A Coaching Power Tool created by M. Anand Bhaskar
(Executive Coach, INDIA)
In my journey of self-awareness I have gone back a few million moments in life, childhood, adolescence and my youth to think about what has made me what I am today?
The discovery during this journey has been very profound. There is no gadget created by man that can work at the pace of this mind. The human brain is able to process multiple layers of information simultaneously. Reflecting on the past, being in the present moment and thinking of the future, and each of this at multiple levels. Isn’t this amazing?
Probably for me the most profound has been the amount of time the mind spends reflecting on the past or thinking of the future, but not experiencing the present. Each moment of the present is seen more carefully in hindsight than experienced fully in “its moment”. Also a lot of present is spent thinking about the future. Interestingly in our sleep too we are dreaming either about the past or a future that isn’t? In our waking moments, we are either consciously dreaming or unconsciously dreaming. Either way we are not in the present. However, the interesting part is there is an intention to invest the time of the “present moment” to better a “future moment”. As I examine a power tool, examining the human mind’s curiosity to delve into the future from two angles – Dream Vs. a Vision. How are these two different? What impact could it have for a Client from a coaching perspective?
One of the essential aspects of coaching is to create “energy towards action” in the Client to make a shift in one’s current situation. Often times there situations where the client is thoughtful, explores multiple options as he runs through the situation in his mind, challenges his own assumptions and identifies areas for action. However, the intent does not translate into action. The intent remains “wishful thinking” like a dream, a desire of a “go to” state but it is not backed with the motivation that one might require for making progress.
This is where there could be a potential difference between “a desire” (a dream state) and “compelling action” (a visionary zeal) to bring about a change in one’s current state.
What is a Dream?
Various people have analyzed the word dream in different ways and there are different schools of thought on dreams.
Dream to me is a state of mind, where the movement of thoughts creates a semblance of being dynamically engaged but the underlying levers of the mind are stationary. In other words it could be interpreted as fantasy, visualizing something that could be termed as unreal, wishful etc. that fuels one’s ego state.
In a dream state a person is either consciously or sub-consciously visualizing a state that currently does not exist, very often it is a wishful state, it could also be a sub- conscious or unarticulated state under exploration by the mind. There are options that are at play in the mind, but what is most often missing is action. Hence, I call it an underlying stationary state of mind.
What is a Vision?
A vision can be termed as a picture of the future, something that is inspiring, compelling and a framework that paints a “future state”.