Most of the time I spend with people 1-2-1 I find they are stuck in a problem, or they perceive themselves as being "bad" at something. My job is to help and coach them to help themselves realise that actually they have other options and they can be and do so much more.
A technique I use quite often is the "10 Percent" technique which I made up back in 2007.
Let me give you an example.
I worked with a lady who fantastically reduced her weight by many many stones and was at goal weight. She came back for a maintenance weigh in and a chat and said that her problem was that with a hectic business lifestyle she had to eat when she could and sometimes whatever she could because she rarely had time to herself. She also stated that she could never eat healthily as she was always in roadside cafes and petrol stations.
She then went on to say she was "useless" and "incapable" when it came to food which is never good to hear as it is such a limiting belief.
So I asked her "OK, imagine you were 10 percent better at looking after yourself when it came to food then what would you do ?"
She then sat and thought for a few seconds, maybe even a minute!
And then it started...she said
1. She could actually eat the healthier options in Little Chef etc as they don't force you to order the Olympic breakfast.
2. She could buy breakfast bars and have them in the car as she used to skip breakfast and then eat more later when she was hungry.
3. She could plan a 30 minute break at lunchtime in her diary to have some downtime and go and find a nice sandwich bar.
4. She could change to black coffee instead of latte's which she drank 3 or 4 of a day.
All the time she was coming up with ideas I was writing them down for her on a pad, when she left I gave her the sheet and off she went to do them.
Now all of a sudden instead of imagining she was 10 percent better, surely if she was doing that she actually was 10 percent better?
But of course I never told her anything, as she is the expert of herself and who am I to tell her whether she should eat salad or chips?
The key to helping people is to simply be their tour guide and help them help themselves.
So turning this to you, think of something that you have a limiting belief about, think about something you percieve you are not very good at and then get a pen, if this relates to weight reduction then great but if not then great anyway!
Write down five things you would do if you were 10 percent better at it. When you have the list then the important thing is to go and take action and do those five things.
After you have done everything on the list and you have got 10 percent better then what if you decided you could be 10 percent better than that :-)
