25 | SPECIAL – LIVE productivity coaching! Real Coaching, Real Talk: When Your Goal Needs a Rewrite

Speaker 1: 0:42

Hi and welcome to a very special episode of Productivity with Zest. Today you get to be a fly on the wall for a real coaching session with the lovely Lou. She has been incredibly open and brave and I know you’re going to take so much from this conversation. Before we dive in, I want to invite you to think of a goal you have in mind right now, something you’re working towards, because in this episode I used a brilliant tool called the Well-Formed Outcomes Framework and it helps you make sure your goal is actually yours, fully in your control and aligned with what really matters to you. I’ll pop the questions we use in the episode extras, which you can find at zestproductivitycom forward slash, episode 25. So you can walk through them with your goal too. There’s a really powerful moment where Lou realises the goal she thought she wanted might not be serving her and we reframe it. It’s a bit of a curveball and it really shakes things up in the best way. So let’s get into it to it.

Speaker 1: 1:52

Today I am joined with the lovely Lou, who has agreed to do some coaching with me that we can record and then put on the podcast. The idea is that I want to give you guys an insight into what my coaching style is like and what being coached is like. So my coaching style is very intuitive. I follow my gut, I ask lots of questions and I’m trained at the level seven executive level. So hopefully, lou, you’re going to get some really good stuff out of this today. So, as you know, lou, this is being recorded for the Productivity with Zest podcast so others can get the insight. And because it’s recorded, I anticipate this might not be the same as my usual coaching conversations, because that complete confidential privacy always makes a big difference. But I know you’re very open, lou, and I know you really want to do this, so I’m very excited about what’s going to come from it.

Speaker 1: 2:45

As a coach, it is my job to push doors. So where I see that there might be something, there might be something you say, or might be the tone that you use, or, because I’m looking at you on the screen, I might spot some body language. So what I’ll do is, if I spot something, I’ll push that door. If I feel a bit of resistance, I’ll push back a little bit. But if you shut that door I feel a bit of resistance, I’ll push back a little bit, but if you shut that door. I’ll walk away because you do not need to talk about anything. That is uncomfortable, no worries. So before we get going, I would just like the lovely Lou to introduce herself, who she is and why she decided to be a guinea pig for me. And me and Lou know each other. We’ve known each other for quite a few years. We’ve kind of worked together in a similar industry for a while. Yeah. So, lou, who are you and why are you my guinea pig there?

Speaker 2: 3:36

so I am Louise, I’m 52, I am a business owner with Temple Spa and I have been for 13 years and I love what I do and I know myself that I’m really good at what I do. But it’s all been I won’t say it’s not been constructive and sort of managed, but I’ve always been a reactive way of of working and I run with things when they’re fast and then I ease back and I’m not always driving if that makes sense. So I’m not very organized. I’ve always said if I ever get my act together, I would be unstoppable. It’s been a saying I’ve said for a long, long time.

Speaker 2: 4:17

So when Jasmine was asking for volunteers, I’m a very open, honest, completely. Take me as I am kind of person. This isn’t like a personal coaching session that’s going to dip deep, is it? This is practical and if it can help somebody, I’m really open to that and I’ll try anything once. So I don’t think there’s anything horrible that’s going to be uncovered. I’ve been burying myself no, so I just hope that I’ll get something out of it. But if it can help another person, then that would be amazing.

Speaker 1: 4:48

OK, lou, thank you so much for being on here. I’d like you to just take a moment. We both will. Let’s take a few deep breaths. Set aside the day. Set aside the to-do list. This next bit of time is just about you. Ok, list, this next bit of time is just about you. Okay, okay, what would you?

Speaker 2: 5:14

like to focus on in this coaching session today. I think it’s where I should prioritize. I think sometimes I struggle with I mean, I’m not the best, I’m learning to use a list, so that’s real progress for me and I have now started making lists and and things but sometimes I really struggle with how to prioritize, and this is because I’m quite a reactive person to things that are going on. So I might look at my list and think, well, I know I really need to get that x, y and z done today, but it’s not always then running in line with what my long-term goal is. Okay, yeah, and I think that is something I am very much struggling with because I’m so used to working that way.

