"Welcome to Developing Emotional Agility--a TeleClass based upon my Multi-level Systemic Coaching program."

That's how the class with 24 people on the call began! I am so excited, yet not surprised that this topic is so popular. I think it says a great deal about the evolution of consciousness today.

One of the things that made this inaugural TeleClass for MetaSystem and Equine Alchemy so fun and valuable for participants was the new technology we used. We were able to move in and out of breakout groups, 'raise our hands', take polls and learn from each other all in 90 minutes on the telephone! It truly was like being in a 'real' workshop!

First, we explored what emotional agility means. It seems there was a common idea among us. Being able to see more that just the physical, ability to move with the emotions, being able to sense emotions, were some of the responses from the breakout groups.

I was introduced to this concept as I went through the apprenticeship program at Epona. Developing emotional agility began with working on my ability to be fully present and authentic.

It was interesting for me to find out that when working with horses if I wasn't fully present and authentic, I couldn't connect with them. It was as though we were on different stations of the radio. Through my own personal transformation, my ability to be present and authentic grew and so did my ability to work more closely with the horses. I was learning about how to be in relationship in a completely different way. I needed to be emotionally aware.

I was discovering that being in relationship is being aware of both my emotions and of those around me. It was from that emotional awareness I was able to gain information that would guide me in developing that relationship.

However, emotional awareness is dynamic. It changes with the day, the hour, and the person, or horse was the case for me!

Being able to flow with that dynamic requires emotional agility.

There were 3 main steps to this emotional agility.

1. Be fully present and authentic.
2. Notice what you and those around you are feeling. Be emotionally aware.
3. Flow with the emotion that is moving around you.

One thing I can absolutely say for sure, once you are in that place,
wisdom and abundance thrive!

Simple? No. Easy? No. There is a lot of breathing involved.

Linda Kohanov discovered emotional agility in her work with her horses and applied the concepts to people. What I found was this was not only true for me, but for my coaching clients as well. In fact, it was from this place of emotional agility, the ability to be fully present and authentic, emotionally aware and flow with that emotion that we were able to do some of our most powerful work.

Linda developed a list of skills that she feels are essential to becoming adept at helping other people recognize and strengthen their authenticity and emotional agility.

I want to share a few:

1. Recognize emotions as information.
2. Be able to sit in uncomfortable emotions without reacting or judging.
3. Sense the flow of others without reacting or judging.
4. Read 'misbehavior' as a form of communication.
5. Resist the temptation to 'fix' people or situations.
6. Create the container of support, which Kathleen Barry Ingram calls 'the sacred space of possibility'. (see my blog on this http://www.metacg.com/weblogs/2009/06/five_steps_to_creating_a_sacre.shtml

So remember:

• The 3 steps to develop emotional agility
  
• There are specific skills to support staying there!
  

The next step after recognizing your own and other's feelings, is learning how to interpret them. We explored this step in the TeleClass. I will share that with you in Part II.

In the meantime, remember every moment of every day you have a choice--and an opportunity to practice developing your emotional agility.

As I prepare the agenda for Week II of the Professional and Life Coach Training program at Epona in AZ, I am reminded that a plan is just a plan. Again I hear Kathleen Barry Ingram's phrase 'the sacred space of possibility'.

One thing I have come to realize is that by insisting on my perspective, or how I think things should be or even expect them to be, I am ignoring all of the other possibilities in life. That is fascinating to me. By holding on to one idea, I cancel out all others. That's powerful. Actually it gives me hope. Hope that anything is possible if I just allow it. This allowing is creating the sacred space of possibility.

How do you go about creating this opening?

1. Due diligence. Do your homework and be impeccable. You know...that stuff called work, research. No cutting corners. Quality. What does it mean to you? How can it manifest in what you are doing?

2. Do what feels right. Check in with your body's intelligence. You will know when it's clear and there are no nagging little voices saying you should have done this or that. Check out my blog on Fear and Vulnerability at http://www.metacg.com/weblogs/2007/10/strategic_planning_through_fea.shtml for more on this.

