SuperViva: A New Tool for Life Coaches

One of the old-school standbys of dream planning is the life list - the list of things we want to do before we die. But in the past, life lists were limited tools - pen and paper versions were messy, low on usability and high on biodegradability (often when it was least convenient), while computerized lists required you to have a copy of the file anywhere you wanted to access and use it. Leave your PDA at home (or forget to upload the latest revisions), suffer a crash or get hit by a data-chomping virus and you were out of luck. But now all that has changed.

SuperViva is a web-based life list service that provides anywhere/anytime accessibility, tons of planning and sharing capabilities and a nearly limitless potential for creative usability. For coaches, this site is an amazing tool with an almost unlimited potential:

1. SuperViva enhances your clients' coaching experience.
2. It helps you build your practice.
3. SuperViva helps you work on your own personal growth and be the change. .
   

1. Introduce your clients to SuperViva as a fun interactive tool

One of the cool things about coaching is all the nifty tools available to help your clients succeed. Here are some creative ways you can use SuperViva life lists to help your clients achieve their dreams.

Life List 101 - Of course, the most obvious way to use SuperViva is to work with your client to create their life list. Walk them through all the cool planning, sharing and support options the site offers, as well. Then make list review and maintenance part of your coaching routine.

Like a time clock, only nicer - Ask your clients to set up a separate account for their coaching work.

• Have them enter homework and other coaching related goals into their list and move them to the "Done" list when they are finished.
• Complete the circle by subscribing to the feeds so you can keep track of their success. (Only the Public goals will appear in the feeds. If your client has Private goals, she or he will need to email you the list.)
• You can add tips to public Goal Support pages to offer help and advice between sessions. Showing your support this way could also be a great way to find new clients!

How to: Within People search for your client's SuperViva user ID. Either bookmark your clients' pages or add the RSS feeds to a reader such as Bloglines or My Yahoo! to see updates in one place.

Trying things on for size - Work with your clients to browse the Interests Directory for new ideas or alternative versions of their own ideas, just to see what comes up. The best cure for getting stuck is a tour of unknown possibilities.

Exposing their inner greatness - Have your clients populate their "Things I've Done" list so they can see in a concrete form just how much they've accomplished in their life. While they're at the site, have them browse the topics lists for things they can help others with. It's amazing how much we do or know that we take for granted.

Sharing with others - Sharing their list with friends and family cannot only provide accountability and support for your client, but also help others keep track of the changes your client is making in their lives, which helps ease loved ones' fears and eliminate confusion and loss of control over what's going on. Also, they can set up a family account or accounts as described in the section below to improve their own family life.

2. SuperViva! It's a bird, it's a plane…it's a practice-building powerhouse!

Feeling overwhelmed when it comes to building a sustainable, profitable business? Not sure what to do in what order, or how you're ever going to get it all done in the first place? It's SuperViva life lists to the rescue!

Make a list and check it twice (a day, that is) - Create an account for your practice and keep all your business goals in one spot. Then upload your RSS feeds to your MyYahoo! or other portal home page, or to your desktop feed reader.

Circle the wagons - Set up practice-building lists for each person in your buddy coaching group, then share your feeds. Everyone can see what everyone else is doing, get fresh perspectives, build accountability and exchange tips, ideas and other helpful advice via the Goal Support comments.

Create team goal lists - Working with a partner or three on a dream project or partnership? Set up an account for your collaborative dream and populate the list with project goals and subgoals (you can make lists and to assign items to each person as well as categorizing the goals). Beyond the immediate goals, create long-term growth and success goals (think big!). And don't forget to add a few great reward goals to celebrate your success.

Example: Say you're starting a seminar business. When adding the first goal, you can make up list names like "Business Ideas," "Merchandising Ideas," "Marketing Ideas." Also add "Bob" and "Lisa" (or whatever your names are). As you add each goal, you can pick which lists the goal goes on. Then in your group's Life List you can browse by topic to see who's doing what, the priorities etc.

Share your knowledge - On the Goal Support pages, offer tips and ideas (no marketing, please!) to others working through their life lists. It's fun, it's easy and it feels darned good!

Share your progress - Publish your practice-building list RSS* to your business website, blog, Squidoo lens or other public arena where your clients, colleagues and loyal fans can see it.

*Use Feed to JavaScript ( http://jade.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/feed ) if there's no built in feed publishing option

3. SuperViva helps you be the change you wish to see in the world

Who ever heard of a coach that wasn't neck deep in their own personal growth? An interactive, web-based life list is the ultimate in self-improvement accessories. Aside from your all-around basic life-list options, you can:

Imagine the possibilities - Scan the idea lists for cool ideas and neat variations on a theme to expand your direction or discover new ones.

Spread the word - Share your list with friends and family to get support, ideas and insights.

Inspire yourself - Upload your feed to your home page, desktop feed reader, Squidoo lens or blog where you will see it every day. You could even create a blog-based personal growth journal from scratch just for this purpose. (Link to it on your SuperViva About Me page so everyone can share your progress.)

Write on - Use your list (especially your "Done" list) as inspiration for articles, essays, blog posts or even a book. If you've figured out a way to do something wonderful, why not share your experience with the rest of the world?

A family affair - Create an account as a family, or let each family member create their own, or both. Subscribe to the feeds, swap ideas, learn more about each other and work together to see how many group and individual dreams you can make come true. Teach your kids to succeed by offering rewards for risks taken and dreams achieved. Set your own goals for things you want to teach, share, or do with your children.

Email Susie at SuperViva with any questions about the concepts discussed here as well as to reportyour own success stories!

Soni Pitts works as a professional freelance writer/editor and as a personal coach in southeastern Missouri specializing in helping her clients create sustainable lives and lifestyles that work for themselves and for the world around them. For more information, please visit her online writing headquarters or her coaching website.