Speaker 1: 5:57

So changing some prioritization habits about what things to do in your to-do list, and I like that. What you said there about your long-term goal and your day-to-day needs to be aligned to that, because that is what gives you that priority. So what will success look like to you at the end of our time together?

Speaker 2: 6:15

probably if I just feel a little bit clearer about how, when I look at it, that I feel better. Because I think when you’re an individual business owner and you’ve got nobody telling you what to do or whether you’re doing a good job or whether it’s right or wrong, and the only thing that kind of says that is maybe the long term goal, but if I can just feel like, ok, that’s making sense to me now, I feel like I can go ahead and put that into place and not be too anxious Because change throws that at you, then I think that would be really good.

Speaker 1: 6:46

OK, because change throws that at you, then I think that would be really good, okay, so like you’ve got some action points you can put in place, that things make a bit more sense, the changes don’t make you feel anxious yeah yeah, the changes often make you feel a bit anxious Lou yeah okay yeah, I’m so used to doing things.

Speaker 2: 7:05

Yeah, I know, it’s not that I’m afraid just that’s. I just live with it.

Speaker 1: 7:08

I live with a little bit of that a little bit of so for those that are listening. Lou like lifted her hands up and just no, it’s fine. She kind of lifted her hands up and went oh, a little bit of that, I’m sure. Well, you probably watch on YouTube if you want to see what she said, so tell me about that. What’s that that you’re living with?

Speaker 2: 7:28

it’s just, I think it is deep-rooted, and this is years, years ago. I had proper, you know, professional counseling for anxiety, and this is why I don’t mind being really open, yeah, and so learning a new way when everything is it’s not comfortable, it’s like, but just I don’t know if I’m doing a good job, and I don’t necessarily need people to tell me I’m doing a good job so it can be lonely without anyone recognizing it, and I need to recognize when I’m doing a good job. Yeah, and though I’m good at what I do, because I’ve been doing it this way for so long and I want to progress, it’s like I know there’s going to be some changes and I really do want to be more organized, more constructive with my time, give myself freedom and probably do it with a sense of ease. But at the moment, I do feel like in order to make the changes and move forward, then there are going to be some shifts and they’re not always comfortable, because you’re learning to do something in a different way and when you learn something new, it can, it’s really, it’s exciting.

Speaker 2: 8:28

I’m not gonna lie. It’s not all about fear, but there is. That. That’s just how my anxiety about a lot of things will transpire, as I’ll get a pet like not a pain, but I’ll feel it in my chest or in my stomach. So if you’re not watching on YouTube, I normally hold my chest or put my hand on my stomach the minute I start to feel a bit uptight and you’ll see it okay.

Speaker 1: 8:50

So it’s really good that you recognize that about yourself. Yeah, and if we can try and think of some, some shifts, some action points that stretch you a little bit but don’t push you into the anxiety. So they stretch you into the stretch zone but let’s not get into that out of control anxiety zone. So you tell me if we’re going anywhere which makes you feel anxious or uncomfortable, promise me.

Speaker 1: 9:16

I will, I will good and it was interesting what you said as well that you don’t know when you’re doing a good job because you are running a business and you don’t have KPIs, and someone’s saying, oh, you’ve hit it, you’ve exceeded it, or you’re not hitting it. You’ve got nobody saying, well done, or do this, do that. Which is a real challenge, isn’t it as a business owner?

Speaker 2: 9:39

Yeah, I’ve learned not to beat myself up too much. So I do recognize some things are really easy to see that you are doing a good job, and I can measure figures and I can look at that. But it’s, it’s this bit, it’s the bit that people don’t see and that is where you know when people walk into my office if they do, because I don’t really let them because absolute chaos most of the time. Now I kind of know where everything is, but that’s how I’ve lived my life and run my business for so long. But it’s those things that you just think people don’t see. And again it is. It is learning to accept. Ok, I’m not great at everything, but I just can’t learn new. I don’t need people to tell me all the time that I’m doing a good job, but then when you are trying, something new.

