Am I Drinking What I'm Serving?

There's a danger in coaching other people.

You can get pretty good at seeing what they need to work on. 😂

Ask better questions. Listen more. Pay attention to blind spots. Own what you can control. Be intentional about where you want to grow.

All good stuff.

But somewhere along the way, I realized there was a question I needed to turn back on myself:

Am I drinking what I'm serving?

It's one thing to challenge someone else to take an honest look at themselves.

It's another thing to stand in front of the same mirror.

I'm regularly identifying areas in my own life where I want to grow. Currently, I'm working on nine.

Not nine things I've mastered.

Nine things I'm working on.

Some are pretty practical. Some are more personal. A few regularly make me uncomfortable.

And that's probably the point.

Because if I'm going to challenge someone else to notice their blind spots, I'd better be willing to look for my own.

If I'm going to ask someone to own what they can control, I'd better not be making excuses for what I can control.

If I'm going to encourage someone to intentionally build something different, I'd better have some things I'm building too.

And if I'm going to talk about sustaining growth over time, I shouldn't expect my own growth to happen by accident.

I don't need to have everything figured out before I can help someone else.

In fact, I'm convinced of the opposite.

I'm convinced that the best coaches are in the game, not in the stands.

The credibility I want as a coach doesn't come from having finished the work.

It comes from being willing to do the work alongside the people I challenge to do theirs.

That doesn't mean our work will look the same.

It means none of us gets a pass.

Especially the coach.

So those nine things stay in front of me. Daily.

Sometimes I'm making great progress.

Sometimes I'm reminded I'm still a work in progress.

That's when the question comes back:

Am I drinking what I'm serving?

Not perfectly.

But intentionally.

And tomorrow, I get another chance.

— Coach Dave

Your NoBS Reflection

NOTICE: What am I asking of others that I need to ask of myself?

OWN: Where isn't my behavior matching what I say matters?

BUILD: What's one area where I need to practice what I profess?

SUSTAIN: What will keep it in front of me?