There are hundreds of things you can work on with a personal coach. Here are the top ten:
1. You will set far better goals that motivate you in a healthy way.
Did you have
Goal Setting 101 in high school? Probably not. Enter
the coach, an expert in helping you to identify and set the goals
that you really want, not the ones that are "shoulds,"
pipedreams, that you've been recycling or that mirror the goals
of your parents, society or Madison Avenue. Choosing the
right goals for you is an art and the coach takes the necessary
time to help you clarify your personal values, so that you have
something really solid on which to develop your goals.
Value-based goals are naturally motivating, but it takes good
coaching to get to these.
2. You'll accomplish goals and tasks and projects much more quickly.
One of the reasons
that people hire a coach is to save themselves time. Working
with a coach, they learn how to be far more effective, efficient
and productive in everything that they do, including their job/business
or personal projects. We humans just aren't that naturally
effective, even if we think that we are. The coach has
the tools and techniques to share with their clients so that
things get done in half the time. (Even the coaching process
is efficient -- on the phone, 1/2 hour a week, reasonable fee.)
3. You'll make fewer mistakes in your business life or in
your personal life.
The old model of learning from your mistakes has deteriorated to be more like: How else will you learn if you don't make mistakes? Too expensive, in our view. With a coach, you have a third eye, someone who's been there and who has coached others in your situation, and an expert in getting the job done with the minimum of fuss (called learning curve, mistakes, errors in judgment, wrong tunnels, etc.). The costs (emotional, financial, time) of making mistakes has gotten very expensive in the past decade. A single mistake can ruin you in today's hyper-paced business environment. Some clients use their coach as an inexpensive insurance policy.
4. You'll move up to the next level of your professional and personal life.
Almost everybody is moving up the ladder of business success, personal development, awareness and emotional balance. The coach can help you see where you are right now and point out ways to grow and get where you want to get to. Or, if you're not even on the ladder, the coach can guide you to it and help you get started on your path.
5. You'll reduce the number of problems you have and better resolve the problems that are left.
The first step
in solving a problem is to ask yourself why you have this problem
at all. The second step is to ask yourself why you have
problems at all. The third step is to get on track to having
no problems -- aka, becoming a Problem-Free Zone (PFZ). This
is not a joke. Being a PFZ is becoming even more important
along the path of sustainable success. You cannot afford
to have problems, period. Life's too short and problems
are too expensive. A well-trained coach can help you become
a PFZ.
6. You'll
likely make more money in your career, profession or business.
Clients don't keep paying their coaches just for the fun of it. Coaching, like every other professional service, needs to improve the financial bottom line and it does. Coaches are trained to help clients to leverage their ability to make money, i.e., getting a raise, choosing a better career, starting a business, improving profitability, adding more value to their customers, proper pricing, productivity and others. Sure, coaching is personal, but it almost always includes a strong financial aspect.
7. You'll be a lot happier and this happiness will last.
Coaches know how to help you to reduce stress, integrate all aspects of your life, simplify or downshift, and reorient around what makes you the happiest. What good is increased productivity and profitability if you're not happy?
8. You'll be much more effective and influential with others: family, business and personal relationships.
Communication makes life. A coach is an expert communicator and trains clients on how to come across better, relate well with others, listen aggressively, influence, coach, motivate and support others. There are over 100 communication and listening skills that clients can learn from a coach.
9. You'll become much more attractive to others -- on the inside and on the outside.
Selling, as a profession and as a proven technique/process, is on its way out. Why? Because humans are getting better at choosing for themselves and buying better. Humans will respond less to advertising and selling techniques and instead be drawn to a product or service and they will be more likely drawn because of who is offering the product or service. This process is called attraction and Coach University wrote the book on it (called Irresistible Attraction). It's real. It works. And it will replace much of the promotion, marketing, selling, seducing and other very expensive budget items. Remember, the world (aka consumers) is rapidly eliminating virtually all waste and inefficiencies in how business is conducted, products are sold and how services are delivered. Selling and mass marketing, while certainly still very effective right now, is on the hit list. Attraction is the next generation of selling and the well-trained coach can help you and your business get on this track immediately.
10. You'll have a better life, not just a better lifestyle.
The term Quality of Life has become overused in the past few years, but the trend of Americans seeking to create a much better life for themselves is accelerating. In fact, people are re-examining what they had assumed a good life was (married, 2.3 kids, nice car, secure job, church on Sundays, 3 weeks of vacation a year) and are now creating their own life, often breaking the rules and flying in the face of conventional wisdom in the process. A coach has been trained in the Life Design process and has already made the kind of design changes in their life, that their clients are just now beginning to make.
By Thomas J. Leonard (thomas@thomasleonard.com) Copyright 1997, 98, 99, Coach U
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