Yesterday’s post was accompanied by a photo of this same view from my office, but with freezing fog. The very next morning the sky was crisp and blue, with (if you look closely) the frozen crystals of ice on the bare tree branches a reminder of the freezing fog of the day before, having not yet melted in the early morning cold.
In that post yesterday, I noted that my motivation to action had shifted and that whilst last week I was not feeling to train, only to go for winter walks, this week my motivation has come back and I have started back on the indoor trainer. I wrote there: “perhaps the simple act of writing down my thoughts around my awareness of my fitness journey became enough to shift my energy and get me back on the indoor bike!”. When I reposted it to LinkedIn, I noted:
A recent theme around fitness and activity has me turn my thoughts to “awareness is the greatest agent for change”
An esteemed coaching colleague, Cathy Presland, then commented on that LinkedIn thread about that phrase “awareness is the greatest agent for change”:
It absolutely is. There is a lot of talk and books about the next piece—getting into action—but without awareness the possibility is completely absent and so all this ‘advice’ is pointless (unless it raises awareness which can happen). Either we don’t see it or we dismiss it.
My reply to her was about coaching and our roles as coaches in supporting clients to be aware of their energy and the potential for a shift in energy leading to action:
Oh yes! Excellent thought to ponder. Turns my thoughts to coaching. When mentoring other coaches I often talk of “listening for energy”, in particular for where a gap is present between the words and the energy of the coaching client. When this happens, sometimes the role I play as coach is simply to note that I sense that gap, at which point they can talk through it and awareness comes forwards
The key in our dialogue is Cathy’s observation that without awareness, advice about taking action is of little or no value, as the individual or business is not ready to take action.
Hmm, as I write this, I recognise once again that those who contact me to work with them are those who are ready, who have brought their awareness to mind and then, sometimes over a short time, sometimes it took longer, reached a point of readiness to act and so called me to support them with that process.
Thank you Cathy, and thanks once again to my esteemed friend and coaching mentor from years past, Suki Laniado Smith, who always signs off her emails with that phrase: “awareness is the greatest agent for change“