Cynthia Chan

February 12, 2022February 13, 2022

Schedule Management

Many of my coaching clients seek help with schedule management and improving work flow/productivity. For this month’s newsletter I’ve decided to include my upcoming week’s schedule.

Like many others, my life is a tricky balance between work responsibilities (clinic, coaching business, admin for family acting school business), family and maintaining my own physical/mental health.

My biggest challenges are meal planning (an ever-changing balance between home-cooked meals/quick processed food/take-out) and carving out white space (time to THINK….something I realized during the pandemic that I need a lot of).

Here’s the upcoming week:

Sunday October 17

drive 2 hours from the cottage straight to son’s flag football game
order sushi
Netflix with family

Monday October 18

walk 3km (each way) to and from clinic to get in one hour of exercise
treat chiro patients during a 5 hour shift
begin an online chiropractic technique course for continuing education purposes
practice system tools with coaching colleagues
drive son to basketball practice

Tuesday October 19

drive son to school
30 minutes on Stationary Bike
bike/walk to clinic
treat chiro patients during a 4 hour shift
evening: conduct a Zoom interview for a potential new clinic team member

Wednesday October 20

walk to/from clinic
treat chiro patients during a 5 hour shift
get osteopathic treatment to prevent jaw pain and headaches
coaching client for a one-hour session

Thursday October 21

bike to clinic
treat chiro patients during a 5 hour shift
renew son’s passport
evening: attend the theatre to watch a play

Friday October 22

morning: work on coaching business’s social media
free afternoon
meet son after school for a fun treat (weekly tradition)

Saturday October 23

all day volunteer shift with Shelter Movers – leading a move to help a person suffering from gender-based violence transition to a shelter or resettlement home

Sunday October 24

75 minute yoga practice
drive son to basketball practice/flag football games

[originally published October 2021]

February 12, 2022February 13, 2022

Surviving November

November….what can I say? It’s getting darker and there’s a palpable increase of stress from patients and coaching clients as people prepare for the holidays and the changing season.

Here are some of my tips and tricks for surviving November:

Daily use, 15 minutes, of light therapy in the mornings to combat the winter blues. If I use it at least 3-4 times a week beginning September until March, I can minimize depression from Seasonal Affective Disorder. I use this product.
Trying to get at least one hour of movement per day (walking to the clinic, yoga, biking etc).
Eating seasonal foods – avoiding cold foods and switching to warmer foods, which according to Traditional Chinese Medicine suits our fall and winter constitutions better.
Limiting caffeine to twice per week (typically Fridays + Sundays).
Saying no to a lot of social gatherings – being very mindful of energy expenditure. For the month of November I will try to limit myself to one social/non-family activity per week.

Here are some of the cool coaching discoveries made during the last month:

It’s important to know your accountability style….do you need someone to keep you on track? Some clients will text me after they’ve completed their ‘action step’ to keep them accountable.
I’ve been procrastinating on loading my coaching modules onto a new virtual learning platform. I’ve realized that if I don’t carve out time to do it, it remains an idea swirling in my head as opposed to a step towards action.
It’s easy to make assumptions about what others are thinking. Having dedicated time in a partnership/couples coaching session to speak not only helps the person articulate their fears/dreams/thoughts but it also educates their partner and strengthens the 3rd entity of their relationship.

[originally published November 2021]

February 12, 2022February 13, 2022

Crossing Edges Towards Change

This diagram shows how we have to cross edges when we attempt to change our behaviour or our life – the ‘Edge’ is the necessary step towards reaching the end goal.

The ‘Primary’ is our original state and the ‘Secondary’ is where we want to be.

Change can be scary and so we sometimes get stuck on the Edge – we tiptoe over and then scamper back to our Primary.

We may teeter on the Edge for a long time and need support to be pulled towards the Secondary.

How does coaching fit in?

A coach can help you clearly define your Secondary and provide the support needed to cross your Edges.

Examples of Edges that I’m helping my current clients with:

starting a new business
creating quiet time for deep brain work
implementing new business systems
communicating with their personal + professional partners about important issues

My example of Edge crossing:
Around 10 years ago my clinic partner and I hired a team of chiropractic consultants to improve our clinic’s business systems.

It scared me shitless: I was afraid of judgment, that they would come in and say we were doing everything wrong, and that I would be forced to change everything.

Our Secondary was to create more streamlined systems and a more patient-friendly environment but there was a huge Edge for me to cross.

Two things helped me take the leap:

support from my clinic partner (knowing that we were in it together)
advice from another colleague who had hired the same consultants: “You only need to change one thing a month”

Do you have an Edge to cross? What is your desired Secondary?
Please contact me here if you would like explore coaching to cross your Edge.

[originally published February 2022]

February 12, 2022February 13, 2022

Fresh Start Effect

Recently I began listening to Maya Shankar’s podcast “A Slight Change of Plans” – she was interviewing Dr. Katy Milkman on her research on how to facilitate change.

I found Dr. Milkman’s research on the “fresh start effect” particularly interesting which posits that people are more likely to make a change in their life when it coincides with a temporal marker (i.e. new year, birthday etc.).

As a chiropractor I have observed this for years: one example is when patients return to treatment after Labour Day which coincides with the natural ‘back-to-school’ feeling many people have in early September.

How does this translate to coaching?
Since people often look to a coach to support them with small and big life changes, I can use this ‘fresh start theory’ to encourage clients to sync their changes with natural temporal markers, i.e. beginning of the month or new business quarter or summer/winter solstice.

[originally published January 2022]