A Coaching Model Created by Tonia Jenny
(Life Coach, USA)
When we have arrived at the question, the answer is already near. —Ralph Waldo Emmerson
Just as there are four seasons to the regenera-tion of our earth, four directions we can face or choice to travel at any one time and even four stages to each and every beat of our hearts, so are there are four stages in the cyclical process of any change or area of growth we wish to make in our lives.
The AXIS approach to coaching defines these four stages.
Assess
- Looking to what has worked and not worked previously.
- Setting intentions for what is desired.
- Being still enough to notice if what we’ve said we want is in alignment with our values; being silent enough to hear the most helpful questions arise.
X-Plore
- With questions in mind, options and possibilities are considered.
- Preparing plans to tackle possible obstructions and distractions that could arise.
Initiate
- Taking visible action
- Sampling what new habits can feel like.
- Celebrating noticeable achievements and determining where more supportive structures may need to be put into place.
Speculate
- Sitting with the newly created situation, acknowledging what has been achieved.
- Observing feelings about what has been accomplished. What aspects should there be an effort to maintain? What might need to be done differently?
- What new skills or knowledge has been gained?
Sometimes the transition between these four stages is clear and defined, and at other times, the transition is subtle—the edges soft.
Within the four stages, there are periods of doing (exploration, experimentation, sampling, research, trying), and there are periods of non-doing (noticing, pondering, listening, being).
Acknowledging the importance and place of each provides spaciousness to allow change to come more fluidly.
We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.
—T.S. Eliot