Life Coach Tip Of the Month

Biting Into Your Life List: Working Toward Your Goals!

Once you have added goals to your SuperViva life list, how do you decide what's first and get started? As a life coach, I like to have some fun with my clients.

We imagine that their life is a picnic plate. You know the ones that have three compartments, so the food does not touch. There is one large central compartment for the main course, and two smaller ones - for the side dish and the dessert.

Look at the next 3-6 months of your life as being divided into these picnic plate categories. Begin your life list, put it in front of you, and think about what goals would really be nourishing and taste especially good. Next, just as it is not such a great idea to overload your picnic plate, you will want to put no more than one goal in each compartment, so that you can distinguish the flavors and not get indigestion. That's where the picnic plate compartments come in. Think about what is most important to you, right now, and choose just one main goal from your life list-as your main dish for the next 3-6 months. Next choose a smaller nourishing side dish goal-for compartment number 2 and lastly a yummy, just for you, dessert goal-to go in compartment number 3.

One client I had chose finishing her nutrition book as her main dish goal, moving to a bayside apartment as her side dish goal, and a monthly aromatherapy massage as her dessert. What will you put on your picnic plate?

So, to summarize in order to create achievable goals

1. Start your life list
2. Think in terms of 3-6 month goal increments
3. Use the picnic plate process for balanced goal achievement
4. Divide the plate into three goal portions
5. Choose one main course goal
6. Choose one smaller side dish goal
7. Choose one sweet dessert goal

Choosing no more than three life list goals at a time, and portioning them on your picnic plate ensures that you realistically pace yourself and thereby achieve your goals. So get out your life list and your picnic plate and I will join you at life's extraordinary buffet!

Susan Whipple, MA, CPCC coaches vibrant passionate people to live richly fulfilling and balanced lives. She is a popular speaker, workshop leader and certified professional life coach. Susan's life passion is to support people to live their fullest most authentic lives. Susan's clients often call her the "spark that ignites the creative fire".

Susan has been a life and leadership coach, in private practice, for over 11 years. Prior to setting up her own coaching business (a big life list goal), Susan spent 15 years as the Leadership Development, Training, and Recruitment Director, for the high-technology leader, EDS. In addition to her coaching and workshop practice, Susan also has the honor of leading Barbara Sher's Official Success Teams.