin, and Courtney. Plus, fingers crossed, a coffee date with Amy - a fabulous former student of mine turned amazing educator.
- Taking on a handful of coaching clients. My time is slightly limited to take on too many clients. Between offering coaching at my college (to my students & brave colleagues), my "real" job, my family, this blog and my love of downtime, I have to keep this goal in check. Though, I think every human on the planet could benefit from a coach, I will only be able to coach so many on my own. I will share more about this goal & opportunity towards the end of the week in case you are interested in becoming a coachee (please :).
Two: My second favorite part of that coaching session with Sue was a question. Sue asked me something to this effect: What will keep you from your goals? But, it was the follow-up question that got me: What advice would 80-year old Jen give you?
You know what 80-year old Jen said? Grandma Jen said, "Why are you so afraid? You have a mad skill set. You have people rooting for you. If you fail, you can just tweak and try again. You can do this."
And with that, I smiled and knew Grandma Jen was right. Quit thinking so much about not reaching your goals and start making progress towards them.
I'm curious. Do you set goals and hold yourself accountable for them?
Yours bravely,
Jen
PS - I've said this a hundred times to Sue. She will forever be one of the top five people in my life that has changed the course of it for the better. Every human needs a Sue.
