Every Monday morning, I use a simple self-coaching template to lay out my vision for the week.
Starting the week this way keeps my big picture in focus, but also transitions me into actionable work.
It’s a simple form of journaling, and you can do it in a physical notebook or any notes app. But when you self-coach in Roam Research, it becomes an amazing way to track your journey over time. (If you’re into journaling and Roam, see Tracy Winchell‘s excellent Roaman Journaling course!)
Roam’s page and block references open up the opportunity to visit any date, any question, or any concept you journaled about. You can use the search or filter features to zero in on any aspect of your self-coaching journey. This article will show you how.
What is this article about?
When you finish reading this, you’ll have the tools to use the self-coaching template. And you’ll understand how it works so you can adapt it to your own needs.
Here’s what we’ll cover:
- What are the prompts in the self-coaching template?
- How to use (and re-use) the self-coaching prompts
- How to navigate through past entries to track your journey
- (optional) How to create a self-coaching template in TextExpander
At the end, I’ll also give you the opportunity to sign up for an email reminder when my course Your Road to Roam launches in early November 2020. The course explains Roam Research’s features, demonstrates how they work together (like this article does!), and coaches you to discover how the features can apply in your own life and work.
What are the prompts in the self-coaching template?
Coaching and consulting are often mistaken for one another. Consultants do your work for you. You purchase their industry-specific knowledge.
Coaches, on the other hand, don’t provide industry-specific knowledge. They teach you how to access and leverage your own knowledge. A good coach helps you realize your potential and surpass your expectations.
I mention that because these self-coaching prompts are the same open-ended questions I would ask my coaching clients. The first four are modeled on Michael Stanier’s simple coaching guide The Coaching Habit: Say Less, Ask More & Change the Way You Lead Forever (affiliate link). The fifth question helps me turn the material into action.
The five questions
1. What’s on my mind?
This prompts a braindump and uncovers top-of-mind issues.
2. What else is on my mind?
This prompt seems redundant, but it’s like rolling up the toothpaste tube to get the rest. Even when you think you’ve gotten everything out, there’s almost always more.
3. What’s the real challenge for me here?
This prompt asks me to examine my answers to the first two questions. It distills the top-of-mind issues into the specific difficulties I’m facing.
4. What do I want?
This prompt is critical. Before I lay out a plan to address the challenges, I need to define what I really want. It helps me prioritize wisely.
5. What am I going to do?
This prompt completes the process of converting my top-of-mind concerns into actionable work.
How to use (and re-use) the self-coaching prompts
If you’re using a physical notebook or a simple notes app, just write each question followed by your answers.
If you’re using Roam Research, there’s a specific way to work that makes it much more powerful. Here’s how.
1. “Host” the five questions on your [[Self-coaching]] page.
On the page titled [[Self-coaching]], list the five coaching questions. It should look like this:
2. Copy the questions’ Block References
When it’s time for your coaching, first copy the block references of the questions, like so:
Note that I right-clicked to get the menu where I selected “Copy block refs.”
3. Use your Daily Notes page to log the self-coaching
On your Daily Notes page, navigate to an empty top-level block. Type [[Self-coaching]] and hit Enter. Then use Tab to indent one level, and paste the block refs you copied from step two.
Here’s how that works:
4. Answer each question, being sure to indent underneath
Create a new block indented underneath each question, and type your answer there. Use as many blocks as you like. Just make sure they stay indented one or more levels beyond the initial prompt. Indenting is what guarantees you can track your coaching journey over time.
Speaking of indenting, when you have multiple topics to talk about, use indenting to separate them. The video below shows how this all works.
5. When you’re done, use your last answer to shape your plan for the week
Your answer to What am I going to do? helps transition you from the big picture and into action. Use it to set your overall agenda for the week.
And don’t worry if you don’t accomplish everything that you mention. When you revisit the self-coaching, you’ll be able to see what’s working and what isn’t.
And that’s the topic of the next section!
How to navigate through past entries to track your journey
Roam Research makes it simple and flexible to review your coaching journey.
As an aside, notice that I use the word “journey” rather than “progress.” Coaching isn’t about success or failure, per se. It’s about what is and what isn’t. Our goal echoes what Rudyard Kipling wrote in his famous poem If—: to “meet with Triumph and Disaster, and treat those two imposters just the same.” Naturally we use “success” and “failure” as metrics, but we neither revel nor wallow.
The review process relies on Roam’s amazing Linked References. Here are three different approaches.
Approach 1: The [[Self-coaching]] page itself
You can go to the [[Self-coaching]] page and track your progress from week to week.
This is the widest lens for charting your journey. In the Linked References, you can see every self-coaching you’ve done, and view your answers to any question. You can also filter the Linked References to review specific dates or topics.
Here it is in action:
Approach 2: Question by question
You can also go to the Linked References for each individual block.
This is the power of using “Copy block refs” rather than simply copying and pasting from the self-coaching template.
For instance, if I only want to track back through my answers to the “What am I going to do?” question, I can just view that block.
I’ll show you how:
Approach 3: Topic by topic
This is perhaps the most powerful aspect of self-coaching. When you tag a specific topic while self-coaching, those insights will appear alongside other Linked References on that [[topic page]].
The process is the same as above, so I won’t provide an extra video. But it’s useful to be able to review your self-coaching notes when you’re discussing a topic in a separate context.
How to use your self-coaching journey
First, don’t overthink it. And definitely don’t beat yourself up over it.
We’re charting your truth from week to week, and using it as leverage to accomplish significant things. But significant things are not necessarily accomplished weekly. Neither Rome nor Roam were built in seven days.
Use the self-coaching journey to spot recurring difficulties and consistent successes. Find what works and what doesn’t. Let your “wins and losses” from previous weeks inform what you plan to do this week.
How to create a self-coaching template in TextExpander
While it isn’t necessary, you might like to create a template in TextExpander (or a similar app) to save you clicks and keystrokes whenever you’re prepping for your self-coaching.
I created a TextExpander snippet with the code “.self”. This creates my full template, like this:
There is a small trick to this, however. When you create the template in your text expanding app, you have to use the block reference codes, not the plain text of the prompts. Otherwise, you’ll lose some of the functionality of this method.
This is what it will look like (though your codes will be different):
Using Roam Research in your work and life
The glory of Roam Research is that it takes simple input like this self-coaching process and turns it into insight. It’s low friction in and low friction out.
But while Roam Research is packed with powerful features, there is no specific context for how to use them.
That’s actually a good thing, because everyone’s Roam journey is unique. There shouldn’t be one standard onboarding for everyone. The drawback is, though, that you don’t always know if you’re using Roam in the way that best supports your life and work.
My course, Your Road to Roam, approaches this problem the same way this article approaches self-coaching. You learn about a few features and you see how they support each other in a specific workflow.
Then, in the course, you’ll also be working toward your capstone project: developing your own unique Roam workflow, tailored to the way you think and work.
I’ve designed the course as part teaching, part coaching. You’ll learn, but you’ll also discover. Check out the course if that sounds interesting to you!
I hope this self-coaching tool—or something you adapt from it—is useful for you! Please comment below or hit me up on Twitter if you have anything to add.