COACHING
What is Life Coaching?
Life Coaching is an empowering process to discover what you want in life (vision) and how to achieve it (plan) with the support of a coach. With the assistance of trusted methods, insightful exercises and clarifying conversations, life coaching creates an environment where you can write your life story: to clarify and pursue your dreams. Life is what you make of it and how you respond to it. The coach assists the clients make decisions to take them from where they are to where they want to be.
A Journey of Discovery
In many ways, Life Coaching is a journey of discovery. You can discover more about yourself (self-awareness), more about what your aspirations in life are (dreams, vision, desired outcomes) and how you can reach your goals (plans, strategies, habits). Life Coaching assists clients in moving from their present perception (how you see life) to new perspectives (what options you have in life). It also helps manage the challenges of life by appropriate responses and practical strategies to find the best ways forward. With active listening, thought-provoking questions, exciting exercises and clarifying conversations in a creative process, the clients can gain clarity of their life's goals, develop strategies and plan action to attain them.
Life is dynamic and sometimes challenging; navigating through it in the best possible way is important. In life, we either find a way or make an excuse. Life Coaching assists in being proactive and approach life in a positive way. We encourage our clients to approach life as an adventure and pursue dreams with courage. You can discover that there's more to you and that there's more to life! You can shift from the dream of 'one day...' to the reality of 'day one' of your new life journey. This shift of word order is a potentially life-transforming shift in mentality, attitude and outcome. Through purposeful conversations, a coach can assist for clients to be inspired to create the life they want. Having goals clarified, strategies defined and actions planned are assets to a better life and future.
Goals, Strategies, Actions
A coach assists the clients clarify their goals, define their strategies and plan their actions. Dreams come true by taking right actions. As a famous body builder and actor said, every morning you can either stay in bed and keep dreaming or you can get up and make them a reality! By choosing the best options available to us, we can set out to create the life we desire. Before actions can be taken, they must be well planned. Action is the execution of strategies that were clearly defined and are based on goals that are carefully clarified. Confusion is one of the main hindrance for the action necessary to take people to their desired destination. Clarity of vision helps to imagine the way forward and to take decisive action to get there. Life Coaching assists to clarify goals, define strategies and plan action.
Through the creative process of active listening, thought-provoking questions, insightful exercises and clarifying conversations, the clients are empowered to gain clarity and direction. Life Coaching approaches this process by goals-oriented, client-centred and outcomes-based models and methods which support the clients to understand their goals and define their strategies in order to plan the necessary action. A coach focuses on the client's agenda and assists to clarify their goals. A coach helps to generate new learning, encourages action and supports change towards a better future. Life has many challenges and we need strategies to solve problems and overcome obstacles. Life Coaching assists in this process. It promotes a healthy life/work balance or harmony, as well as an improved quality of life.
BACKGROUND
Life Coaching methods of using questions to advance learning, go back to the Socratic method and other ancient sages in different cultures (e.g., Chinese, Jewish)
around the world. These serve in educating people and in awakening
curiosity and inquiry in their learners.
Coaching has become highly popular in sports and the corporate world,
yet goes back to a term used for a horse-drawn carriage in fifteenth century Hungary
as a more comfortable mode of transport.
The term was later adopted by tutors who prepared students
for upcoming exams in a more comfortable way.
Life Coaching has helped millions of people around the world improve the quality of their life, navigate their lives successfully and advance in their careers at work.
The growing industry of Life Coaching is evidence of its positive effects
on individuals, groups and society in general.
Who is the CEO of your Life?
A good question to ask yourself is, Who is the CEO (Chief Executive Officer) of your life? Who is creating the vision, making the decisions and taking the action? Once we realise that we are responsible for our lives, we start seeing life in a new light. Taking responsibility for your life is an empowering attitude to life. Starting to value yourself and your life are important factors to improve the quality of your life.
Living by Chance or by Choice
At S.A.M. Coaching we support the idea that you are the CEO of your life: you can choose to either life by chance or by choice. Without a vision or plan you end up in a place called 'Nowhere.' We need to ask ourselves, do I want to act in life or be acted upon? Will I be passive or proactive in life? At S.A.M. Coaching we encourage our clients to live by choice: to define their vision, develop strategies and start to take action towards pursuing their dreams and fulfilling their goals.