3. Connect with the other people, person or situation. You are not living in a vacuum. Are you taking into consideration their needs? In equine experiential learning we have an exercise called Embodying the Goal. It is a way for the person to become aware of their goals, embody them, and then engage in an activity in the round pen with a horse to create success in achieving this goal. The horse and person working together provides a way to develop the skill of connecting more deeply with yourself and to the situation as a means of creating success in your life.

4. Watch what is happening. A witness perspective is especially important when trying to make sense of what is and isn't happening. How can you look at what is going on from a detached place and objectively gauge its progress? This will give you on-going information for adaptation needed for successfully completing your goals.

5. Let go and let happen. This might be the most challenging part for some of you. While structure certainly has an important place in life, coaching in particular has taught me that there is much more possible than just what I have in mind. In fact, the most powerful coaching, whether in groups or individually, I have ever done have been as a result of my letting go of how I think it 'should' be.

My experience has been that if I engage in these 5 steps, I have really done all I can to create an opening for possibility.

As far as creating an opening for the upcoming coaching program I know that coaching is most often about what happens between the words; or plans in this case. So as I create the agenda for next week I will leave room for what else is possible. In that way I am creating a powerful container for the 'sacred space of possibility'.

Oh, there is this other thing called trust. It is part of each of the 5 steps. Good luck!

I think it's time to share some 'real life' experiences of equine assisted coaching with you all. Enjoy!

As Jack walked toward the round pen his head was down, his hands shoved in his pockets. He had just finished a phone conversation with his wife, who he is now divorcing after 18 years. This is not how he wants his life to be.

I have been coaching Jack, a mid-forties business man from Canada, for over a year. We have been doing in person and phone coaching; focusing on business. A funny thing happened on the way to making his first million. He is beginning to discover himself--whatever that means. This, too, is part of our coaching exploration.

From the beginning, I have used multi-level systemic coaching with Jack. We have combined 'basic' coaching; a systems perspective--to look at how behaviors create patterns in Jack's life; and, what I learned from working with horses, intersubjectivity--or 'the sharing of subjective states by two or more sentient beings.' I refer to this work as 'energy' work as well--going beyond the intellect to inform our situation and lives. This approach has brought us to a place where the words and energy between us no longer hold the power of learning they have in the past. What better time to bring in the horses!

We began the experiential learning with an agreement to explore the concepts behind working with the horses and clarify what Jack might expect from his experience. Once that was done, we made our plans to go to the barn. We began the session with our 'regular' coaching. Once we clarified what we wanted to work on and how the experience with the horses could help give some insight into this, we went out to the round pen. But first, Jack needed to call his wife.

At the round pen, we began with a body scan. This is an exercise in awareness of what is going on in the body and an exploration of feelings and sensations based upon Linda Kohanov and Karla McLaren's work on the Messages behind Emotion. Jack can't feel much of anything at first, but eventually begins to feel his feet on the ground and numbness in his head and behind his eyes. When asked to go deeper into the feeling for any information his body had for him that his intellect was unaware of, he said "What I see isn't always what is there. In other words, the way I see my world may not be the way it actually is". This is a great example of emotional intelligence.

I asked Jack to connect with his heart's desire for his time in the round pen and as he faced Simon, a recently gelded 6 year old TB, he shared that what came up for him was for Simon to, "Show me the way". The way to what? We would see...With that, he opened the gate and breathing deeply, walked into the round pen.

What followed is 20 minutes of work with Simon that would take 6 months of coaching with me. Boundary issues began immediately. Being recently gelded, Simon had no patience for ambiguity of roles or power plays. Systemically, this illustrates the relationship with Jack and his wife as well as his clients. What are our roles and what does that look like? Jack got the message after Simon nipped at him.

As they continued this silent boundary dance, Jack sometimes leading and sometimes following, all seemed well—until Jack 'checked out' and was no longer present. He stepped into what he later described as his 'ego or false-self'. During the debrief this gave us the chance to explore how often this happens that when he feels like everything is going well from his perspective. What might be happening for him when he 'checks out', leaving the present and going to the future? We also discussed how that affects his life and relationships.

