Coaching is a part of every day life, you may not realise but every time you cheer someone on, tell them to keep their head up or help them stay on track, you are essentially coaching them. Coaching isn't a very complicated thing to grasp. It is at it's core, a relationship between two people [coach and client] or a group of people [coach and a group of clients].
A coach can do a lot for you! Usually you can visit a coach for:
- relationships
- life purpose
- increasing happiness
- achieving goals
- growing in your career
The basic role of a coach is to listen without judging, understand your comments and ask relevant questions which can help you discover what you want. Good coaches, however, have some common practices:
- they focus on outcomes
- establish what is right
- leave you feeling empowered
- provide you with materials and homework
And great coaches do the following:
- personalise each session to the individual
- utilise NLP techniques
- teach clients how to coach themselves
- reduce client-coach dependency
- have a wide range of resources which can be tailored to each situation
- provide engaging sessions
- give feedback [improving results by up to 38%]
Many coaching fall in the good category, but there are some bad eggs out there so choose your coach carefully! It is important to check the credentials of a coach and any testimonials, if you have any concerns it's best to contact the coach first. If you find a coach who falls into the 'great' section then AWESOME! They are very few and far between.
Although they often get confused, coaching and counselling are not the same thing. Some coaches [like myself] may have a background in psychology, counselling, therapy etc. but their role as a coach is not to be a counsellor or therapist. The main difference I have seen with counselling and coaching is that counselling focuses on what is wrong with you, delving deeper into your mind to fix it. Coaching on the other hand focuses on what's right with you, where you're going and how to get there. A coach believes in you 100 percent and will do all they can to give you the necessary tools to succeed.
We can all use some form of coaching in our lives. It helps with motivation, holding us accountable for achieving our goals and breaking bad habits, can increase happiness and life satisfaction and reduce stress! You may not think you need coaching because you have a good career, stable income and a great family life, but I guarantee if you seek out some methods of coaching you'll understand why it's so great.
For example, there are many Facebook groups dedicated to sharing your goals or achievements and people reward each other with affirmations and emojis. It's honestly a great environment to put yourself in and a nice break from the turmoils of social media madness. This is a more creative form of coaching, after all we don't all have access to a coach.
Some more examples include:
- reading books written by experienced life coaches
- following inspirational quote pages on sites like Pinterest or Instagram
- downloading a goal or habit tracker app [often then send you notifications and affirmations when you do well!]
- 'buddy up' with a friend, partner or someone online. Cheer each other on and don't let them come up with excuses for not trying!
I like to call these 'Micro-coaching' you're not getting the full coaching experience but it's definitely a toe in the water kind of experience. I surround myself with things like these daily as I have found myself more motivated, resilient and stronger than ever. They are also either a one-off payment or completely free!
I hope this has helped in some way and you have a clearer understanding of what coaching is and ways you can Micro-coach yourself. Seriously, have fun with these because they give you a good mood boost!
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