I am currently working with a client who is also starting out as a Coach.
In our session this morning she expressed her frustrations that no one understands what a Life Coach does.
Perhaps I am a little spoiled, coming from the land of California, where it is totally normal (dude) to have a therapist, psychologist or life coach to help you along your journey.
Australia, sadly, is a little behind the curve.
So you ask… what does a coach do, exactly? (thanks for asking)…
While there are many tactics and models of coaching, they all share one thing in common… They are action based, meaning they take you from where you are now, to where you want to go.
Many people have desires that sit ignored or idle for years. A better relationship, a healthier body, a new job, They want to leave something, start something, or improve something. Generally, when someone seeks a coach, they are in a place of transition or wanting transition.
As we all know, change is HARD
REALLY, REALLY HARD.
We all want to feel safe, and we find safety in staying the same. We can go years without doing what we truly want, just so we can feel safe.
A coach helps you find the courage to make the changes that YOU want to make.
For me, I have come to understand what a coach does not so much from being a coach, but form being a client.
You see, I’ve been on the coaching wagon for many years. The first coach I ever had was back in Santa Cruz, California. She helped me put together the beginning pieces of leaving my career and moving to Australia, a process that took years to accept.
I have used coaches to break up from unhealthy relationships (yes I needed that) and to gain clarity around my spiritual practices and propel my business life.
Now that I am a coach, I use coaches more than ever.
I just finished a series around creating a relaxed and stable life, and now I am shopping for a business coach to help with all of my 2018 work related goals.
What is super important to understand is that a coach is not a counsellor, therapist, or psychologist and thus will spend very little time ruminating about the past or talking about “problems”. A coach moves you forward and is often an excellent accompaniment to therapy (though not a replacement).
I am currently seeing a psychologist (for the first time in my 36 years of life – HIGH FIVE- why the F*** did I wait so long?) to work through childhood traumas, deep-seated fears and lots of other juicy stuff.
But one thing my psychologist doesn’t do is take me forward in the sense of physical action. A coach does that.
I also see a hands on healer for my ambulance trauma. My psychologist, coaches and healers are equally valuable yet totally different.
Aren’t I broke you ask? Well yes, a little bit, but the reward is immeasurable to me. I get to become the most stable, blissful, productive version of myself. I get to become a fully-realised, wildly successful and ridiculously content human being.
Most importantly, I get to help you do the same.
