Are You Willing To Do What Most Others Are Not?

Christi Hegstad September 8th, 2019

What bold, compelling goal are you moving toward?

Is it requiring more of you than you initially thought?

Is there something different, bold, or out of the ordinary that would move you even closer?

And (last question – but an important one): How willing are you to do that ‘something extra’?

This week, do the extraordinary.

Make more calls than usual.

Invite more people than usual.

Post more helpful content than usual.

Write more pages than usual.

Engage with more colleagues than usual.

Don’t let the challenge hold you back. Instead, adjust – and ideally up-level – your actions to start gaining more momentum. As the saying goes, be stubborn about your goals but flexible about your methods!

Christi Hegstad, PhD, PCC is The Certified Executive + Personal Coach for difference-making achievers! Clarify your vision, free up time, and confidently reach bold, compelling goals that matter! Contact us today for coaching, speaking, and Mastermind opportunities, or click here and fill in the blue box to join our email community.

Naming Your Guiding Principles

Christi Hegstad September 4th, 2019

Do you have a set of Guiding Principles for your life?

Essentially, your Guiding Principles are your personal ‘rules to live by’ – operating procedures to keep front and center as you work, live, and engage with others.

I currently have a set of eight brief principles that I keep on a document with my vision statement, purpose statement, values, and Bold Goals. I review this document each morning for a daily reminder of who/how I want to be in the world.

Having a succinct list of life guidelines is useful in so many ways. One of mine, for example, is “Decide And Take Action.” This came to me years ago after exhausting myself with indecision too many times! Since then, whenever I catch myself suffering from ‘analysis paralysis’ or avoiding a decision, I remember my principle. It reminds me to make a decision, then immediately take an action in favor of that decision (reducing any chance of ‘buyer’s remorse).

Consider your own personal list of Guiding Principles. I encourage my coaching clients to keep their lists between 5-10 principles, prioritizing those that really mean the most at this time. Re-evaluate your list once or twice a year and revise as necessary.

What’s a brief, easily-remembered, one-liner that would go on your list of Guiding Principles? Share one of yours below!

Christi Hegstad, PhD, PCC is The Certified Executive + Personal Coach for difference-making achievers! Clarify your vision, free up time, and confidently reach bold, compelling goals that matter! Contact us today for coaching, speaking, and Mastermind opportunities, or click here and fill in the blue box to join our email community.

When Your Goals Take A Detour

Christi Hegstad August 25th, 2019

“I’ve taken a detour with my goals, but I am ready to get back on track!”

I am hearing this comment quite often lately. If you can relate, today’s post is for you!

Last week I encouraged you not to give up on your goals, even if you’re not quite where you expected to be at this point in the year. This week, I want you to let go of any of the ‘heaviness’ you may have attached to your detour.

No more “I never finish what I start” or “Why can’t I accomplish what I set out to do?” or “I used to be so on top of things.”

Nope, not allowed anymore.

This week, start fresh!

You know the feeling of opening up a brand new journal or notebook? That clean-slate sense of possibility and freshness?

That’s what we want to recreate with your goals.

Let go of any failed attempts, detours, or negative self-talk that hold you back. That was then; we’re focusing on this day forward.

And if they stubbornly linger, draw a line down the center of a piece of paper. Write any unhelpful statements your mind wants to repeat in the left column, then write the opposite for each in the right column.

Now, fold your page so that you only see the right column. Better yet, cut the left column off and toss it!

No time like the present. Now is your time. The beginning, as Shelley reminds us, is always today.

Christi Hegstad, PhD, PCC is an executive coach helping leaders and professionals achieve Bold Goals with clarity, confidence, and meaningful action! Join our community: Click here and fill in the blue box or send us an email!

Leveraging Quiet Times In Your Business Cycle

Christi Hegstad July 18th, 2019

Depending on your industry, you may find work a bit quieter in July. How will you make the most of this time?

