Katie Settel, a long-time client, called me this morning wanting to start a movement.

She is passionate about helping children during this crisis. She’s come up with the idea, the organization to sponsor it, and guidelines for contribution. She wanted my help structuring the tiers of its development which we began to map out.

Blank slate of a dollhouse as inspiration

During the course of our conversation Katie quoted her sister who has maintained her sanity by decorating a dollhouse. “She’s been working on it like crazy.” As Katie has been plugging away on the details of her cause, her sister has focused on a craft that is helping her get through this extraordinary period of time.

“Everyone needs a dollhouse, Katie,” she wisely noted.

Going deeper into the details about her foundation, Katie brought up some obstacles she is facing. I won’t go into the weeds with you, but like anyone with a big idea, it’s never smooth sailing. My coaching style is to help my client ‘chunk it down’ and deal with the smaller elements of the big vision first. Using the dollhouse metaphor, I suggested to Katie that we focus just on the entryway today. I could hear a deep sigh on the other end of the phone.

Entryway for Katie’s sister’s dollhouse

For the next few days she’ll be doing the necessary paper work, setting up links within the larger sponsoring organization, and editing the landing page.

When you focus on the situation at hand, the immediate tasks become evident, and the larger vision begins to manifest even in the early stages.