Do you need a coach? Do you? … how would you know if you need one?

 By optwellcon

An anonymous Psychologist recently wrote “invariably, everybody needs a coach”, do you agree with this statement? Don’t you? If you do not, why not?

According to William Arruda, founder of Reach Personal Branding and author, “you could be limiting your career success” if you do not believe in the role a coach could play in your tackling of life issues. By the way, not only could you be limiting your career success, but also the opportunity to ascertain that you quickly and successfully deal with most other life challenges. This is because as I have said severally in my other write ups, what the coach does when they work with you, is to help you identify utilize your innate potential in dealing with your life challenges.

At those occasional times when you are so inundated and overwhelmed with challenges and you seem to be struggling to cope, they help you to prioritize what is important and to remain focused and be on course. They help you create a safe environment in which you can see and reason more clearly. They help you identify gaps between where you are and where you wish to be, travelling and supporting you all through your journey.

They positively challenge you on your thoughts and perception of challenges, making you view issues from other perspectives. This helps you in accurately interpreting issues and hence appropriately deal with them.

Coaches supports you in your effort at behavioural change, giving you the strength and sometimes the motivation to stay on course in such change journeys.

I share here with you, Julia Stewart’s (school of coaching mastery) write up on similar topic “why you need a coach”, please read and enjoy:

You are someone who has got it going very well, or so it seems. You are in a great relationship, your career or business is booming, but you want it to be much, much better. Investing in coaching wouldn’t be a bad idea you know?

Coaching isn’t a crisis intervention. Nor is it a substitute for psychotherapy, or advice from a professional such as an attorney, accountant, physician, etc. But if things are basically good, but you know they could be a lot better and you’re ready for that to happen, that’s a great time for you to hire a coach.

That most things are going well with you, does not mean you don’t want to improve on them, many people hire a coach because they know they are built for more and they want to reach their full potential sooner, rather than later. This is different from being insecure. People derive considerable joy from stepping into their personal greatness. In fact, some people believe this is the single biggest source of happiness. Great coaches are experts at eliciting their clients’ personal greatness.

You’re going through a big transition. Change can be difficult, even when it’s what you want. Anytime you go through a big transition such as starting a new business or career, getting divorced, moving to a new city, going back to school, etc.; it’s a great time to have someone who believes in you and who can help you make the most crucial choices as smoothly as possible. A good coach won’t take you on unless they truly believe in you.

You’re a high achiever. This is the type of client I prefer to work with. High achievers tend to be driven and good at success, but they don’t always create the success they really want. If you’re ever wondered, “Is this all there is?”, or “How did I get myself into this and how do I get out?”, you could really benefit from working with a great coach. Everybody has a few blind spots. In fact, neuroscientists say we are unconscious of 95% of what goes on in our brains. Think about that! A good coach can see you as you are, without judgment, and help you be your best and achieve what you’re built to do.

You want more meaning in your life. “Meaning” is what makes your heart sing. It generally comes from doing what matters most to you. This gets much easier when you understand what you most value and find cool ways to express it. If life feels a little shallow, or you don’t know why you do what you do anymore, you could really benefit from working with a great coach.

You want to take better care of yourself. Most of us were taught to take pretty good care of ourselves. That’s fine if you want an average life. But people who accomplish great things often need to upgrade their lives tremendously before that’s even possible. They need clearer boundaries, a physical environment that’s supportive, more organization (or an organized assistant), enough rest, great stress management, and/or people who “get” them and who are actively supportive. Otherwise, “death by a thousand cuts” will slice their dreams to shreds. Good coaches know how to assist their clients to get the wonderful self-care they truly need, to step into the lives they were built to live.

You want to upgrade the people in your life. I don’t know about you, but I used to choose my friends according to who I had the most fun with. They weren’t always the nicest or most evolved people. Eventually, I realized I wanted to upgrade my friendships. Then I realized (gulp), I needed to upgrade myself in order to attract the people I wanted to spend more time with. It wasn’t that hard, because my coaches helped me do it. I set higher standards for myself and started living up to them. I found others who lived up to similar standards and we were naturally attracted to each other. Now when I choose friends, I find people who are supportive, really and they’ve got a friend for life.

You want to make more money. It might seem crass to bring up money right after talking about meaning, values, high standards and good friends, but let’s face it, a great life or career usually includes enough money, sometimes lots of it. Many people hire coaches when they want to upgrade their careers or launch a new business. The funny thing is that values, high standards, good relationships, etc., tend to make people more successful in many areas, including finances. One thing a great coach can do is help you get over any internal blocks (we’re back to that unconscious 95%) you may have about making plenty of money. In fact, eliminating all sorts of internal blocks is one of the ways good coaches help their clients enjoy success of all kinds.

You’re willing to invest in yourself. This is about so much more than money. Are you prepared to take the time, effort, risk and yes, money, in order to have the life or business of your dreams? Or are you satisfied playing small? Are you ready to stop talking about your dreams and start living them? If you had the right coach in your corner, would you have the courage to step into your greatness? Only you can answer that.

How do you react to this? Got any queries or questions? or a different view?

Please share your thoughts.