do what can be done

Another problem which I sometimes hear about in my coaching sessions, often with the most successful people is aiming to restart life after a setback with a HUGE goal.

Recently I coached someone who had been ill, began to feel well enough to return to full time work and then decided to start a new hobby and write a book at the same time and fast. Her reasoning was that she'd lost time when ill and needed to catch up quickly now. I wasn't sure with whom she was trying to catch up but I was pretty sure that after a period of being really stuck, its best to start by doing what can be done. Nothing too difficult, nothing too big. The key is to find a way forward by doing what can be done and then finding something else that can be done and doing it and so on.

You might have a HUGE goal as your guiding star but you need to regain confidence, energy and strength by planning to do what can be done in such a way that you follow your guiding star at a speed which enables you to succeed.

The person who comes to mind here is the soldier who, having been seriously injured, recently completed the London Marathon one day at a time over two weeks. He said he thought only about the distance he'd be doing one day at a time so he could enjoy his achievement every night when he could rest his weary body, knowing that he'd reached his goal for that day.

His focus was on what he could do one day at a time and he celebrated doing just that ( not sure if he too had chocolate cake) and he did reach his big goal as well.

What a role model for us all.