4 Ways to Waste Your Time on CoachingCoaching is a powerful tool for changing your life, whether it's a specific issue you want to address or a full-scale Do-Over! I know from my clients' feedback how effective coaching can be.
But coaching is a dialogue: a partnership. It takes two. If you're thinking about engaging a coach, you've got to commit 100% to a process that is by its nature intense, messy, and sometimes uncomfortable.
Here are four sure-fire ways to avoid commitment, sabotage results, and waste your time on coaching:
1. Shoe-horn in the calls. Schedule our conversations right before and after other commitments, so you can avoid being fully present.
2. Expect miracles. Unrealistic expectations take you off the hook for the quality and scope of your outcomes.
3. Blow off your homework. Your #1 tool for self-sabotage: withhold personal investment in the process.
4. Stay in 'Yes, But . . . ' mode. Pretend to be open, but fight to the death for those old, broken habits of thinking.
(If you DO want to commit to a coaching partnership, I'm happy to send you a copy of my new coaching brochure. Email me for a copy.)
Can I suggest a number five? "Maintain positive thinking."
As Barbara Ehrenreich shows in her excellent book, Bright-Sided: How Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America, refusal to admit reality is killing us all.
Excellent one, Roseana! Coaching must be, among many things, a reality check. I'm gonna get that book. Thanks for the rec and the insight.