Coaching Session 1

Working with the artist and healer Jenelle Leigh Campion, I facilitated my first life coaching session last week. Over a two hour period, we articulated realistic yet challenging goals to grow her current business model. The session focused on identifying barriers that inhibit her business' growth, visualizing how her time is distributed among tasks, framing her vision for how her business will grow, and creating goals to overcome identified barriers in support of her vision. As a result we developed several achievable goals, milestones, and deadlines that will propel her into the next phases of her art and healing businesses. We also created a series of affirmations that will reinforce her intentions to meet these goals.

Emphasizing compassion I reminded Jenelle that the goals we created are self-imposed and can be adjusted if necessary, though I will follow up on the established milestones to evaluate her progress in meeting her goals. I find that part of the difficulty in setting goals is staying motivated to move through discouraging obstacles and staying focused to achieve the goals. The affirmations we created are touchstones to maintain her intention of meeting these goals and supporting the gains from this phase of growth.

I developed this framework from a variety of facilitated workshops that I've participated in as well as my experience in mind mapping, intention setting, and elements of the SMART goals paradigm. My influences are many and varied including Starhawk, Dr. Bill Rushbrooke, and several other non-profit management coaches. As a means to support other small business owners and anyone looking to set goals for themselves, please see below for the activities that I guided Jenelle through in her coaching session.

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Light it Up – Coaching with Virginia

*Supplies: 6 large pieces of paper (11x18 or larger); markers; masking tape

1. Using one of the large pieces of paper, write down all words/phrases that can describe barriers to your growth. Specifically, what are all the present impediments to growth you consistently face? Take about 5-7 minutes on this, color code if that is helpful, and tape the sheet of paper to the wall. (Sheet 1)
2. Using a separate piece of paper, write down words/phrases that describe your current projects. Take about 5-7 minutes on this, color code if that is helpful, and tape the sheet of paper to the wall. (Sheet 2)
3. Using another sheet of paper, write down the various tasks that you have to pay attention to in order for your business to function, i.e. logistics, creative, financial, etc. Take about 5-7 minutes on this, color code if that is helpful, and tape the sheet of paper to the wall. (Sheet 3)
4. Using a fourth sheet of paper, write down descriptions of your vision of this next phase of growth. Specifically, identify tangible and intangible feelings to be realized by meeting your goals. Take about 5-7 minutes on this, color code if that is helpful. (Sheet 4)

5. Now that you've identified where you are in terms of your current situation, take a look at your page four of feelings and find your 'strengths of business and self.' Are any of these descriptions currently being realized in some form? Circle all the descriptions of feelings that you can claim and then tape that sheet of paper to the wall.
6. Pull down sheets 2 & 3 from the wall. Identify categories and themes from the task list of page 3. On another blank piece of paper, make a pie chart of how you devote your energy and time using these themes. (Sheet 5)
7. Organize the descriptors of your projects from sheet 2 within each appropriate section of the pie chart.
   1. Are there areas of the pie chart that you could devote more time/energy to actualize your visions for growth?
8. Tape pie chart (Sheet 5) to the wall and take down sheet 1. Choose 3 barriers.
   1. Barrier 1 – Least challenging to overcome
   2. Barrier 2 – Moderately challenging
   3. Barrier 3 – Most challenging to overcome
9. Leveraging the strengths that we have previously identified as well as the realistic structure of balancing your work days shown in the pie chart, create achievable goals for moving through each barrier while also pushing you to the next level
   1. Determine clear and specific goals to address these barriers that you can keep track of by setting milestones
   2. Create action steps with time frames and deadlines
   3. Determine how to keep track of how well you are doing in meeting these goals
10. Create 2 affirmations for each goal to incorporate into a daily practice for supporting intentions
    1. Affirmations are succinct, declarative statements about your process, behavior, and ability to achieve goals that positively reinforce your intentions
    2. Avoid self-hating thoughts and behavior especially if action steps encounter barriers
    3. Love yourself