Have you ever wondered why professional atheletes have a coach?

Self Improvement should always be our first priority every single day!

That’s the reason, Self-Improvement.

I’ve been reading the book Triggers by Marshall Goldsmith, which was recommended to me by Sean Mize (thanks for the great reading recommendations Sean!).

Have you ever heard someone say something like “stop fighting yourself” or “get out of your own way” or “he’s his own worst enemy”?

These sayings make more sense now that I’ve read this book and looked at from a different view, but we all have two or more “people” living inside our bodies.

You’re probably thinking “You’re Nuts!”, but hear me out and I think you’ll agree.

It’s true, we all have a split personality. We are all two different people wrapped up in one body. This determines how our self improvement goes forward.

On the one side, we are the Planner.

On the other side, we have the Do’er.

One is in charge of what we want our life to look like (the Planner).

The other is in charge of how we make that happen, or how we do it (the Do’er).

In a vast majority of people, the Leader in us (the Planner) likes to make these grandiose plans. 

Then the follower in us (the Do’er) has the job of making those plans come true.

In an irony of monumental proportions, the planner in us doesn’t like to talk to the do’er very often. 

When they do talk it’s more like the do’er is just agreeing with whatever the planner says.

At the same time, looking the other way and thinking “Who is this idiot and how in the world does he/she think that’s going happen?”

This is why our New Year resolutions often go by the wayside quickly.

This is why we say things like “I’d sure like to know French (or any other language)”, then we never learn it.  We don’t even make an honest attempt at it.

Or “I’d like to visit (pick any place) there someday”, while the calendar slips by and “someday” never comes.

This is why our plans normally do NOT go as we thought they would.

What’s the solution?

We need to get these two halves of ourselves to work together.

The Planner has got to understand (and appreciate) what the Do’er can do and how fast it can be done.

The Do’er has got to put out more effort to live up to the planners expectations!

Two of the major keys in making this happen are Awareness and Engagement.

We (both the planner and the do’er) have to be much more aware of themselves and each other.

While our inner beings have to be willing to engage with each other and the things around us that create our personal environment.

This is where a coach comes in handy.

A good coach will cause us to be aware of something we were previously ignorant toward.

That coach will present it in such a way that we’re willing to engage ourselves to the point of fixing that something.

We see it all the time in sports.

The best athletes in the world understand they have blind spots.

In order to “be all they can be” those blind spots have to be brought to their attention, as well as a way to “fix” the issue.

Back to our lives and living with these two people inside of each of us.

We have to be our own coach for the most part.

This is how we improve on a daily or weekly basis.

We do things to cause ourselves to be more aware of our surroundings and situations.

We then we make notes of these things.

Most of the time, they’re mental notes, but at least we’re paying attention more.

We then put the idea in the back of our mind to not do something again, or to do something a certain way, if another thing happens next time.

We are, at that point in time, being rudimentary coaches to ourselves.

We all have this capability and use it at some point.

It comes down to using it consciously and making ourselves aware of things on purpose.

It’s something we rarely do.

If we did this on a more regular basis, then we will cause ourselves to advance appreciably.

Probably to the point where we really will need to hire someone else to be our coach.

Someone to help those two inside of us see what the other sees, to feel what the other feels, and to know what the other knows.

As soon as we get these two “inner people” working in concert with one another, our advancements become very meaningful and consistent.

We then are well on our road to becoming the best we can be and one of the best in the world at our chosen field.

We’ll touch on this more in the future.

Until then, Stay Aware, Become Engaged with your Awareness and Keep On Reaching for the Stars!

Roger