Speaker 2: 10:28

You don’t know if you’re doing it right or wrong. Yeah, and I think this type of thing, you know, trying to be organized. I know it’s not right or wrong because it’s finding what works, but it’s trial and error and that’s where I go.

Speaker 1: 10:36

Oh, but I’m gonna sit and try yeah, and you’re right, is that trial and error? I’m really glad you said there’s no such thing as right and wrong, because I 100% believe that it’s just what fits you. And I don’t know if you remember, on some podcast episodes recently I’ve been talking about trying different productivity things, like you would try on a new coat, so, yeah, it might look good on the hanger, it might look really good on your friend, but you need to see if it fits you and you only can do that through trial and error. So you think, yes, that looks good, I think it’ll suit my lifestyle. You put it on. Does it look good on you? Does it feel good on you? Do you look comfortable in it? Do you feel confident in it? And that’s what we do with these productivity things. We do trial and error and we see what works for you.

Speaker 1: 11:25

So you’ve thrown in another thing there about your office. So we’ve got your office and the to-do list, prioritization. He still wants to focus on the to-do list, the prioritization stuff. Great. So let’s start at the big picture in terms of your long-term goals, because this is where, once you have, this is my goal for my business for the year, for the five years, whatever you want, whatever you would think is helpful to focus on. We can then do some aims within that and then you can be looking at your to-do list through that filter. Are these aligned to my key aims? So for the listeners, tell people a little bit about your business okay.

Speaker 2: 12:09

So I work with Temple Spa and I run a team as well as my own and looking after people with selling products and giving them experiences, and it’s direct selling, for want of another word and I get paid on commission. Yeah, temple Spa is a really lovely brand and I love that and it gives me flexibility, but that’s in a nutshell. I could talk about it for hours, so I’m really conscious not to.

Speaker 2: 12:35

But yeah, that’s what it is, and I am a manager and I look after a team, and I do have one manager who I support as well.

Speaker 1: 12:43

So, yeah, that’s where I am right now so would you find it helpful to think about? We can either do the end of 2025 that’s often a point that people want to think about we could do a whole year 12 months or we could do a five year. Where is helpful?

Speaker 2: 12:59

well, I’ve got sort of 12 months in my head. Okay, you know, I know where I want to be February next year. I started it in February so it’s like right, this is where I want to be in February year. I started it in February so it was like right, this is where I want to be in February. Tell me your goal then. So the goal is to have three new managers. It’s a big goal, it’s not a little goal and I think that in itself is scary but it’s not unrealistic. And I’ve sat with it for a year working out whether I sold myself short, but basically for a year I never moved. So I re-evaluated it and I just thought no, I’ve got the time and I am ready. That’s been the shift in. Yeah, one thing. So you know, by September I would like to have another manager, but by February I would have another three all together, and that gives me a new title and qualified for a car nice, great.

Speaker 1: 13:52

So September, another manager, two more by February next year, so 2026. And that’s a new title, new car, yeah, okay. So I think what might be quite helpful is if we go through something called well-formed outcomes, which just looks at your goal and just make sure it is something that is well-formed, because sometimes we can have a goal in mind and actually we’re not in control of the outcome. Yeah, so that can be very frustrating. It might actually turn out to be someone else’s goal. I’m not saying that it might be for you, but for other people. Sometimes I’ve coached people and they go through this and they go. Actually, that’s what my mum would want me to do or that’s what my partner would want me to do. It’s not what I want. So it’s really good to just ask you some questions about it. Some of them will be yes or no answers. Some of them will be a bit bigger. So you’ve got this goal you want to have, by next February, three new managers in the team. Is that achievable?

Speaker 2: 14:56

I think it is mm-hmm.

