Our intentional living series this month wraps up with this last article on managing change. As clients learn to live with more intention, it is almost certain they will be forced to make changes, changes that come as they embrace the new wants and beliefs they are manifesting in their lives while gravitating toward their ideal self.
The road to sustained intentional living is never linear because breakthrough moments do not follow a straight line. Your coaching expertise will be critical as clients begin to experience ah-ha moments and understand that attitudes, habits, and behaviors need to change. Change, when it happens, requires skill and fortitude from both you and your client.
Facing change of any sort can be scary. What clients need are confidence, commitment, and follow-through to keep the change process productive and avoid things that go bump in the night.
Assess Your Client’s Level of Self-Confidence. When it comes to living a more strategic life, confidence is key. Your client will need the confidence and belief in themselves to stick to their plan when their motivation wanes, when they lack the support of others, or experience times of hardship. If self-confidence is something your client struggles with, help them give it a boost with the following tactics:
- Reflect on past successes. Ask the client to tell you about a time they really did well in managing a change in their life. They probably had doubts, were required to make tough decisions, and in the end, things turned out just fine. Help them uncover the strengths they used to prevail (make note of these strengths so you can refer to them in the future). Now use a little logic: if they did it before, clearly they can do it again.
- Evaluate their support system.If the client tends to surround themselves with people who are more likely to criticize than cheer them on, suggest they distance themselves. Encourage them to seek support from people who know them, believe in them, and will happily encourage them. It helps to hear what others like and appreciate about us because we so often dismiss our positive traits and concentrate on what we think needs to be “fixed.”
- Help them visualize success. Coach your client through a quick visualization of the desired outcome. By picturing success, your client will find it easier to make the decisions necessary to take positive action, plus they will be more vested in the potential outcome.
- Let go of the dread. Sometimes we need to release all our limiting thoughts and emotions so we can do what needs to be done. Have your client grab a sheet of paper or open a file on the computer. Now have them write down or type everything they are feeling about the change right now, especially focusing on worries and fears. Then, as you coach, challenge them to focus on the WHY. Why are they are feeling this way? Peel back the layers with your client and get to the heart of the matter. Encourage them to be honest and raw and hold nothing back.
When they have finished creating their list, have them tear up the paper or delete the file, and let it go. Once the emotions have been processed, your client will be better prepared to settle down and do what needs doing. This is the most time-consuming idea on this list, but it’s so worthwhile. Do it!
New starts demand commitment. The client’s level of commitment manifests in how much of themselves they are willing to put forth. If they are not willing to risk a new way of life or take on change, they are unlikely to sustain their objective to live with greater intention. Assess the client’s tolerance for risk by using the storytelling technique. As for examples of when they were faced with change and succeeded? What kind of risk was involved? How did they manage it?
Facing change could mean something has to end before your client can move on. Is there something the client needs to give up or leave behind in order to successfully move forward? It may be a job, a sedentary way of life, or a relationship. Understanding what they need to let go of or leave behind may not be clear to the client until they become engaged in the change process. Be prepared to coach the client through the process of letting go. Every fresh start is doomed to fail if one is weighed down with a lot of baggage from the past. It helps to have a positive attitude about letting go and a willingness to do the work to make this happen.
Help your client follow through. It\’s one thing for you to help your client uncover what they want from life, it\’s another thing to have a plan that helps them achieve it. Guide your client through the process of creating a powerful, written plan to serve as a source of motivation and a step-by-step guide to finding their ideal self and living their dream.
- Make sure the plan’s goals are value-based and written to include what the client wants to achieve and why. When the client reads their goals, they should send shivers up their spine. No kidding, shivers, because the thought of achieving them feels so delightful. If they don’t measure up to that level of excitement, then revisit each goal. It is a tall order for the coach and requires learned skills.
- Encourage and Support Consistent Action.What\’s the benefit of a plan without action? Your client’s words are less significant than their actions because of course, actions demonstrate commitment. To help your client achieve their dreams, your coaching must be consistent. So, stay committed to your coaching process. Schedule regular sessions with your clients, focusing on the client’s accomplishments and reinforcing each positive mindset they apply.
- Help clients come prepared for coaching sessions by sending an agenda a day or two before you meet. Remember the client owns and is responsible for following their plan. Do not fall into the trap of taking responsibility for your client’s omissions. Your role is to find out why omissions, as well as successes, occur.
- Use a goal-tracking process with your clients whether it is homegrown or part of a coaching program. Tracking progress to the plan goes a long way to ensuring that your client stays on track, encourages them to hold themselves accountable, and provides the basis for your ongoing coaching sessions.
- As you and your client track their plan, pay close attention to the actions your client takes as they work their plan and the attitude or mindset they have when doing so. You will find a treasure trove of coaching opportunities if you pay close attention to just those two behaviors. Finally, don’t forget to celebrate your client’s achievements. Your attention and encouragement mean everything to your client.
- Stay flexible. As they work their plan and develop more of an intentional living mindset, clients will experience accomplishments and disappointments. Even the most determined person in this world has had their share of failures. Clients often learn more about themselves from a setback because it demands a level of deep reflection. Plans can change too because life is unpredictable, so be ready to help the client adapt their plan when appropriate.
Change is never easy but the rewards can be amazing. Tackling change by themselves can be daunting for any client, so the coach’s role is more important than ever. Be prepared to understand this and offer support as your clients take on the challenge of living more intentionally. Do all that you can to boost their self-confidence, maintain their motivation and commitment, and see them through to the successful culmination of their plan.
Thanks for reading, see you next week.
Additional Resources:
Would you like to become a transformational coach armed with the process and skills to change lives? Then you need a transformational coaching process! We are offering certification in the Best Year Yet® process in September 2022. Seats are limited. If you are interested, please visit the Certification page on our website for more information.
