Power Tool: Action vs. Reflection

A Coaching Power Tool Created by Susanne Schmitz
(Life Coach, UNITED STATES)

Action

Our life is full of action. We have to be or want to be in action it depend of the situations. Because acting is normal for us so that we forget to stop from time to time and to have a look what results our actions had. Acting is done so quickly without thoughts but the results could case a lot. Action is human, we are born with the reflex to breath, to scream when we are hungry. Our body know how to act without to think, in some parts of our life it is necessary to survive but in the most parts it would be better to think first before you act.

Reflecting

Reflecting is important and give us a chance to think about our actions, what has our action effectuated. How we acted, was it good, was it bad. Is their improvement possible. Should we act the next time in the same way. What can we learn from the past experience and how can we shift these experiences to a new challenge. The only thing is, you have to take your time, to give yourself a chance to reflect previous actions and decide what you can learn from these experiences. Perhaps not all experience where good but you can learn from them, so that the next time your action will case more a better achievement.

This is a very powerful tool for me, because I think our life is so fast and everyday there are new challenges which want to be mastered and the first intuition is normally to start directly. But with a short break, a step out of the situation can give us a better view of the things. Can visualize the action and how it would be the best way to act. Reflecting is so powerful when we take the time to think about our behaviors and our ways how we handle situations.

Action vs Reflection

The Power Tool Action vs Reflection is important, because in our daily life, we forget so quickly to look back or to think it over. The first reaction is mostly to start and to reach a goal or to get a work done but the time is missing to give the action some value. Value needs time to be created, to bring it into different parts of our life and to our goals. You can reach your goal by working hard and only be focused to the “finish line”, when you reached it you go over to the next challenge. But where is the value when you never look back or to the side. You will not learn from yourself, you can’t notice your environment and the effect from your action. Take some time to reflect is so powerful because you can realize your strengths and weaknesses.

If the client reflect more often, what they really want to achieve, perhaps they will notice that they have to change their action to reach their goal more efficiently and they will need less effort to come to reach the goal. Then the risk is not so big to get stuck on the way to handle a new situation or to struggle because if you get stuck on the way of your new goal, it is more difficult to restart again on the track then to be aware what could happen and how you could handle it.

If I could shift the thinking or beliefs of every client in one way, I would try to go with the client back to the past and to figure out what went good in the past when the client tried to something new or had a new way to go. And to give him the awareness that he can do it on the same way like he did it before and that he has to believe only in himself. My goal would be to shift the past good experience into the future to take the fear or the struggle away. To give the client the feeling that he has reached so much with his own strengths that it’s now possible as well. To reflect past situation can help and make the client strong to shift it into the present as well the thinking and beliefs.

The most powerful perspective to apply any challenge experience is for me, to take a break, step out of the action and reflect situations in the past. Be aware what you did good and bad at a different challenge and then have a look to the challenge in the present. Think it over if it would be possible to challenge the new experience with the same attitude and habits like other experiences are challenged. It makes you strong to think about your strengths and to remember past situations which you handle also when you first thought that would be to difficult for you.

For Example:

A young family got the opportunity to go for some years to another country . In the beginning all are very excited and full of energy to make this big step but every day the departure day arrived closer and closer. The motivation got less and the fear bigger and bigger for this challenge. They decided to go to a coach with the hope that the coach could help them out and bring them back to the positive track. The coach tried to figure out what is the “fear” and what it meant to them. After the clients explained that the fear is not to challenge the situation and to struggle on the business and private site. The coach decided to use the power toll “Action vs Reflection”. He invited the family to step out of the seats and to see the situation from outside, from the perspective of the new boss, the family and friends. In this process they were starting realizing that the pressure and the fear were coming only from them and not from other people. After one more session the coach acknowledge them to look into the past and to figure out how they have challenged before difficult situations. What went good and what helped them to stay positive and not to feel the fear. The clients figured many strengths out which they never recognized before, they were so normal so natural for them that they never thought that these are things that makes them strong. They got aware about themselves and how much good habits they had to challenge the new situation. In the last step, the clients were positive that they could challenge the new situation like they did it with past challenges. They passed the fear and they stayed more positive against the new challenge and accepted the nervousness like a normal part before a new unknown step.

Reflection:

What kind of action needs the new challenge?
Are there previous experiences which can help me to act on the right way?
Could you remember how you handled a past challenge? How do you felt when you achieved the goal?
How do you mastered other situations?
What do you learned from the past?
How can support the past your present?