Speaker 1: 15:00

Okay, great. So the next one it’s where we’re going to build a bit more of a sensory picture, because when we can visualize our goals and build this picture, it just means they become more real. So how will you know that you have achieved your outcome?

Speaker 2: 15:19

well, it’s quite easy because they will each have a team and that’s measurable, because they’ll bring in X amount of people, there’ll be X amount of sales and I’ll be working with them the whole time. So it is actually, yes, it’s on them to do, but it’s on me to find them the right people. But it is really measurable because there is an absolute and you know if by the end of the February, they’ve done the job, they will all have X amount in their team, the sales will be there and my role will change, my title will change. So it is measurable.

Speaker 1: 15:57

Very measurable. So I just want you to build a sensory picture now around this. So imagine it’s February. You’ve got what you’ve set out to achieve. What will you see?

Speaker 2: 16:10

oh my gosh, what will I see? Oh, I will see four, because I’ve already got one manager, four very happy, who will be really proud of what they’ve achieved. I will be pleased and proud, so I will be looking at and, although the car may not be there, I will know it’s coming, but that for me, you know, and I will see them celebrated, I will see them.

Speaker 2: 16:36

It will look amazing. And then I’ll see my peers. I will see my peers be so happy for me. I will see the owners of Temple Spa being really happy, but it will be for me. My love language is quality of time and acts of service, so to know that I will have been part of their journey and to help them achieve what they, because it is all about their goal. Yes, mine is that, but that will look amazing to me.

Speaker 1: 17:04

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 17:04

I will be so happy and what will you hear?

Speaker 2: 17:08

oh, lots of well done’s and clapping and whoops and probably lots of screaming women. But, yeah, and it will. Yeah, that’s what I will hear and I will. Yeah, just, it will just be a lot of big celebration, a lot of noise, and what will you feel? Oh, I can already feel it. I will feel really proud.

Speaker 2: 17:29

I’ll probably feel quite emotional because it’s a long time coming in this, this shift as well in the belief, but I’ll just feel really proud of a what I’ve done to achieve it, but also the women I get to work with and it might be men, so I need to be very careful. I might find a man and they might want to do it too. It’s a lot of women in my business a real sense of pride and and I tell you, what else I will probably feel is a little bit of security, because this isn’t just about what I want from it. It’s about what I want for my family, yeah, and that why is very important, as to why, where I’m going with it now, and that’s kind of why the yearly thing and the goals that I’ve got for my five year has become into place. So, yeah, it will be, and reassured yeah, fantastic, you’ve put me there.

Speaker 1: 18:22

I can imagine feeling those feelings. Now You’ve put me in that spot, which is great. So this outcome that you want, is it completely and fully within your control?

Speaker 2: 18:34

No, I know that because I rely on other people wanting something for them. They have to find their why. I have to find them to want their why. At the end of the day, I’m working with people with free will. So in some respects I’ve never felt like this is 100% in my control, even just down to the basics of what I do in my job. You know, going in and sitting around, I don’t know if somebody’s going to buy my product or not. I can do everything I can to make it easy that’s and facilitate it, but at the end of the day, we cannot control people and what they choose to do.

Speaker 1: 19:10

So it’s not all in my control so the thing about goals is they need to be fully in your control. Oh, otherwise it is very frustrating, because you can do everything perfectly. You can do everything and still not achieve it. Yeah, it’s incredibly frustrating. So my challenge now would be could we go back to this goal and revisit it and reword it so that it is completely in your control?

Speaker 2: 19:44

oh, I don’t know. I suppose it’s because you know I’m successful in what I do, but it’s about creating an income, so I could look at it from an income point of view. It’s easier to do when you’ve got certain managers, because you can. You know the things that go up in order to get the income I’d need to manage it. So it’s still you know, but I mean, I don’t know.

