I was recently asked what I do as a coach in a first call, so I thought you might like to know. I do my coaching calls on Skype and before the call I ask the client to fill out a short questionnaire about themselves before we talk. This is a good way of me getting to know a little about the client before the call and to get an idea of what a coaching relationship might help them to achieve that they are not making the progress towards that they would like to.
I also can start to get an idea if the person is in the right place in their life for coaching. As a coach, this is something that is really important to check. There’s a difference between coaching and therapy and I need to be as sure as I can be that the client is in the right place for coaching rather than therapy. The way it was explained to me in my Martha Beck training is that a coach is to a therapist what a personal trainer is in relationship to a doctor. So a doctor takes a person who is physically unwell and helps then to get to the state of physical wellness. A therapist takes someone who is mentally not fully healthy to get to a place of more mental health. A personal trainer takes someone who is well enough to train and helps them to shape and care for their body. A life coach takes someone who is mentally well and helps them to work towards their ultimate life. This is the life of their dreams, that causes them to bounce out of bed in the morning. This relates to the tagline of my coaching practice ‘Be aglow with life.’ When things are moving towards what you want and eventually reach your target or an even better form of your target living with your heart and mind aglow is more of a possibility and a growing reality.
When we have established that the client is in the right place at the right time for coaching it remains to be figured out if I am the right coach for them. Coaches and clients need to click. It sometimes takes more than one call for that to happen but when it does you know it. A coaching relationship is unusual and is a gift because the clients is given the gift of being totally listened to and the focus of the conversation. This doesn’t mean a good coach never interrupts. Sometimes an interruption is needed when a negative thought pattern is playing on repeat. The openness of the information that is shared is also unusual in everyday life. The fact that the client can be more often be completely honest about what is going on for them means that the coach can identify what is holding the client back with much greater accuracy and without attachment or judgement.
The rest of the call is spent asking questions that hone in on your dreams and help you become clearer about them as though you were Harry Potter looking into a Pensieve in Dumbledore’s office.
‘I sometimes find, and I am sure you know the feeling, that I simply have too many thoughts and memories crammed into my mind…. At these times… I use the Pensieve. One simply siphons the excess thoughts from one’s mind, pours them into the basin, and examines them at one’s leisure.’ ~J.K. Rowling, “The Pensieve,” Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, 2000, spoken by the character Albus Dumbledore
Coaching gives you the leisure to look at your thoughts and examine them with the help of your coach. You begin to glimpse the vision of your future that you thought was lost in the swirl of the everyday. I coach women who want to be aglow with life. If you would like a free first session please contact me at deborahchalkcoach@gmail.com and we can get started. Is it your time to put your invisibility cloak down and claim your magic?