Often times when I meet with potential clients, they haven’t ever worked with a coach before. They wonder what it is like to be a client. Besides answering their most important question — “what are the benefits to me?” they often want to know how it works & what it’ll be like.
Since I currently have two different coaches and have been coached by several others in the past few years, I thought I’d share a little “day in the life of a client” post; although it is really more like a continuum than a “day”.
Currently, I am working with my mentor coach on business building and with a food/energy coach/consultant on some of my digestive/food/health/weight/energy goals. In the past I have run the gamut working with coaches on career transition, relationship, and spirituality. And, to be totally honest since my entire life is linked by the common element known as ME, the coaching tends to span multiple areas of my life regardless of the specific goal I hired the coach for. What I mean by that is it is not uncommon to hire a coach for business building and find yourself working on your beliefs about yourself, skills, and finances. There is a concept in coaching known as your personal foundation. It is akin to the foundation of a building — the thing upon which everything else is built. What that means is my life is built upon the person that is me. And, I am creating all sorts of things in my life by what I believe, how I relate to myself on the inside, and the actions I take.
For example, I want to improve my energy levels and health as a result of working with my food & energy coach Heather Dominick. And, while we’re early in our journey through this together, it is quite clear and entirely possible that the results I desire might have more to do with my beliefs and emotions than the actual food I eat. While I desire results and want to make changes, I often feel a great deal of resistance. As a client I have been going through periods of difficult emotions, feelings of resistance, frustration, and skepticism. It is OK to feel all those things provided I keep moving through them and working with my coach to make forward progress. I’m at the very popular spot (for me) of wanting something to be different yet not wanting to change anything. As the saying goes: insanity is doing the same thing and expecting different results.
On the flip side, sometimes being a client is uber-inspiring, energy-infusing, and aha-filled. It seems like new awareness comes at a rapid rate, I make changes in beliefs and actions, and LIKE MAGIC positive results flow. Little synchronistic events conspire to give me even more than I wanted. I love it when that happens.
And then…like most things that ebb and flow….
I find myself hitting a plateau or obstacle. And, it is back to the drawing board with my coach: re-evaluating, going a little deeper, getting clearer on my vision, and shifting my beliefs and actions once again.
You might be thinking — what about the benefits? What about results? Isn’t this supposed to be fun?
The answer is absolutely! You better be getting benefit and results from the coach you’re working with over time (it is a process, after all) or perhaps you’re not working with the right coach for you. Fun? Sometimes it is fun and light and exciting, especially when you’re in a period of realizing a lot of benefits and results. Sometimes it is not oodles of fun (though it should never be a chore) but more of an exploration (which can be fun if you let it) that helps you uncover and rediscover parts of yourself that hold the key to having the life and business you’ve dreamed of.
Have you ever worked with a coach? Are you a coach yourself? What else might you add to my description of life as a client? Please share your comments below…