I love coaching conversations when I hear comments about how excited the person is about what they will be implementing to create the business + life to which they aspire.

However, herein lies the frustration of coaching in that the following two concepts come into play:

• Half-Life of Enthusiasm – This is a physical fact for as time passes the less enthusiastic, we become about doing what was agreed during the coaching conversation
• Law of Diminishing Intent – The law says the longer it takes to do things the less likely you are to do it

When both these laws work in conjunction, living life takes away our focus from the outcomes of a coaching conversation, and nothing will be done to implement those outcomes.

To overcome these two concepts, I get my clients to commit to undertaking one action arising from the conversation with the one rider being the action must take less than five (5) minutes to complete.

I base the five-minute challenge on the Lao Tzu saying:

“The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”

However, the most difficult step to take is the first one. Thus, the simpler and easier the first step is, the more likely a person will start the journey.