why coaching?

This is the first in a series about coaching: the whys, the whats, and the hows of finding a coach.

So, why would someone seek coaching? The answers are as individual as you are, but here are a few reasons people have worked with me, or things that have occurred as a result:

Coaching can be a way to:

• Find your own answers
• Tap in to your inner wisdom
• Hold yourself accountable
• Discover what’s holding you back
• Move toward your dreams
• Move forward on a project
• See if your project/dream/work is aligned with your values
• Discover (again) what brings you joy
• Find creative ideas help in your everyday life
• Discover that creativity is your birthright

Here’s an example from my own life. Many years ago, I was struggling to finish my undergrad thesis. I had all of my units to graduate with honors, I’d been to therapy for this issue, diagnosed with ADD, looked at my fears of success, beaten myself up, told myself I was being silly, gotten extremely angsty, had my advisor tell me, maybe with a hint of exasperation “Susan, you’re so close, you can do this,” taken vacation days to write the damned thing, days that I spent doing everything but, and finally stumbled on the idea of coaching. I worked with a coach for about 3 months, and with her nonjudgmental attitude and my determination, we came up with several ideas together. I didn’t finish the paper immediately after ending coaching, but I was on my way, way further than I’d been in the past. And I did finish.

One of the most moving moments in my entire life was when my daughter told me that she and my mom cheered loudly for me as I walked to get my diploma. Like, yelled. We are an introverted and quiet family, not given to raucous cheering, so this knowing how much i’d struggled, this sharing in my joy, this probably involuntary expression of deep emotion, meant everything to me.

During my coaching training, I had many more hours of being coached. I’ve also had therapy throughout my life. They are not the same, something I can get into in a future post. But for now, I’ll say both are helpful, and there can be some overlap, but i’m a huge believer in staying in my lane, at least with regard to coaching.

Next time, I’ll get into what one could expect from a coaching session, and later, how to find a coach. Meanwhile, I’m always interested in hearing your thoughts.