Having spent many hours as both a coach, and a coachee, I’ve learnt hundreds of things. Here are the five most life-changing things that I’ve learnt from working with a coach:
- It helps to have someone listen
Verbalising your thoughts is a completely different experience to just thinking your thoughts. Actually hearing yourself and creating logical flow, which is only required when you have another person in front of you, completely shifts the perspective to how things ‘sound’ in your head.
- I have the answers
When my coach told me that I am resourceful and creative, I was sceptical. However, through the session I’ve become empowered to action my own resourcefulness and creativity. The answers do exist in me; I just need to be open to the questions.
- Trust the process
Not all issues and discussions need to have a solution, immediate or long-term. Sometimes in the discussion more emerges, and the process of working through things is enough. When someone (a coach) asks the right questions, it is amazing what my mind can answer.
- Coaching works
It’s not a matter of receiving advice or answers. It’s not about being right or wrong. The miracle of talking in a structured and facilitated environment yields the most phenomenal outcomes. I feel remarkably in control of my own life and my goals. The coaching process has solidly ensured that ownership of the shape of my life sits within me. I feel that I have the power that I need to live the life that I want to.
- I move forward
Being asked the right questions is not about questioning me; it’s about challenging my train of thought so that I think differently. The incredible part is that without those questions, my mind repeats on the same track. The coaching process creates awareness that I want progression and growth, in various parts of my life. Even if the purpose is not to uncover a solution, I find myself propelled forward in action with a desire to make things work better. And they do.