This quiet time (or any other that occurs in your business cycle) can be a fantastic opportunity to focus on your personal and professional development. For example, you could utilize the time to:

* Read books

* Enroll in a class or conference

* Work with a coach

* Journal

* Listen to growth-oriented podcasts

* Schedule ‘thinking time’ (check out Bill Gates’ example)

* Plan for an outstanding remainder of 2019

* Mastermind with peers and colleagues

* Watch a few TED Talks

* Go for walks without headphones

Of course, rest, relaxation, and vacations can be rejuvenating as well!

What other ideas for personal growth would you add to this list?

Christi Hegstad, PhD, PCC is an executive coach helping leaders achieve boldly with clarity, confidence, and meaningful action! Join our community: Click here and fill in the blue box or send us an email!

How To Be CEO Of Your Own Life

Christi Hegstad July 16th, 2019

Earlier this year, I began working with a client who had reached extraordinary success in her business but had begun feeling like an underperformer in life. She sought coaching in order to get a better handle on her time, relationships, health, and other key areas – while still keeping the business top-notch.

I suggested that the strategies and skills she utilized to elevate her business could, with just a bit of shifting, also elevate her life. We took some of her greatest strengths and mindset practices from her CEO role and applied them to other areas of her life, leading to both immediate and lasting results.

You might be surprised how transferable your skills are – whether between jobs, between home and work, between parenting and leadership. Below you’ll discover 5 concepts I have found especially helpful both in leading my company and in leading my life!

1. Be a visionary.

Where do you see yourself, your family, your department or business a year from now? How about 5 years from now? Crafting a compelling and magnetic vision clears the path and makes designing the action plan so much easier. Hold your vision high to avoid getting lost in the weeds.

2. Set – and track – meaningful goals.

Once you have that clear and compelling vision, make sure you’re moving toward it by regularly assessing progress on your big-picture goals. A Weekly Review + Planning Session, coupled with a daily reminder of your vision and goals, can be instrumental in this.

3. Surround yourself with brilliance.

When I was 6 years old, I cut my own hair and learned a very valuable lesson: Some things are best left to the experts! 🙂 Whether it’s the people you hire or those you go to for advice and encouragement, surround yourself with inspiration and brilliance.

4. Coach vs. dictate.

In business, family life, even when talking to yourself, you can greatly impact action and a sense of ownership with the words you choose. I bet you’ll see a difference, for example, between ‘How would doing this positively impact your life?’ and ‘Because I said so.’

5. Have some FUN already!

It’s easy to get caught up in the tasks that keep everything afloat, but doing so to the extreme is also a good way to hit burnout. Periodically change your scenery. Turn up the music. Bring a 96-pack of crayons and a stack of paper into the kitchen or break room. Schedule fun if you need to!

How else can you embody the role of CEO in your own life? Share your ideas on Instagram, Facebook, or below!

I’m here to help you clarify your vision and achieve it with confidence! Contact me to discuss coaching possibilities.

Creating Solitude Moments

Christi Hegstad June 24th, 2019

How often are you alone with your thoughts?

I mean really alone: no cell phone to distract you, no “Can I ask a quick question?” pop-ins, no email notifications pinging?

According to Cal Newport in his terrific book Digital Minimalism, solitude is crucially important to our growth and success:

“When you avoid solitude, you miss out on the positive things it brings you: the ability to clarify hard problems, to regulate your emotions, to build moral courage, and to strengthen relationships.”

Solitude is important. It is also becoming more and more rare.

This week, create a moment of solitude.

If you’re like many of my coaching clients, you will look at your calendar and see meeting upon meeting upon meeting. You might initially think, “I have no room for solitude.”

I challenge you to create room for it, keeping a few things in mind:

Small pockets count, especially to start. Fifteen minutes of being alone with your thoughts is better than zero.
You could combine your solitude with a walk, a bike ride, or a morning coffee.
Find a park bench, head to a coffee shop, or hop on a local bus for a bit of solitude. That’s right: You can be alone with your thoughts even when you’re not physically alone (just like you can be physically alone and completely distracted – by your phone, for example).

