My coaching philosophy: Small changes can create big results
Hi, I'm Dr. Louise Schriewer, the Work You Love Coach (that picture above shows me as a toddler). I love helping passionate souls and purpose-seekers increase their work happiness, get things done in a way that feels good to them, and give their gifts to the world.
And one thing I often emphasize to them is the power of small steps.
Whether it's the conception of a universe, a human, or a big goal I help a coaching client work towards, beginnings are often humble.
But small changes can create big things!
For instance, our entire universe went "from something you could hold in your hands to something at least 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 times bigger" (as author Bill Bryson put it).
If you think exponential growth is reserved for universes, consider the fact that you yourself were once 0.1 mm small (much smaller than the dot on the "i").... and look at how far you've come!
That's the power of starting small. And, as a coach, I would much rather have you start small, than not start at all.
3 important principles
If you want to initiate a small change in your work that has the potential to create massive, positive results, these 3 principles are important:
Begin with Passion & Purpose
Passion and Purpose are "gold metal detectors" which reveal the hidden treasures within you.
They unveil the "what" and "why" of what you came here to do.
Passion provides fuel for your journey. It's an energizer.
Purpose explains why you go on a journey in the first place. It keeps you on the right path.
Use Priorities & Productivity
It's not enough to know what you want to do, you also have to do it.
That's where productivity comes in which is about taking action.
Of course, you want to get the right things done.
That's why priorities are so important. By prioritizing, you will get clear on the tasks that have the biggest leverage so that you can achieve more with less.
Aim for Profit & Prosperity
Everyone deserves to profit from what they do. That's why I want you to do good and do well.
When you make a difference and a living, your work becomes sustainable. This enables you to help more people.
Prosperity and profit include financial compensation as well as more intangible benefits such as recognition, fulfillment, and a deep sense of abundance.
Story time: How I accidentally influenced an international negotiation by going off script
A while ago, I facilitated a course about a topic I felt passionate about. During one of the sessions, I felt prompted to deviate off script and briefly talk about how to approach unsolvable problems.
When the course ended, I felt like it had been a failure and a waste of my time. Doing the course had required quite a bit of effort and yet I didn’t think the participants liked it that much nor that they got a lot out of it.
Turns out I was in for a huge suprise.
Months later I was at a meeting.
Some of the former course participants were also present. Without any prompt, they described how the course had impacted them in extremely positive ways.
What blew me away is when one person, let's call her Anja (not her real name), mentioned how something I had taught in passing had created international ripple effects.
Anja was at a meeting with a foreign government that was extremely antagonistic toward her own country's approach, painting a very black and white picture. It seemed impossible to create a consensus on anything or make headway.
That's when Anja recalled my improvised mini-session about how to approach unsolvable problems. When she applied the principle behind it, the other governments approach softened.
Needless to say, I was stunned.
I went home feeling extremely grateful and happy, realizing that the effort I had put into the course as well as my in-the-moment decision to go off script had paid off (even if I hadn't been able to see it right away).
A throwaway comment I had made during something that I thought was a waste of my time had created international ripple effects that I would have never known about had I not gone to that meeting.
Talk about a learning experience.
How the 3 principles and the overarching theme played themselves out in this:
Catalyst? I made a small change by going off script for a minute.
(Small Change)
Why? Because I felt such passion for the topic of solving hard problems.
(Principle 1)
How? I adjusted my priorities on the fly because I realized that this was more important information for my participants than what I had originally planned.
(Principle 2)
What? As a result of sharing this, I received praise and recognition which was very rewarding.
(Principle 3)
Result? This small change created a substantial difference as it helped with an international negotiation.
(Exponential Growth)
If you want to explore how small changes can help you create big results, I invite you to explore my coaching services: