Have you ever thought about hiring a coach to help you achieve your goals? Whether it’s a health coach, personal trainer coach, or even a life coach. Has the thought ever crossed your mind? Do you understand what a coach is and how they can make a positive difference in your life?
I’ll be honest. Five years ago, if you would have mentioned the word coach to me, I would not have a single clue in the world what you were talking about. At the time when I heard the word “coach” I immediately thought of sports.
Football. Basketball. Soccer. Baseball. Track and field and so much more.
I would have never thought the word “coach” could be applied in any other sense. Turns out that it can, and coaching can mean so much more than training someone to become better at something. The type of coaching I’m referring is the kind that not only helps you become better at something but, can also help you transform your life in significant ways.
The field of coaching is still relatively new to the world. So, while there have been many strides made in this field, there is also still a lot that is unknown. It seems like every day there is a new field and type of coach that is being discovered, and they all have their own way of providing services to others.
It’s a fast-moving business that has a lot of significant benefits to those who seek professional coaching. I want to help you better understand what coaching is and is not, as well as provide you with my top 5 ways a coach can help you reach your goals through higher personal development.
So, let’s get into it!
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What is coaching?
So, what is coaching? Honestly, I do think there are a couple of different ways you can define the art of coaching, so I’ll provide you with two different definitions. I’ll tell you the standard definition of what coaching is, as well as my personal definition of coaching.
The standard definition of a coach, or coaching, is an experienced person in a specific field who supports a learner in achieving a personal or professional goal through training and guidance.
I define coaching as the process of guiding someone to a higher level of personal development through many different areas in their life. This can be spiritually, physically, mentally, emotionally, it can have a specific focus on goals, or even your overall health.
There are many different types of coaches and that’s because we all have many different areas of our life and selves that we can always improve for the better. While you will have few coaches who will try to do it all, there are many who focus on specific areas of personal development.
Some examples include:
- Life coach: They focus on many different areas in an individual’s life, but put the most energy into whatever area is most significant to you to make a change
- Health coach: They focus specifically on improving your health for the better
- Personal trainer (I consider this a form of coaching): They focus on your physical health/appearance. Think in terms of losing weight, building muscle, or toning your body
- Health and Wellness coach: We focus on the implementation of wellness practices to improve many different areas of your overall health
These are just some examples of different types of coaches and how they can best be of service to you. However, the definition of what type of coach a coach is, and what they specifically focus on will vary from coach to coach. This is just a general idea of what different types of coaches do.
So why does this all matter?
Coaches can help you go beyond limits you never thought possible. The undergo specific training according to their area of focus in order to have the necessary knowledge, skills, and techniques to put into a helpful toolkit to give to you, so that you are able to achieve that higher level of personal development.
How is this accomplished?
By making a commitment to you to guide you on your personal development journey so that you can stop making the same old mistakes and instead create habits to get the results you desire.
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5 ways a coach can help you reach higher personal development
1. They help you find clarity
One of the greatest driving forces about a coach is their ability to help you find clarity. A lot of people seek out coaching when they have an idea of what is it that they want, but they need help coloring in-between the lines. I like to think of the client-coach relationship like learning to ride a bike. You know how to get on the bike, but you don’t understand how to make it move.
The client-coach relationship works in the same way. Clients know what it is they want for themselves, but they don’t know how to put in place the habits to help them get there.
Coaching is not an opportunity for coaches to better themselves, draw in clients (though this helps to make their business thrive), tell you what to do, or to tell you how to do something (unless it’s personal training). Coaching is the honor of guiding you on your journey to becoming a better version of yourself.
They accomplish this by helping you find clarity about what it is you truly want, and then giving you tools needed to help you achieve it. While of course adjusting as necessary.
2. They allow the ball to be in your court
Coaching is very heavily client centered and driven. A good coach will always understand that no matter what, the client is always the one in control. Yes, as a coach we are there to guide you, give you tools, and help you create habits. However, we are not there to make decisions for you, tell you what is best for you, or tell you how to approach something specific in your life.
When I say the ball is in your court, I mean it’s literally in your court. As the client you have all the control and it’s the coaches’ job to adjust to what works best for you as an individual.
3. They work with you extensively
Some coaches will have few opportunities for you to be able to work with them. This may usually be a one-on-one coaching session, or a short mini session focused on something specific. Services like these are usually quick insightful sessions that either allow a potential client to get a taste of what working with a specific coach may be like, or it can serve as a quick motivational session.