At the time, Jack interpreted losing the connection to himself as losing the connection with Simon. He felt like if he wasn't connected, then nor could Simon with him. As I silently watched the experience, holding what Kathleen Barry Ingram, www.sacredplaceofpossibility.com calls the 'sacred space of possibility', I noticed another systemic insight into Jack's life--how is he interpreting others feelings toward him? Is this accurate? The air was full of despair and giving up as he walked away from Simon toward the gate to leave.

Experiential work with horses involves them bringing to consciousness that which is unconscious for us as humans. Their sophisticated sensory capabilities allow them to 'reflect' these unconscious feelings that are not yet in our awareness because they can actually feel them. Simon had not lost his connect with Jack. On a deeper, unconscious level for Jack, they were still connected. Jack's message from the body scan that "what he sees isn't always what is there" is reflected in Simon following him to the gate and very clearly asking him not to leave. Rekindling a kind of hope, Jack began to reengage with the dance. This time, it was a powerful dance of consciousness and awareness for both; as individuals and partners.

In silent agreement, the session was over. Jack turned and stroked Simon on the neck. No nipping or wondering what role each should play. They are clear about who they are and what they are feeling. As Simon licks and chews, Jack looks up and says, "Ok, I'm done".

As we debriefed the experience, we drew deep insights that offered Jack a perspective and embodied knowing that were completely new to him and yet somehow familiar. This experience took our coaching relationship to a new level that Jack and I would continue to explore as we moved forward toward his coaching goals. We ended the session with a fragile glimpse into the possibilities of who Jack is and could be along with small next steps to nourish those possibilities. And of course lots of carrots for Simon--the real coach.

This program only gets better and better. It also is becoming more complex and more challenging. Rose Milbeck, an MCC from the International Coach Federation and leader of the Equine Facilitated Learning SIG, told me that Equine Alchemy's and MetaSystem Consulting Group's EAC is a huge undertaking. I agree. Learning how to be a masterful coach is a deep journey in itself. Learning how to facilitate the transformative work of the horses requires a separate skill, clarity and self evolution. Combining the two together creates potential for the ultimate transformational coaching.

With this as my context, the prospect of an Equine Assisted Coach Training program is daunting; at least when I see solely through the lens of the mind. Once I shift that perspective to include the integration of the intellect, the heart and the dantien, (the body's center of gravity, and storage center for qi, or life force, located just below and behind the navel), things begin to feel different...possible. I can feel the support of the horses and their wisdom, and I realize that I am not alone in this.

It is from this perspective of integration and support that I offered Week II of the EAC.

Although the official theme of the week was ICF's core competencies of Co-Creating the Relationship and Communicating Effectively, learning was the real foundation of the week. Here are some of the highlights.

• Integrated Learning&mdash Learning from a place of integration between the intellect, the heart, or emotion, and our dantien created the first challenge for us. We all have what I call a 'default' perspective that makes up the lens that we most often use to view the world. Through a systemic experiential exercise with the horses, students had the opportunity to learn more about their lens and its impact on how they interact with their environment. This created an opportunity for self-awareness that they carried throughout the week. Students also began to learn how to facilitate this work to support their coaching. By integrating the mind and the body, and using the body as an organ of perception, students realized that that they actually might have all that they need within themselves to go forward on their journey. For some, it was a frightening prospect.
  
• Consensual Learning vs. Teacher/Student&mdash This might be one of the most difficult challenges of learning for the group because it required such a shift. Most of us grew up in the learning paradigm of teacher and student. If you were the student, it was the teacher who had the information and their role was to give it to us. As students, it was our role to receive that information. We were more or less passengers in this learning experience. In the consensual learning paradigm, which coaching and the work with horses requires of us, we are each equally responsible for the outcome of the learning process. There is no duality of teacher/student or those that know//those that don't know. It is based upon the assumption that we each have value to offer and impact a situation; that we each have a responsibility to contribute to the process&mdash and the outcome will reflect this gestalt. The consensual learning paradigm, which requires active learning, is quite challenging for those who are waiting 'to be enlightened'! Being the expert in fixing the client is not coaching. Nor is trying to get a horse to do what you want without a connection working with horses. It is what I call 'rearranging the furniture'&mdash just another way of trying to be the expert.

