There are a lot of assumptions and misconceptions about coaching and hopefully this blog can clear some of those up!
I often get asked about the difference between coaching, counselling, mentoring and therapy - something we’ll explore in more detail on the next blog.
For now, I’ll try to explain clearly and concisely what coaching is and why it’s important.
WHAT COACHING IS
Put simply, coaching is a way of helping to improve your cognitive health. We talk a lot about the importance of looking after our mental health, but few people know how to do this, or at least how to do it well.
The importance of physical health is widely accepted and many people have found their own way to keep their body active and healthy (thanks Joe Wicks!). However, many of us are still learning how to look after our cognitive health in the same way. Unfortunately, a lot of us don’t prioritise exercising our mind to keep it healthy in the same way as we do our body.
Working with a coach exercises your mind and your mental health to keep it as fine-tuned as possible. We do this by exploring who you are at your core, your priorities, what makes you tick and how to improve to be your best self.
From this awareness, we can explore how to put it into practice and apply it to everyday life. We can improve how you approach the different aspects of your life to get the most out of each one; from relationships and work to where you live or life balance.
Through looking at these areas in more detail we can improve your self-acceptance and self-confidence, increase emotional intelligence and face any challenges with more ease and conviction.
Coaching also helps to highlight and tackle any negative thoughts and limiting beliefs - something we all experience at some point. This is to ensure that for each area of your life that you are striving to improve, it doesn’t come at the cost or sacrifice of another.
A coach can help to create a safe and comfortable space to explore these ideas. Everyone’s lives are unique and each of us face different challenges and problems throughout. Similarly, each of us will approach our challenges in different ways.
The beauty of working with a coach is that they will remain open, curious, objective and non-judgmental to help you navigate through these obstacles.
The past year has made many people re-evaluate. Whether it’s work-life balance, a career change, having children, starting or ending a relationship or moving house. Change for some has been voluntary and for others it has been forced. Times like these can be very unsettling and in trying to work our way through the quagmire we can lose our sense of self, what is important to us or we can end up putting other people’s needs ahead of our own. It can be hard to see the wood through the trees and a coach can help to keep you on the right path.
WHAT COACHING ISN’T
To help clear up what coaching is, we also need to talk about what it isn’t.
Coaching is not a way of finding someone to solve your problems or provide the answers. Ultimately, a coach will never be the expert of your life and your challenges – you are the only expert in that arena!
A coach should therefore be facilitating you, supporting you and empowering you to help you to find the answers for yourself. As a consequence, one of the biggest benefits of working with a coach is that you gain valuable skills to take forward in life and future decision making.
WHY COACHING IS IMPORTANT
The importance of coaching shouldn’t be undervalued or underestimated. To live a fulfilled life we sometimes have to ask the difficult questions and confront the voices that tell us we can’t or shouldn’t do something. It’s not always easy to do this on our own.
We need to look at exactly what is important to us in life, what our purpose is and how we can best approach and solve the challenges that inevitably come our way. As well as helping to get clarity and direction, a coach can also hold you accountable and ensure they aren’t just words but that the words are put into practice.
So, if you feel like you’ve been neglecting your cognitive health, have felt stuck or frustrated by a certain aspect of your life or if you’ve felt a lack of confidence or motivation then it could be time to invest in yourself and find a coach.
If you think I can help then don’t hesitate to contact me for a free sample session here.