This is a conversation I have a lot with clients – what’s in your toolkit to help with …whatever comes up? Boss being a jackass? What’s in your toolkit? Business going badly? What’s in your toolkit? Worn out by life? What’s in your toolkit? Feeling despondent? What’s in your toolkit? Stressed about money? What’s in your toolkit? Someone doing your head in? What’s in your toolkit? Life going pretty well? What’s in your toolkit to amp it up and ride the wave of good juju?
What do you know to do in any situation? What is in your toolkit? What can you do to feel better and better, no matter what’s going on in your life?
I’m not talking of course about wrenches, screwdrivers and spanners. I’m talking about the sort of tools you use to take care of yourself and make your life better – like dancing, connecting to inner or higher guidance, talking to friends, clearing clutter, gratitude, journalling, doing what makes your soul sing, creating.
I sometimes forget that as a coach, I have thousands of tools in my toolkit – many I’ve used myself over the years, many more that clients have found helpful – not everyone has that amount of resources. But everyone has a toolkit, they just don’t always realise what they’ve got and what they know. And we all (coaches included) forget to use those tools.
Especially when life’s a bit shite, we fall into that low feeling and forget that we know how to get out. It’s tough to see your way out of a hole when you’re at the bottom of said hole!
So to give you an example, when I am not sleeping well, yoga is really helpful (70% of the time I get insomnia when my yoga practice has slipped). But also, when I’m not sleeping, I tend to get up later…leaving less time to yoga in the morning, so I’m more likely to miss my yoga practice. Plus, I’m tired, so who can be arsed to do yoga? And my brain isn’t working well, so I forget to do yoga.
But there it is, the best tool in my toolkit for insomnia, that I don’t always do.
What tools do you have in your toolkit that you’re not using right now? What’s going on in your life that you could improve or feel better about that you’re not using the tools you have for? Where are you forgetting what you already know to do?
Last year, after badgering most of my clients about what was in their toolkits for a month or two, I decided to start a list of what was in my toolkit, because I’m no different, I find myself forgetting what I know to do fairly often. But now, when I’m in the depths of despair or stress or insomnia, I have a place to go to remind myself what I already know.
And I recommend you do the same – create a toolkit for yourself. So that when you’re stuck, you can go check out your toolkit and pull out exactly what you need – whether it be meditation, or writing, or laughter, or self-love.
And if your toolkit is feeling a bit light, or you haven’t got anything in your toolkit for the situation you’re in, let me know what you need tools for, and I’ll share the best 3 I know for that situation (unless you’re doing DIY and need actual practical advice involving spanners and wrenches…then you’d be better off asking a lamppost!)
Related Posts
