CHRISTI HEGSTAD PH.D.

Author Archives: Christi Hegstad

An Open Letter To All Coaching Clients, Past And Present

Christi Hegstad May 16th, 2024

Dear Coaching Clients,

First, I commend you for your dedication to growth, meaningful achievement, and making a positive, purposeful difference. I consistently leave our coaching sessions feeling inspired and knowing our world is in good hands with you. You amaze me on a daily basis.

Next, I compliment you for the courage you’ve shown in seeking out a coach. Coaching can be a vulnerable experience, and even the act of reaching out can bring about all kinds of feelings – especially for achievers. Kudos to you for making your desire to grow greater than your fear or uncertainty around getting the support to do so.

Finally, I thank you for the incredible difference you make for your teams, clients, families, organizations, customers, communities, and beyond. I’ve been impressed by every single one of you, and I am grateful for the ways in which you make the world a better place.

It’s funny: I became a coach to help people like you make your positive, purposeful difference in the world. Little did I realize how much I would receive in the process!

You make a difference. Thank you!

With great respect and gratitude,

Christi Hegstad, PhD, PCC

Who Is Coaching For, Really?

Christi Hegstad May 15th, 2024

Maybe the only people you’ve heard of hiring professional coaches are business giants and C-suite executives. (In fact, I referred to two such people in my blog earlier this week!) Many organizations secure coaching specifically for these roles too, so it’s completely understandable if you’ve thought coaching was only designed for certain titles, levels, or professions.

But I assure you that’s definitely not the case!

Just like athletes of all types and skill levels have coaches – from the beginner to the elite – so do professionals. If you’re ready for coaching, coaching is ready for you.

Examples Of Those Who Engage In Coaching

In my practice, I primarily coach leaders, achievers, and difference-makers (so if you describe yourself as such – or strive to – let’s talk!). While many of my clients are C-level executives and business leaders like we discussed in the opening paragraph, I have also coached new managers, emerging leaders, people changing roles or professions, and those wanting to clarify their most meaningful work.

And they’ve worked in myriad industries including and beyond the corporate world, such as academia, real estate, public service, nonprofit, insurance, government, healthcare, education, manufacturing, law, sales, communications, libraries, art, finance, and logistics, to name a few.

I have also hired coaches for different reasons. (Yes, I am a firm believer that coaches also need coaches.) I’ve hired coaches to help me develop my strengths, advance my coaching skills, build different aspects of my business, write my books and resources, and improve my marketing. I’ve hired coaches to help with my creativity, personal development, mind/body/spirit growth, navigation of challenges, and various other aspects of life enhancement.

I have also hired coaches specifically to help me think objectively and thoroughly about certain significant decisions. Their support, perspective, and thought-partnership during these times has been invaluable.

All this to say, coaching is not just for a certain title, role, or experience level! You can obtain coaching for nearly any work or life area, personal or professional goal, or focal point under the sun.

Is Coaching For YOU?

Still wondering if coaching is for you? Give this exercise a try:

Close your eyes and imagine it’s one year from now, and your year has gone absolutely beautifully – like a magic wand was waved over you throughout those twelve months.

What looks different in your work and/or life in that scenario, a year from now?

What are you doing more of? Less of?

What words best describe you in that place?

How do you *feel* in that scenario, one year from now?

Now, open your eyes. On a scale from 1 to 10, how motivated are you to start making that happen?

If you are motivated, ready to take action, and want the support, expertise, and accountability that a professional certified coach provides, I encourage you to schedule a Discovery Session and explore what coaching can do in your work and life! You don’t even have to have a clearly defined goal or specific outcome in mind – we can clarify that together within our first session or two.

The Power Of Coaching

In workshops, I often ask participants to identify someone who has positively impacted their lives in a significant way. I can’t tell you the number of people who talk about a coach from a high school athletic team, whose teachings and leadership remains in their minds to this day – sometimes 50+ years later! They still feel that power of someone who believed in them, challenged them, supported them, and was fully invested in their success.

That, at its core, is the power of coaching. And if you’ve read this far, I can confidently say coaching is for you! I encourage you to experience it and see what can transform in your work, life, and beyond.

What Are Bold + Difference-Making Goals?

Christi Hegstad May 14th, 2024

If you’ve heard me speak, perused my website, or even just read my one-sentence bio online, you probably know my coaching specialization:

To help you work with meaning, live with purpose, and achieve bold + difference-making goals.

