Why have a coach?
“An hour of thinking can save you a decade of work.”
This is probably the best description of the benefit of coaching that I’ve come across. Unsurprisingly, it’s from James Clear living up to his name. (If you haven’t read Atomic Habits, please do yourself a favour and get a copy). He goes on to say:
‘Life is easier when you know what you want—but most people don't take the time to figure out what they want.’
I’m not sure it’s always easier when you know what you want. In many respects it’s actually harder, because then you feel compelled to go and achieve it. But if it’s a choice between a rock and a hard place, I’d choose the hard place any day.
Figuring out what you want is at the heart of coaching. It may be that what you want is clear, but the route to achieving it isn’t. Or, more likely, the hard bit may be finding the time, the space and the permission to consider what it is that you actually want from life. It’s remarkable how many of us get stuck on expectations at this point. Even exceptionally ‘successful’ grown ups still harbour expectations from their parents, teachers, first bosses. And if we’re not stuck on other people’s expectations, we often get stuck on our own limiting beliefs. I can’t do that, I’m not good enough. People like me don’t have ambitions like that. I’ll never be able to compete out there, because of X.
The thing is, we’re all working hard, year after year, to get somewhere. Clear continues: ‘It's not that we are completely lost, but our efforts are often slightly misdirected. People will work for years and ultimately achieve a lifestyle that isn't quite what they were hoping for—often, simply, because they never clearly defined what they wanted.’
If you need help getting to the bottom of what you really want, and then support in working out, bit by bit, how to make it happen, I’d love to chat with you to explore how coaching can help.
And in the meantime, get yourself a copy of Atomic Habits.
Photo by Lukas Blazek on Unsplash