How to Use a Coaching Progress Sheet to Up Your Performance A great tool for checking in, feeling better and getting it done already

Four hours from now I will be driving a winding, narrow road up to my coach’s house, where we will be reviewing my progress (or lack thereof, as the case may be) on my third book. I love the drive, the conversation, and above all, the review of what I’ve been doing.

Despite the reality that my life is in a total uproar, I am making remarkable progress.

The only way I can possibly know is the simple tool that he uses, which I want to share with you. It is particularly valuable for those of us who are overwhelmed (and I am, getting ready for my fourth epic adventure trip this year, packing for a move to another state and a few other slightly stressful responsibilities, including daily workouts). It’s easy to completely lose sight of what we have accomplished, which is critical, and what is getting in our way.

Let’s get right to it.

Here’s what I’m filling out under my Word documents right now:

1. Accomplished since last session: Here I am always and forever gobsmacked at what I did get done. By listing these, I’m reminded that I’m not a slouch, that while life throws curveballs, I still manage to move myself towards my goals. Truth, sometimes I spend the entire morning of our coaching session doing what I was to have gotten done the previous week but who cares? It got done. Fist pump.
2. Didn’t get done that I intended to do: This section points out where I over-promise and under-deliver or I am too ambitious or under-ambitious. Sometimes I get to see that something else came up that was a higher priority and more useful, which is also key to progress. Permission to jump the tracks is given- because we can’t always anticipate cool stuff that happens along the way.
3. Opportunities I’m facing now: What does the coming week hold? What I am I jazzed about? Ready to commit to? Lessons learned from both 1 and 2 help here over time.
4. Challenges I’m facing now: Here is where I get clear about obstacles like available time, injuries, appointments, distractions — whatever I can imagine that is likely to sidetrack me. I can’t always anticipate them and sometimes I’m wrong. But by calling them out, it allows me to plan ahead. I learn over time to be a lot more reasonable about what I can actually do in a week. When I do that, I don’t tend to over-commit, and then feel bad because I didn’t get X done, when in reality, X was impossible in the first place.
5. How I’d like to use this coaching session, in order of priority: We only have ninety minutes and I always talk too much. So we have to set priorities. If you’re using this one-on-one with Your August Self, which is perfectly fine, here is where you determine what you are going to concentrate on right here, right now. Say you set aside one hour to self-coach. You go over this with yourself, discuss each item (or do it with a friend, not your spouse, who might well add taking out the garbage on Wednesday to your to-do list), and walk through it as though in a formal meeting. This honors your work, your commitment and focuses you on strategy instead of that to-do list.

This simple set of questions, which is likely very similar to other coaching progress sheets, helps me focus. I have a hard time with that. That’s the result of lots of head injuries, but that doesn’t keep me from achieving my goals. I have to work harder at it, and a simple setup like this helps me line out my priorities, my wins, my obstacles, my frustrations and what I can do next.

Some of the benefits include:

1. Seeing progress. YES! Keep all your sheets in a computer file folder. Few things are more motivational than to see how far you’ve come on a BHAG.
2. Seeing any obstacles and irritations that keep showing up. Those are red flags and worthy of your attention. There’s a reason they do; you need to look at the source.
3. Noticing where you might be changing direction. Why? Are you still on track or you, like me, distracted by shiny objects? This will catch you in the act, and as a good tool does, simply call you out. You get to decide whether what you’re doing is right or just, dude, put that DOWN already.
4. You can see where you’re avoiding, or making excuses, and also what gets your engine revving. All of this is key information. To wit: if you’re an entrepreneur, and my hand is up, and you notice that despite the need to do your financials for your business plan you keep coming up with excuses or you keep getting injured, hire an accountant. We leak the truth. Pay attention to what you do. It’s perfectly all right. Every time my Social Media Monster Talent starts talking to me about SEOs and linking articles, I have this overwhelming urge to sleep. Not that he’s boring, but that it’s a topic that is hard for me to get my arms around. My mind wants to shut down. That’s a symptom. Funny, but important. That’s what this is for: discovering what you and I are good at, figuring out where we aren’t so competent, and plotting out how to get those leaky areas plugged up with talent.
5. Brag sheets. When you and I hit roadblocks, and we will, these forms are a great reminder that progress is not always up. It heads sideways, we fall down, we lose ground, we screw up, then one magical weekend we write fourteen chapters straight. There is no “ best way.” Your best way is going to be slowly revealed over time with these sheets.

There you have it. I am using this sheet as a coaching tool with my buddy JC, who is my Social Media Monster Talent. He’s writing a book, we are trading services, he’s building my website. This sheet helps him stay on track, stay focused and productive even as he has van-lifed (is there such a word) all over the West from Boise to Texas and back.

We are both overachievers. That said, we also pile far too much on our plates, shit falls off, it doesn’t get done, and then we vilify ourselves for it. Being able to parce out what we did achieve feeds the goal monster inside us, it helps us track our bad habits, support the good ones, and allows us to celebrate what he and I are getting done despite our messy lives.

Hope this helps!