The benefits to regular solitude are numerous and relate to everything from productivity to physical health to goal achievement. Give yourself the gift of a few minutes of solitude this week, and see if you can increase the regularity of it in your life over the coming month.

And be sure to peek at my blog later this week for a few of my takeaways from Digital Minimalism!

Growing A Business + Raising A Family

Christi Hegstad May 10th, 2019

In a few weeks, we will celebrate my middle child graduating from high school. He was two years old when I started my business.

Like every parent at a graduation ceremony, I marvel at how much he has changed and grown in that blink-of-an-eye span of time! I also sometimes wonder, what was I thinking starting a business back then? 🙂

When MAP Inc. began, I had a preschooler, a toddler, and a baby on the way. My days were filled to the brim with story times and business plans, dance parties and client sessions, outdoor adventures and networking. Add a bunch of laughter and tears and exhilaration and exhaustion, and you’ve got a good picture of those early years!

One of the questions I am asked most often, whether in interviews or by young professionals and budding entrepreneurs, is how I’ve grown a business while raising a family. I certainly don’t have all the answers, but here are a few of my reflections:

1. Both flow more smoothly when you honor your values.

If you’ve ever coached with me, we have talked about values. They imbue everything we do – all our roles, all our interactions, all aspects of our lives.

I strive to honor my core values at home and in my work. I live out my value of growth, for example, by encouraging my children and my clients to set inspiring goals and to try new things; I challenge myself to do the same. When we know our core values and intentionally honor them, work and life flow much more smoothly.

2. Weekly planning rules the day.

On a tactical level, my Weekly Review + Planning practice has been an indispensable part of making it all work.

When the kids were little, this involved mapping out some ‘fun-tivities’ each week (library, art, meeting friends at the park); as they grow, it often means scheduling meets and academic events on the calendar before all else. I may not address every priority every single day, but if I don’t address them in the span of a week, I know something must change.

3. Learn to acknowledge some dissonance.

Sometimes I have put business opportunities on hold to focus on family; other times I have had to leave for a work commitment right when something has happened at home. Accepting this has at times proven quite challenging.

We all live multi-faceted lives with priorities that may include family, career, health, spirituality, and so on. While we strive to keep first things first, we also need to recognize that tension between those priorities will arise; periodically, this can be o.k. if we learn to navigate it with a purposeful mindset. If it’s a constant source of overwhelm, however, changes and support may be in order.

4. Keep showing up. Even when you get it wrong.

I have made more mistakes, both with the business and with the family, than I can count. But every day, I show up, attempt to start fresh (my morning practice is a HUGE player in this), and decide with intention who and how I wish to be in the world.

We all mess up. Learn from the mistakes, refocus your mindset, course-correct, and keep on keepin’ on.

5. Love fuels all.

When I became a parent, I bombarded my mom with questions, to which she eventually gave me some of the best advice I have ever received: Christi, whatever you do, if done in love, will be the right thing.

Friends, I have applied this in parenting, in business, in life. Whenever I don’t know what to do, which occurs more often than you might think, I consider her words. They haven’t failed me yet.

I am inspired by the delightful young adults my children have become, and I am pleased with this business that started 16+ years ago with little more than a burning desire to make a positive difference in the world. And thank goodness I have a passion for learning because I am still learning and experimenting every day! 🙂

If you are in a season of transition, I hope you take time to reflect on the joyful moments, lessons learned, and what you’d like to create going forward. As long as we are on this wild, beautiful, messy, ever-changing ride of life, let’s keep making the most of it – personally, professionally, and at all points in between!

Join our community – click here and enter your email in the blue box!

What Is A Coaching Session Like? And Other FAQs

Christi Hegstad May 1st, 2019

If you’ve known me for five minutes, you likely know I am a Professional Certified Coach and loooove all things coaching. From day #1 of my training with the College of Executive Coaching, I honestly felt like I had ‘come home.’ Coaching was the missing link that pulled together my personal, professional, and purposeful passions in a way I never expected.

