How to do Self Improvement?
Do it When you want to raise self-awareness
✔️ Which part of yourself believes there is something wrong with you?
✔️ Describe the qualities of this part of yourself.
✔️ What is s/he afraid of?
✔️ What do you get out of maintaining this belief?
I look forward to your comments.
Thank you for sharing your ideas!
If you are willing to try a Coaching Drama session please visit www.CoachingDrama.com
Do it during an individual or team session. Imagine your world as a game with significant others who would act different roles. Let them become how you would like them to be in reality. You can change their personal traits by adding or taking away whatever you find important or irritating. Create your own rules and boundaries and see how the game is going to develop.
There are some questions for you:
1. Did you take part in this game actively as a protagonist or you only observed the game as a creator?
2. Whose personality in the game differs most from his/ her real personality?
3. How satisfied are you with your life on a scale from 1 to 10 where 10 stands for maximum satisfaction and 1 stands for minimum satisfaction.
4. How would you change the other people’ s behavior by changing your own behavior? Make a list of activities.
Thank you for sharing your ideas!
If you are willing to try a coaching session with me, Call me at Skype vlada.srma
Do it When you want to develop your team members.
As you know team members do not have time to read books. Consequently, if they do not read, they cannot develop their skills. So here is one tip how you can motivate them to develop themselves on a daily basis. Every week one of them should start to read a book. During that week he/she should read only 30 pages of the book. At the next meeting he/she should make a small presentation on what he /she has learned. Then, all other members of the team should write down their own ideas about: How it can be implemented in their organisation. After you do that just once per week for one year period, you all will have 6 books read. On the top of it, you will have a special box full of ideas that can be implemented in your organisation. This is something that I suggest to all companies I cooperate with. Everyone is in the good mood praticing: presentation skills, brainstorming ideas, as well as learning something totally new and developing each member of the team.
Now coaching questions for you:
1. Which book do you suggest that … Read more
Do it When your want to motivate yourself whenever you feel like that. In addition, a motivation book could be used as a present for someone you want to make tick. Motivation is like hygiene. The same as we have to wash our face every day, we also have to motivate ourselves day to day. In the picture is the reference book I made for my friend. I asked our colleagues, each of them to write or draw on paper their thoughts about him. Then, I collected all paper sheets with their drawn thoughts and put them in a binder. I decided to use a special occasion, his birthday, and prior to his lecture to give him the motivation book as a present. He was so touched, and we were all so happy. Like Charles R. Swindoll said: “I cannot even imagine where I would be today were it not for that handful of friends who have given me a heart full of joy.” I know that we gave him “a heart full of joy“, but more than that we gave him The Reference book for Motivation. Whenever he wants to boost his motivation, he just … Read more
Today is my birthday and I want to thank all my friends on social networks who have made this day even more special to me. So, I want to give them something in return. This idea is dedicated to all of you. You can do it When your employees have to think about your company’s values. A carousel or merry-go-round is an amusement ride consisting of a rotating circular platform with seats for riders. The “seats” are traditionally in the form of rows of wooden horses or other animals mounted on posts, many of which are moved up and down by gear work to simulate galloping, to the accompaniment of looped circus music. The earliest known depiction of a carousel is in a Byzantine bas-relief dating to around 500 A.D., which depicts riders in baskets suspended from a central pole. Your employees will have to make a carousel from a candle, a wire and paper. The instruction is shown on the picture below, but the main task is to choose seats for the riders. Just imagine that your company is represented by carousel. What would be the presentations for seats? Horses are not allowed! What seats will you choose? … Read more
Do it When your employees have to think about themselves. From time to time it is necessary that we all make this exercise. You are going to get retired. Be relaxed, it will not happen this year, but in 3 years. So, you will have a lot of time to make some changes. Imagine that during that ceremony 3 persons will talk about you. The first one will be your boss. Write down what will be his/her 5 sentences about you. The second person will be your colleague, someone that is at the same level of hierarchy in the company with you. Write down what will be his/her 5 sentences about you. The third person will be your subordinate. If you have no one that is at lower level of hierarchy than you, imagine that you have someone that is just 3 months in your company. Write down what will be his/her 5 sentences about you. When all employees finish with this task, ask them to grade their satisfaction on the scale from 1 to 10 when the 10 is maximum. Ask them to write down one action for each from those 3 people that will … Read more
Do it When you want to make a better relationship. This idea is closely connected to your private life. Since every businessman has a strong urge to balance his private and business life, this idea would affect your business life.The idea is to turn off your cell phone once in a week. Let’s say it would be Sunday. Make an agreement with your partner to turn off cell phones for whole Sunday. Can you survive it? If you can succeed in it, I would like to congratulate you. This little idea could affect your business life and improve your relationship with your partner. And when you improve your relationship…, anything is possible. 🙂 Remember, what your Bikram Choudhury said: “Never too old, never too bad, never too late, never too sick to start from scratch once again.”