Speaker 2: 20:06

I actually don’t know how I can change the goal, unless I’ve learned in this business that there has to be some sort of timeframe in order to help me work more efficiently, which is probably you know, know, over the years I have been very organic and that works and it’s lovely, but now I want to, I want to speed it up. So there’s things I want to do and if I don’t have that at the end, yeah, I would go back to old habits of oh, wow, it’s fine, yes, I’ll go for a dog walk and oh, yeah, I can meet. That’s the part of me that I’d like to change, because I feel like I need a bit of urgency again. Yeah, yeah, and I’m in a better place where I won’t judge myself if it doesn’t happen. Yeah, I couldn’t have done this five years ago but now. So I don’t know.

Speaker 1: 20:59

I actually don’t know how to reframe it can I suggest a bit of a wording change? Absolutely 100, you can so if your goal is to have three new managers in the team by February and you said very quickly, very wholeheartedly, that is not completely within your control, yeah, but there are activities, things that you could do that are completely in your control that could lead to that having three new managers in your team your goal could be to focus my activities growing new managers in my team or something like that.

Speaker 1: 21:39

So it’s a wording thing and because then that is completely under your control, because you can then decide these are the key things that I need to do in order to bring new managers into the team. You can list them as your fundamentals and then they become your non-negotiable weekly daily tasks. Yeah, the goal is to develop a mindset of growing new managers or develop a working practice of growing new managers, rather than the goal being that number of actual people. I know there’s so many factors there that are completely out of your control. Yeah, so you did a lot of nodding and smiling. What is resonating with you as I was speaking then?

Speaker 2: 22:23

I think it’s something that I actually say to my team. That was the way, lou, you just basically said it in a different way Focus on the action, not the outcome. So, if I’m going to meet these new managers, where am I and how am I going to find them? If I focus on, like you just said, how I grow them, where you know, where I find them and all of that, it will naturally happen. Yeah, I can focus on the things that I can control, which is all those things you know how, the, the where and the what and also the time that I can commit to it, rather than yeah, so no, that I just it’s just that reframing and it does make me feel better. Yeah, reframing it like well, that’s what we’re going to work on and that’s what I probably, you know, I want to help with really as well. Okay, and I am looking outside of this for help with certain things to speed it up and.

Speaker 2: 23:18

I want to learn, but again, it’s prioritizing those bits without, and I’ll be honest, and this it may not be for this podcast because I know it’s, but again, it’s prioritizing those bits without, and I’ll be honest, and this it may not be for this podcast because I know it’s time, but it’s also one of the things that does worry me and you asked me about the anxiety and it’s coming out now is, in order to do these things, I’ve still got a certain responsibility and I don’t want to drop the plates. That’s you, do you?

Speaker 1: 23:43

know what I mean? Yeah, well, that’s the next question. So all about kind of the costs and the consequences of obtaining the outcome. So shall we reframe this goal into a new sentence? So, rather than I will, I want to have three new managers in the team by the end, by february 2026. What is, what is a reframed goal that works for you?

Speaker 2: 24:04

between now and February, I am developing and working alongside people who are wanting to grow in the business for themselves and using activities and learning along the way with them on how to support them doing so.

Speaker 1: 24:26

So what is the bit that’s in your control Because, again, you went back into other people. So I want to develop and work alongside other people, and there’s nothing wrong with these things, lou, these are I almost call them like their dreams, because dreams are things. Well, I see dreams as things that are not completely under my control, but they’re still things that I desire. I desire things that are not in my control. I just can’t set them as a goal because it will frustrate me and saying I want to develop and work alongside people who are wanting to grow in the business. There’s still factors out of your control there. There’s still people who are running their own business, and that’s out of your control. But what are the things that are in your control?

Speaker 2: 25:09

well, I can make sure I put myself in places where these people are likely to be and having my actions run alongside that as well yeah so you know, really looking at where they might be so.

Speaker 1: 25:26

I’m getting the picture of what you’re looking for, so it’s.

Speaker 2: 25:30

I will develop my ability to attract and grow new team members yeah, I’m gonna develop mm-hmm my own strategies that I can follow easily. Okay, that will put me in a position to find and, like you said, attract people new team members who also are driven and focused, because they’re the people I want to work with yeah Right, I will work on and develop my own strategies that I can follow easily.

