Powerful Questions to Ask When Pivoting!
“You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.” C.S. Lewis
THE POWER OF POWERFUL QUESTIONS
In the Powerful Coaching Questions To Guide You to Success blog, we talked about the power of self-coaching. Self-coaching is the process where you are guiding your personal and/or professional growth and development during different seasons or chapters of your life. Self-coaching provides you with the mental exercise of self-reflecting on today, tomorrow, and your future. As I shared before, you have been self-coaching yourself for years….anytime you were pondering what, when, where, why, and how….you were self-coaching. In addition, when you’re navigating your life transitions, questions, or making difficult decisions of any kind, it is important to develop a mindset of TRUSTING THE PROCESS. As a life coach, I have shared this process with my clients as they navigate the changes in their lives.
How about you? How do you TRUST THE PROCESS? One benefit of trusting the process is the fact it can keep you CALM! Letting go of what you cannot control can bring an inner piece that becomes the rudder as you move down the path to your destination.
Let’s explore two topics where you can learn successful self-coaching questions to navigate when to PIVOT and MID-LIFE PIVOTING.
TO PIVOT or NOT TO PIVOT
Did you know you can “self-coach” yourself with powerful questions during a pivot? I look at a PIVOT as an opportunity that has crossed my path (whether I asked for it or not!) It is an opportunity to get unstuck, change, become a better person, make better choices, and move in a new direction … the list is endless. The Bible states that it rains on the righteous and the unrighteous. Good, bad, and the yucky lands on all of us at any time. PIVOTING does look to see if you are rich, poor, young, mature, happy, or sad. Think about the last few years during Covid…a universal happening, not by choice, but it affected all of us in some way. If you did not learn to PIVOT during Covid, then an opportunity was missed, but it is not too late to embrace PIVOTING.
“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” Chinese Proverb
Self-Coaching PIVOT Questions:
What am I experiencing right now and how is it affecting me?
Why do I feel this way? Why does it concern me? Why does it excite me? (explore the emotions and own them)
Do I need to respond now or later to this pivot and why?
What do I already know about this pivot? (i.e., recession…money will be tight! Unsettled in my job…time for a change?)
MID-LIFE PIVOT
When you hear the words “MIDLIFE” what comes to mind? Do you think mid-life has gotten a bad rap? We usually think of mid-life as in mid-life crisis where someone makes a decision that seems out of character. Midlife is not about whether you should pivot, but more about your choice of how, when, and in which direction you are to PIVOT. Mid-life is when look at the runway behind you and see it is longer than the runway ahead of you. TIME becomes your friend or your enemy. PIVOT.
Midlife is a dance—a dance with fear and confidence, certainty and uncertainty, re-evaluating and rediscovering. Embrace it! To become more of the person you want to be, you need to understand who you are NOW. PIVOT.
Self-Coaching Questions:
Who am I now? Do I like me? How can I be more of my best self?
What really matters to me NOW and why?
What can I get rid of (not material things)?
What am I passionate about?
Am I using my TIME wisely?
By taking time to discover the person you are NOW, accepting what matters most, and gaining more clarity around your identity, values, and future self … you are making life-changing pivots. Well done!
THIS I KNOW….it is important to remember that many of these questions I have been sharing with you can be used at different chapters of your life. As I shared in my last blog, when you implement self-coaching questions to help you sort out life moments, relationships, retirement, etc., it is like you are putting the mask on yourself (the message you hear on airplanes) first. By taking time to ask yourself questions during life transitions, you are giving yourself the best gift ever…the opportunity to be the best version of yourself…Spirit, Soul, and Body.
Next week, I will share specific questions to guide you during pending retirement, single parenting, and basic questions you can self-coach yourself with during any life transition.
Stephanie Ritter Maat / Life Coach, Speaker / www.courageouslivingtoday.com
“Great things never came from comfort zones.” Ben Francia
