Creating Progress

Words play such a big role in our lives. They influence what we think and feel in the moment; an unexpected compliment cheers us up, whilst angry words can spoil our day. Words can have long term consequences; what’s being said can lead us to file for divorce, push us to go to war, give us the courage to start a new education or choose a new career path. Unlike many other things in life that we have less control over, we can choose our own words. In doing so we shape our lives, as well as the lives of people around us. What more reason could we possibly need to choose our words carefully? This book is all about that – words that work. Who doesn’t enjoy doing interesting and valuable things? Who doesn’t love that feeling of moving forward with those things? Everybody does! As a coach, leader or teacher, it’s your role to choose the right words so that your client, child, employee or student takes meaningful steps forward. That’s not always easy to do though. The purpose of this book, and the Progress Focused Approach that it describes, is to help you find the those words. The Progress Focused Approach consists of practical techniques based on scientific psychological theories, such as growth mindset theory, self-determination theory, the theory of deliberate practice, the progress principle and solution focused theory. This book provides coaches, leaders and teachers with tools to make progress and describes the underlying scientifically informed beliefs. If you work in an English-speaking environment and you’re interested in learning how to use the Progress Focused Approach, then this is just the book for you!