Quest--Clinical Topics

The road to making life changes is full of pot holes that shake us up and get us off track. Here are some ideas for staying on course!

A Vision -the first and most important element in profound change. What do we want our life to look like? Like any traveler we have to know our destination in order to get the journey started. Without a vision we’ll just keep wandering around in confusion.

Skills -the tools we need to make our vision a reality. On the journey toward change, we need a way to get to it. Our skills are our mode of transportation. If the desired change is a better job, we may need to improve our skills by going back to school. If the destination is improved relationships, we may want to work with our counselor to improve communication skills. Without skills we’ll be feeling a lot of anxiety because we will know where we want to go, but won’t have the means to get there.

Incentives -the reasons we want to change. Once we get started on this important road to change, we will need fuel to keep us moving forward. Incentives work like the gasoline in our car. When we are slowing down we need to connect with the reasons we desire change to give us a boost. Without identified incentives, change will be slow and unsteady. Incentives will keep us motivated and focused.

Resources -helping hands on our long journey. Making changes in our lives is difficult, and we can use all the help we can get. Having good resources is like having a good mechanic. The mechanic keeps an eye on how our vehicle is running, helps us trouble shoot when problems arise, and has the right tools to get things going again. Without resources the move toward change can be frustrating and lonely. What are some common resources? Counselors, coaches, and other professionals, support groups, family, friends, church communities, etc. help keep us on track, give us encouragement, and empower us to believe in ourselves.

Action Plan - the path we follow to reach our destination. Like getting clear and concise directions; developing, writing down and following an action plan is the map that we follow to bring us to that destination we envisioned. Without an action plan there will be a lot of false starts.