My Process for Reaching Goals
I come by my love of plants and gardening honestly. My mom has the greenest thumb of anyone I know.
Her gardens and landscaping at my childhood home are insane. It's magical to be there during the summer.
But I always used to tease her because each year she goes around to each of her flower beds and takes a picture.
And these pictures are not like the artsy kind that catch the color and light in a way that makes you pause and think… wow.
No. We're talking plain, inventory-like photos that are purely about documentation.
For a long time, I didn’t understand the point. I mean, she plants mostly the same types of flowers each year and her beds are so well-established that not much changes year to year.
But then my photo memory from 3 years ago popped up and my mind exploded!
I saw a picture of my backyard the spring we decided to put in our raised vegetable garden and I couldn't believe it!
Today, I have 3 beautiful, raised cedar planters with a pea gravel perimeter, a trellis for my cucumbers and zucchini, and 2 summers' worth of memories growing and experimenting with tomatoes, beans, herbs, and more.
I still remember what a pain it was to dig out the grass and fill those planters with all that dirt wondering if we were crazy to take on that kind of project in the pandemic.
But we tended to that garden every day - watered it, weeded it, and trusted. And I can't believe how far it's come in just 3 years.
It's so easy to forget what things were like before. To get used to what we have and not remember a time when we didn’t have it.
That’s why the photos my mom takes are so important. So she can see how much her plants grow and spread in such a short time.
It’s why I’ve started taking notes on my life – from photos of landscaping and house projects to digital notes on who we spend the holidays with and what meals we served.
It helps me remember so I can repeat what worked and change up what didn't. But it also reminds me to celebrate how far we’ve come, how much has changed, and how great my life is.
When we coach together, your first task is to take inventory of all of the areas of your life.
To take a snapshot so you can see the opportunities, the "empty" areas, and think about what you might want to grow there.
We’ll assess career, family, relationships, health, finances, hobbies, rest, and more and then you’ll dream.
What else might be possible? What would a plan look like to create that dream? And what would success look and feel like?
You'll get to work experimenting and trying new things and you'll document your progress along the way so that when we take the "after" photo, you'll SEE how much has changed. You'll see the growth and remember what it was like before.
Are you taking "photos" of your life? Are you taking snapshots and notes so that someday in the future you can look back and celebrate how much has changed? How much you've changed and grown?
And are you taking the time to dream about what it is that you want to "plant" in your life?
The process is simple:
Take the photos / write the notes.
Dream and set your goals.
Make progress.
Review.
Celebrate.
Repeat.
My garden looks amazing and I appreciate it so much more because I remember what it was like before. I have proof of my progress and that feels so dang good.
Being able to see and celebrate your progress is a skill and it’s not one that most of us are taught. But it’s crucial to feeling good in your life.
When we work together, I promise that you’ll be blown away by your own before and after. That you’ll remember the parts of your life that used to feel empty and appreciate even more how much has grown there as a result of your intentional work.
Want to see more real-life before and afters? Click here to hear directly from my clients about how coaching changed their lives.