Gregory Harris

I was speaking with a lady (will call her MJ for the purpose of this article) a few days ago. MJ is in her late twenties. She is petite, 5ft 2″, tanned with straight hair that drops past her shoulders. She is a professional in the corporate world with a fortune 500 company, a hard worker and very ambitious. I know this to be true, because she has been my client for some time now.

Whilst we chatted in our last coaching session, she was in awe of an inspirational figure in her working place. Her eyes would sparkle and her face was flooded with a big smile when she was telling me about her new inspirational figure – a role model that she worked with – her boss.

She spoke about how at his age (in his 50′s) he had an extremely good physique and had taken good care of him self. He had a great family, was successful in his professional life and more importantly he seemed like a happy guy all the time. He seemed to have it all.

When I quizzed MJ if she had taken the time to speak with her boss about what helped him achieve the all round success he had, she quickly replied, ‘yes I did’- nodding at a million miles an hour.

I asked him, “What one thing would you say has helped you achieve all the success that you have? What one thing has got you to the point where you are happy in your day to day life?”

Before sharing her bosses’ reply, she quickly mentioned that she had hoped to receive a good deal of information on what he did to get to where he was.

‘Instead what I got was two words’, she said.

A long time ago, I had a boss who wanted everything yesterday. He wanted things when he wanted them – no exceptions. I can’t tell you how many times I heard him say, “Joe or Mary are exactly the kind of people I want on my team. They are always quick to take action.” Most of the time, they were successful. They didn’t hesitate, and it appeared to everyone they possessed the courage, instinct and emotional intelligence to get things done.

We all want to take action quickly, but sometimes we wait for the perfect data. We wait… wait some more… and the perfection never arrives. To help yourself move forward, ask these questions:

1. What do I want? – Visualize the outcome you want. Look at it in terms of the best outcome you can imagine.

2. What might happen? – Yes, what might happen if you did move forward and you were successful? What are the positive outcomes?

3. What if it doesn’t work? – This allows you to understand all potential outcomes. You will see that there will be something positive no matter the choice you make.

4. If my life depended on taking action, what would I do? – I know this one is a bit extreme, but there are times when people need to realize that it’s time to move forward. Don’t be stuck forever.

5. What is the little voice telling me not to do? - In coaching, we call this voice the gremlin. He is the negative voice in your head that causes self-doubt. If permitted, the gremlin can paralyze you. The best thing to do is acknowledge him, know he will be there, and then tuck him away.