As a forward-moving, action-oriented endeavor, coaching in general is designed to help you get to where you want to be. This tends to involve goal-setting in some form, so both you and your coach know what you’re working toward.

My coaching in particular focuses on bold + difference-making goals – while keeping meaning and purpose at the forefront. Years from now, I want you to look back on our coaching with a deep sense of fulfillment at what you’ve achieved, knowing that you did so while honoring your core values, focusing on what truly matters to you, and making a positive, purposeful difference.

So, what constitutes a bold + difference-making goal? Let’s look briefly at the two components.

What exactly is a BOLD goal?

One thing I’ve noticed in my years of coaching is that even with an abundant track record of success, many of us still underestimate our full potential. Maybe our confidence has been knocked around a bit, or maybe we haven’t yet fully connected to the purpose behind our goals. Comparison can often play a bigger role than we realize, too.

Essentially, a bold goal is one that will stretch you, grow you, and purposefully challenge you. It’s not something you’ll achieve overnight; it will likely require practice, persistence, and some flexibility and course-correcting along the way. You might not even know if you can reach your bold goal (an especially tricky realization for the achievers among us!) – but it’s meaningful enough that you’re willing to try.

And like with any goal, it’s not even so much about the end result as it is about who you become in the process. A bold goal is reached through bold actions – helping you become a bolder person along the way.

Ultimately, you get to decide what constitutes bold for you. It doesn’t matter what a magazine cover says you should do (I tend to remove all ‘shoulds’ from the equation) or what someone down the road just did. What matters most to you? What feels bold to you? We’ll let that be our guide.

What is a DIFFERENCE-MAKING goal?

Or as someone recently put it, ‘What if I want to focus on a personal goal – not one that is out to change the world?’

Let’s start with this perspective: How will moving toward and achieving your goal make a difference for you? What will be different in your work or life once you accomplish it? What will you be able to say or do that you currently cannot?

Thus begins illustrating one way your goal is difference-making: It makes a difference for you, in your life.

That counts, you know. A lot.

Beyond that, I’m willing to bet your goal will make a bigger difference than you realize. Let’s say you set a goal to write your first book. You might think this is just something you personally want to achieve, a bucket list item perhaps, and don’t even know if it will ever get published. So how could this goal possibly be difference-making for others?

Let’s address that by asking a few more questions:

What about the people inspired by watching you achieve it? Your friends, family members, children, colleagues? The people who then say, “Wow, if they can dedicate time and energy to something like that, maybe I can too!”?

What about the people who support you along the way? The writer’s group you join and share ideas with, the writing mentor who offers their expertise, the early readers you entrust with your dream – how does your goal make a difference for them?

And if you do go on to publish in some manner, what about your future readers? The people they talk to about what they learned from you? Other aspiring writers? All those impacted by the butterfly effect?

I often share the example of Roger Bannister when talking about difference-making goals. Although it was generally believed that running a mile in under four minutes was impossible, Bannister set a goal to do so – and in 1954, he was recorded as the first athlete to achieve this goal.

Think about the people his goal made a difference for: his coaches, trainers, running partners, fellow athletes, competitors, friends, family, people watching his progress along the way, the crowd at the race … we could go on and on. Inspiration in abundance!

Not only that, but within a few years of Bannister achieving this ‘impossible’ goal, more than a dozen other people also ran sub-four-minute miles!

Seeing someone else accomplish a bold goal can open the floodgates of possibility for the rest of us. What may seem like ‘only for you’ may actually make a bigger difference than you realize!

Bold + Difference-Making = YOU

Let me be clear: You are already bold, and you already make a difference. We all benefit from the difference you make simply by being here and being you!

What goal, if you intentionally moved toward it, could help you feel even more bold? Using some of the examples above, how might your next goal make a difference – in your life and in the lives of others?

Now … what’s your first step?

Know that I am here cheering you on! And if I can be of help, contact me to schedule a Discovery Session. I’d love to coach you to your bold + difference-making goals!

5 Coaching FAQs (And My Responses)

Christi Hegstad May 13th, 2024

“John F. Kennedy once said, ‘The only reason to give a speech is to change the world.’ It’s actually the only reason to have a powerful conversation with anyone. Fearless coaching means every time you coach, you change the world.” 

