What Happens in Coaching?

Location. Most coaching engagements take place over the phone so you can be anywhere you want. It may be good to find a particularly inspiring place. Feel free to be creative with location, just so long as we can hear each other and focus on the matter at hand. It is also wise to choose a place where you can feel free to express what comes up for you. Make sure you have enough privacy.

Time and Frequency. The time and frequency of the coaching sessions are negotiable depending on your needs. When getting started with coaching it is often best to have frequent sessions with enough time, like once a week for 50 minutes, in order to produce and sustain initial breakthroughs. Later, when enough momentum has been generated, it may be appropriate to adjust the schedule.

The Agenda. At the opening of each session I'll ask what you would like to work on and what results would make a successful session for you. If you don't know that's ok. Sometimes the agenda is about exploring what the agenda should be. That said, prior planning on your part will help get the most of out your time with me. Do your best to spend a few moments before the session to consider what it is you want. Feel free to think big. I often find the most exhilarating sessions are the ones where the client states a challenging objective and we mutually commit and achieve it. Come as you are and we'll go from there.

Commitments. At the close of each session we discuss what commitments should take place. There is always a commitment. This commitment is key in moving your insights into your every day life and bringing about real change.

Difficulties. Difficulty arises naturally for people as they work to make deep changes in their lives. Taking on new, expanded ways of being can feel uncomfortable and even un-natural simply because they are not the way we've always done things. Having an ally and an accountability partner in these instances can be extremely helpful in discerning the best course and sticking with it. Otherwise, it's all too easy to fall back on old habits, staying stuck and unsatisfied. During times of difficulty your awareness, dedication, and willingness to communicate the truth are extremely important to your breakthrough.

Breakthroughs. Breakthroughs are a natural result of staying present and real with difficulty. Depending on your style you can break or dance through it. Just keep moving in the right direction. The session and commitments we make together help provide a structure and momentum that can move you past old habits and into more freedom and fulfillment. Also, sometimes it takes the coach to point out that you've made a breakthrough for you to realize it. Part of coaching is bringing awareness to and celebrating all those smaller steps that bring about major shifts.

Results. Suddenly you may find:

It's different for everyone but the common denominators are more freedom, better relationships, and a "wow" response to how the outer world responds when a genuine transformation has occurred on the inside.