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!