Now, coaching questions for you:
1. Just imagine your perfect relationship with your partner. What does it look like?
2. How do you describe this relationship in one sentence?
3. What would be the time frame for this goal?
4. Why is this goal important to you?
5. Who would you be when you reach that goal?
6. Why is that … Read more
Do it When you want to make a stronger connection in a team. Everyone in a group has to make a profile of someone else without making so obvious who that person is. In fact the point is to tell the truth about that person, but to make it so hard to recognize. Sentences could be: “She is a cat lover. She prefers to wear a white shirt. He always makes jokes. He has a degree in economics. She is very charismatic. He is a book lover. “Another criterion is that other people can’t say: “Yeah, we all like going to the parties!” So the profile really has to be unique to that person. In the end discuss what new you have learned about people in your team. The better we know each other, the sooner we grow as a team. Remember what Clara Ortega said: “To the outside world we all grow old. But not to our brothers and sisters. We know each other as we always were. We know each other’s hearts. We share private family jokes. We remember family feuds and secrets, family griefs and joys. We live outside the touch of time.”
Now, … Read more
Do it When you set goals with your employee. We have discussed about Flow during Tesla Idea #47. Now, just ask your employee to measure his present skills. Next he has to measure his necessary skills in next period (3 months, 6 months, 1 year…) concerning that he will be still in the state of Flow. Now use coaching wheel. Your employee will have to make necessary action steps constantly having improvement on coaching wheel. Then your employee just has to make that action. As great Benjamin Franklin said: “Well done is better than well said.” Having in mind an Italian proverb: “Between saying and doing many pair of shoes are worn out.”
Now, coaching questions for you:
1. Imagine that you are in 6 months from now. You are still in a state of Flow. Just say on coaching wheel measuring level of necessary skills where would you be?
2. Now, for each skill make necessary action steps.
3. When would you do each action step?
4. How beneficial for you will be making system that will help you in measuring each skill?
5. How will that system look like?
6. Where else would you use that … Read more
Do it When you want to talk about personal development. Flow is the mental state of operation in which a person in an activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and success in the process of the activity. Proposed by Mihály Csíkszentmihályi, the positive psychology concept has been widely referenced across a variety of fields. We are going to use it by drawing a diagram where your coachee will point where he is right now on skill level. Then he will point where he is on challenge level. Next step is to point where he wants to be in 6 months period wishing to be in a state of Flow. Immediately he will have coordination where he has to be in skill level. Now he will have to make action plan how he will come to that level of skills.
Now, coaching questions for you:
1. What is the area of your life where you want to make progress?
2. Where are you right now on this diagram on skills scale?
3. Where are you right now on this diagram on challenge scale?
4. How satisfied you are with this state on a … Read more
Do it When you want to raise self esteem in people. On every training bring stand like one on picture below. Tell participants that it is stand for air magic sticks for coaching. Ask each one of them to take one air magic stick. They will use it on their everyday work or in life. But now they will have air magic sticks that will help them.
Whenever they have some question air magic stick will give them answer. 
Coaching questions for you are as follows:
1. What do you regard as the biggest challenge at the moment?
2. How do you know that you have been handling that challenge successfully?
3. How would you feel if you managed to cope with that challenge?
4. Which means would you use to reach the set goal?
5. What would be your first step to attain that goal?
6. Make a list of all further steps.
7. What would be the most useful system for dealing with any future challenges?
8. What else would you find beneficial to achieving your goals?
Thank you for your ideas.
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… Read moreDo it during training when you want to point that managing people is 2 way street. Divide participants in pairs. They have to stand facing each other.
Person A has to point his/her finger just next to the nous of person B. Just give instruction that person A has to move his/her finger and person B has to maintain the same distance between his nous and finger of person A. Very soon everyone will show their real personality. Some people will just move finger left to right without moving arm. But, some of them will give them a full speed and creativity making spirals with finger. After 2 minutes ask them to switch the roles. The very next moment you will hear laugh, because everyone knows what will happen. Those who were gentle will receive the same treatment. But the other ones will experience rollercoaster journey. This is the best way to show participants, especially managers that we are all dealing with people like us.