However, most coaches are going to offer you an extended amount of time to work together. This is because a good coach knows goals that are personal and meaningful are not accomplished overnight. They take time, they require commitment and dedication, and of course a lot of hard work.
Coaches have the tools needed to help you achieve your goals, but not every tool or approach is going to be the right one for you. So, they take their time really getting to know who their potential clients are, understanding what it is you truly want, and being honest with themselves and you about whether they can truly help you.
While there are those one-time only dip your toe in the water services you can receive from a coach, a coach who knows without a doubt that they can help you will always offer and give you more than you may have been expecting.
4. They open themselves up to feedback
No one likes to have hard criticism come back to them especially if they believe they were doing such a great job from the start. However, I firmly believe that the coaches who always ask for feedback are the best coaches.
This is because a good coach never passes on an opportunity to be of better service to the population that they serve. I also like to think of feedback as a helpful tip. Yes, as the coach we gather bits of information we know to be helpful and put together a toolkit full of skills and techniques we know to be beneficial, but we don’t have all the answers.
With every new client, and honestly every new session with a client in general, there is so much to be learned. There is always information that can be passed our way about how to best serve a client that we can find ways to implement into our services.
5. They create programs based on your needs
Lastly coaches create programs based off the needs of the population that they serve. As a Health and Wellness Coach I’m not going to focus on improving your spiritual health. I may have bits and pieces of a program that may relate to it in some way, but if my population of service is specifically seeking wellness tools, that is what I’m going to serve them with.
This means I’m going to focus on wellness practices such as various self-care routines, the mental, emotional, and physical aspects of your health, and different ways to fuel your body. I’m going to focus on programs and services that are going to target changing your wellness habits so that you can begin to see changes in your overall health.
These are the needs of the population that I serve. Good coaches understand what the needs of their serving population are, and they do what they can to help get those needs met.
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Where do you come into the picture?
As a client you want to ensure that you are getting the most bang for your buck. As a coach I want to ensure that you are too. Coaches can help you reach a higher personal development by taking all these key aspects of what it means to be a coach and putting together a formula that works.
Without knowing how to help clients find clarity, how to create that client-coach relationship, the desire to offer more than just single one-time services, the openness to feedback of all kinds, and the intent to meet the needs of a specific population coaches would not have any idea about how to help you grow into your best self.
Having such knowledge and information gives them what they need to do their job efficiently. I love to be of service to others and I’m always looking for ways that I can better serve women across the board. It is because of this passion that I decided to launch my very own coaching business.
Here’s why I started my own coaching business
When I finally understood what my calling on this Earth was, I told myself that I was no longer going to run in the opposite direction. I have spent most of my life hiding in the shadows of others, intentionally giving the spotlight to people who wanted it more, denying my worth, silencing my voice, and refusing to shower myself with all that I deserved.
I did all these things out of fear, insecurity, and a great sense of worthlessness.
When I decided to stop listening to the opinions of others and let my voice speaker louder, I started to see the world in a whole new light. It was then when I understood my calling and found the courage to answer it.
As a certified Health and Wellness Coach I specifically work with women who want to live their happiest and most fulfilling lives. I help them accomplish this through the power of wellness. We dive deep into your insecurities, confront your negative habits, and face all your fears head on so that we can immediately begin the process of increasing your confidence and bringing you to a place of self-love, self-worth, and self-acceptance.
If you are a woman who is ready to live your happiest and most fulfilling life, then I’d love to work with you. You can learn more about my services as a coach and the different programs that I am currently offering by visiting my coaching page. Check it out and if you see something you like don’t be afraid to explore further!
Conclusion
Hiring a coach is a big step towards reaching a higher level of personal development. It can be scary because you can’t be sure of what you’ll get, but whether you do short mini sessions or extended ones, one thing I know for sure is that you’ll walk away with a whole new perspective on the world and your place in it after the first session.
Just think about it…if even for a moment, living your happiest and most fulfilling life all because you made the brave decision to finally give yourself the life you know you deserve. The hardest thing you’ll ever do in life is try. The simple act of trying is terrifying! However, once you get over that hurdle everything else that comes after will always be a piece of cake.
What are your thoughts about coaching? Would it be something you’d be interested in? Let’s discuss it in the comments below, I’d love to hear your take on it!
-Xo
Kimora