During the first Trump presidency, I talked to a new coaching client. Let’s call him John (not his real name).
John was struggling to get things done at work. Uncompleted tasks had been piling up, and he felt more and more overwhelmed. To make things worse, all these undone tasks had him feeling down on himself… which created a downward spiral.
At some point during our initial consultation, I asked him if he could use kind and compassionate accountability.
He lit up.
John felt like he was drowning in a sea of tasks, and the mere idea of combining kindness and accountability felt like a lifeline to him.
You see, when we are in a challenging place — and the current collective situation IS very challenging — it’s easy to feel lost. Rudderless.
And even if your situation isn’t as hard as John’s was, a lot of people right now are experiencing a lack of clarity. A challenge to stay focused.
How people typically deal with productivity challenges doesn’t work
Like most people, John had tried two ways to handle his productivity struggles:
- Approach 1: be soft on himself and do nothing (compassion without accountability), or
- Approach 2: be hard on himself and try to do everything (accountability without compassion).
It was obvious to John that the first approach wouldn’t work. By doing nothing, nothing would change. Things would just continue to deteriorate.
However, the past had taught John that the second approach didn’t work well, either. Whenever John had tried to charge full steam ahead, he eventually burned himself out.
Why did both approaches fail? Because both weren’t kind towards the self. When people push themselves too much or too little, they ultimately don’t take good care of themselves.
The better choice is kind and compassionate accountability (“Kindability”)
Instead of being too soft or too hard on oneself, it’s better to choose kindness. When you are kind towards yourself, you combine compassion and accountability.
This prevents you from going into extremes (too much/too little, too soft/too hard).
Once John focused on being kinder towards himself, things improved. Slowly, he started to do the things he needed to do. Then, he began doing the things he had been wanting to do. And now, we are working on the things he has been dreaming to do.
Over time, John managed to turn a downward spiral into an upward spiral. In the last few years, his life has radically changed, and he is now in a much better place.
That is the power of kind and compassionate accountability… or Kindability!
Over time, John managed to turn a downward spiral into an upward spiral. In the last few years, his life has radically changed, and he is now in a much better place.
That is the power of kind and compassionate accountability… or Kindability! It’s so powerful because it helps you go from toxic productivity to soulful productivity.
What is soulful productivity?
After years of being a productivity coach, it dawned on me that a lot of regular productivity advice is fairly toxic. For instance, it can help sustain the idea that our worth depends on our doing (our accomplishments and achievements) rather than on our being (we are worthy simply because we exist).
I believe that there must be a better solution than abandoning productivity advice altogether, or resorting to traditional productivity advice.
That’s why I want to help people move from toxic productivity (or no productivity) to soulful productivity.
Toxic productivity is when you take action
- on the wrong thing,
- for the wrong reason, or
- in the wrong way.
Soulful productivity is when you do
- the right thing,
- for the right reason, and
- in the right way.
Toxic productivity takes energy. Soulful productivity gives you energy.
Are you ready to be productive in a way that feels good? If so, I’d love to work with you!
Find out more about my services here.
Warmly,
Louise
➡️ If that's something you could use, please get in touch. I'd love to hear from you! 🤗