~ Chandler & Litvin

In order to earn my Ph.D. in human resource development, I attended school for about 100 years (give or take 🙂 ). So why, a few years after that, would I head back to the classroom?

COACHING is why.

I first learned of coaching while writing my dissertation. As I interviewed companies about their mentoring programs, I kept hearing snippets about coaching as well. The topic was new to me, but a seed was definitely planted.

Then, a couple of years into my professional development business, I was drawn to coaching as a way to bridge the gap between the trainings I offered and the ongoing, forward-moving growth many of my students were seeking.

From Day 1 of my coach training, I felt like I had come home. I knew with 100% certainty that coaching filled that missing link for me.

Fast-forward more than a decade and I still feel that way! I’ve intentionally evolved my business to focus mostly on coaching and have never looked back. If you’ve thought about hiring a coach, you may have many questions circling your mind. Here are five that I am often asked from potential clients:

1. I feel like I should be able to figure things out on my own. Does hiring a coach signify weakness?

The exact opposite is true, actually. Look at the best athletes, performers, and business leaders – they have coaches. A quick online search will show you how valuable coaching has been to people like Bill Gates and former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, for example.

Masters of their craft do not get there alone, nor do they presume to know everything; we all benefit from the objectivity, resources, perspective, experience, and even ‘tough love’ that coaches provide. I am successful as a coach when my clients succeed, and there’s nothing quite like having someone 100% invested in your success!

2. What are the best qualities to look for in a coach?

Everyone is different, and no one-size-fits-all criteria exist. I do, however, encourage you to ask a couple of important questions:

What is their experience? Don’t be afraid to ask your potential coach as many questions as you need to feel confident they are right for you. How long have they been coaching? Have they coached people with similar goals and/or challenges as you? Can they give examples of outcomes (protecting confidentiality, of course)? Coaching is a significant investment of time, money, and energy. Ask whatever helps you make a strong decision.

What is their training? The International Coach Federation (ICF) serves as the guiding professional association in coaching, and I suggest working with an ICF-credentialed coach who has attended an accredited coach training program for a number of reasons: ICF-credentialed coaches are bound by high ethical guidelines, have been trained extensively in order to obtain certification (including having their coaching critiqued and working with mentor coaches), and have rigorous continuing education requirements so you can trust that they are always growing and advancing their skills as well.

How do you feel? It may sound unscientific, but ultimately a strong rapport plays a key role, so listen to your intuition. As this point in my coaching career I can typically tell within a few minutes of conversation whether or not a potential client and I will work well together, and I am happy to refer when that rapport is not there or their needs fall outside my areas of expertise.

3. How do I know if I actually need a coach?

Aside from my belief that pretty much everyone (including coaches!) can benefit from a coach, give some thought to what you want to gain from coaching. Do you have an idea, goal, or dream that you keep putting off and want someone to hold you accountable? Do you feel stuck in some aspect of your work or life and want to experience a breakthrough? Do you need to build your mindset, strengthen your confidence, clarify your vision for the future, or develop your skills in order to reach your next pinnacle of success? Many of my clients have obtained a level of leadership where they now need an independent, objective thought partner to bounce ideas off of, brainstorm solutions, and discuss best practices. Does that sound like you?

Whether you have no clue what steps to take, know what to do but aren’t doing it, or feel at the top of your game and want to maintain that, coaching can help.

4. Coaching is a big investment. How do I know it’s worth it?

Search the literature and you’ll find numerous studies demonstrating the consistently high return on investment with coaching. Typically when I’m asked this question, however, it’s not so much the general success rate people are looking for as it is, “How will I know coaching will help me (or my employee)?”

As part of my response, I return the question to my potential clients, because that’s often where their best insights will come from. For example, many clients enroll in a 6-month coaching program with me, so I might ask: Six months from now, what will make you look back and say, ‘Yes, coaching was definitely worth it!’? What will be different then compared to now? What is it costing you to not solve this problem or to not move this goal forward?

Ask yourself similar questions and I bet you’ll sense its worth.

Coaching definitely is an investment in yourself, your growth, your potential. Value yourself and the ‘you’ you’d like to become, and hire the highest quality coach you possibly can. I’ve written checks to my coaches that have made me gasp and, though it can be frightening to invest in oneself so significantly, I have never regretted it.

5. Am I ready for coaching?

I have a friend who routinely cleans her house the day before the housekeeper she hired comes. When I asked her why, she said she doesn’t want the housekeeper to see the ‘true’ mess. Can you relate?

