The famous Chinese philosopher, Lao Tzu, said, At the center of your being you have the answer; you know who you are and you know what you want. This quote is the essence of the coaching experience. To live by example as a coach, we must project our full experience of renovation with everyone we meet and share the benefits of coaching and the exceptionally positive experience we have found through it.

Although our lives may have been filled with very challenging experiences. Most of them would be perceived as profoundly negative, a coach has the unique ability to review them, excavate them and renovate them into a life filled with joy, gratitude and success. You may agree with Albert Einstein when he said, in the middle of difficulty lies opportunity. A coach will encourage people to look past their circumstances and find the hidden opportunity that lies within it and seize it.

As a mother of seven children, I have been fortunate to have excellent organizational skills and an abundance of energy. Because coaching is not about me, I am aware that most people have self- limiting beliefs and fears that just need some professional adjusting. The objective of the coach is to be a positive voice to encourage them to find the best within themselves and live without fear in order to find the successful life they desire.

The coach can bridge the gap between the state they are currently in and their hope for the future. A coach may share with them their confidence that they do have all the proper tools to renovate themselves, and be there to help them find them and begin to use them to reshape themselves.

Three Principals of Coaching

One:
In the Art of War, Sun Tsu said Know yourself before you can know others. This quote narrates the importance of living by example. It is quite evident that one cannot possibly promote an idea effectively without first having been part of that experience. Being part of that specific experience makes the coaching direction much more authentic therefore being more likely to inspire the client to action.

It is also important to be aware that the goal is not for the client to be you. Our job as a coach is to find the best that is in the client their hopes, their dreams and their goals. It is important that they have a strong sense of being attracted to your positive nature but that as coaches we remain focused on their desire to make changes in their lives and not our own agendas.

Two:
I believe it is important to learn to get out of the picture in respect to working with clients. The process is not about our belief in the goal of the client. We must remain attentively detached to the process. By this, I mean that it is important to actively direct the client and hold them accountable. Yet, the entire experience needs to be focused on the goals and objectives of the client and not the direction we (the coach) desire it to go. The client does have the concept buried deep within themselves, our job is just to move them toward their own answers.

Three:
Buddha once said, The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, worry about the future, or anticipate troubles, but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly. This is perhaps the most poignant message of coaching. Since we cannot change anything about the past, and delving into it is not our job, it is imperative that as coaches we focus on the next right thing. In this, I am referring to the job of the coach to work on the discovery of the client. My goal is to assist the client is searching within himself to follow their dreams and live the life they have always imagined.

Additionally, as coaches we must be able to assess the willingness of the client to assure that they are 100% ready to commit to the process of being coached. We are well aware that we only hit a target that we actually aim at. So a client must be fully receptive to the process and willing to engage in all of the activities that will result in their success.