I'm in the business of change and not the stuff that jingles in the bottom of your bag.
You may have met me in a class about reducing your clutter, understanding disorganization, managing your information, or even speed cleaning. Perhaps we met in your workplace or home to discuss how to organize your spaces and habits. We may have started a coaching relationship initially to cover all those topics.
But as important as all those things are, they're not the most important.
They're a means to an end, not the end in itself. We'll discuss them, of course, but what I'm really after is the big stuff of life: a more skilled, organized, productive, insightful, reliable, expansive, powerful, kinder, confident, wiser you.
You want those traits to describe you, too, and something in you knows they can be true.
Change starts with pondering.
There are two parts of personal change: a new or improved process or habit, or to have, be, or feel something different than the present.
You've already started changing when the thoughts arrive.
I think I will enjoy a new car.
I want to stop knocking things off my nightstand.
I need to untangle the ties of a controlling habit.
I want to be a better parent, partner, communicator, and promotion candidate.
I want to feel confident and proud of my accomplishments.
But how do you get there?
I've summed it up for you with the 4 Ps process.
It’s the path to a change, the beginning of a valuable project, meeting a goal, or even planning a vacation and reminds us that one P without the others keeps us stuck.
It starts with Pondering (thought) and ends with Proceeding (action). It’s easy to get stuck in the first 3. But without the 4th, what you have is simply an idea that will vex you with self-recrimination if you want to move forward and don’t.
PONDER
Experiences lead to daydreaming, pondering, and envisioning. Be aware of them. They come from your core and are your navigational signs.
How do you want whatever you're focused on to look and function? How do you want to feel? Who do you want to be seen as?
PLAN
The who, what, where, when, and how. What tools will you need, and who can help? When will you have time? How will you stay on track?
PREPARE
Gather the help, buy the tools, find the resources, and block off time and money.
PROCEED
This is where the rubber meets the road, the time for the actions that take your vision out of the abstract and into reality.
But it can be more fun back in the daydream stage, which is why we get stuck there and can't seem to gain traction.
Without introspection, you'll stay mired in inertia, so when you're stuck, go back to pondering the self-limiting story you're telling yourself. "I can't do that because..." "They won't let me because..."
Honestly, if I knew a fast solution to get you out of the first 3 Ps, I'd be fantastically wealthy. I can support you but can't make you if you're not ready.
But what I do know is the process is magical when we find a solution to any of the things that move your wheels from spinning to traveling. It all starts with your path through the 4Ps.
The free self-assessment exercise helps you ponder, plan, prepare and proceed.
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