As a certified coach, I am perfectly o.k. seeing things as they are – seeing you as you are. No judgment, no comparison.

As long as you are open to growth, transformation, and new ways of operating, you are likely ready for coaching. You don’t have to have everything figured out or all your ducks in a row before you hire a coach. Instead, you can enjoy that as part of the coaching process!

I agree with Chandler & Litvin’s quote that I opened this article with: Coaching changes individuals, organizations, communities, and the world, and I am so honored to walk with my clients and to be a part of this profession. Coaches, thank you for the important work you do in the world. Clients, thank you for your commitment to growth and striving to be the highest, most purposeful version of yourselves that you possibly can – which also changes the world.

Thinking about working with a coach? Contact me to schedule your Discovery Session and we can explore possibilities!

Happy International Coaching Week!

** A version of this article originally published on this site in 2017. **

When Motivation Slips Out The Window

Christi Hegstad May 8th, 2024

We’re well into spring here in the midwest: Flowers blooming, birds returning, thunderstorms waking us up at night. ‘Tis the season!

With the change in nature comes a wave of newfound energy for many, too – as if that first opening of the windows lets in not only fresh air, but also fresh inspiration and motivation.

But what if it doesn’t? What if you’re one who feels like their motivation actually slipped out the window instead?

It can be rough feeling like you’re *supposed* to have extra motivation and spring energy – but don’t. Especially when it seems like everyone around you does.

But if you’re not quite feeling that wave of motivation, trust me – you are not alone.

Just like the turning of the calendar on January 1 doesn’t instantly turn everyone into goal achievers, the increase in sunlight and green grass doesn’t automatically infuse everyone with motivation either. Life has its seasons as well, and maybe you’re currently in one of rest or recovery, for instance. Get the support you need and do what you need to do to care for yourself.

If you’re craving that motivation, however, and just can’t seem to quite unlock it, here is an idea that may help:

Ask A Different Question.

If you’re currently asking yourself questions like:

Why am I so unmotivated?

Why can’t I get myself to do anything?

What is my problem?

chances are you don’t feel any more motivated after asking your question than before. Try some new questions instead, ones that might spark an idea, build up your mindset, or help you discern your next helpful step. For example:

What’s going well right now? How can I leverage and build upon that?

What’s missing at the moment? What could help fill those gaps?

What has fueled my motivation in the past? When was the last time I engaged in one of those activities? When could I do so this week?

What could I start doing – or stop doing – that might boost my motivation?

Who might I connect with, talk to, or hire to help me get to where I want to be?

Do you notice a difference with those types of questions?

Kindness Is Not Weakness – Quite The Opposite, Actually

One of the most important, yet trickiest, things for achievers to do when in any kind of a ‘funk’ is to remove judgment from the assessment of the situation. We can quickly compare ourselves to others, or even to our past selves, and instantly jump to judgments, ‘shoulds,’ and beating ourselves up. But as Adam Grant wisely wrote in Hidden Potential, “Beating yourself up doesn’t make you stronger – it leaves you bruised.”

Kindness is not weakness – quite the opposite, actually. That goes for kindness to ourselves, too.

What other questions will lift you up, prompt you into action (or support you in your intentional rest), and help you get to where you want to be? Start asking them today!

Enrollment in Coaching + Connection With Dr. Christi for the second half of 2024 is now open – click here for details and to join us!

Losing Purpose?

Christi Hegstad May 1st, 2024

I recently came across the draft of a blog I had started writing a couple of years ago. Here’s how it began:

The past year has been a bit … different.

My youngest kiddo graduated, and all three of my lovely children are now on their own and making their difference in the world. My role as Mom has changed shape.

My business turned 20, and in the midst of deep assessment I’ve realized there are aspects I’m ready to build up more and others I’m ready to let go. My professional roles are taking on some new forms.

After decades of volunteering as homeroom mom and team parent and scout leader and school committee member, I am now serving in different ways. My role as volunteer has evolved.

Even my role on the internet has changed, as I’ve stepped away from most social media for the better part of the past year or two.

I sometimes feel like I’m in a canoe in the middle of a giant lake, happy and grateful and also not always 100% certain of my bearings.

Do you feel this way sometimes, too?

Whether we’re in the midst of numerous changing roles, or just one significant one, we can feel like we’ve lost our way – or maybe even wonder if we’ve lost our purpose. Sheesh, sometimes it can feel that way on a random Tuesday afternoon!

