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The arrival of the pandemic propelled us into an unfamiliar world. We had to re-evaluate what’s important and change the way we work, the way we socialise and our routines at such a pace we deprioritised our own feelings and emotional needs. It felt scary at times, unknown and some days we didn’t know what to make of it, despite the bombardment of news and media coverage.

We are inundated with self-care tools and suggestions on what we need to do to stay sane wherever we look, whether it’s on social media, from friends, in newspapers, from employers and it can be difficult to pull out the ones that are right for you. The Know You More coaching community wanted to make a difference and provide a practical, self-coaching framework to help you identify your own individual needs, reflecting on how you want to be today, and tomorrow, helping you think ahead after this crisis has passed.

Why this resource?

This resource was inspired by an image which circulated on social media, describing 3 zones of who we are during the COVID crisis. It sparked a conversation with our coaches on the practicalities of using it in coaching or with a coaching approach. The essence of understanding ourselves in the way this image was portrayed was important but it lacked the internal action orientation, ‘what I need to help me move forward’ and we felt it needed a framework to aid good reflection to get the best from it. We have kept the essence of the model in its shape and focus and have adapted it into a self-coaching model, to help individuals get more from the concept, reflect on their own self-care needs supporting them to look ahead.

We chose to use the term self-care when naming the resource as we believe acknowledging the need to be kind and caring to yourself needs to be highlighted in a time of crisis. For some this might be about giving themselves permission to take some time out, to reflect on what is noticed in oneself, how you felt, your actions in a challenging time, illuminate strengths which have helped you, noticing patterns in behaviour and reframing them when needed.

The resource comprises of two parts, first filling in the diagram with your own thoughts and reflections for each section. There are coaching questions provided and using these might help you to think deeper about each one. There is no requirement to complete every question but they are there as a guide to prompt your thinking.

In the second part, we have provided reflection questions to help you make sense of your diagram and identify the actions you need to move forward with self-care. Identifying actions, which are future-focussed, is an essential element of coaching and will help you get the most from using the resource. In addition, we have provided a prompt sheet to use for regular reflection and tracking your progress.

Download your printable copy of the ‘Know You More ‘Self Care in a Crisis’ resource here.

Over the coming weeks, we will be publishing a series of articles that dig a little deeper into the concepts of self-coaching and self-care. We hope this will give you more guidance and support in applying these concepts using the resource.

The next will be: ‘Finding the Courage in Fear’

Albert Einstein is quoted as saying “Out of clutter find simplicity, Out of discord find harmony, In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity”. We hope that this resource offers you a framework of simplicity, for you to find balance and opportunity during this time of crisis.