“Now, don’t wallow!”

By Lisa Seppala, True North Implementation

At one point in my career, a senior executive didn’t want me to mentally revisit an action I had taken that hadn’t produced the desired results. Her comment was, “Now, don’t wallow!”

The term ‘wallowing’ came to mind this past weekend after realizing I had disappointed a longtime friend. I made a decision, witnessed the reaction, and then spent time wondering if I could have handled things differently. This time spent wondering is what that senior executive would have considered wallowing.

When I realized I was spending too much time in this state, I looked for coaching tools to help me work my way through what I was feeling.

The coaching tool I found extremely helpful is the Personal Groundwork for Coaching™ workbook produced by Coaching Out of the Box®.

Key questions posed by one of the exercises in this book snapped me back into a state of ‘forward motion,’ my favourite place. Specifically, these questions are:

• What are the facts?
• What has kept me from improving this so far?
• Why is this important to me?
• What has my belief been about this?
• What new belief would serve me better?

This workbook contains many nuggets, but those five questions helped me look at the situation objectively by focusing on the facts and my beliefs surrounding it. The result felt like a weight lifting off my shoulders as it led me to be okay with the outcome and stopped me from continuing to wallow over it.

My story is an excellent example of how coaching can help you work through challenges, big and small, and help you get back on track with the goals and vision you have for yourself. Once I decided to apply my coaching skills and tool to my situation, I was amazed at how quickly I was back on track.

If you’re interested in talking with me more about the coaching I do, book some time for a complimentary session using this link!