But here’s the good news: Our purpose is not dependent on any particular role. Just like it’s not dependent on our job title or age or bank account or how many items we’ve checked off of our to-do list.

Purpose is, thankfully, much more encompassing than that. And yet uniquely specific to each of us.

If you’ve worked with me, you may have heard me describe our core values and purpose like a lighthouse:

A lighthouse is always there, shining for us. Storms or fog or wild winds might make it difficult to see at times, but it’s still there – true as ever.

The same goes for our purpose. We may veer from it periodically, but it’s there for us to check back in with at any time.

We may, at times, lose sight of our purpose, but I don’t believe we ever actually lose our purpose – and our purpose never loses us.

Whew!

So even though we may sometimes feel like we’re in a small canoe in a giant lake, wondering which direction to steer, or paddling furiously against the flow, or doing all we can to hang on while the waves toss our little boat around, we can trust that our lighthouse is there, shining, waiting for us to see it again.

And that it will guide us back home.

If you’re in the midst of transition, asking questions like ‘Who am I now?’ and ‘What’s next for me?’, check in with your purpose.

Reconnect with your core values.

Remember who and how you wish to be in the world, the difference you want to make.

(And if you want help uncovering your purpose and writing it in a clear and succinct statement, please contact me about coaching.)

Above all, remember this, which I believe with every fiber of my being:

You are filled with purpose. You are here for a purpose. And you are making a purposeful difference in this world, whether you realize it or not.

Thank you for being here, and for being you!

Enrollment in Coaching + Connection With Dr. Christi for the second half of 2024 is now open – for only a brief time! Click here for details and to join us!

Key Takeaways From Slow Productivity

Christi Hegstad April 26th, 2024

“My goal is to offer a more humane and sustainable way to integrate professional efforts into a life well lived. To embrace slow productivity … is to reorient your work to be a source of meaning instead of overwhelm, while still maintaining the ability to produce valuable output.” 

Cal Newport, Slow Productivity

How much of your day is consumed by meetings, emails, direct messages, video chats, notifications, impromptu pop-ins … and all with a low hum of ‘do more and do it faster’ underneath?

And notice I didn’t say how much of your workday. Many who reach out to me for coaching, for instance, often find themselves spending so much time ‘putting out fires’ during the workday that they don’t actually get to their own work until after the kids are in bed.

‘Busy’ may no longer be seen as the badge of honor it once was (thankfully). But in today’s competitive work environment, we still experience a fair share of hustle, intensity, 24/7 connectivity, ongoing urgency, and the general pressure of constantly keeping dozens of balls in the air. 

Enter the concept of slow productivity.

In his latest book, Slow Productivity, Cal Newport explores a different approach to achievement – one that still allows us to reach significant goals and accomplish important objectives, but easing up on the frenzied, nonstop, ultimately unsustainable pace we may currently experience.

Newport – who also wrote one of my favorite books, Deep Work – proposes three main principles for slow productivity: 

1. Do fewer things.

2. Work at a natural pace.

3. Obsess over quality.

Now, at first glance you might think, “Sure, that would all be nice, but it’s not realistic in my (organization, industry, role, etc).” 

Newport understands, and anticipated this response. 

“I want to reassure you,” he explains early in the book, “that slow productivity doesn’t ask that you extinguish ambition. Humans derive great satisfaction from being good at what they do and producing useful things. This philosophy can be understood as providing a more sustainable path toward these achievements.” 

Newport then spends the rest of the book offering ideas, strategies, examples, and tips to help us weave components of slow productivity into our current situation as well as into the future. 

He also challenges us to rethink some of the beliefs we currently hold about productivity, beginning with how we even define the word: “[K]nowledge workers have no agreed-upon definition of what productivity even means,” he states right away on page 15. To some of his survey respondents, it simply means a variation of ‘work all the time.’

Without a clear understanding of productivity, however, how can we truly expect to be productive? For me, this brings to mind a quote attributed to Henry David Thoreau: “It’s not enough to be busy, so are the ants. The question is: What are we busy about?”

Throughout Slow Productivity, Newport helps us think through these concepts and questions. A few highlights:

• Numerous examples. From Benjamin Franklin to Jewel to Lin-Manuel Miranda to Alanis Morisette, Newport offers important glimpses of the slower, deliberate action behind the scenes of what we might have thought were ‘overnight successes.’