I often wonder why letting go of so much responsibility is such a challenge? Wouldn't it be easier to know that you don't have to know everything? That you are not responsible for everyone else? That you are not alone? That all you need do is let go and connect?

The wisdom of the horses allows us to contemplate and feel this in our bodies. In order to do this, we must be part of the process. This is consensual learning at its most powerful.

I am asked so many times, "What is Equine Assisted Coaching"? The folks at the International Coach Federation (ICF) asked the same thing; and I answered. Here is a pod cast of the Special Interest Group call. Here is a description of the group. If you would like to know when these calls are so you can call in, just susbcribe to my blog and I will get you the info. Happy Listening!

Starting Feb. 3, The Equine Experiential Coaching (EEC) SIG fosters the development and acceptance of equine experiential coaching for personal and professional development of individuals and organizations. We provide a forum for the sharing of ideas, best practices and resources, and serve as an advocate for the interests of ICF equine experiential coaches. Our theme for 2009 is Facilitating the Horse/Human Coaching Partnership...

Leader(s): Rose Milbeck MBA

What a powerful experience! Two days of working with people who have existing practices of equine learning and development and taking it to the next level of refinement! This is the next step in the field of Equine Facilitated Learning and Coaching.

At their winter barn in Wellington, Florida, Equine Alchemy hosted people from the UK, Canada and all over the US in a journey of going deeper into themselves and their way of offering the value of working with horses. There were new exercises, new perspectives on familiar ones, as well as entirely new approaches.

Kathleen, co-founder of the apprentice program of the Epona Approach, http://sacredplaceofpossibility brought her many years of experience as a psychotherapist and mentor to the group. This workshop also served as part of the Continuing Education component for Epona graduates. She has worked with people, along with their herds, from all over the world and gave us insight into the common challenges and misinterpretations of this powerful learning modality. She reminds us of the central role of relationship that often gets lost in the work for so many and of our responsibility to continue to develop this crucial component within ourselves, with our horses and our clients.

Lisa brought her expertise as an approved Advanced Epona instructor and an International Coach Federation (ICF, PCC) coach as a way for the participants to become better coaches of the equine work. She focused on using foundational techniques of coaching to become more fully present, focus on the client and allow what Kathleen calls the 'sacred space of possibility'. This isn't always easy as it requires what Lisa calls one of the 2 skills for leadership in the 21st century:

• Being able to act without a full set of information
  
• Being willing to not have the answer(s)
  

This approach gives room for the real masters, the horses, to do their work without it being interrupted by the 'facilitators' &mdash No matter what our good intentions are!

Johanna, a former manager at IBM and horse expert extraordinaire, brought a new dimension of refinement and elegance to working with horses. The Equine Alchemy herd is a result of her training and teaching and they are all magnificent horses that compete at high levels in dressage and jumping. Because Johanna was a leader in the corporate world, she knows how to work with people and horses. The refinement she brings to the horses as teachers requires us as facilitators and coaches to aspire to that level of refinement as well.

As the field and popularity of Equine Facilitated Learning continues to grow, it is becoming clear that discernment in the differences of how it is being practiced is needed. It is no longer 'just working with horses'. There are significant differences in approaches, methodologies and outcomes. That's what this workshop was all about, exploring, alignment and refinement and the work was met with great enthusiasm.

We feel this is just the beginning! In response to this need, Equine Alchemy and Kathleen Barry Ingram are developing a series of these workshops to help refine your equine learning practice. We look forward to bringing you news about the dates of 'Refining your Equine Facilitated Learning Practice' series soon!

