What is coaching?

It's about transformation

Coaching is focused on achieving breakthroughs, and nothing less. Coaches should guide clients through a process of first defining where they currently are today - in all aspects, and then gaining clarity around where the client could be if they were to live into their full capacity. 

It's led by you

No one knows YOU better than YOU, although life can often not feel that way. Consultants are hired to provide answers to questions their clients are struggling with. Coaches are NOT consultants. Great coaches will guide you through a process of identifying the questions behind the questions behind the (initial) questions you thought you needed to answer. There are few things more wasteful in life than spending years finding the "right" answers to life's wrong question(s). 

It's NOT therapy

Therapy can be amazing. I spent over a decade of my life working with various therapists. But I want to be clear that coaching and therapy are two very different different practices - each with their own purpose to fill for someone in need. Therapy is (often) focused on the past and how it informs the present, and is (often) focused on better understanding various emotional, mental or behavioral issues the client could be struggling with. Coaching is future-focused and goal-driven, and is (typically) most ideal when an individual is already functioning reasonable well but wants to strive for greatness in some area(s) of their life, overcome obstacles, or believes they have greater potential to reach. 

What Coaching Is NOT

A substitute for therapy

As stated above, therapy and coaching serve two very different (and both meaningful) purposes. A great coach will hold you accountable for using coaching as a substitute for therapy, halt your services, and refer you out to a range of great therapists. 

NOTE, though, if you're already working with a therapist and wish to coordinate services with a coach in order to pursue some goal or enhance a specific area of your life, a strong coach could prove a great option to collaborate TOGETHER with your therapist for these purposes. 

A miracle cure for dysfunction

Most function begins in the space of mindset. And without a strong mindset, there are no tools a coach can share (shortcuts, strategies, etc.) that will cure underlying dysfunction. This is a difficult lesson to learn for both coaches and clients. At their core, great coaches simply want to serve. But there's not level of giftedness that will allow a coach to overcome their dysfunctional mindsets.  

Easy

This one cannot be stressed enough. Being coached is HARD. A great coach will have you questioning your belief systems, your core values - your very identity itself. You will be asked difficult questions, which will be followed by even more difficult questions after you THINK you've gotten to the root of the issue you're working through. 

BUT. If you stick with it the vision for your future will be greater than you ever believed you could dream, and there will be a process to execute that will allow you to obtain that vision.