• Useful terms. Often when we can name or define something, we can more clearly leverage our experience with it. For instance, Newport mentions ‘productivity termites’ – those small, less important tasks that can eat away at your time and shake the whole foundation of what you’re trying to build. That term will stick with me when it comes to prioritizing my day!

• Counterintuitive solutions. When your schedule overflows, adding something new can feel impossible; however, Newport offers the idea of “immersing yourself in appreciation for fields that are different than your own.” He gives himself as an example: While studying other nonfiction writers is useful to a point, it can also result in shoulds, comparison, and the like. He has thus taken a deep dive into film study, a topic he thoroughly enjoys and which satisfies his inner achiever with something other than work. This can help provide a sense of balance while adding some fun, too.

• Allowing fluidity. Newport doesn’t suggest adhering to the proposed strategies every day, all the time. He mentions allowing for seasons of intensity, such as what the lead-up to a new product launch might require. The point is to approach these seasons intentionally, not by default, and to also balance them with quieter seasons, such as a vacation, a periodic midweek day off, or implementing ‘no meeting Mondays.’

• Creating containers. This may sound odd when talking about time, but – similar to batching – it can be as simple as reserving certain days or times for particular activities so they don’t seep into everything else. Scheduling office hours, for instance, can serve as a way to streamline back-and-forth emails, non-urgent questions, and ‘Do you have a quick second?’ requests that invariably take longer than a quick second. Planning a designated time each day or multiple times a week can allow issues to be addressed in a timely manner while also supporting deep work.

Newport acknowledges throughout the book that the actions proposed won’t necessarily apply to all; an emergency room physician will work differently than an academic researcher preparing an article for publication, for example. His audience is primarily knowledge workers, however the strategies – or variations on them – can potentially make a difference for a wide variety of professionals.

If you’re looking for a thought-provoking resource, I suggest giving Slow Productivity a read. And I also recommend doing so with a laptop or pen/paper nearby, so you can jot down the tips and steps you can put into action in your own work and life.

Here’s to your meaningful success!

Enrollment in Coaching + Connection With Dr. Christi for the second half of 2024 is now open – for only a brief time! Click here for details and to join us!

3 Habits To Develop For Meaningful Achievement

Christi Hegstad April 24th, 2024

Brushing your teeth. Buckling your seatbelt. Turning out the lights when you leave a room. Isn’t it interesting to realize how much we do without really thinking about it anymore?

What once began with thoughtful intention can, with repetition, become second nature.

So when it comes to achieving meaningful goals and projects, what habits can help? Here are three that may not immediately come to mind but can definitely make a difference!

The Habit of Follow-Through

I remember once hearing how hitting the snooze button basically equates to starting the day by breaking our own plans with ourselves. Deciding the night before that something was important, then skipping out on it as our first action of the day. Ugh!

And while I won’t claim that I never hit snooze again after that, this connection definitely prompted me to do so much less often. To me, an important part of integrity involves doing what I say I’ll do – even if I’ve said it only to myself.

Whether we’re following through on our morning routine, showing up to an event for which we’ve RSVP’d, or sending off our portion of the project in the time frame promised, the power of following through can contribute greatly to our sense of meaningful achievement.

Where might you begin developing a habit of follow-through this week?

(Side note: This is not to say plans can never change. But being intentional about those changes, rather than simply floating along by default or circumstance, can make the difference.)

The Habit of Completion

Many years ago when I first started my business, I held numerous decluttering workshops. ‘What does decluttering have to do with professional + personal development?’ you might ask; and if you’ve ever completed a healthy decluttering session, you can probably answer that, too!

I realized that one of my biggest clutter creators – both physical and mental – came in the form of unfinished business: Projects half done, ideas started and put aside, partially-filled notebooks and partly-read books. This all added to the ‘stuff’ in my space as well as the endless thoughts and to-do’s in my mind.

Developing a habit of completion has made the biggest difference for me. If I can’t see something through to its absolute finish, I try to at least set mile-markers so I can reach a finishing point. For example, I may not be able to start and finish a project proposal in one go, but I can complete one section during the time I’ve set aside for it. (Results-oriented time blocking helps tremendously with this, which you can read more about here.)

What lingering project or task could you complete, or complete to a mile-marker point, this week?

