Happy New Year! Happy Solutioning in 2013

It seems like only yesterday that we were saying goodbye to 2011 and welcoming in 2012. Each year I write my goals for the upcoming year and post them on a bulletin board in my home office. As I review the goals I set for myself in 2012, personally and professionally, I see that I was able to accomplish many of the objectives that I had set.

In typical solution focused fashion it has triggered me to think, how was I able to accomplish these things? What steps were taken to ensure that 2012 would be viewed as a productive year? What personal skills were drawn upon to accomplish the tasks of 2012? What signs were present to myself, and others, that I was being productive during 2012?

As I consider the answers to these questions I find myself reminded of something that was taught to me about the Solution Focused Approach. The power is in the answers, not the questions. The more I consider the answers to these questions the more hopeful and confident I become about my ability to accomplish goals for the upcoming 2013.

It reminds me that before we consider, or ask our clients to consider, a future in which a challenge is being successfully met, a prudent first step is to review past successes in detail. This forces the person pursuing the challenge to first take credit for their past successes before the upcoming challenge is tackled. By doing this extra step the likelihood of the goal being accomplished has no choice but to move up.

The lesson here is that the Solution Focused Approach is not just about moving forward. The number one thing I hear from people learning this approach is usually something like, “I really like Solution Focused Therapy because it focuses on moving forward”. However, this is not entirely true. In practicing SFT we are concerned with the past, but very specifically about the smallest details of past successes.

So, as you approach this new year and begin to establish your goals, don’t forget to give yourself credit for the accomplishments of 2012.

Happy New Year!

It seems like only yesterday that we were saying goodbye to 2011 and welcoming in 2012. Each year I write my goals for the upcoming year and post them on a bulletin board in my home office. As I review the goals I set for myself in 2012, personally and professionally, I see that I was able to accomplish many of the objectives that I had set.

In typical solution focused fashion it has triggered me to think, how was I able to accomplish these things? What steps were taken to ensure that 2012 would be viewed as a productive year? What personal skills were drawn upon to accomplish the tasks of 2012? What signs were present to myself, and others, that I was being productive during 2012?

As I consider the answers to these questions I find myself reminded of something that was taught to me about the Solution Focused Approach. The power is in the answers, not the questions. The more I consider the answers to these questions the more hopeful and confident I become about my ability to accomplish goals for the upcoming 2013.

It reminds me that before we consider, or ask our clients to consider, a future in which a challenge is being successfully met, a prudent first step is to review past successes in detail. This forces the person pursuing the challenge to first take credit for their past successes before the upcoming challenge is tackled. By doing this extra step the likelihood of the goal being accomplished has no choice but to move up.

The lesson here is that the Solution Focused Approach is not just about moving forward. The number one thing I hear from people learning this approach is usually something like, “I really like Solution Focused Therapy because it focuses on moving forward”. However, this is not entirely true. In practicing SFT we are concerned with the past, but very specifically about the smallest details of past successes.

So, as you approach this new year and begin to establish your goals, don’t forget to give yourself credit for the accomplishments of 2012.

Happy New Year!