My client was struggling.
She was a new coach who was planning to give her first workshop in a local chiropractic office. All she could think about was what could go wrong or who would judge her. Fear was running the show.
When I asked her to describe how the fear felt, what came up for her was a giant monster standing over her. It looked like the abominable snowman in the old Christmas move about Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. Only bigger. Much bigger. And, louder too.
We talked about the fear monster, what it was saying and if its words were true. While my client could see that the fear was misleading her, she was still experiencing an emotional reaction when she thought about her workshop.
So, I asked her to imagine having a dial. It looked like a volume knob on an old radio that could turn the sound level up or down. She could use it to turn down the size and volume of her fear monster.
After playing with it a bit, she described her fear monster as very small with a voice that could barely be heard. She even thought he looked cute when he was little, like a fluffy kitten. And then, she decided to turn the dial to “off” and he was gone.
In the days leading up to her successful workshop fear would come and go, but my client felt more confident and handled it well because she knew she could simply dial it down.
What about you? Do you have something in your life that can feel overpowering?
You can use a dial too. It doesn’t even have to be a dial. Some of my clients use buttons with up and down arrows or meters like a speedometer. It can be whatever you want.
These visualization tools can help make things less overwhelming and easier to handle. They can also make things feel closer or farther away, if you want. The potential ways to use them are endless, but here are some ideas.
- Minimize: fear, sadness, food cravings, overwhelm, pain
- Increase: energy, focus, compassion, self-esteem
You get the idea.
I encourage you to play with this idea, have fun with it, and keep it in mind for when you might face a crisis of some kind.
Feel free to contact me if you have any questions or would like to share how dialing things up or down works for you.
And, if you are feeling ready to work with an experienced, professional Life Coach, I would love to talk to you. You can PM me on social media or contact me here.
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