The Habit of Checking In

This could mean checking in with others for group projects, to ensure you’re all on the same page and timelines. What I’m referring to specifically here, however, is checking in with yourself. And even more specifically, checking in with your values, priorities, and purpose.

If I notice myself continually procrastinating or feeling incredibly unmotivated toward something, I can typically connect it to a misalignment of some sort: It’s not honoring my core values, it no longer feels important, it seems out of sync with my purpose. Sometimes it’s simply a matter of changing circumstances, and my plans and progress may need to change accordingly.

I won’t recognize any of this, however, if I don’t pause periodically and check in with myself.

And of course, sometimes I pause, reflect, and realize it’s something I don’t want to do but still need to do. We all probably have paperwork or chores that don’t necessarily make our hearts sing. Even just that awareness – that it’s a need-to-do, and the sooner the better – can provide a boost of motivation (even if it seems a bit forced).

What project, goal, or task could use a personal check-in?

Like with any habits, I don’t recommend trying to implement everything at once. Start with one, practice it for a bit, and see what you notice. You can build from there.

What other habits can help with meaningful achievement?

Enrollment in Coaching + Connection With Dr. Christi for the second half of 2024 is now open – for only a brief time! Click here for details and to join us!

How Do You Measure Productivity?

Christi Hegstad April 17th, 2024

When you think ‘productivity,’ what comes to mind?

More specifically, how do you define it? Measure it? Know whether or not you’re achieving it?

A search of online dictionaries brings about the general, vague definition of productivity as generating or enhancing goods and services. Or, even less helpful, ‘the act of being productive.’

So, how do we define productivity? Especially if being productive is crucial to our work outcomes, performance reviews, or sense of fulfillment?

Let’s experiment for a moment and see if any of these examples resonate with you:

“I’m productive if I send at least 50 emails per day.”

“I’m productive if I cross everything off my to-do list.”

“I’m productive when I achieve a goal.”

You might consider these as starting points. But they prompt so many follow-up questions:

What if you don’t hear back from a single one of those 50 emails?

What if your to-do list is filled with busywork and you never actually move the needle on an important project or longstanding dream?

What about all the steps leading up to the goal achievement? Do they not count?

I’ve written about productivity numerous times over the years (here’s a recent example), and a good portion of my coaching work revolves around this topic as well. When someone tells me they want to be more productive, one of my first questions is:

What does that mean, look like, and even feel like to you?

Because sure, I could help you check more things off your list, but if you’re still wrapping up each week (or year) feeling like you have nothing to show for all your hard work, what difference have we really made?

In writing his latest book, Slow Productivity, Cal Newport discovered this lack of an agreed-upon definition as well, particularly when it comes to knowledge workers. Some of his survey respondents basically defined productivity as a variation of ‘working all the time.’ “This vagueness extends beyond the self-reflection of individuals,” Newport writes. “It’s also reflected in academic treatments of this topic.”

So – like the word ‘success’ – unless we can clearly define and measure ‘productivity’ for ourselves, we are likely either going to continually fall short of it, or we’re going to keep working and working towards an external definition we may not even agree with.

Here are a few questions you can ask to begin defining productivity for yourself:

When did you recently feel satisfyingly productive (or what I refer to as ‘purposefully productive’)? What specifically led to that experience?

When you reflect on your day before going to bed at night, how do you most want to feel? What needs to take place during the day to help that feeling come about?

What are your core values? How do they align with your sense of productivity?

Twenty, fifty, or a hundred years from now, what do you most want people to say or remember about you? Does your to-do list reflect that in some way?

Sure, your employer’s definition and other factors may contribute to how you measure productivity. But don’t leave yourself, your values, and your sense of fulfillment out of the equation. And don’t let society decide for you, either.

What themes will you include in your own personal definition of productivity? How will you measure it, even if it’s not with a quantitative or replicable measuring stick? Share your ideas below or via social media!

Key Takeaways From How To Walk Into A Room

Christi Hegstad April 14th, 2024

When I first saw the title of Emily P. Freeman’s newest release, How To Walk Into A Room, I assumed it was a book about confidence. And while I read abundantly on the topic of confidence, I wasn’t in that mode at that time.

Fast-forward a few days, when I stumbled across one of Freeman’s Substack articles and encountered this line:

“Just because you’re good at something doesn’t mean you have to do it forever.”

Consider me intrigued.

After a bit more reading, I came to discover I made a wrong assumption about her book’s focus. Rather than being about confidence (although that may play a role), this is a book about making decisions.

