The Energy of Shared Consciousness

Tonight we had our regular meeting and I will admit, I was tired.  I was tired and a little unmotivated.  I so wanted to "call in" tired.  I wanted to check out and take a nap.  I had already worked a full 9 hours, plus two hours of driving and even cooked a quick dinner.

But alas, I had an obligation and this is my program, after all.  I got on our video conference and admitted I was tired.  

Checking in

We always start with a check-in.  It's a technique I'd heard and read about years ago in coaching classes but thought it was too weird to do with my teams at work.  After a teaming class last fall, I decided to try it for certain meetings and I learned that it was useful.  Then we started working with some consultants and they explained more fully that the check-in served the purpose of becoming present for the meeting and I was hooked.  Our program participants and I now always check in and we love it.  We answer the question - what has our attention? Sometimes we're distracted and it's something else.  Sometimes we are fully present and announce that to the group.  It's completely without judgement. What it does is set us up as a team to understand what our present state is.  It allows us to put out to the universe and to the team where we are mentally and it sets us free from any thoughts that we're holding on to.  For those of us who practice mindfulness, it allows us to move on and be present.

As quickly as that, the first 10 minutes, I was energized.  I did most of the talking tonight, which I don't love. But this was a teaching day where I had to share the process with the team.  Not only did I get through it, I was energized and inspired.  I was able to talk through the what and the why (the why can get kind of mushy sometimes).  I am not totally comfortable with all of this yet since I am trying all of this for the first time.  But I was there and I felt inspired to share more and motivate the other ladies.

In his book, Team of Teams, General McChrystal talked about a shared consciousness.  It's basically how we function as a group in terms of our beliefs, ideas and attitudes.  

At the end of the meeting, we now do a closing round. Each team member shares how they feel at the end of the meeting.  We all shared that we felt focused and motivated. One team member shared that we validate that her goals are not silly and that there is potential in her interests.  

Miraculously, this is exactly where we should be.  We are kicking off the action part of our little project and everyone is feeling focused and motivated and there really isn't anything better than that.

Next for everyone is a plan to get started.  This week we all work on developing a plan and breaking that down into small, attainable tasks.  Each week going forward, we'll report on our progress, discuss what we've learned and then plan the next week.  

Read my previous post on the program pilot: Accountability Trumps Will-Power

Accountability Trumps Will Power

We just finished up our last Goals setting meeting.  It was a meeting where we fine-tuned our goals to determine what we could get done in the next quarter using the mind mapping activity that we completed earlier. 

We all did great.  Everyone was able to hone in on what they wanted to achieve in the next three months, stretch themselves a little but also being realistic.  I asked the team to think about it as a mission for the next 3 months together and really ask themselves - is this the best that I can achieve for my business in the next three months?

Everyone did just that and it felt great.  Next steps are to break that down into monthly goals and then weekly goals.

But what did we learn tonight?  We all shared some interesting thoughts.  All of us reported getting some unplanned things done.  I spent the weekend working through my Dreambook, which actually helped me break down my work into action items for the next three months.  M reported that she started her new blog and Instagram account that she'd been putting off for months because she didn't have a name and the right focus for it. K shared that she had actually gotten a little head of some of the goals breakdown and K2 had decided on her blogging schedule.

What everyone said was that we all felt a sense of accountability to each other.  Only because we mentioned the prior week in passing that we would act on an idea.  M asked for opinions on her blog name, some gave a few options.  She liked one of them and said, I will set up my Instagram account. Based on just that, she felt compelled to set it up before we all got back together.

How incredibly interesting.  And I was so excited to share how much I had accomplished. 

The major theme of this program is just that - accountability.  There are many coaching programs out there that share tons of goal-setting information and make tools and techniques available to you.  Many folks offer live coaching sessions as well.  But what I wanted to really leverage from the Scrum team formations of the corporate world, was the added benefit of shared focus and accountability. 

That accountability is the reason for the weekly check-ins that we do.  It forces you to face a group of peers that you committed something to.  Ultimately, most of us want to please and we don't like letting people down.  The simple act of committing to something and then following through is a sign of integrity in our culture. 

We like to believe that we get things done via will power. Exercise, diet, work on other goals. And sometimes we have the focusand drive to push forward.  But in a crazy world, with so many competing priorities, having peers that hold you accountable drives action.

At the end of the meeting, we do a checkout round to close out the meeting.  Each of us just share what state we were ending the call on.  We each thanked each other for keeping ourselves accountable to each other.  That was the theme that came out of the call and that is what is inspiring action.

Is peer accountability something that would get you closer to your goals?

Read my previous post on the program pilot: Dream A Little

Why can't I achieve my life goals?

Do you start every year with your newly minted new year's resolution? 

With all the resolve you can muster, you commit to losing weight, getting your finances straight, redoing the kitchen, get a new job, stop smoking, stop drinking, save more money, learn a new language, you name it.

Until you start realizing that you never actually achieve that resolution and you finally give up.  And you become one of those people who "doesn't do resolutions."

We all have great intentions but boy is it hard to follow through.  If we only had more will-power! 

But is it really that you don't have will power?  Most of us get up every day and go to work. There are consequences to not going to work including homelessness and starvation.  Most of us take care of our families, our friends, go to church, clean the house, etc.  We don't lack will power to get the essentials done. Even when we absolutely don't want to do things, we find the will power to get going.

But we know that some programs do work.  We know that people can be successful with weight loss or reducing debt, etc. Some people seem to have some kind of individual will power that the rest of us envy.  But really what they do is prioritize these goals and keep themselves accountable.  Sometimes they have someone else who keeps them accountable - ala, Weight Watchers and Alcoholics Anonymous. 

So I was thinking… what if we have a program that helps with both of those?  I use techniques at work that help teams prioritize the most important work and keep each other accountable to deliver on their work goals.  They harness the power of working as a tight team of peers to focus and commit to their goals together and then deliver as a unit.  If one fails, they all fail.  And they succeed as a team.

Why can't we do that with personal goals? I think we can!!!!

I am kicking off a new program that helps with goal-setting, prioritization, and accountability and uses rituals and practices to help us habitualize the behaviors we need to actually achieve our goals.

I find that the one thing that helps those of us who struggle to create good habits or work on our goals is accountability.  That's why good athletes have coaches and it's why those programs I mentioned above work.  It's why fitness gurus recommend getting a buddy to work out with or diet with. 

Online programs abound on goal-setting training and techniques for creating a plan.  But I want a program that helps you stay accountable to a peer group that you commit to regularly doing the required work to reach your goals.

The Pilot

Our pilot starts this week with a lovely group of ladies, all focused on starting or growing a business.  The businesses are all different but the focus is the same - what do we need to do to kick off our businesses or reboot/grow an existing business?

We'll visualize and brainstorm together, set goals, prioritize, break down the work into achievable chunks and then plan our small tasks and report back to each other on our progress.

The key is regular check-ins to share with the team our progress. Through those check-ins we'll also share insights, learnings and feedback that might help each other out.  So in addition to accountability, we'll have the benefit of peer feedback on our ideas.  That's something you can't get when you work alone on your goals.

Stay tuned. 

Read my next post about the pilot: The Power of the Kick Start