J.
Thomas and Associates, LLc.
www.coach-2-create.com
Welcome back to the next edition of the Coach2C.R.E.A.T.E Coaches Corner. Many people and business leaders who I coach/consult repeatedly share that the biggest challenges they have faced have often come down to the decisions that they have made or felt compelled to make. Inside a new model of coaching, our conversations introduce many of them to create through C.H.O.I.C.E (Choosing Helps Our Individual Concerns to Evolve) where we lead them through the process of:
Making Great Choices
1 Write down the
Objective.
What is it you ultimately want to accomplish?
Get a new job, move or start a business is not specific enough. The objective
should be clearly stated in a way which describes the benefits of achieving the
goal. “I want to move to a warm climate where I can engage in outdoor
activities year round and simply my life with a lower cost of living.” vs. “I
want to move.”
2. Collect Facts:
Positive AND Negative
Do your Homework and gather all the information,
positive and negative, like and dislike. You are not making the choices here,
just a sound assessment of all your options for consideration. There is no rush
to get through this critical step. Researcher Paul Nutt states, “Only
1 in 10 choices is urgent. Only 1 in 100 is a crisis. You have time to
reflect.” The more time you take to gather all the information, the better
your choice(s) is likely to be.
3. List Possible
Consequences of Decision
Brain storm all the possible
outcomes of each decision and choice. Detach from the emotion – focus on all
the possibilities. What would happen if? How would I feel if? Listing extreme
positives and negatives at this stage is a good idea.
4. Do a Gut Check
Now that you have completed the
above steps, sit in a quiet spot where you will not be disturbed and visualize
each scenario you have listed. How does your gut feel? Is your stomach in
knots? Is your heart beating with excitement? Pay attentions to what your body
is telling you and write it down.
5. Don’t Over Think
Avoid placing judgement on what you
have written down. Be open to the fact you might not know, what you don’t know.
6. Make the Choice
Review the amazing work you have
completed and tabulate what choice brings you the most favorable results, along
with the most positive physical gut reaction. These facts will lead you to the
best choice. Remember, the best choice is not the perfect choice. There is no
perfect choice.
7. Stick with Your Choice
Once you have made your choice,
trust the process. Follow-through with your actions all the way to the end. You
don’t want to give up 5 minutes before the miracle happens.
8. Give Yourself
Permission to Navigate the Unexpected
Be sensible in the sense you must
give yourself permission to navigate differently in the event of an unexpected
crisis. Obviously ‘life is happening while you make other plans’, so know that
even the best thought out plan will be altered in the face of earth quakes and
funerals.
9. Review and Assess
Take time to review and asses your
progress often. This will encourage you to continue when you are able to
validate positive results, and tweak your direction as needed to maintain
forward momentum.
10. No Regrets
Regardless of what you expected your
decision to create, congratulate yourself that you made the best decision
possible with the information you had available to you at the time. There is
not a person alive, and especially some of the greatest successes in history,
who hasn’t had the opportunity to learn from a decision.
Following these 10 tips allows you
to follow a logical process of consequences based on completion of each task.
The answers unfold naturally for you, rather than you struggling to make
something fit where it does not belong.
The
Rational Planning Model
“The rational planning model
is the process of realizing a problem,
establishing and evaluating planning criteria,
creating alternatives, implementing alternatives, and monitoring progress of the alternatives. It is
used in designing neighborhoods, cities, and regions. The rational planning
model is central in the development of modern urban planning and transportation
planning.”