Specifically, deciding when to stay – in a situation, relationship, or job, for instance – and when to walk away.

In the midst of making some significant decisions myself, I am not exaggerating when I tell you I hopped in my car and drove to the bookstore that very day, purchased the book, and devoured it within 48 hours. This was 100% the right read at the right time for me, and I will certainly revisit it going forward, too.

The General Premise

Upon reading a chapter or two, the title of the book made complete sense: Freeman suggests we view our decisions as rooms that we enter and exit throughout our lives. Many of those rooms can and do change over the course of our lives – through choices we make (ie, to move to a new city), choices made for us (ie, the company downsizes and eliminates our job), or life experiences (ie, our children grow up and leave home).

“Our whole life is like a house, and every commitment, community, role, and relationship is like a room,” Freeman writes. “At some point we’ll find ourselves walking into new rooms, leaving old rooms, being locked out of other rooms, or looking around at familiar rooms and questioning if it’s time to move on.”

This metaphor proves incredibly powerful throughout the book as Freeman shares stories, examples, and experiences to portray the changes – ready or not – life brings our way.

She kicks off the book with several questions we may be asking ourselves, such as:

Should I stay or is it time to leave?

How bad does something have to be before I can let it go?

What if I stay and nothing changes?

What if I leave and everything falls apart?

If you’ve been on the planet for a while, you’ve undoubtedly asked yourself questions like these or others Freeman presents. The rest of the book shares considerations for making your decisions with, if not certainty, at least a greater sense of knowing and alignment.

Highlights + Takeaways

If you saw my recent Instagram photo mentioning this book, you also saw the ridiculous number of tabs and page flags I inserted to denote key points. I may as well have simply highlighted the entire book when all was said and done! But here are a few takeaways to get us started:

Ask A More Helpful Question

As a coach, an important part of my work involves asking deep, forward-moving questions. I love that Freeman didn’t lace her book with platitudes or ‘here’s the right decision, here’s the wrong one’ sentiments, but rather she wove in questions to ask yourself. For many of life’s decisions, there is no one right answer; she provides a framework for discerning answers for yourself.

Chapter 2 highlights a list of 10 questions to start, along with a helpful reminder: “It’s vital that you begin this process as honestly as you are able to at this time,” Freeman explains, “so that you can make a decision in alignment with what’s actually true now, not what you wish to be true or what used to be true.”

Consider Your Core Values

If you’ve coached with me, you likely know how important the process of clarifying core values is. I believe knowing and honoring our values is a vital step in achieving goals, envisioning our ideal future, and living life to our fullest potential. Although Freeman is not a coach by training from what I gather (she is a spiritual director and longtime podcaster), she shares a similar emphasis on the importance of core values.

In addition to offering ideas for clarifying your values, she points out the dangers of not knowing them, too: “You could become highly successful in a life you never wanted. You might allow other people’s agendas to determine your yes and your no… You could find yourself saying yes to a lot of great opportunities that lead to someone else’s stage and fulfill someone else’s agenda.” Freeman dedicates a good portion of Chapter 4 to this values conversation.

Allow For Alternatives

‘Do I stay or do I go?’ may seem like the best question, but Freeman points out important considerations here: Such a question “implies a binary, as if there are only two options. This is rarely the case.”

In addition, it implies a one-time, once-and-for-all decision. “In reality, most of our decisions come slowly, are a series of deciding to stay today and again tomorrow,” Freeman says. “Not once and for all, but once for now and twice for later.”

Later in the book, she offers considerations that can ease these implications of finality and binary thinking, such as adding ‘for now’ to the situation. “You might not know for sure,” she gently reminds us, “but you can know for now.”

Endings, Beginnings, and The Hallways In Between

As much as I appreciate this book, I think my favorite aspect is how Freeman so eloquently distinguishes between concepts that we may easily intermingle in our minds. The difference between an ending and closure, for example, or the difference between readiness and timeliness.

I’ve experienced not feeling ready but the time for the change arriving anyway, or vice versa. And I’ve experienced something ending without the benefit of closure. After reading this book, however, I can more clearly distinguish between these experiences – and have words or strategies in my back pocket for navigating through them, too.

Overall, this book has prompted me to think differently and will stick with me longterm, both characteristics of an excellent book in my view.

Have you read How To Walk Into A Room? What did you take away from the book?

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