Have you ever wondered why people hire coaches? As a coach, I get this question fairly often.
My simple response is that when it comes to the complex nature of expanding one’s potential or achieving a dream, coaches can take you further and faster than where you could take yourself.
Coaches are much different than psychologists or counselors. We do not diagnose or “fix” our clients. In fact we aren’t trying to fix anything, because at the root of our relationship is the concept that despite any fears or limiting beliefs that our clients may have, that there is nothing “broken”! They are fully capable, immensely powerful, and completely creative, resourceful and whole.
As coaches, we…
- ask powerful and challenging questions that allow our clients to look deep within;
- help our clients get magnificently clear on their passions and future vision;
- support them in outlining their road map, and getting and staying on track;
- provide a safe place to explore limiting beliefs and choices, and embrace their graces;
- hold accountability to the action they long to take;
- explore and harness wisdom from failures and celebrate successes;
- champion, encourage, push, and remind our clients of their vision, their strengths, their potential and their motivations when they lose sight;
- And most of all, we help them believe in themselves and fall in love with who they are and who they are becoming.
Those “people doing it all on their own”, actually aren’t.
Think about how the most successful people you can imagine got to where they are…
Top executives have leadership coaches, advisory boards, mastermind groups and assistants; top athletes have coaches, agents, nutrition experts, therapists, equipment handlers, sports doctors; Hollywood stars have agents, advisors, mentors, and stylists (very important in Hollywood!), and the lists can go on, right?
No matter what the position, those who have made it to the TOP of their fields or achieved their dreams did NOT do it on their own. And if they think they have, they’ve overlooked a great amount of support.
Dreams require support. Expanding one’s potential requires support.
As a coach, I work with people who are ready to make a change in their life, expand their potential, and reach for something more. In action, this could look like many different things but at the core of it ALL lies a longing for greater authenticity, purpose, fulfillment and ALIVENESS.
Living life in this rich way involves great effort, discipline, and courage – it’s vulnerable, it can be scary, and it requires commitment. Because of all of this, fear is ever-present and can cause us to get stuck or at least slowed.
Coaches can show up as mentors, trainers, advisors, and even friends who have the guts to share with us what we may not want to hear – but we know how rare those friends are.
Now a whole diverse field of coaching has emerged providing opportunity to nearly anyone, no longer just top-executives or high level athletes, to have this support. With built-in accountability goals are reached more quickly and what may have taken years on ones’ own, could take months with the support of a coach.
However, one of the most powerful elements a coach can help their client with, is to both recognize and fully own their graces and magnificence.
Seeing our darkness and how we get in our way is crucial; however, it is only when we can ALSO consciously see, and lovingly embrace our light – free from ego and arrogance – that we can step into it with greater confidence and empowerment. And this is where clarity of vision, strategy, and action forms MAGIC.
Are you living from your magnificence in your fullest capacity? Do you feel as alive, authentic, and as impactful as you want to feel? If not, a coach may be for you.
Have you worked with a coach before? If so, why did you hire one? What was your experience like? What did you love most? I’d love to hear from you…