Since I have coached for many years, am involved in several coaching organizations, and always have a coach myself, I sometimes forget that not everyone lives and breathes coaching. 🙂 I am thankful for various clients who have said, “This is my first time working with a coach and I’m a little nervous!”

Today, I’d like to demystify coaching a bit and share my responses to some questions I am frequently asked. If you’ve thought about working with a coach but didn’t know what to expect, I hope this helps. And be sure to read to the end if you have further questions!

What is a coaching session actually like?

One of my clients recently described it this way: “I can’t remember the last time I felt so heard. Talking through ideas, plans, and obstacles out loud is so enlightening, and then the questions you ask and the insights you offer make me see things in a whole new light. I leave each session feeling excited, prepared, and ready to take action!”

As your coach, I partner with you to design your vision with clarity and achieve it with confidence. You can expect to spend the coaching session – which could range from a 15-minute check-in to a full-day intensive, depending on your program – engaging in meaningful dialogue, responding to thought-provoking questions, practicing skills, exploring new possibilities and perspectives, brainstorming solutions, and feeling fully heard and empowered. You can also plan on various exercises, resources, activities, and ‘homework’ (actions to take between coaching sessions) to help you fulfill your highest potential.

Coaching is very action-oriented and forward-moving. I am here to help you decide what matters most and what the ideal looks like, overcome obstacles and beliefs that hold you back, and stay accountable to actions that will make your vision a reality. You can expect to leave our coaching sessions with specific actions and implementable ideas to put into place before our next meeting.

My success as a coach is 100% dependent on your success – and since I like to succeed, you can know with absolute certainty I am here to support you in any way I can!

What outcomes can I expect from coaching?

The specific outcomes will vary depending on your coaching focus and goals, and we will determine from the start what will result in a successful coaching experience for you. I’ve had clients who have created businesses and nonprofits, hosted events, written books, transformed their teams, quadrupled their revenue, reached longtime goals, and more.

I have also had clients who have restructured their time to better honor their top priorities, written personal Purpose Statements so they can focus on what matters most, gone from 50,000 random ideas to creating a clear and concentrated action plan, and increased their balance, sense of accomplishment, self-belief, stress management, and more.

Regardless of their goals, nearly all my clients report greater clarity, higher confidence, a stronger sense of purpose, improved time management, and a more positive and resilient mindset.

Once you enroll in one of my coaching programs, you’ll have the opportunity to complete a detailed assessment – a process that many clients say brings clarity before we even meet for the first time. We will then clarify our coaching goals right from the start so we both know where we’re headed and what we’re holding as most important.

Will coaching help me if I don’t really know what I want yet? I feel like I should figure out my life first.

I sometimes compare this to someone who cleans before their housekeeper comes. It’s not necessary and usually not the best use of your time. Coaching will meet you where you are and help propel you forward – even if you don’t know what exactly that looks like yet.

I’ve had clients who knew exactly what they wanted to gain from coaching; clients who came to coaching with 25 different goals and no idea where to focus; and clients who worried that they didn’t have any goals or passions. When I start working with a new client, our initial session is longer than future sessions so together we can clarify your vision and design a plan that will keep you purposeful and on track. It’s a firm yet flexible (and fun!) process.

Is coaching only for top executives?

I love that I am asked this question, since not long ago people often thought only those on the verge of being fired got coaching. Top leaders like Bill Gates and former Google chairman Eric Schmidt have touted the benefits of coaching, as have elite athletes, business icons, academic leaders, and more.

I have coached many business, nonprofit, and academic powerhouses. I have coached many middle managers, public servants, healthcare providers, stay-at-home parents, physical therapists, administrative assistants, and entrepreneurs. I have coached teachers, principals, master gardeners, CEOs, emerging leaders, sales pros, HR directors, administrators, financial planners, real estate agents, manufacturers, nurses, professors, and data entry specialists. For nearly every industry and level you can think of, I have probably coached someone who fits the description.

So, no, coaching isn’t only for top executives. It’s for anyone ready to stop spinning in circles and start taking purposeful action toward living, working, and leading to their highest potential.

What if I live in another state or country?

