G.R.O.W.

I've been thinking about a simple acrostic that I heard recently from someone who does "life coaching".

Goal - Articulate what it is that you want to do or feel called to do.

Reality - Discern the realities of your current life situation.

Options - Think inside and outside the box for ways to accomplish your goals given your present reality

Will - Decide on an option and do it.

I need to spend some time and work through this process in several areas of life. While the model looks simple, I think each of the four steps is pretty difficult. I remember in the early part of our marriage when Deb and I went through a course on managing personal finances. It wasn't like Crown; the teachers looked at all of your budget and actual numbers and counseled you one-on-one. As we were being counseled by this guy, he kept saying that I wasn't talking about reality. He forced me to look hard at the numbers and see that my idealistic thoughts about my money were not in the realm of the real.

I think growing is difficult in these ways. A clear goal can be hard to see. Reality is hard to face. Options are hard to find especially when realities seem to extinguish goals. Will is hard to muster.


Have you ever used a life coach?
Have you ever formally used the G.R.O.W. process?
Is there an area of your life that would benefit from systematically going through this process?