For any organism to survive and thrive, its rate of adapting has to be equal to, or greater than, the rate of change in its environment – i.e. A ≥ C. This applies regardless of whether that organism is a single celled bacteria, an individual person or a multinational corporation.

Since 2000, this equation has been the central subject of my professional work. People have sought my partnership to assist them adapt to change.

Sometimes people have come with a pro-active orientation towards a change they can anticipate is coming or they wish to cause.

Other times they come to nLIVEn amidst a period of major change – either by their own hand or another.

However, most often change creeps up on people and catches them by surprise.

The initial part of our work together has involved clarifying what kind of changes they most want to make. Broadly speaking, their aspirations can be classified under four headings or areas, which I call The Four Habitats, that I wrote about in an earlier article.

The following list of 100+ kinds of transformational changes is a sample of what people have been seeking assistance with from nLIVEn, since 2000.

A. Personal Changes / Aspirations

1. Improve health / wellbeing (diet and exercise)
2. Lose weight
3. Reduce stress
4. Improve sleep
5. Get fit
6. Achieve a personal goal: run a marathon, join a band, learn to dance
7. Reduce or eliminate medication (particularly blood pressure and cholesterol)
8. Move on from the loss of a loved one (divorce, death of a partner / parent / child)
9. Take more / longer holidays
10. Plan and take a sabbatical / cultural immersion program
11. Design / build / renovate / buy their dream home
12. Buy a beach or country property
13. Develop a new hobby / interest
14. Improve their relationship / find love / companionship
15. Create inner peace and calm
16. Become a parent
17. Plan life in retirement / semi-retirement
18. Relocate to a different city / country for a lifestyle change
19. Preparing and executing a will and power of attorney
20. Planning a special event or occasion
21. Identify an organization you want to support (via volunteering or donating money)
22. Start writing a regular blog
23. Write and publish a fiction book
24. Migrate to a 4-day workweek
25. Create better work-life balance

B. Professional Changes / Aspirations

1. Wealth creation – e.g. buy a property, setup a share portfolio / self-managed superannuation / retirement fund
2. Get more organized to achieve more whilst reducing working hours and increasing personal time
3. Improve their project management skills
4. Re-invention: redesign the business / field they are in and make a successful transition
5. Personal branding: understand, articulate, develop and express their distinct individual style
6. Developing a transition to retirement financial plan
7. Restructure their financial affairs to reduce risk and minimize tax
8. Secure new opportunities: connections, introductions, speaking opportunities, board roles
9. Become the chairman of a board
10. Relocate overseas to gain international work experience
11. Design and take a professional working sabbatical in a different field
12. Develop, expand and improve the quality of their network
13. Develop executive management skills – e.g public speaking, media skills, conflict resolution, negotiation
14. Become a professional investor
15. Develop and document a career development plan
16. Change / engage a new team member: accountant, financial planner, lawyer, virtual assistant, etc
17. Embrace and integrate a new technology into their life: iPhone, Apps, software
18. Win an award / recognition
19. Get interviews / publicity to build their personal profile
20. Write and publish a non-fiction book
21. Decide which masters degree to pursue
22. Upgrade their resume
23. Get promoted to the CEO role
24. Step down as a CEO
25. Engage a sponsor/s (as well as coaches and mentors) to champion their professional progress / create opportunities

C. Organisational Changes / Aspirations

1. Secure a Promotion – with your employer, with a competitor, within your industry, in a different industry
2. Move sideways – with your employer, with a competitor, within your industry, in a different industry
3. Start your own service firm
4. Grow your service firm
5. Downsize your service firm
6. Go from selling services to selling products
7. Start your own business (products)
8. Buy a business
9. Grow / develop your business (products)
10. Internationalize your business
11. Business acquisition
12. Business merger
13. Business capital raising
14. Create a joint venture
15. Business IPO
16. Management buy-out
17. Systematize or franchise your business
18. Downsize your business
19. Transform your business
20. Succession from your business, including management buyouts
21. Re-engineer the way your business makes and wastes stuff
22. Apply for grants
23. Win awards and industry recognition
24. Migrate or introduce a new piece of software into their enterprise platform
25. Establish or upgrade a professional board of directors

D. Global Changes / Aspirations

1. Volunteer for a community organization
2. Serve on the board / committee of a community organization
3. Initiate humanitarian projects in third world countries
4. Write and publish a thought leadership book
5. Serve as a politician
6. Serve on an industry association board
7. Travel to / holiday to discover a new part of the world
8. Take an extended cultural immersion program in another country
9. Speak internationally at conferences
10. Deliver a TED Talk
11. Join a movement
12. Develop and launch a podcast
13. Become a mentor for people within your community
14. Take on a leadership role within their religious community
15. Become a patron of a community organisation
16. Serve as a member of their school council / committee
17. Create and implement a bucket list
18. Establish a charity / charitable trust
19. Do public speaking and advocacy work
20. Get involved in a local community project
21. Find a community leader and support them
22. Become a regular carer for a grandchild
23. Make peace with a former life / business partner
24. Coach a local sports team
25. Attend the Olympics and help celebrate sport

The above lists are not intended to be exhaustive but rather a guide to the diversity of goals and objectives different people bring to personal and business coaching programs.

If you are new to coaching, the above lists may help you expand your imagination and understanding of how coaching can remain relevant over a longer-term period, of ten years and beyond.

Remember, successful tennis players don’t abandon their coach once they make it to Wimbledon – they continue to add additional specialty advisers to their team to strengthen and augment how they consistently leverage their best performance.

To help you get started, deciding on what to focus on, take seven minutes to watch the following video, an animated book review of The One Thing by Gary Keller:

Resources

Video: Animated book review “The One Thing” by Gary Keller
Book: “The One Thing” by Gary Keller

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