Volume 2, Issue 9

YOU CAN’T MANAGE WHAT YOU DON’T MEASURE

As a personal development coach, one of the benefits my clients most enjoy is being held accountable for the actions they commit to taking.

If you aren't working with a personal coach, I hope you find this chapter from my life story helpful to you.

I have been working with a health and wellness coach for some time, and like my clients, one of the things I appreciate most is that she holds me accountable for my workout regime. She also makes me work harder than I ever would on my own.

Things had been moving along pretty smoothly, although sometimes painfully, until I mentioned to her that I’d been experiencing headaches. She asked a number of nutrition related questions including how much water had I been drinking, and as I tried to grab numbers out of the air, she promptly handed me a Weekly Food Intake Sheet, with a request to complete it daily. I jokingly huffed and puffed, and agreed to fill in the “silly sheet” sure that the results would support my belief that I ate well and drank lots of H2O.

The results of tracking every morsel I put in my mouth in the first week was an absolute eye opener. Although my main meals were fairly well balanced, I didn’t realize how much of a snacker I was and how much “junk” I’d resort to eating if a better option wasn’t immediately available. As well, I realized I didn’t drink nearly as much water as I thought I did. How could this be? How could my sense of reality be so distorted?

Week two of tracking was very different, I became self-aware. I didn’t want to write down what I was considering eating, not because my coach would read it, but because I would have to read it. My choices were now so immediately evident, that my actions were affected. I found myself thinking well in advance about what I would eat, and making sure I always had a bottle of water nearby. Funny thing is I haven’t had a headache for a while now. Humm – I wonder.

Just recently one of our daughters (who is always on the go) admitted she was tired of being tired, and didn’t know why or how to change things. She isn’t aware how little time she spends having fun or how much time she actually spends working, and planning her work.

Reflecting on my recent experience with my own coach, it occurred to me that with a little tweaking this self accountability idea might just work for our daughter. I asked her if she’d be open to completing a weekly time chart. I wanted her to track how she spends every hour of her day for a week. She agreed. I’m confident that when she becomes “self-aware” she’ll know where to start to make the changes she needs to bring much needed balance.

Is there a place in your life where this idea is transferable? How self-aware are you? This is your chance to create some self-accountability. Remember, you can’t manage what you don’t measure.