Speaker 1: 26:10

that will put me in the position to attract new team members who are driven and focused. Yeah, great. Yeah, is that under your control?

Speaker 2: 26:21

it is because it’s all about me I’m doing. It’s all about I can. I can develop all of those skills and I can put myself in a position. I can’t control whether somebody will, but what I can do is hopefully. Well, I can just put myself in that position and learn the skills needed to attract those people to me.

Speaker 1: 26:40

Fantastic so we’ve got there. So are the costs and consequences of obtaining that outcome acceptable to you?

Speaker 2: 26:50

right now, I think they are and I think that’s the difference. I am ready. You know I don’t have young children. Yes, I have a build going on, but I’m not really in control of that as my husband. Yeah, I am in a good headspace and you know I’m ready. It’s very easy to put boulders in your way, to put obstacles in your way, but actually right now, if I look, there isn’t anything that can stop me to putting the time in, except for myself. There’s not a lot of distractions in some respects, but you know that’s developed, that I want to develop more because, as I said at the beginning, I can procrastinate like the best of them and I can use work as a form of procrastination okay, instead of actually. This is where I really want to be and learning to put that in place. So, yeah, I feel like I’ve got nothing stopping me. Really it’s very exciting yeah.

Speaker 1: 27:44

Do you have all the resources you need to achieve this outcome? Not, yet what do?

Speaker 2: 27:50

you need. I think one of them is what we’re doing now and there’s people I can go and ask for help and I’m getting some help and learning to be disciplined. So the skill sets I’m still going to work on. Yeah, so actually that’s a lie.

Speaker 1: 28:04

Yes, I have got everything there, you’ve got everything you need.

Speaker 2: 28:11

I just need to access it and ask for it so ask and access it yeah yeah, brilliant.

Speaker 1: 28:19

And does achieving this outcome fit with your values?

Speaker 2: 28:24

yes, very much so. I love equal opportunities and I love facilitating that I always have done and seeing people have their own little wins and that’s why I’m a manager though that’s part of my job yeah yeah, but it will be, and yeah, does run very nicely and because I don’t have to compromise too much.

Speaker 1: 28:44

Amazing and if I could give it to you now, if I said he got loo, there it is, would you take it? Yeah, yeah, you’re laughing, but you’d be surprised some people get to that point and go oh actually, oh my gosh really, no, no, no.

Speaker 2: 29:02

I would if you offered it me and it wasn’t hurting anyone, you know, and everyone was happy and everyone was on board. That was involved. Oh my gosh, I would take it with both hands.

Speaker 1: 29:14

Amazing. Okay, lou, we have a goal, then, so I will develop my own strategies that I can follow easily. That will put me in the position to attract new members who are driven and focused.

Speaker 2: 29:25

So, this.

Speaker 1: 29:26

it’s like a little North Star and there’s a few things in there that we can really pick out.

Speaker 1: 29:31

There’s thinking about what strategies that are your own, that fit you, that you can follow easily, so with ease, and things that will put you in the position to attract new team members who are driven and focused. So we’ve got a little bit of time, so let’s have a think. So now we’ve got a little bit of time, so let’s have a think. So now we’ve got that goal. Can you think of some activities that you could do on a weekly basis that could be priority in your to-do list that would align to that long-term goal?

Speaker 2: 29:59

I think allocating time so that I can work on where I’m going to find the new. So whether that’s a new experience with a new host, yeah, and if they’re not, where do I find them. But it is about just making time for that doing a bit of networking, and it doesn’t have to be the same thing every week. So I’m setting aside time to look at what I’ve got to do but, also having time to do a bit of networking.

Speaker 2: 30:23

Where am I going to find new? Because, yes, I’ve got some stuff, but I want to meet new people and find these lovely new people to work with as well as looking after what I’ve already got. So I think that would probably be something that I need to prioritize so when you’re looking at your to-do list, what can you do?

