Have you ever wondered how one business grows and another doesn’t? Or maybe you pondered why someone you know has skyrocketed their life and you have, well, not? Have you ever wondered how you lost touch with your desires, your dreams, or your aspirations?
There are ways you can step back and approach your life from a different perspective and maybe make changes that matter.
Let’s step into my corporate life and why what I took on always was successfully launched. Then, with each tool, let’s look at it from a life management perspective.
Yes, that’s correct. You are the CEO, COO, and CFO of YOUR life, so why not learn how you can manage it? Let’s look at a few examples.
Five Whys (or as many as you need to in order to get to the root of why)
Know your why. In business and in life, understanding why something “must” be done is so important. Many times, when you get to the REAL reason, the action you are proposing will not address the why and you now have an opportunity to take different action.
1 – define the problem__________________________________________
2 – why is this happening? __________________________________________
3 – why is that (step 2 answer) happening? ___________________________
4 – why is that (step 3 answer) happening? ___________________________
5 – why is that (step 4 answer) happening? _______________________
1 – I can’t get my bills all paid at the end of the month
2 – Why – I don’t make enough money to cover my costs
3 – Why step 2 – The job I am at limits how much I can make
4 – Why step 3 – I have limited skills, so this limits my ability to ask for more
5 – Why step 4 – I don’t do more to get ahead or to make more money
This analysis can go even deeper, but you can get the drift on how this gets to the root of a limiting belief about worthiness in capabilities or deserving more. This is where the work that matters can be done to resolve and financial stress. You see, it is a belief that is deeply rooted.
Ishikawa Diagram (Better known as Cause and Effect or Fishbone Diagram)
This approach is about why something happened or might happen by organizing potential causes into smaller categories. Life is not lineal so understanding that there are contributing factors impacting your life and seeing how they might even interact is how you understand that solutioning is not lineal.
Define the problem – I can’t get my bills all paid at the end of the month
Define the result – I have overdue bills and feel stressed
This analysis can get even more complex, and you can see here there are beliefs showing up as well as attitudes driving the root of financial issues. The root of a limiting belief about worthiness, capabilities, and decisions are where the work that matters can be done to resolve and financial stress.
The Challenger Interview (ask the right question)
“If I had an hour to solve a problem and my life depended on it, I would use the first 55 minutes determining the proper question to ask, for once I know the proper question, I could solve the problem in less than five minutes.” – Albert Einstein
This is a great process to use to nail down if what you believe to be a problem to be solved really is a problem after all. This is about asking why it even matters. This line of questions gets to your underlying goals and motivations in order to discover the real problem, challenge, or opportunity you should be solving for.
Step 1: Clarify the problem with people experiencing it.
Step 2: Ask, “Why does this problem matter to you?”
Step 3: Once you have come up with a reason, ask why that matters to you.
Step 4: Do this in succession until you understand your underlying goals or motivations.
1 – I can’t get my bills all paid at the end of the month
2 – I feel stressed and irresponsible when I can’t even make ends meet every month
3 – This matters because I feel like I’m not good enough as a provider and as a responsible adult
4 – This matters because I really can’t hold my head up and I get angry with feeling useless
This analysis can go very deep and gets to the emotional drivers that justify, in this particular exercise, why this person remains in financially stressful situations. The root of worthiness, capabilities, and decisions are creating an image of failure that this person believes to be who they are. The work that matters is in changing failing in life to succeeding.
The work that matters means you push through, face yourself, and discovered what your innate gifts are. It means knowing this is hard and moving forward anyway.
Doing the work that matters and personal development does not happen with a weekend retreat. It does not happen with reading books, reading blogs, or listening to videos. It does not happen with a deep conversation with your coach.
It takes allowing yourself to know you are worthy of self-care and self-development. It takes having someone at your side guiding you through the barriers that could hold you back. It takes someone who has done it and is willing to go through it with you.
Let’s talk and see if I am that someone for you. Schedule our discovery meeting today.
https://calendly.com/empoweringprocess/complimentary-session
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