(Things Behind the Sun, Part IV)

If you don't design your own life plan, chances are you'll fall into someone else's plan. And guess what they have planned for you? Not much.

Relationship is one of the reasons coaching can be so effective. The International Coaching Federation (ICF) has a list of 11 core competencies for a coach, and #4 is establishing trust and intimacy with the client. In describing this competency, they state that the coach “champions new behaviours and actions, including those involving risk taking and fear of failure.” (Emphasis and Canadian spelling mine ;-).

We’re inclined to turn back at the threshold of significant change when there’s no social support for it. It’s tricky to believe we can succeed and to make the necessary commitment without encouragement. In a sense, it’s unrealistic to expect a universal cheering section in our current network of family, friends and society. If everyone rallies behind your new direction, ask yourself whether it’s really new.

A coach expands the options of your social system by advocating new behaviours and actions. Possibilities are reflected back to you, not only brick walls. A little soil appears where there was only rock. Hope and belief are like water – it doesn’t take a lot, just a steady trickle over time can wear down seemingly insurmountable obstacles.

Tomorrow: Open Wide the Hymns you Hide