You Never Know
Did you know that in addition to 1:1 executive coaching and Breakthrough Offsites, I also provide recovery coaching? It's a specialized form of coaching designed for people rearchitecting their life after hitting the wall due to addiction. Because of that coaching -- and openly sharing about my own recovery journey -- I often hear from friends, colleagues, and clients when they're concerned about someone in their life. As you might imagine, those calls are usually a mix of frustration and fear with a big amount of hopelessness.
I'm sharing three comments from recent conversations, along with how and why I responded the way that I did. As a reminder, we are all in recovery from something because we all have something "we'd lay down if it were easy." (Thanks to the brilliant Dr. Nzinga Harrison, host of the In Recovery podcast for that line.)
"He just went back to treatment for the eighth time."
My response? Good!
"She's only going to meetings because the judge is making her."
My response? Good!
"He said he's only stopping for a month."
My response? Good!
Here's why I responded so enthusiastically: you never know when they'll hear something, experience something, or connect with someone that makes the difference.
That's why for any type of transformative change, the aim is to get into action and stay in action. Get the ball on the field and make incremental process, even if that process is measured only in inches. As legendary Green Bay Packers' coach Vince Lombardi remarked, "Inches make champions." (The NFL's 104th season begins on Thursday, September 7th when the Kansas City Chiefs host the Detroit Lions.)
There's a good chance you may be trying to lay something down today. It may be on the home front, it may be on the work front, or it might be a mix of both. Whatever it is, please take one healthy action! It will feel better than doing nothing. And you never know -- it might be exactly the thing that gets the ball moving down the field.
If taking that one action seems insurmountable, remember the words of humanitarian, Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient, and tennis great Arthur Ashe:
“Start where you are. Use what you have.
Do what you can.”
PS: If you're interested in prior recovery-focused articles I've written, check out Hitting the Wall? Three Tips for Making It Over and Keep Coming Back.