I have clients across the globe. Thanks to phone, videoconferencing, email, and the like, they all feel like neighbors! Your location does not matter.

As a coach, who helps you with your personal and professional growth?

My coach, of course! 🙂 I have hired dozens of them over the years – an investment that has added up to many thousands of dollars, hours upon hours of time, and zero regret. I have learned something from all my coaches, and I have also learned to invest in the absolute best that I can afford as my results always align accordingly.

I also belong to mastermind circles, professional associations, and other groups, which I value greatly. I have never found anything, however, that quite compares to having a one-on-one partnership with someone 100% dedicated to you and your success like a coach is.

Ready to work with a coach? Contact me to set up a consultation. Have other questions about coaching? Send them my way and I will be happy to address them in a future blog. You may also find these articles helpful:

Frequently Asked Questions of Coaching

5 Questions When Hiring A Coach

Thinking About Becoming A Coach? 5 Steps To Get Started

I hope you have found this FAQ session helpful! Now, go get a coach and start making those dreams come true!

Using Strengths, Delights, + Awkwardness To Change The World

Christi Hegstad January 28th, 2019

Coaching Tip:

How often have you caught yourself comparing your results to someone else’s? Setting a goal out of a sense of ‘should’? Holding back because of what ‘they’ might think?

We’ve all been there. But here’s the thing: The world needs what only you can offer. We need you to be you, in all of your authenticity.

In her brilliant book, You Learn By Living, Eleanor Roosevelt follows up the above quote with this: “To leave the world richer – that is the ultimate success.”

Friends, you make the world richer by shining your light and sharing your gifts.

Inspired Action:

Give thought to what makes you unique.

What are you naturally good at and enjoy doing?

What qualities make you feel like the best version of you?

Even those things you may think are weird or nerdy or awkward (that’s where my list is the longest! :-)) – how might they serve as a source of inspiration?

Set, or refine, your goals from this place of uniqueness and individuality. Enrich your life, your motivation, and the world by being you.

Are you signed up for this Friday’s Bold Goals + Powerful Intentions workshop? I am here to help you shift away from cookie-cutter goals and create ones that bring out the best version of you! The morning session has filled but we have a few more spots available in the afternoon session – click here and join us!

Letting Go Of Perfection, Reaching Out For Support

Christi Hegstad November 30th, 2018

For most of my life, for reasons unknown (though I often see perfectionism raising her hand for attention ??‍♀️), I have struggled with asking for help. Whether it’s stubbornness or pride or wild independence or wanting to prove to myself that I can figure out / solve / do everything on my own, reaching out for help has not come easily for me.

But when I look at the last decade or so, as I’ve become more comfortable – well, at least less UNcomfortable – with admitting that I don’t have to figure everything out on my own, I marvel at what that has brought me. Not only the achievements but the sense of permission, boldness, and grace I can now afford myself. The joy I have found in partnering with my coaches, learning from my mentors, and growing alongside my peers.

It’s been so much more flowing – and a heck of a lot more fun – than when I was in constant head-down-and-figure-it-out mode!

One of best decisions I made was joining a group of inspiring people who were open to (gasp!) asking for help *and* to receiving it. Those early mastermind partners and coaches taught me that I could seek their help and they were happy to offer it.

They didn’t see my ask as weakness.

They didn’t view my lack of knowledge as inability.

They accepted my discomfort with my own vulnerability without assumption or judgment.

I can never repay enough those who have lifted me up and allowed me to do the same for them. But one of the ways I attempt to is through leading groups designed for this same purpose: to create a safe space for openness, to support one another in meaningful achievement, to discuss important – at times even controversial, difficult, or sensitive – topics with respect and honesty and curiosity. Even though I facilitate the group, it is the women of the ASPIRE Success Club that make it the haven and joyful growth experience that it is.

If you’d like to be a part of this, or want an important woman in your life to experience it, act now – TODAY IS THE FINAL DAY TO JOIN. The details are on the website, and the spirit is in the heart of hundreds of ASPIRE women around the country and beyond!

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