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Sharing the Journey
A Year of Growth and Change
Issue 47: November 20 2015
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Past issues (updated monthly): Archive of
Reflections and Sharing the Journey
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Greetings!
Thank you for joining me and a small community of buddies on this adventure. We will explore key principles of personal growth, combined with guided reflection and journal writing to make changes that lead toward healthier, happier lives.
Go well!
Pam
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Stuff their stockings with inspiration...
|  I have a fresh new box of paperback copies for the holidays. Signed copies for only $10, delivered free in Missoula, MT. Add $4 for media-rate mailing (PayPal available)
Also available in paperback or Kindle formats on Amazon.com |
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Greetings...
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The path to the end of our year-long journey continues. As we re-visit the principles and process steps introduced at the beginning of the year, we are assembling a versatile toolkit for living well over the long term.
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| Play It Again |
The personal growth process that I find most effective follows a cycle of envisioning, planning, and acting; reviewing, adapting, and acting again. We follow this cycle intuitively in many aspects of life, from learning a profession to designing a vacation. We decide where we want to go and take the steps that lead us there. We draw on the experience of successes and setbacks, and identify lessons learned. We apply that learning as we play it again (and again).
My life-coach training program was built around a framework of weekly, quarterly, and annual review. I made a personal decision to add monthly reviews, and re-framed three-month increments around winter and summer solstices, spring and fall equinoxes, echoing the energy of seasonal change).
Review can take a variety of forms. I like keeping a journal, so I can go back to what I was thinking, doing, and feeling a month, a season, a year or more ago. That multi-scale review offers extended perspective on the progress I have made, what works for me, and what does not. Meaningful review does not, however, need to be written. Reflection can be conducted in the privacy of one's own mind. It can be shared with a trusted companion in conversation, a letter, or an email. It can be documented with mementos, drawings, or photos. Whatever works.
I will share a version of the Wellcoaches (School of Coaching) review outline under "Writing to Grow" for the next few weeks. Each week I will highlight and explore a topic within that outline. I encourage you to develop a habit of playing it again; getting the most out of your experiences, reflecting on and applying the lessons they have to teach and you want to learn.
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| Writing to Grow |
Highlights: Look back over the past week (month, season, year). Recall those events and experiences that stand out as especially positive. What made you laugh? Who did you enjoy spending time with? A happy surprise, good news? An encounter with beauty? Cause for hope? Inspiration? Opportunity to use your strengths?
Successes: During the review period, what worked well on your personal growth journey? With particular attention to habits you want to change now, what increments of progress (however, small), can your celebrate?
Setbacks: What challengs did you encounter? What approaches didn't work so well? Where do you want to try something different?
Lessons & adjustments: What did you learn from the combination of successes and setbacks? How do you interpret the things you tried that worked well or did not work as intended? When you draw lessons from your recent efforts, how do you want to modify your efforts?
Periodic re-framing: On a seasonal and annual basis, ask whether your vision of an ideal future still rings true. What might have changed? Do you have different priorities now than when you started the journey? Have you found that some changes were not, in fact, worth the effort and tradeoffs required? Recognize the value of scaling back on ambition when initial goals turn out to be unrealistic under current circumstances.
Next steps: What 2-3 concrete steps do you want to take in the coming week or month to move toward your ideal future? Do you want to experiment with a new approach to eating, exercise or stress management? Would you like to change something about work, home, relationships, or your inner life? Where do you see a bang for your buck?
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Pam Gardiner
Wellbuddies Coaching
wellbuddies@gmail.com
406-274-0188
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