Measuring progress

Somewhere between our dreams and achieving our goals we all can become lost. It can feel like we are in no man's land. Like Pooh bear looking for the heffalump we can end up going round in circles getting nowhere except frustrated and downhearted. Now when these emotions surface they effect every part of us and every thing we do. My goal is to be a coach. Recently, I felt I was losing sight of the vision. As the fog descended my negative emotions began to bubble up. My danger signs were alerted. As I recognised the situation, I reminded myself that going for your dreams is serious business, you need to be professional. This led me to think about a current piece of work I am doing for some top brass in the health service. It is around generating a guide to creating good health indicators to track progress of projects and services toward clear targets. Do we track progress toward our goals? What indicators could we use? Some people may choose figures and numbers to report on progress. Other people may prefer to use less concrete more qualitative information. Whatever is your preference is the best way for you. Indicators are an important feedback tool. Without feedback we can end up lost and directionless in no man's land or locked into cyclic behaviour like Pooh bear. I have seen people stuck like this or just repeating their actions and surprised they get the same unwanted result. It is not a good place to be. Feedback is powerful. It can let us break our chains, choose a better way and fuel the fire of motivation and inspire us to do more, quicker. I used a bunch of qualitative indicators from conversations with people I respected to show me I am heading in the right direction and making good progress. It's funny how in the space of one week, Dave, Shelley, Monica and Simon all gave me the indicative information I needed. It was as if some higher force had planned it all out. Well I like to believe it had. Thanks God. The feedback arrived from conversation. In some conversations I led the discussion, in others I didn't. The information I received indicated I am heading in the best direction (some fine tuning is still required) and making good progress (although I need to employ my strategies with even more conviction). An unexpected benefit in involving others has been getting people who will guide, support, listen or just stand with me as I progress through no man's land. Sometimes just standing is all that is needed, the rock on which to pause and plan before the next battle. The information from my indicators has re invigorated me. The flames of my Passion for coaching have been stoked and I am more motivated than ever to achieve my goals knowing I am moving forward and clearly heading the right way. Can you see the way out of no man's land? Where are you now? What are milestones along the way? Where do you go for your indicators of your progress? What do they tell you right now? How have you changed what you are doing in response? Achieving your dreams is possible. We just need to apply ourselves professionally.