Now, coaching questions for you:
1. Imagine yourself giving feedback to one of your employee. On the same time you have noticed that in the room is (invisible for your employee) person … Read more
Do it when you have to organize your day. Some people believe that they are delivering Time Management training. I don’t think that is possible. You can only manage your actions, not time. I am not playing with word. When you realize difference you are on the right way. So I am asking you to fulfill two identical circles. One with actions that you are doing right now during 24 hours period. Then do the other which is called your dream 24 hours. Then compare the difference. All you have to do is to make action plan how are you going to manage the difference. And that is managing actions in time. Take time and do this. Remember what Seneca said: “If not us, who, if not now, when?”
Now, more coaching questions for you:
1. Looking at your dream 24 hours, tell me what kind of person would you be with that kind of organizing your actions?
2. Who else will benefit from that?
3. How satisfied will you be on a scale from 1 to 10?
4. What will you be able to do to have that kind of life?
5. What will be the time frame … Read more
Do it when you have to develop participants’ management of details. Napoleon was genius of military tactics and strategy. One of his core values was his brilliant management of details. He never forgot a single point of advantage. He has remembered every soldier, river, stream, mountain, hill, valley, and ravine down in his mental note book. Let’s see why and how we are going to develop similar skill in our business. Each one in our group has to create a mental picture of one of our customer. Write down as much as possible data about him (name, address, company, age, gander …). Now we can go deeper in Master details. Explain his/her look, color of hair, eyes, any characteristics, what he/she likes, favorite product, his/her family, favorite places…). When you finish there is even deeper level. Subordinate Details which means detailed look of his/her office, accent, details in body language, characteristic words that are used, changing of skin brightness, changing in voice, changing in tempo…) Lets count how many you have counted in each column.
Now, coaching questions for you:
1. Imagine that your core value is brilliant management of details, like Napoleon’s. In which area of your … Read more
Do it When your team have to learn some now skill or to face a difficult change.
People say that:” The Only Thing That Is Constant Is Change”. But employees are often afraid of a change. Sometimes they are even afraid of some new skill that they have to adopt. Show them that learning new skill is easy as A, B, C… or should I said Z, Y, X…?
Ask your group to say alphabet from A to Z. People will laugh and did it with moderate speed. Tell them that new task is to do the alphabet backwards. They will laugh even more and say that is not possible without reading.
Tell them that it is all up to them. If they think it is not possible, for sure they are right.
But they have 3 minutes to prepare strategy for learning and 10 minutes for practicing. During that time they can use whatever they want just to learn that new skill.
After those 13 minutes for sure they will succeed. Ask them:
How did they feel when they heard for the first time what the task is?
In which way preparation of strategy … Read more
Do it When you want to improve your leadership skills.
Looks like some areas can’t be improved. Like funs cheering up their team.
You can only bring more fans, make more noise, use more creative choreography.
And that’s it. Or you can think “out of the box” like supporters of Galatasaray (Turkey). They made 3 D choreography. 🙂 Skip first 30 seconds.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCskS71K668&feature=related[/youtube]
Now go let’s go back to our business world.
1. What we can learn from them?
2. Name 3 things that you use for supporting your employees?
3. What would be the 4th thing that will make them feel like never before?
4. On a scale from 1 to 10 how would they react after that 4th thing?
5. How would that affect your business?
6. When are you going to implement that 4th thing?
Thank you for sharing your ideas with us!
Do it When you want to improve self awareness, empathy and social expertise.
As managers sometimes we send mixed messages to our employees. We tell them that they and their work are important to us, but if you ask them usually they have different opinion. Obviously we have to learn how to take care about them and show that they mean a lot to us.
Write down names of all of your employees and job activities of each employee.
Then, for each employee answer the following questions:
1. How often you ask that person about his job?
2. Scale (from 1 to 10) where are his/her job concerns on your priority list?
3. When was the last time you have asked that person about his/her opinion?
4. When changes happen on his/her work is that person involved from the beginning or just informed at the end?
When you answer all questions for all employees you will have visual picture of how much importance you deliver to each employee.
What other question would be appropriate to make?
Do it When you want to boost your Self Awareness.
This is a tool from my friend Master ZI which I have implemented in my life several years ago. As good friend of mine he can coach me whenever I am looking for some answers in my life. But he has taught me how I can coach myself every day.
All we need is a nice small notebook.
On the first page you will write 2 questions:
1. What have I done today that makes me proud?
2. Which one of my virtues helped me to succeed in that?
Every night before you go to bed just shortly answer those 2 questions.
In a month you will have written proof how good you are. What have you accomplished, and what nice virtues you have.
Whenever you are in some doubts about your Capabilities and Self Awareness just read the notebook 😉
This is really great, but only if you are persistent to write down whenever you go to sleep and you are proud of something you have done.
So in the morning be sure that you will do something that will make you proud to your dairy. Now questions for … Read more
