Identify Resources

When you’re keen to make positive change is important to get clear on the shifts you’re wanting to make. [Of course it is! Identifying the goal is essential!]

But there are some other elements of effective, evidence-based coaching that aren’t as visible and just as important.

Identifying resources is one of them.

When someone is speaking to me about the shifts they’re considering, I’m always listening out for and making a note of the resources they have available to them. [When I say resources, I mean the aspects of their life that they can leverage, to help them get to where they want to go.]

Some resources are obvious: a partner or supportive friend, for example.

Others aren’t as obvious but might be just as effective in helping you move closer towards your goal: taking baths [offering you headspace to think about next steps] or reading about people who overcame adversity to achieve big things [giving you greater confidence in your own capacity to effect change].

If you’re considering a significant shift or you’re feeling stuck in making a change you might like to try a Resource Map:

+ Take a big piece of paper

+ Draw a circle in the middle and write your goal in the centre [make sure to consider these points in setting that goal]

+ Map your resources – draw rays out from your circle and on each one, write a resource. You might like to consider internal resources [eg. a willingness to ask for help, humour], external resources in the form of people you know, and practical resources [eg. your savings, day off each week, space, riding your bike, websites, a phrase, listening to music etc].

+ Then use these resources as a framework for designing your next steps. How can you use each one, to help you move closer to your desired outcome?

Tags: career-coaching, life-coaching, Melbourne