Speaker 2: 30:46

well. I need to make that focus, especially my weekly plan, make it easy for me to do it as well. Again, I am a work in progress for planning. I’m very much a work in progress. I am new to this, which for some people is just second nature. Work with people who just look at me as if I’m like off my head because I’ve never really worked to a list and the list is coming. But then looking at the list and not feeling overwhelmed and they’re not feeling awful about not allocating time for the stuff that’s not going to sit with what I want, I’m going to learn to do that. So if I make it easy and maybe look at a time that I know is easy to commit to, so I think learning to be a bit kinder to myself as well, maybe. Yeah, and actually when I plan my diary, that becomes a priority. Yeah, that’s like almost like once I’ve taken out my non-negotiables for personal. Yeah, which isn’t loads. Actually, that should be a bit more of a focus, yeah.

Speaker 1: 31:57

Yeah, so what will you do?

Speaker 2: 32:00

Well, I will do. I think one of the things is, when I look at my month, I allocate a bit of time and, at the same time, really look at what’s out there so that I can see far enough in advance Because that’s the other side of me who didn’t plan would just look at it on a Monday Right, what’s out there, what can I do this week, whereas if I’m looking at the beginning of every month, this is really good for me. I’m like actually talking about what probably runs around in my head but I never act on. So, thinking about it, the strategy of when I plan my next month and looking further ahead, I’m already in one of the same hour slots that I give myself to find out where I’m going to find you. I look at those events that are coming up and book them in far enough in advance, so I’m not having to move anything to get to it, making it easier on myself.

Speaker 1: 32:50

With that in mind, I think that’s probably a really good thing for me to do it is amazing how, just speaking things out loud, you’re like oh yeah, it’s there, that’s an answer and that’s the beauty of coaching, because how often do you get this time just to talk about yourself?

Speaker 2: 33:07

we don’t, and it does. You know, I am like a lot of people, I imagine. I have lots of thoughts, especially at, you know, in the evenings or four o’clock in the morning, as a menopausal woman. Anyone out there will relate to that. But I have found looking at my lists and one of my habits is looking the night before so I know what I’ve got in the day has really started to help ease. But you’re right, I don’t give myself time to do this, which is why I still easily fall into my old habits so I understand now the need for a good coach.

Speaker 1: 33:41

Well, there we go. It’s like I planted that loom. We have this beautiful goal now that is in your control. That I can see from the way that you’re smiling and sitting. It fits. It seems to be sitting really well and things might change. But there’s a few key things that I just wanted to pull out. I will develop my own strategies that I can follow easily. That will put me in the position to attract new team members who are driven and focused. Yeah, and the two things are your own strategies and follow easily, and I think that’s going to be key for you. Lou, you know you put yourself down a bit in terms of your planning and I think it’s very easy to think about the stuff that we’re not good at and forget about the stuff that we are excellent in, because sometimes our talents are so strong in us they feel as natural as breathing and we don’t realize other people don’t think that way.

Speaker 1: 34:31

Thinking about things that are going to work for you in ways that you’ll be able to follow easily, I think it’s going to be a really good filter and one thing I would do is write this goal down somewhere that you see, have it on your computer, have it on the bathroom mirror or you know somewhere that you’re going to see it. Yeah, because then that’ll help you with that insight. And then, when you are doing your weekly planning, your monthly planning, think what is a strategy that I can follow easily? That’s going to put me in the position to attract new team members, and not only just new team members, but ones that are driven and focused. So where do they hang hang out?

Speaker 1: 35:06

And it will help you think oh, I’m choosing between this networking opportunity or this networking opportunity. I’m going to go for this one. It’s a filter. This is going to be a good filter for your priorities. So we’re coming to the end now, and at the start I asked you about what success would look like and you said you wanted to feel clearer about how to prioritize, prioritize and we haven’t actually spent a lot of time on actually like I could have gone down tactics, about quadrants and you know, cute oh, look at your face eyes and how a matrix.

