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MODULE 3
You are an empowered woman!
lesson 2: strategic intervention
This week we are going to learn all about Strategic Interventions. This is one of the most effective strategies I use when trying to break a habit, change a behaviour or create everlasting change in my life. If you apply it correctly, it works.
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So what exactly is Strategic Intervention?
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Strategic Intervention (also known as SI) is a dynamic style of coaching that can help anyone, any group or organization take action towards achieving different results. By taking these ‘actions’, taught by SI Coaches, clients make permanent and lasting changes. It is a project dedicated to extracting the most practical and effective forms of strategic action and communication from a variety of disciplines: Ericksonian therapy, strategic family therapy, Human Needs Psychology, organizational psychology, neurolinguistics, psychology of influence, strategic studies, traditions of diplomacy and negotiation, game theory, and others. The term “Strategic Intervention” was coined by Anthony Robbins, Cloe Madanes, and Mark Peysha to describe their change work. Mark Peysha has further developed Strategic Intervention as an interdisciplinary framework and movement.
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Good news, I am a trained SI coach and am going to teach you the basic skills on how to use this in your everyday life to make change. I have used some of these strategies with you during our coaching sessions to help you make the changes you are making.
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"Pain is a damn good thing if you use it." - Tony Robbins
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Ok, let me start with the above quote. Most of think of pain as, well, pain. It hurts, it causes anguish, it upsets our lives and we don`t want it. BUT, BUT, what if we looked at pain as a catalyst for change? What if we looked at pain as a good thing to help us change, to help us grow and to take our life lessons and make it an asset rather than a burden?
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Sounds way better and even a little enticing, right?
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Well, this is exactly what we are going to learn to do this lesson. Take our pain points, use them for good and help us inspire change in our life. We are using metaphors to help us do this. You see the brain responds to symbols and metaphors easily. This helps us recreate the neuro connections, helps the brain disassociate with old, unwanted patterns and helps us create that ever lasting change we are seeking for. Now, of course it takes work to get here but this strategy makes changing a little easier then just grit and grind.
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In your homework I am going to help guide you through a painful experience in your life and show you how to use SI to use this to your benefit. On the call, we are going to further dig deep into your pain point and will help guide you through the SI process.
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Here is the thing. There is no way we can avoid pain in our lives. It is going to present itself no matter how many strategies we use, no matter how equipped we are or how great we are at moving past our pain. The hope here is to give you tools to help you move past pain, use it to your advantage and create lasting change.
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The bad news is, when you crush one pain point, chances are another is going to follow. BUT, you can use these strategies to help you each time you experience pain. You will also quickly realize that this will work with any degree of pain. It doesn`t have to be a major incident.
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Here are some general rules of replacing your pain points. The homework will guide you through this process and it will become more clear when we do the work and when I further explain on the call.
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"Pain is a fact of life. Suffering is optional."
1.) Identify the pain point you desire to work on. This can be something in your life you are struggling with (relationship, negative coworker, a habit you want to start, quit smoking, better eating, exercise more, waking up earlier, etc). This is any area in your life you want to grow in that has been causing you pain.
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2.) Describe your pain as a metaphor. What is a personal metaphor you could use to describe this negative pattern you carry with you? The definition of a metaphor is a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable, it is an implied comparison.
Ex. "I am drowning in grief." "I carry a burden of guilt." "I am full of anger." "I am living in fear." "I`m under a lot of pressure."
Pay attention to the language you are using. Your language dictates the emotion and the pain that comes with it. Sometimes the biggest obstacle we have is that our language is creating the problem at hand.
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3.) Now take that metaphor and do something strong and effective with it. I will further explain this on the call. Create a new metaphor.
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4.) Remember your strengths.
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5.) What decisions did you make early in life that determined the path of this pain point? What decisions contributed to your pain?
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6.) Remember to love yourself. Sadness is a poor substitute for real connection. When you feel connected, when you remember the awesome things about yourself, your sadness lessens.
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These are the basic 6 steps and may seem a little basic BUT after I explain further on the call it will become more clear.
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You will notice that the whole idea behind SI is that you are replacing a negative/old behaviour, thought and actions with ones that are more in line with your values.
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The method of stopping cold turkey is very challenging for many people and SI strategies help change our neurological patterns and rewire the brain in a way that sets us up for success. Cold turkey works for some but there is an easier way to achieve the results we want.
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Head on over to the homework section after our call and get started on turning those pain points into actions that will change your life.
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