You want to live a fulfilling, good life; you want to utilise your strengths, skills and talents; you want to be more positive and eschew negativity; you want meaningful relationships; you want careers or work that allow you to develop; and you want to make a positive difference in the world. Is that correct?
If your are not in pursuit of basic human needs such as food and shelter, you do begin to pay attention to higher needs such as self-actualization, fulfillment, and spiritual connection. In ancient Greece, as now, people have always had an intense desire to explore and find personal meaning. You’re not the first one.
“The unexamined life is not worth living”
— Sokrates
The practice of introspection into one’s desires, as well as noticing and observing behaviors, thoughts, and emotions, are core practices for increasing client awareness and, are cornerstones of my own approach to coaching. Coaching? You may ask yourself what that is.
ALL THE WAY IN COACHING
In coaching the emphasis is on you, the client, as the designer and creator of your life. From this perspective you are viewed as the expert on your life and believed to be competent, capable, creative and resourceful. At the same time, the coach is the expert on the coaching process only.
The coach’s responsibility is to discover, clarify, and align with what you want to achieve, encourage client self-discovery, elicit client-generated strategies and ideas, and hold you, as the client, responsible and accountable. Through the process of coaching, you deepen your learning, improve your performance, and enhance your quality life.
What differs from psychologists is that coaches do not make interventions because they do not offer advice. Coaches believe that you contain all your answers within yourself and that the client’s job is to assist you to discover those answers, gifts, talents and strengths.
The form of discovery used in coaching is based on the Socratic method. This means that coaches support and challenge your thinking and actions by using deep listening, powerful questioning, and direct communication of what is being noticed and perceived so that awareness is increased.
The coach is there for you to get all the way in, and get from where you are – to where you want to be.
