GET A LIFE..... GET A LIFE COACH
It is no longer taboo for us to admit that we are going to a counsellor, or that we are separated or divorced. It is even looked at favourably if we are going to a ‘coach’ to help us to gain clarity and focus in our lives or career.
Isn’t it great that the world is changing and becoming a better place! Are the days of hiding behind a façade in order to keep up with the Jones’ gone? We can now freely speak out about our own personal lives and personal issues. Doctors are now starting to see the benefits of complementary medicine practices, women are moving forward in their careers and men are going to yoga classes!
All this is changed for the better. We are now starting to care about the environment and our children’s future etc etc. The very fact that you have bought this magazine shows that you care and are concerned about some aspect of your life. Perhaps you are looking to learn more, or improve something about you or someone dear to you.
More and more people are now seeking out a coach to help them realise what their own potential is and how to tap into it and use it to the best of their abilities.
What
is Coaching?
If you were to ask 10 different coaches this question, you would probably get 10 different answers.
What it means to me... Coaching will take you from where you are today to where you want to get to. It’s as simple as that, don’t try to over complicate it, work with it and go for it. It is all about YOU and nobody else.
When you work with a coach, they will initially look at the 8 basic areas within your life: career, finance, relationships, fun & recreation, physical environment, health and personal development. Ask yourself now, how are all of these areas in your life at the moment?… not how they were yesterday or how you HOPE they will be tomorrow.
If these areas of your life are pretty much how you want them, fantastic. You are in the minority and should consider yourself very fortunate. If these areas of your life are not how you want them, you should consider the services of a coach. What type of coach should you consider? There are many different types from Life Coach, Business Coach and Relationship Coach to Career Coach.
So which one is for you, that will depend on your own individual circumstances, and what you are trying to achieve. One thing you must be, is happy with your coach; if you are not happy, then don’t go there. If your coach is a professional, then he/she won’t mind and will respect your honesty and decision.
Coaching is a new phenomenon, Thomas
Leonard developed the whole concept of coaching in
The rewards can also be unexpected, for example:
Brian a client of mine who had just recently completed third level education, was now stuck in a rut and was totally unsure of where to go next in terms of finding a way of launching himself wholeheartedly into the rest of his life.
“I have no idea what I want to do with my life; I don’t know what I want or how I can start my career”.
During a four week period I worked with Brian to discover his personality traits, his behavioural traits and his capabilities. We also worked to discover his goals in life and what could and would make him happy.
We discovered that Brian is primarily a people person who has a natural ability to communicate and impart knowledge. Brian also loved sport of all kinds, his command of Gaelic and English were excellent. I understood his confusion so we teased out a number of options. He told me that he thought he would enjoy journalism; my gut feeling (though I didn’t express it) was that he would be more suited to working with people directly. We explored further and much to his delight teaching came to the forefront of his plans. Brian then made some enquiries, researched his options and decided that he could do both!
Within the four weeks Brian had been offered a substitute teacher’s position teaching Irish and was also offered a freelance position as a sports journalist with his local newspaper. He is now in the process of doing his HDip and continuing his part-time ‘hobby’ of sports journalism.
Another one of my clients Jennifer, a 42-year-old highly successful marketing executive, worked with me recently. She was looking to change careers because she was totally unhappy with her current position and employer. “I’ve gone as far as I can go with this crowd, I’ve had enough, I want to change and change drastically, and I want to do it now, no amount of money would keep me there!”
After pulling her down from the ceiling and looking deeper into everything in her life along with her career (to get the whole picture) it transpired that it was neither the organisation, nor her role within the organisation, but the fact that she had to endure a substantial commute to her work.
She had young children, a husband who worked longer hours than she did and a mortgage that would feed a third world country for a year.
The fact was that she actually got a great
buzz from her job, but she missed not being there as much for her family. She
would leave the house at
We explored the possibility of working from
home a number of days a week and also the possibility of avoiding the rush
hours at the other side of the hour, i.e. why not leave home at 9am, drop the
kids off to school/crèche and arrive in work at 10am, work through until 4.30pm
and be home by 5.30pm and enjoy more time with the kids? Once the kids were in
bed at about
She is now far less stressed, and all the important relationships in her life, her husband, kids and her boss are back on track.
It can be a matter of re-training your thought processes, taking a step back and having a deeper look at what it is you are actually trying to achieve. Sometimes things are clearer than you think, Jennifer was simply under an enormous strain of trying to please everyone but herself, now she is happier in her life and enjoying what she does best at work without the stresses and strains of working crazy hours ‘because she has to’.
The process of coaching is an extremely positive process, it gives you the opportunity to look at where you are today, look at where you want to get to, then take a step back and work out a plan on how you are going to achieve it. There will be a lot of thought provoking discussions, finding out what your belief systems are, finding out what your values are and in particular what are you self-limiting beliefs. These are what hold you back, this is not rocket science, it is a simple process that most of us find incredibly difficult to deal with.
Coaching is not counselling, therapy or advice; it will address specific personal projects, business successes, or general conditions in the clients’ life or profession.
Coaching will include value clarification, brainstorming, identifying plans of action, and examining modes of operating in your life, and then give you the power to change what you want to change and achieve anything you want in life.
Coaching doesn’t agonise about the past… it focusses on your future! It is about your happiness and what it is about your life that you want to change to make you happier.
Over the coming few months I will be dealing and delving deeper into areas of your life that are possibly holding you back or which are simply making things difficult for you. We will focus on many different topics – succeeding in business, managing your finances, personal health and development issues, relationships and friends and family.
If there are any issues or areas that you specifically
want Greg to deal with you can contact him at greg@Q1etc.com He can also be contacted directly on 01 678
7852 at The Coach Centre, 44
