Get better at anything with practice and patience.

My son had to do a presentation on germs today. He's 10...and 3/4. Understandably, he was nervous so we did some practicing last night. We talked about how Olympic athletes probably get nervous before they compete, but because they have practiced what they are about to do so many times, they can also can feel confident that they can deliver their best when they need to.

I was telling this same story to my coach, Lynn Erlinger, this morning. Further along during the call we talked about how I'd done with meeting all the goals I'd put in place for myself for the last week. Some goals were met and other not, and as people tend to do, my focus was on what I hadn't accomplished.

Lynn suggested that I "lean into" meeting those goals rather than expect 100% from the start. Just like my son, I need to practice doing the behaviors and each week I'll get better and better at doing them and feel more and more confident that I will do what I want to do when I need to do it.

Patience. While I wouldn't dream of expecting 100% perfection from my clients, I wasn't allowing myself the same grace. My clients will often say they feel like they shouldn't need someone like me to help them change the behaviors they want to change. They know what to do, they just simply need to do it. I could say the same thing about having a coach myself. But having someone in my corner to provide a new perspective, bolster me when I'm flagging, problem solve, and hold me accountable makes all the difference in how much success I achieve relative to my goals and how I feel about the journey.

Today Lynn reminded me about being patient with myself. So if you need to be patient with yourself, here's your reminder.