We would appreciate hearing your comments and needs about your practice. It is an opportunity to develop the Equine Facilitated Learning community.

Kathleen Barry Ingram, Lisa Murrell, Sylvain Poirier and Helene Bernier

Ruth Le Cocq with Pinot Noir

Now is a very good time to take a look at what we are doing to create the lives we have; and what we may need to do in order to create something different. I suggest starting with what you consider your constraints and what you consider your opportunities.

The first thing that comes to mind for me is a book agent who is reminding me that I promised him a proposal for a book on the work that I am doing....Let's take a look at this.

Opportunities

• Yea! Someone of note is actually pursuing me to publish!
  
• What an amazing opportunity to keep moving this work out into greater awareness and the coaching community.
  

Constraints

• I am not clear about 'the work I am doing'.—Let's see, there is all the research from Institute of HeartMath, http://www.hearmath.org, that I am incorporating in my coaching and consulting. It's all about the heart's electromagnetic field being 5000 times greater than that of the brain and how we actually are connecting and beginning our relationship with people up to 10 feet away and most of us don't even know it. It tells us that the heart is considered a 'brain center' and so is our gut. That old saying 'I feel it in my gut' came from somewhere!

• I don't know exactly how to describe or articulate it.— Well, there is the powerful concept of the messages behind our emotions. This is the idea and process that comes from Karla McLaren and Linda Kohanov's (http://www.toaofequus.com) work on Emotional Intelligence. They tell us how our emotions are powerful sources of information that can inform our actions and decisions we make daily—if we would just connect our mind with our body. We have heard about the 'mind/body' connection for years. This is a literal integration of the mind and body. And when we problem solve, create or get into action to manifest the life we want from this connection, it enables us to get very different results.

• I am not sure exactly what I should write about.—What about 'Integrated Energy Science'. This is a term I use for the integration of the energy and boundary work from HeartMath, the EI work around messages behind emotions, somatics; which involve using the body as a sensory device, and ontology; the awareness of how are we being vs. what are we doing. It is part of my Multi-Level Systemic Coaching model, http://www.metacg.com/mls_coaching.shtml

• Is there any 'real' value?—I could include how I am using this in Multi-level Systemic Coaching. A coaching methodology that combines coaching, systems work and the integrated energy science. It is a consensual learning environment where people experience and learn how to coach from this place of integration. This has created incredible openings for clients who have been struggling for years to go forward; but only using one aspect of their 'system'.

  
  

• But how do I connect them all together?—And finally, there is Equine Assisted Coaching which combines all of the above. It is powerful work combining the Multi-level Systemic Coaching model with the horses. By far my favorite! I also offer two Coach Training programs to teach people how to do this. http://www.equinealchemy.com/workshops.php#8 and http://www.metacg.com/coach_training.shtml.
  

From this perspective, these so-called constraints actually look more like opportunities. They can be tricky, especially these days. However, adjusting my perspective allows me to work with what I have, not spend my energy focusing on what I don't.

If you are feeling like you have little or no choices these days, maybe it's time to step back and shift your perspective. MetaSystem Consulting Group uses an approach to coaching that begins with your perspective and the question, "What part are you playing in creating your current reality?" If you are interested in exploring the answer, give us a call. Or just share you perspective with us, it's all just information. What we choose to do with it determines our reality.
http://www.equinealchemy.com and http://www.metacg.com.

What an amazing week! Week I of MCG's Equine Assisted Coaching Training Program was a smashing success! Kathy Esper, one of our students says,

"Our week was the perfect combination of intellectual stimulation (systemic coaching model) and deep fulfillment of my heart (work with the horses) and I am so grateful to you and Johanna for creating this program and the space!"

I am the one who is grateful. I have been putting my desire to do this work out to the powers that be for the last 3 years and I am now feeling and seeing the return on that energetic investment.

This program is based upon MetaSystem Consulting Group's Multi-level Systemic Coaching model http://www.metacg.com/mls_coaching.shtml and The Epona approach to equine experiential learning http://taoofequus.com/. It is for coaches, consultants, therapists, leaders, managers and HR professionals.

