Have you ever pondered this question, what do I know? We all know a great deal and this blog post is about trusting that knowing and so much more. There is an exercise I use with private coaching clients and myself and it involves three questions.
- What do I know?
- What don’t I know?
- What are my fears?
When a challenging or painful situation arises in your life, what do you do? You can ignore it, you can confront it, you can let it go or you can use the three questions above to give you clarity. Recently a client of mine was dealing with a painful family issue. The issue involved one of her children and it was causing her a great deal of stress, sadness, pain and sleepless nights. I suggested she try using the three questions above to get a perspective on the situation. Here is what she discovered. There were many things which she knew to be true, both about herself, the situation and her family member. She also learned that there were some things that were unknown to her. And she listed all of her fears about the situation. After she did the exercise, I asked her what new insights she had gained. Here’s what she shared with me.
- clarity about her feelings regarding the situation
- compassion and empathy for her family member
- choices available to her
- awareness that she has a strong support network
So many times we jump to conclusions, make assumptions and make up stories about people or situations. This exercise has been so helpful to me over the years because it gives me clarity, the facts are written down and staring me in the face and I know without a doubt, that I have choices.
What about you? Are you facing a challenging situation in your personal or professional life? What is it? What do you know? What don’t you know? What are your fears? Who can you turn to for support?
I invite you to have a conversation with me about how Coaching can help you to deal with the obstacles, roadblocks and challenges in your life. I can help you to deal with these challenging situations by giving you practical hands on tools to help you move forward in your life.