How to Coach Yourself and Others Essential Knowledge For Coaching | Page 208

support buddies, and other ways you’re going to make this a
success. More on each of these below.
6. Know your motivations, and be sure they’re strong. Write
them down in your plan. You have to be very clear why you’re
doing this, and the benefits of doing it need to be clear in your
head. If you’re just doing it for vanity, while that can be a good
motivator, it’s not usually enough. We need something stronger.
For me, I quit smoking for my wife and kids. I made a promise to
them. I knew if I didn’t smoke, not only would they be without a
husband and father, but they’d be more likely to smoke
themselves (my wife was a smoker and quit with me).
7. Don’t start right away. In your plan, write down a start date.
Maybe a week or two from the date you start writing out the
plan. When you start right away (like today), you are not giving
the plan the seriousness it deserves. When you have a “Quit
Date” or “Start Date”, it gives that date an air of significance. Tell
everyone about your quit date (or start date). Put it up on your
wall or computer desktop. Make this a Big Day. It builds up
anticipation and excitement, and helps you to prepare.
8. Write down all your obstacles. If you’ve tried this habit
change before (odds are you have), you’ve likely failed. Reflect
on those failures, and figure out what stopped you from
succeeding. Write down every obstacle that’s happened to you,
and others that are likely to happen. Then write down how you
plan to overcome them. That’s the key: write down your solution
before the obstacles arrive, so you’re prepared.
9. Identify your triggers. What situations trigger your current
habit? For the smoking habit, for example, triggers might include
waking in the morning, having coffee, drinking alcohol, stressful
meetings, going out with friends, driving, etc. Most habits have
multiple triggers. Identify all of them and write them in your
plan.

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