At the end of the program, these professionals will be able to integrate equine experiential learning through the multi-level systemic coaching model into their already existing practices.

Week I of four weeks over the course of 2008 focused on Setting the Foundation, one of the Core Competencies of the International Coach Federation. The week had a rhythm of didactic experiential learning and 'classroom work' and was spent outside near the barn, with the horses in Wellington, Florida. We used this rhythm as an opportunity to step into different roles and perceptions simultaneously. Because the coaching model is multi-level and systemic everything was information to deepen both the experience and learning process.

We focused on many things in setting the foundation for a powerful coaching relationship. Among them:

• The coaching agreement— What happens first?
  
• Assessment/Diagnosis as a continual tool— Because everything is information, continual assessment is critical to powerful coaching.
  
• How to develop and maintain a systems perspective— The ability to see the whole picture and how it is interacting with each other allows for the multi-level perspective.
  
• The coach's role in influencing and impacting the relationship— What part are you playing in creating the relationship and its results?

A powerful guiding assumption of this program is that:

Coaching is a relationship. Therefore, how you are being in the relationship impacts the outcome. Exploring , discovering and transforming yourself first is necessary for you be a clear conduit for an outcome that has the most value for your client.

All of the above work was supported by powerful experiential learning with the horses. In Weeks II through IV will go deeper into these experiences and learning. As we progress, so will the participant's ability to coach and facilitate these experiences from the multi-level systemic perspective.

The entire Equine Assisted Coach Training Program comes from MCG's Operating Principles http://www.metacg.com/axioms.shtml. Assisting organizations to change, grow and develop over the past 25 years has given MetaSystem Consulting Group the opportunity to identify certain consistent patterns in their operating systems. In keeping with our partnership approach to coaching and consulting, we have taken these common operating patterns of our clients and developed much of our methodology around them.

The Equine Assisted Coach Training Program is the next evolution of the principles. Take a look. As always, we welcome your comments and questions.

Stay tuned for a report from Week II, June 23-27.

A context for life and leadership.

Assisting organizations and individuals to change, grow and develop over the past 25 years has given MetaSystem Consulting Group the opportunity to identify certain consistent patterns in their operating systems. In keeping with our partnership approach to consulting, we have taken these common operating patterns of our clients and developed much of our coaching and consulting methodology around them.

We call these our MCG Operating Principles http://www.metacg.com/axioms.shtml. There are 10 of them.

Because of their particular relevance to getting into action and the fact that I have had personal experience with them this past week, I would like to share #'s 4 and 5 with you.

#4 Start at the beginning — or — Relationships, internal/external or leadership/management; begin at the moment of contact.
In an effort to expose the real causes of problems or reveal opportunities for organizations and individuals to evolve, we explore different layers. We have discovered time and again that if we dig deep enough, potential for both problems and opportunities were present at the very 'beginning'. Awareness of this alleviates a lot of expensive time spent on trying to fix recurring symptoms of a problem. Once you get down to the real causes, then these issues can be addressed and maintained. A band-aid will not cure a viral infection.

#5 Sensitivity to initial condition — or — The impact of the initial agreement is exponential.
This builds on #4. Whatever happens in the beginning just keeps on growing. If it is clarity and trust within a business deal, that firm foundation supports the partnership through thick and thin. If doubt and negativity accompany the launch of a new project or product, that same darkness seems to follow it throughout its usually problem fraught life. Building awareness of this condition into contracts and agreements creates firm foundations that keep business and relationships strong and on track producing amazing results.

I know this. I coach and consult from this place. Even so, this past week, I needed to revisit these words of wisdom.

In beginning a coaching relationship last month, for some reason, I decided to forgo the usual tools and framework that supports these principles. Both the client and I have been paying for it ever since.

I say the client because as a result of not paying attention to what was being revealed in the process, I became ineffectual as his coach, validating his feeling that there was not enough value in the relationship as well as his fear of true commitment to the process. And as #5 tells us, "whatever happens in the beginning just keeps on growing".

