Busy being busy, getting back in touch with my goals

Last week, in conversation with one of my colleagues, I admitted that I was feeling like I didn’t have enough time to get everything done. Back-to-back Teams calls and an ever-expanding To Do list. “Do you think that you might be busy being busy Jo, rather than focusing your efforts on the areas which will bring you closer to your goals?”. I realised that he’d hit the nail on the head. And then I felt quite foolish – how could I spend so much time as a coach focusing clients on achieving their goals and miss this for myself?!

I’ve noticed in lots of work conversations over the last few weeks that everyone seems to be feeling busy, and I wonder how much of this is a coping mechanism to get through the Covid crisis. There is so much uncertainty and change that we’ve all had to get used to rolling with the punches. Avoiding disappointment by not making plans in the diary as they may not go ahead. Needing to remain agile in the face of uncertainty. Has this led us to losing a longer-term goal focus in favour of getting through one day at a time?

At it’s heart, coaching has a focus on goals – helping clients to define their goals and giving widened perspectives to enable them to achieve those goals. “What do you want at the end of this session/week/year that you don’t have now?” is a question I often ask when coaching. It helps people think through and articulate what is really important to them. This then opens up a conversation about what the reality is for them at that point in time, what possibilities and options exist to move the next step towards their goal. The last step is to make a commitment to making that next step – a commitment to action.

So that’s the question I’ve been asking myself over the last few days. It’s helping me to get some clarity about how I focus my efforts towards my longer-term goals. Still busy, but now at least I’ll be energized with positive intent rather than in an exhausting Covid holding pattern. What do you want at the end of 2021 that you don’t have now?