Procrastinators united --- ready for a joined test-drive of the autofocus-system?

I've been telling people about Mark Forster's amazing autofocus-system (http://www.markforster.net/autofocus-system/) since I heard about it one or two months ago. The basic idea is to write down everything there is to do in a notebook, and then walk through it page by page and use your gut feeling to pick from any page just the things you'd like to do, and work on them as long as you want. It looked very attractive, but somehow I didn't put it into practice.

This monday one of my coaching-colleagues from my coaching-training challenged me by saying something like: "I've looked at it, but I don't really think it would work for me." I asked her if she tried it, and she said no. That somehow made me check it out again, and I decided to try it out, so I might base my enthusiasm on some actual experience ... She now calls me "really stubborn" ;-) ...

What shall I say? I finished day 2 now and enjoy it tremendeously ... I'm enjoying to pick any next item from my to-do-list (which has grown to six pages already) and work on it. And I make great progress (already 57 items crossed out in two days!), even with quite some tasks I've been not doing for weeks or months ... Very nice feeling at the end of the day: it's not exhausting at all, because I do the whole time things I like to do (maybe I just thrive on it because I'm a Feldenkrais-practitioner ...).

Anyone joining in a test-drive for 10 days?
So here's my suggestion: anyone out there who wants to give it a try, too? How about just joining in and putting your experiences into the comments, so we can learn about how it works for different people. I intend to do it at least for 10 days, but if it continues to work that great I'm probably not gonna drop it at all :-) ...

What to do?

• Read the instructions at http://www.markforster.net/autofocus-system/.
• I prepared a little simple Word-Template with the appropriate number of lines and the summary of the instructions at the margins. If you want a copy of it, just drop me a line at coaching-playground@gmx-topmail.de, and I'm happy to share it with you.
• Leave a comment below if you're joining in.
• Start!
• Check in here to report your progress from time to time.

Anyone wants to join in? :-)

Insights from resistance exercise

I thought I'd like to share some actual insights from the resistance exercise I started with some volunteers. I was very happy to realize how well it went so far in that online-setting, even sometimes just over the phone, when skype didn't work out.

What insights did I get?

• Procrastination is human ;-) ...
• Clearly defining/picking a goal or step to work on is important. In quite some sessions I had to work out that first with my clients, as I would do usually in coaching.
• The exercise incorporated imagining the goal, and monitor reactions: thoughts and feelings, but also reactions noticable in the body. All my clients had remarkable changes in their perception in relationship to their choosen goal after a little bodywork.
• A little Feldenkrais-inspired body-awareness-exercise of 5-7 minutes is enough to get to a markably changed state in relationship to the goal.
• The changes resulted either in a willingness to start doing the next step, or in a reconsideration of the goal.
• For most people the happiness level didn't change, but the level of fear dropped considerably.
• For a few people both the importance of the goal and the panic dropped. That was then the time to reconsider the goal - was it really what their heart wanted?
• What amazed me most was that people got sudden additional insights about themselves or the situation they are facing. That was a great "extra" I didn't expect from just some short body-awareness.

Thanks to everyone who contributed by willingness to explore! If there's anything you'd like to add or ask feel free to leave a comment below.

Exercise to resolve resistance

I've been pondering about how to deal with the problem of getting started the things you'd like to do, overcoming resistance. I know there are some useful things like EFT, Wingwave, etc. to get started. I personally have good experience with something from my Feldenkrais approach which works quite well in live-face-to-face-session, and my first trials in online-coaching sessions have been very promising. I'd like to sharpen it and condense the whole thing to a 10-15 minute exercise. Currently it takes about 30-40 minutes. Maybe it takes that long anyhow - but that's a thing I'd like to find out.

What I'm looking for: 5 volunteers to explore this exercise. [UPDATE: All free spots have been filled.]


What do you need?

• A clearly stated topic you feel resisting, where your mind is wandering around, s.th. you don't like to start, which makes you uncomfortable, etc.
• Be willing to monitor your body sensations, breathing, etc. You don't need any expertise in this but should be willing to put your focus on it.
• Find an online date with me to try it out. We'll probably need about 30-40 minutes.
• Be willing to give me honest feedback right after the session how it worked for you, and as follow-up a week later how it worked out in the longer run.
• Please check the general terms of the explorations at: Blog-Post: Do you help me to practice?

Would anyone of you be willing to try it out with me?

If so, please send me an email to coaching-playground@gmx-topmail.de [UPDATE: All free spots have been filled. If you're interested anyhow you can contact me for a regular coaching session.]

Do you help me to practice?

Currently I'm in a coaching training with Barbara Sher. One key thing I learned from her (and her fabulous success teams) is to ask other people for help. So here I do:

I'd like to try out methods and exercises I come accross, but would like some people from "real life" to try it out. In a coaching process I would pick the things most suitable for the coachee, but here it's the other way round: I have something in mind and look for people for whom excactly this is of interest. So I can practice, gain experience and sharpen my methods. You get the benefit of experiencing the exercise and hopefully make best use of it for your life and request.

Interested?

General terms and conditions

• The practice exercises state describe areas of possible applications. You make sure to have a request that fits to the description.
• We meet on Skype: you need video & an internet connection quick enough.
• For every method/exercise I ask for a specific number of volunteers. I reserve the right to pick from interested people, especially when the interest is larger than the number of sessions I'd like to do.
• I will provide you with available time slots you can pick from. If you can't find something suitable for you we most likely can not practice this time.
• The sessions will be recorded as mp3 for evaluation on my side. You can get a copy of that, too, if you are interested.
• You agree to give me honest feedback about the effect of the exercise and how you experienced the process with me. I might even ask you for a short (written) follow-up feedback to get to know longer term effects about a week or two later.
• The language we can communicate in can either be German or English
• You take full responsibility for yourself. I consider all exersices as light and safe for the genereal public, but this is not a therapy setting (I'm not a therapist), and I'm no expert in major mental disorders or traumata etc. So if you are in serious trouble you better seek medical/psychological advice. I can't take any liability whatsoever.

So let me know if you think this is a worthwhile endeavour, and check in to see when I post the first thing I'd like to try out. :-)