Created by coach and author Anne Barry Jolle in response to personal challenges she was facing at the time, the GRACE Trail is a five-step self-reflection process that begins with gratitude and ends with hope. GRACE is available to anyone who embraces the possibility of it entering their life. Couldn’t we all use a bit more grace in our lives right now!
Gratitude – What Am I Grateful For?
The GRACE model for developing resilience begins with a foundation built on appreciation for what is true, strong, and right. Related questions include:
- What is going right? What can I savor right now?
- Who do I cherish in my life? What do I cherish about myself?
Release – What Do I Need to Release?
Considering what’s currently causing stress in your life, 1) What is within your control? And 2) What is outside your control? Release is about letting go of things that you can’t control or that are not serving you and, instead, focusing on what you can control and creating new possibilities. Related questions include;
- What do I need to let go of in order to go forward and stop looking back?
- What fear, resistance, or judgment can I release?
Accept – What Is Calling Out for Acceptance?
Acceptance requires you to stop fighting battles you can’t win and, in the words of Eckhart Tolle, “Accept – then act. Whatever the present moment contains, accept it as if you had chosen it. Always work with it, not against it.” Related questions include:
- How can I accept myself and others more?
- How can I accept what I can’t change?
Challenge – What Is My Next Challenge?
In this step of the process, you are encouraged to make a commitment to step outside your comfort zone in order to learn, grow, and move forward from a place of strength and choice. Related questions include:
- What is draining my energy? What’s at stake if nothing changes? What will give me energy?
- Where am I getting in my own way and how can I change that? What do I need to stop doing? Who do I want to start being?
- Where am I willing to try something different and take a chance? What new choice am I willing to commit to?
Embrace – What Can I Embrace as Possible?
The GRACE model concludes with an opportunity for you to invite your imagination into the conversation and for you to summon hope. Aspirations and dreams breathe optimism into pessimism and hope into fear. Related questions include:
- What can I embrace as possible if I move in the direction of the best version of myself?
- What new story would I like to tell about my life and where I’m headed?
Responses
I LOVED reading this! I want to try to incorporate more of this process into my every day life.
Glad you enjoyed it, Samantha! The GRACE Trail is a fantastic self-coaching tool!
I think this is important no matter who you are! Especially in our field, I believe working through this process would be very beneficial in working through mental health challenges.
I found this incredibly insightful. I have been going through a difficult personal time in my life and this made me realize that I need to let go of the things that I can not control in order to move forward. Mental health is such an important part of our daily lives and it is nice to be reminded of how to improve on our selves.
Letting go of trying to control things is so important … and an almost daily challenge for me. I like that the GRACE Trail builds acceptance and letting go into the process, two things that I might naturally overlook or avoid.