With my coaching clients, I often encourage them to develop a way to capture the essence of selected experiences. This involves taking informal notes about any situation relating to a skill or perspective they are currently working to address. Examples could include:
— The situations or comments that really frustrated you or made you feel small
— The times you felt like you used your voice or were courageous
— The ways you are being “interrupted”
— The responses you give in triggering situations
— The situations when you felt really good about how you performed
— The times when you felt unprepared
By making a few notes about the scenario, it forces people to take a moment to reflect on the elements that contributed to it and brings the situation into their conscious thought. Capturing creates the opportunity to see themes which can help to avoid or replicate the situation in the future. More importantly, it creates a record that allows for perspective. If you look back on your challenges from a month (or year or decade) ago, you’ll see the evolution and hopefully, your personal growth.
It doesn’t have to be lofty, but capturing bullet points about key situations can illuminate the incremental change that is otherwise so hard to see. In order to connect the dots, you first have to collect them.
