Personal Strategic Planning

By Richard West

My work has gone through several shifts. After doing Corporate Strategic Planning (LENS) programmes and mentoring participants of ICA Taiwan’s Facilitation Certification Program, my latest project is Personalized Strategic Planning (PSP).

My aim is to help people discover who they are, decide what is important to them and create a plan of action, needed image shifts, new contexts and way of being. The process follows a general outline but varies according to the person.

The Process

Intention Conversation: Why does the client want to make a change?

Life Chart: I ask the person to make a chart of his or her life journey and tell me her story. It’s amazing how many ways there seems to be to chart one’s life, and the length of time a client takes to tell the story. I listen and make notes, aware that these may help me ask the right questions later.

Current Standing Point: Tell me everything about yourself now; in every arena of your life; as much as you want to reveal. Occasionally, this takes a long time. The relationship evolves as a person shares. I add a reflective process to help bring a closure to the past.

Personal Vision: What does the client want? What is the duration – two, three or four years? I suggest that time has speeded up so much that three years might feel like “a lifetime”. The vision does not have to be limited to what seems possible now – it should be just what is desired. I offer a simple prioritization process to push him or her to decide. I usually emphasize that visions change, sometimes radically and quickly. Not to worry...

Contradictions: Brainstorm problems, issues and blocks. Cluster them by root cause. In naming a contradiction, avoid phrases such as “lack of”. Instead describe what is going on in life that you are using the phrase to point to. This is often difficult but is possible. It is believed that a person usually has only one or two real contradictions. Occasionally, there is a third which is almost always an aspect of the other two. I define a contradiction as that which has to be “dealt with” for the vision to be realized. Strategic Actions: We go for several “strategies, efforts, proposals” to “deal with” the contradictions. One approach is to write down the contradiction inside a circle and then jot down several ways to deal with it. Implementation: I usually send the client off to work on his or her strategic actions, but arrange for a session when I can help if she is blocked. If such help is needed, I have a list of questions to help release the client’s creativity. By this time I know a lot more about the client and my questions are more on target.

Spin offs

Usually the client becomes a good friend who feels free to come back to me as needed or if he or she runs into problems. That allows us to review the earlier stages of the PSP process to help the client get back on track.

I create new process pieces in the moment when required.

Many clients are helped by energy healing or resonance repatterning which I offer if it seems appropriate. There are other processes that can also be used – Styleflex, Worklife Priorities (a preference instrument), Affirmative Dreamwork, Levels of Consciousness, Real Power and Mind Styles. Even the “All is Good” faith statement from our RS1 course helped a recent client move from saying “No” to her life to a much needed “Yes”.

Although my preferred approach is “in person,” I did an online PSP with a ToP student that I was referred to, and it seemed to work very well.

Richard West is a member of ICA Taiwan   rwestica@gmail.com