The following aspects are important in our way of coaching.
Response & Responsibility
Life is both what happens to you and how you respond to it. Taking responsibility for your life, knowing that life is not only what happens to you (circumstances), but also how you respond to it (response), is a liberating experience. By learning to respond to life, rather than to react, you can start being proactive about your life. We assist and encourage clients not to react to life emotionally, but to respond to life rationally—with clarity of assessment and vision. There are things outside your control, but many are within your power. How you respond to life will determine who you become and how you shape your future in the present. Proper responses to life's circumstances and challenges shapes your character and mentality in the best way. You also learn to be patient while you pursue your dreams and build the character you need to enjoy lasting success.
Commitment & Consistency
In one of his moving speeches, actor Denzel Washington said, 'Without commitment you'll never start; without consistency you'll never finish.' In order to pursue a goal, you have to commit to it, set your mind on it and decide to pursue it with consistency. Many people start good projects, but don't finish them due to a lack consistency. 'Finish what you start,' my Dad taught me. As you approach your dreams with commitment and consistency, you can start and finish the vision you have in your heart and mind. You start by making good choices that gives you the desired consequences. You must avoid the wrong choices that don't contribute to reaching your goals. You proactively pursue your dreams with commitment and consistency. When motivation fails you, and at times it will, discipline is the key to go on and stay on track towards fulfilment.
Choices & Consequences
Life is a lot about what you make of it, especially choices and consequences. Being proactive in life means you have options and need to make decisions. You can make choices and these have consequences. You are wise if you make decisions with the future in mind. Sacrificial efforts today for a better tomorrow has worked for many people to improve the quality of life. Delayed gratification is a powerful concept to prepare for a better future. Best to avoid making decisions that get you nowhere. You want to reach your desired destination in life.
Making the right choices in life also depends on your condition: how you see ourself and your current situation. Looking at the options you have, helps navigate the challenges of life. If you learn to solve the problems you face, the solutions become your assets. You will be able to help others improve their lives. The test in life you passed successfully becomes your testimony, and your handling of that challenge becomes someone's hope. You don't live in a vacuum, but can become an inspiration for others. As you navigate life in the best way, you can guide others do the same.
Navigating through Life in the best Way
Navigating through life is not easy. You need vision and strategy to do so in the best possible way. You need to learn how to make the best with the potential and possibilities you have, and learn to handle the challenges and unexpected events in life. In a dynamic world, life is sometimes overwhelming and it is vital that you have clarity of vision and the guidance to navigate well. You need to avoid 'shipwreck' in life!
Perception vs Perspective
At times, you might feel overwhelmed with life and all its challenges. It is difficult to navigate through life. The problems are countless, the answers few. Like a captain on a ship or a hiker in the mountains, you need a 'compass' to guide you. First, you need to establish where you are (reality) and then where you want to go (destination). Yet when your perception is limited and your options seem few, it is vital to gain a new perspective that enables you to see options not considered previously. Life Coaching offers the means to see life in a different light and gain new perspectives to approach your current situation in a different way. When there are problems, you need solutions. This keeps you from falling into despair and giving up on life. It is obvious that repeating the same things over and over and hoping for a different result is not working. You need different strategies based on new perspectives to change your perception. To get somewhere you have never been, you must do something you have never done. As the CEO of your life, you can start to clarify your goals, define your strategies and plan your actions towards a better quality of life and future.
Purpose & Process
S.A.M.'s Life Coaching Modules offer ways towards meeting these aspirations. We offer Strategy, Analysis and Motivation in our 'process coaching with a difference.' We assist clients discover purpose in life—the 'why' of life. We also help navigate through the process—the 'how' of life. We facilitate the process of self-awareness and discovery of how to make the best of life's circumstances and how to respond to life with both the internal and external resources available. We aspire to help clients optimise and maximise their lives and careers. We seek to inspire clients to shift from the dream of 'one day...' to the reality of 'day one' of a new life journey with vision and courage. Life should be an adventure!