What Are Your Non-Negotiables?
Gill Moakes ICF ACC
Founder of The Coaching Business Academy | Helping great coaches grow outstanding businesses by showing up with radical authenticity and confident thought leadership | Heads Together podcast | Unapologetic Retreats
What does 'non-negotiable' mean?
It's often defined as something that's not open for discussion or modification. Something that's absolute and definite; something you'll make happen.
Our 'non-negotiables' help us to practise self-care, honour our boundaries, move towards our goals or simply be the best version of ourselves.
Recognising what non-negotiables you already have and how they contribute to your life, (and you do have some, you just might not have thought of them in this way before), can help you identify where you might benefit from setting more. For example, a non-negotiable for you might be not getting into a car with a driver who's been drinking alcohol. Some non-negotiables, of course, are essential rather than a matter of choice, like not leaving home without an inhaler if you suffer from asthma.
Deciding on your non-negotiables is completely personal. There's no right or wrong... it's whatever is of value to you and will keep you safe, happy, healthy and thriving.
Setting non-negotiables for our business journey is a REALLY smart move. They will make decision making a whole lot easier, by narrowing your choices to align with them.
Tools for Self Care & Success
All non-negotiables are a form of self care. By choosing them you're saying that each one is of such importance to you that it's not up for discussion and upholding it is imperative. Some examples...
- Getting the amount of sleep you need
- Taking a walk every day
- Eating lunch away from your desk
- No working on Sundays
- Staying off screens after 9pm
- Time to meditate each day
- Only checking emails a certain number of times per day
- Not taking a phone to bed at night
So how do we incorporate non-negotiables into our lives?
The good thing is they don't have a price tag attached... they are in service of YOU. They are there to be supportive, not to just be a list of things you 'should' do. When it comes to achieving our goals, ring-fencing time or resources for an action with a specific end in mind, gives us the best chance to get there.
An idea that can help you achieve your goals, and can be a non-negotiable itself, is creating 'white space'. The incredible Brenee Brown talks of officially scheduling white space into your life to allow you time to do whatever you want, be that brainstorming for your business or doing absolutely nothing. Remember, if it's in the calendar it's much more likely to happen.
So, as you think about what non-negotiables you might add in your life or business, be sure to schedule them and remember they are there to support you as you carve the life and business you want.
This isn't about writing a crushing list of 'should dos' it's about identifying what's important to you and shifting your mindset to make it happen.
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