‘B’ Day -- Completion of a Personal Challenge

Written by James M. Lynch | 06 August 2010

A few weeks ago, or 30 days to be accurate, I began a challenge to write one blog a day for 30 days. I had read about the concept on a coach’s forum and I thought ‘Wow! That would be tough!’ Now if you know me, ‘that would be tough’ is usually followed by ‘let’s do it’. I’m kind of a results junkie; that’s why I’m a coach.

If you read the first blog, Blog Integrity, I explained that announcing this was the way I would ‘put myself out there’ as someone who not only coaches others, but takes risks too. The thing I’d want to avoid, of course, is saying I would post a blog day and then not coming through on my promise; I mean who wants a coach who can’t keep their own word.

But what would have happened if I didn’t post a blog a day, really? Would the world stop turning; would earthquakes shake my house; would blog police take me away . . . No. You see the thing about integrity, doing what you said you would do by when you said you would do it, is that it is sometimes ok to be out of integrity and sometimes it’s preferable! ‘What!?’ you say, ‘A coach saying it’s OK to be out of integrity?!’ So let me explain.

If I said I could do this challenge, and it was safe and easy, then there’d be very little risk and not much growth. If I said, ‘I could do this challenge’, and then a bunch of problems and obstacles came up and I said, ‘I have to withdraw from the challenge’ that would be a different story. If you do what you said you would do NO MATTER WHAT, then you’re getting the value of a challenge. AND sometimes you fail.

In my case, this is the 30th posting, 'B Day' if you will, and I made it; but it wasn’t easy. For two weeks of the time I was on the road with my family on vacation. My kids complained if I was on the computer too long or too often so I had to compensate by working in the early morning or late at night -- a few times I went into the bathroom of the hotel room so I wouldn’t disturb them.

I had to make sure to find internet access every night and I had to have the discipline of working even when I was tired or distracted and then, with only two days to go, my computer crashed and I have had to write the last two on my children’s computer to get the job done. On top of that there’s been a lot of distractions, challenging circumstance and some of my postings were in the VERY early hours of the day. But at the end of it, let me tell you, it’s very satisfying.

The point of me sharing these challenges is to get back to the idea of ‘what would happen if I didn’t post even one day’. Well, in that case, I’d apologize and get back on track by writing two in one day and admitting that I was out of integrity, but willing to get back into integrity. As a reader you could say, ‘too bad, your disappointed me’ and never return to my site or, ‘I appreciate you being honest and accept your apology; let’s keep going’.

If we make promises and break them as a way of life, then we can’t claim any kind of integrity. But if we make promises and keep every single one of them the ‘down side’ of that could also be that we’re playing too small and not challenging ourselves enough, or pushing ourselves too hard. How do you know which is the case with you out of all the options in this paragraph? Well not to sound too self serving but this is one of the reasons you’d hire a coach.

A coach is an outside observer and their job is to make sure you do what you say you’ll do, live by what’s really important to you and help you create awareness about how you’re actually showing up in the world. A coach says ‘I know what you’re creating in your mind, let’s test that and see what’s actually showing up in the world for others around you’, or your level of authenticity.  

If what you think and what others see match, you’re playing a winning game. If however, you’re living on what you ‘think’ is true, without validating, testing or challenging, then the consequence could be a sudden shock of one type or another, dismissal, break up, bankruptcy, etc. and then it’s too late to benefit from the ‘life observed’ model we coaches offer you.

This is a topic worthy of a longer conversation than this but an important one and I’d love to have it with you if you’re interested. I can be reached via comments below or hit this ‘email James’ button and we can do a free sample coaching of 20 minutes on the phone or via Skype, etc. I’d love to be part of you challenging yourself to grow and develop and that’s the reason we’re here at DIYLC.

Before we leave I’d like to acknowledge Michele Scism of Decisive Minds whose posting inspired me to do this and her colleague, Michelle Schaeffer, who is part of the new challenge, The Ultimate Blog Challenge, which just began with a new group a few days ago. These two people have made it their work to help others achieve their goals and they've done it by creating an excellent format and excellent support materials. I highly recommend them. Thank you, both.

If you’re interested in reading more on the topic of personal accountability and integrity, these are the underlying themes of The Hamlet Secret and in honor of today's celebration I’ve reduced the ‘e-book’ version price to $9.99 make it as accessible to others as possible. The hard copy version is $16.99 on Amazon if you prefer but it’s over a year’s worth of work and coaching that will change your life so it’s not about the price, it’s about your desire to challenge YOURSELF into living a powerful life!