I am paying for it by playing into his patterns rather than helping him reveal them. It has also cost me a great deal of time and focus trying to get it all straight, if that is possible. Unfortunately, we are still in the process...

Upon reflection, I have to say a lot of this was probably due to money. Yes, in spite of so much work on developing my own awareness, maybe my insecurity and need for monetary 'safety' was the motivation behind this oversight. You know, just get it started and worry about the rest later. Then at least we will have the contract, and the money. I am wondering how many times I have to learn this one.

A great deal of my coaching comes from my own lessons in life. Therefore, as a result of my recent experience I offer you the opportunity to move into action from a place of clarity and awareness. Ask yourself:

• What are my assumptions around this action?
  
• What outcomes do I expect?
  
• Are these in alignment with other people involved in the action?
  
• What structures, agreements or contracts do I have in place to support the clarity of action and outcome?
  
• What agreed upon indicators do I have in place as milestones for success or trouble?
  
• Am I paying attention to what is happening from the moment of contact?
  
• What does this information tell me about this person or circumstance?
  

This sounds like coaching. But I also think it is a life thing.

A context for life and leadership.

Zen and not pushing....are we done yet?

I don't think I will ever be done, however I do think that I have learned a great deal, and had some deep contemplations and insights as a result of visiting my world from this perspective. I hope this has added some value to those of you who have communicated with me that you have been keeping up with the series. Thanks for the support.

I have the feeling that the next couple of months are important ones. I have started the year and established my Zen context and it seems to be working well.

Now is the time for action!

How many hours have been spent on trying to figure out the right formula for getting into action? As I begin moving, it is worthwhile to spend a little more time looking at this.

Over the last 15 years of coaching and consulting, I have come to recognize 2 categories of people in my clients and colleagues:

• Those that have to have all their 'ducks in a row' before they move into action; a lot of research and information with the potential of 'paralysis by analysis'.
  
• Those that 'just do it'; less information more big picture vision. The potential here is missing important details that insure successful execution, completion and longevity.

I would like to offer a third context for getting into action.

How does it make you feel?

The most important indicators for me to get into action are how I feel and my energy. So, I ask myself one question:

Does the prospect of this project/action give me energy, or take it away?

Let me give you an example.

I have a Equine Assisted Coach training program, http://www.metacg.com/upcoming_events.shtml, that begins in April and several people have told me I have a lot of guts to do it because it is a new field and I am if not the only, certainly one of the few who offer this. I don't agree that it takes guts because the answer to my question when considering this program was unequivocally this gives me energy. I am acting from my passion for coaching and horses! Yes, it is off the beaten corporate track and I do feel like a pioneer, but that gives me energy.

In contrast, I received a call from a very large and prestigious corporate group for coaching and consulting last week. As I was speaking to this person about the prospect of moving into action together, I realized that I was unconsciously 'spinning' what we offer to fit her request. In that moment, I became aware of how I felt and I was tired; very tired. The prospect of entering into a traditional coaching and consulting relationship from my 'work persona' was taking my energy away.

With that awareness I sighed and began to speak from my heart about what we do and its potential value for her and her company. The more I spoke the better I felt and more energy I had to really listen to her questions and answer them honestly. What initially felt like a really bad sales call ended up over an hour later with all parties interested in moving forward and into action toward the next step. Whatever the final outcome, I know I am not getting into action around a situation that takes my energy away.

So the next time you find yourself in a quandary about getting into action about something, stop and think what you need to get moving.

• Are you an 'all my ducks in a row' type of person? Identify and collect the information you need to move, but move it the operative word.
  
• Are you a 'just do it' person? Be sure you haven't overlooked some important detail that will come back to haunt you.
  
• Most importantly, how do you feel when you contemplate this action?
  
• Does this action give you energy?
  
• Does this action take your energy away?

I'm not promoting any one style. I am simply observing life in motion. And I know for certain that this makes me feel good and gives me energy.