What Is Coaching?
Coaching involves a coach asking structured, thought-provoking questions to help you set and achieve your goals. Unlike regular conversations where the focus shifts between participants, a coaching session keeps the spotlight on you. Instead of giving advice, the coach encourages you to explore new perspectives and possibilities, empowering you to discover your own solutions.
Why people go to coaching?
People seek coaching for various reasons. Some feel lost, want to eliminate negative habits, or are determined to change the negative aspects of their lives. Others choose coaching to elevate their already successful selves to new heights. It helps maintain motivation, build discipline, and achieve long-term aspirations by setting goals and committing to them within a specific timeframe.
There are many types of coaching to help you advance in any area of life you desire. These include career coaching, relationship coaching, leadership coaching, mindset coaching, spiritual coaching, executive coaching, finance coaching, and health and wellness coaching.
What can you get out of coaching?
Coaching can lead to significant personal growth and improved results. When you invest in coaching sessions, your coach is there to fully support your goals. They work to understand your values and help you break through self-imposed limitations, greatly enhancing your potential.
The effectiveness of coaching depends on your commitment. You’ll need to take action and follow through on your goals for the coaching to be truly beneficial. While a coach can guide you and provide moments of insight, reaching your goals is ultimately your responsibility.
Through coaching, you’ll become more self-aware, transforming various aspects of your life. This increased awareness empowers you to take control and actively pursue what you want.
What coaching is not?
Coaching isn’t counseling: Counseling focuses on discussing your past, addressing issues you can’t overcome alone, and diagnosing certain conditions. Counselors use proven practices to help you move forward and improve your present well-being.
Coaching isn’t mentoring: Mentoring involves receiving guidance and support from someone who has life experience and wants to help others follow a similar path. Mentors share their knowledge, wisdom, and skills to foster individual growth.
Coaching isn’t consulting: Consulting involves a professional or expert analyzing your data and determining what needs to be done to help you progress in areas where you lack knowledge or skills
Famous examples of coaching
Bill Gates: Coached by Bill Campbell The founder of Microsoft said “Everyone needs a coach. We all need someone who gives us feedback, that’s how we improve”.
Bill Clinton: Coached by Tony Robbins, Former US president said “Tony teaches one of the most important principals of all, that you have choices in life and you have to make up your mind how you respond to whatever it is that happens. You have to make new things happen.”
Hugh Jackman: Coached by Don Saladino, Hugh said “A Coach just has different perspectives, still to this day, the best have coaches because the coach can see what you can’t see, because you’re in the forest and they’re outside of it.”
My coaching experience
Coaching has become an essential part of my life, helping me navigate and simplify its challenges. It has opened new perspectives for me and built strong accountability for my actions. Through coaching, I’ve developed discipline and realised the importance of having support to achieve success. Sometimes, you just need someone to ask the right questions to change your thinking.
A good coach helps you have moments of realization, but a great coach ensures those realizations drive you forward toward your goals.
How I can help
As a coach, my life experiences have shaped my approach, and formal coaching training has refined my skills. This training has enhanced my ability to listen deeply and understand clients’ situations, often better than they do themselves. By helping clients reflect and clarify their thoughts, and by asking insightful questions, I enable them to realize their potential and achieve more.
I never fully appreciated the importance of asking the right questions until I saw their transformative power. Now, I focus on using this skill to shift clients’ perspectives and help them move toward their goals.