Setting up the day for success — or at least something intentional

"Luck favors the prepared." That's a line my friend Shannon tossed off at lunch, and it stuck with me. I thought of it again heading into an in-person immersion day with a new client, when I sat down to prepare.

Some people think preparation means an agenda, a well-built deck, sending materials ahead of time. Those things matter. But what I didn't know before I became a coach is this: deciding how I wanted people to experience me — my way of being — was a form of preparation too. And it mattered just as much as the nuts and bolts. The way of being I choose to lean into creates the experience I actually have. So as coaches, how do we prepare? We do the same work we ask our clients to do.

That Monday morning, I'd already sent the agenda and the prep materials. I'd organized the time, gone for a run, lifted at the gym. Then I grabbed my laptop and journal and headed to a coffee shop to sit in the sun and build a vision for the meeting.

That vision included:

1. What do I want my client to experience today, as a result of our session? What would thrill me? (Vision + Love)

2. What do I want them to be saying at the end of the session? (Vision)

3. How will I need to show up to create that experience? (Ownership + Integrity + Energy)

4. How will I know if they're experiencing this? (Integrity)

5. Where might I get in my own way? (Growth)

I journal through these before any meeting that matters — which is most of them.

Afterward, I leveraged one of the most important ingredients of Meta Performance: feedback. Another way of lifting the weight of growth, ownership, love, integrity, vision, and energy. Lately I've been asking:

1. Where did I miss you today?

2. What did you not experience that you'd hoped you would?

3. What worked, and what didn't?

What I learned: the session was good — and I was fast. My speed made it harder for my client to process what we were discussing. That was crucial feedback. I bring passion, excitement, "let's DO this" energy — and I can miss the moment where I need to slow down and let clients lift the weight themselves. I'm so eager for them to experience the gift of this work that I can start doing it for them without realizing it. No problem. That's information. That's data. That's a gift. And now I get to ask: what 1% of this can I use for my own growth?

My vision that morning had included "slow." What it didn't have was specificity — what slow actually looks like, in the moment, in real time. Now it will.

So as I shape my vision for leadership and coaching over the next six months, this feedback comes with me. What transformation becomes possible with this one piece of new information?

Here's what I want to leave you with: your vision doesn't do anyone any good sitting up at 30,000 feet. The gift — to you, to your colleagues, to everyone you meet — is bringing it down to the level of this meeting, this conversation, this moment. That's where it becomes usable. That's where it becomes real.

So look at your week ahead — or your next six months. Where would it serve you to bring your vision down to the everyday level? And where might lifting the weight of feedback show you your next level?