Why coaching works and is possibly one of the most valuable resources you have in your personal and professional development toolbox…
Why coaching? Sometimes I think people still don’t see the point of life coaching. When I started life coaching in 1999 it was a very new idea here in the UK. I remember one conversation with someone I’d never met before. When she asked what I did I told her about life coaching.
Her response was not positive. First she laughed. Then in a derogatory tone she asked if this was something for stupid people who couldn’t manage their own lives. Unfortunately, her idea of life coaching is not uncommon. She was simply reflecting an attitude that is still very prevalent here in the West.
Built in to our cultural programming is this idea that we should somehow be able to ‘manage’ on our own and if we can’t then we’re weak. Or there must be something wrong with us. Or both. If we take this attitude to the extreme, then we can keep ourselves stuck in old patterns of struggle. Denying ourselves access to a valuable resource that can catapult our progress and potential.
The Top Players Have A Coach
Look at top athletes: Olympic standard runners, gymnasts, and ice skaters; premier league soccer players; tennis and golf pros. Could they be playing at anywhere near that standard of performance without a coach? In fact can you think of one professional player who doesn’t have a coach? Having a coach can make the difference between dabbling around in an amateur fashion, and actually being polished enough in your game to be considered for the big league.
These days, the top players in every field from sports to business have coaches. But it’s not just our professional world and career that benefits from coaching, it’s also our personal life. When you are operating at the top level in any highly competitive field, you won’t succeed unless you take the whole person into account. In other words, you have to completely get your act together in terms of your ‘personal life’ so it doesn’t affect your game. So why coaching?
Why Coaching Works
Coaching works because it takes into account the whole person: bringing with it a level of support that is often unavailable anywhere else. If you have had some kind of professional training, rarely is your teacher able to connect with you on the level that a coach can. I’m going to speak from personal experience to illustrate my point.
Most professional training naturally focuses on the skills and competencies needed for you to fulfil that role. As a midwife, my training was about developing the competencies of a midwife. Then I took a post as a Community Midwife and from there (as with most professions) you’re pretty much on your own.
Most professionals join an association to connect with others and see where things can be improved. The focus in midwifery is usually on improving standards of care and what we, as a team, can do better. Nothing wrong in that, but what about me? Unlike the golf or tennis professional most health professionals don’t have their own coach to see how they can stay on top of their game.
The Personal Touch
Most of my life, my body weight has fluctuated from being ‘relatively’ slim (only a couple of pounds overweight) to being clinically obese. Now, most people would think I have just changed the subject. Why would I be bringing that into the conversation? Because addressing what is going on with my weight, is also going to help me to stay on top of my game and be able to perform my best.
Now of course I know exactly what to do to lose weight. I am also a very disciplined person, and can do pretty much anything I put my mind to. So clearly the issue of weight loss or gain is not just as simple as eating less. In my experience, it was through working with my life coach that we could get to the root of the issue, because my coach was interested in ME, in other words, the whole person. My life coach was interested in who I am, not just what I can do (my performance). That is why coaching works.
Who You Are Matters
Your coach wants to know who you are. What makes you tick. He or she wants to know what your potential is and what might be stopping you from reaching that. A professional coach can guide you in making profound changes, getting your needs met, and removing any obstacles. So you can stop struggling and be free to reach your goals with relative ease.
For me the coaching process unraveled deeper unconscious patterns of emotional eating, and identified emotional needs that were not being addressed. In many professions (medicine, law, nursing, midwifery and many others), there is a highly charged atmosphere. Emotions run high, and yet there is little or no training in emotional intelligence to support professionals in addressing their own emotional needs, so they can stay on top of their game. Trying to ‘hold it all together’ emotionally on a professional level often has a wider impact on your home and family life.
When you hire a life coach you are taking a huge step. You are finally saying that you are going to do what it takes to get the highest level of support for yourself. Why coaching? Because one of the key attributes of successful people is that they actually don’t do it alone.
When they identify a need, they quickly mobilize whatever resources they have to get those needs met. Hiring a life coach can be one of the best resources available for getting a clearer picture of who you are, what you need, and how you can get it, so you can be free to stay on top of your game.
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