Speaker 1: 35:38

Yeah, I could have done all sorts, but I think it’s been quite good to do that, something a bit different. Do you feel clearer about how to prioritize now?

Speaker 2: 35:47

I actually do and I think it’s going to really help me exactly what you said. Look at what I’m looking for, but make sure that’s really running in alignment with that end goal. Yeah, and and and. It will help me prioritize in those bits.

Speaker 2: 36:01

Obviously, there’s other bits that I probably do need to learn about quadrants and whatever else you said, it’s foreign to me, but it’s baby steps and actually the key I have learned about creating new habits and learning new skills and getting into better development of what we do is I like it to feel easy. Yeah, it’s not always easy, but it needs to feel easy for me and so those things have really helped and actually it doesn’t feel too big. Yeah, at the minute it’s like, well, I can do that, I’m gonna do that. That helps me plan, like you said, what events and you know, outside of networking, who to prioritize with who I approach.

Speaker 1: 36:41

So, no, I actually think it’s really good, amazing, and what is your number one most important thing that you’re going to take away from today?

Speaker 2: 36:49

I think, if I’m honest, I’m going to reword and look at that well-written goal because I think that there’s so much in that that’s going to help me on a daily basis when I’m having a little bit of a moment. But also one of the other things is looking at a month or two months in advance for these events, so that I am not working week by week. I need to be a bit more strategic with my time and allocating that time for looking, so for me that has actually helped and I can physically do that without it making me feel like I’m going to drop all the plates fantastic still easier and the thing about when you have a goal for in a year.

Speaker 1: 37:32

A year feels like a long time, but it is only 12 opportunities to plan a month. You’re letting a month go by without being focused on these activities. Then suddenly you’re a 12th of your available time gone and you know, I know this business. These things take time to grow. You don’t just meet someone and the next day they become a manager.

Speaker 2: 37:52

It takes time sometimes.

Speaker 1: 37:55

I am really pleased that you found that helpful and that you’ve got some good action points. So that has been my coaching session with the lovely Lou. I hope that you have enjoyed it. My lovely Productivity with Zest listeners. If you have liked this, then do let me know and I’ll definitely do more. If you think it isn’t something you’d like to listen to, if I do them in the future, just skip past these episodes. But hopefully you have been able to draw some things out and I think particularly the work that we did on well-formed outcomes I think will be really applicable to people.

Speaker 1: 38:29

So if you’ve got a goal in mind, like Lou did actually, is that within your control? And if it isn’t, how can you adapt that, reword it, how can you make it so it is in your control? Because then the frustration won’t come. Because if we’d have carried on with Lou of this goal of having three new managers by February next year, we could have done the tactics involved, the activities. She could have done everything she needed to do to get that and still not get that exact outcome. She might’ve got one manager, she might’ve got two, she might’ve got none, she might’ve got it, but that was out of her control, but learning the strategies, adapting them with ease and using it to prioritise her to-do list is 100% in her control.

Speaker 1: 39:16

Oh, my goodness, did you catch Lou’s voice when she imagined achieving her new goal? She lit up. She sounded lighter, brighter, more her. That is the power of building that full sensory picture of success. When you can feel it, it becomes magnetic. There’s so much more we could have explored if we’d have had time the anxiety about dropping the plates, how to break her reframed goal down into clear strategic actions, where to go to find the right team members and how to create systems that are easy to follow and aligned with Lou’s way of working All things that we dig into across future sessions.

Speaker 1: 39:55

If this resonated, let me know and I would love to do more coaching episodes. If you want to work through the well-formed outcomes questions yourself, grab them at zestproductivitycom. Forward slash episode 25. Let’s make sure your goals are truly yours and set you up to achieve them with clarity and confidence. If you feel like you would like a session, just like Lou, it might be about something like prioritization, time management, the systems, or it might be about defining this goal that is perfect for you Just get in touch. All the details are in the show notes. So until next time, keep living and working with zest.