When Treading Water IS Progress

I was in a meeting with a handful of health coaches last week when the following topic came up:

“What do you do when clients are resistant to setting goals?

How often would you bring up goal-setting if they seem to be treading water rather than making tangible progress?”  

I could definitely relate to this coach’s concern. I’ve had plenty of sessions with clients who were simply not ready to set goals, and it can be easy to mistake lack of readiness for a misstep in coaching.

But it’s actually pretty common for a person to feel dissatisfied with how things are and be unsure of what they’d like to do about it. In fact, roughly half of my current clientele are folks who are not quite ready to commit to a goal (let alone step into action) and I find it exciting to be in that space of ambivalence with them while they work through things at a digestible pace. 

I could also relate to being the client who is paddling like mad just to stay afloat! When I am in this space (as I have been recently) the last thing I want to do is throw another challenge in my path and delve into planning mode. In times like this, I am simply trying not to drown.  

This turned out to be a really rich coaching conversation and my takeaway was this:

Progress is not always forward movement.

Simply maintaining, especially in the face of adversity, can be progress.

Handling a backslide with more grace and compassion than you might have previously offered yourself can be progress.

Progress happens even when we can’t see it.

At every stage of change, there is so much happening beneath the surface that isn’t always visible or measurable…but that doesn’t mean progress isn’t being made. Pausing to acknowledge the wins, no matter how small, helps to build confidence and motivates us along our path toward something better. Sometimes, treading water IS progress.

If you’d like some support in recognizing and appreciating the ways you are in fact making progress or you want some help getting unstuck in your process of change, click the button below to schedule a sample coaching session with me. You can also hit reply just to share your thoughts! I’d love to hear from you.