Baby steps are a-ok

It was past my bedtime the other day so it was the perfect time to start binging TedTalks. If I'm not going to sleep, at least I can watch something educational to assuage my guilt, right?

One had a really powerful opening story that led to the theme of figuring out what is important in your life and then striving for that. Ultimately, it was a pretty standard TedTalk; "follow your dream." It's something that, I'm sure, we've all struggled at one point or another. I certainly have. So I click on to the next one. 

This one, said quite the opposite; don't chase your passion - it's a waste of time. The idea was that if you spend all your time hunting for that one thing that completes you, then you're missing out on what is currently in front of you. The message really resonated with me, particularly with respect to coaching.

I've been to a number of coaching websites to see what they talk about. Lots of them talk about absolutely changing your world for the better. "You coach with me if you're ready for a total transformation to a better you," type of thing. 

Now don't get me wrong, that is absolutely possible and coaching is about helping you figure out what you need. But, why do we have to start things off with such high stakes?

You can come into a coaching session saying, "I am thinking about getting a divorce" or just as easily, "I am planning on organizing my office and I'm overwhelmed." Both are absolutely valid because here's the key, they would be important to you. I've said it before and I'll say it again, coaching is helping you take all the tools, techniques, and thoughts you already have to help you move towards a goal.

Let's take the organizing-your-office example as a starting point. You have a cluttered office and it's stressing you out. You come into coaching with that goal in mind. You figure out a strategy to declutter and also why it stresses you out and why you let the clutter accumulate in the first place. The weekend comes and you organize your space. You feel better and now you know what to do with the next cluttered room. 

That right there is a little transformation but you can approach it in a very small, quantifiable, and attainable way. 

I feel like I've heard an old adage something to the extent of, a single snowflake is delicate but a million snowflakes are an avalanche. 

So, this is all to say, especially when it comes to coaching, don't fret about taking small steps.

Thanks for reading! Have you taken smalls steps in any particular direction recently? I'd love to hear about it in the comments, below!

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