I am going to steal yet another bit from the most excellent Embracing Fear: and Finding the Courage to Live Your Life
No doubt some people will want to hurl darts into my eyes and put me in stocks to throw rotten fruit at for my heresy, but I can live with that. Not the darts you understand, don’t go throwing pointy things at me, it’s the opinion I can live with.
I often have difficulty explaining to people why I can’t tell them exactly what we will be doing on a session-by-session basis. That is because I just don’t know upfront. Each person that employs a Life Coach has his or her own very individual wants and needs and the process tends to evolve rather than being planned.
To try and do otherwise would in all likelihood lead to me making mistakes and presumptions and the client being less than happy with the bumbling fool that says “Now it’s step 9, no I mean 6, sorry I had my plan upside down, but this is definitely where you tell me about your childhood….or not”.
In the book Thom talks about a client that called her Psychotherapy sessions with him (and I am paraphrasing) “A collaboration in writing her own self-help book”
I am not a therapist per se although I do indeed do some therapeutic work. However, I most certainly do self-development and to say that I help clients write their very own life coaching book is such a cool way of explaining what I do.
I wouldn’t imagine anybody starts writing a book knowing exactly what will be in it. They may well have an idea of the ending they would like (hopes and dreams of a client maybe??) but the details are to be worked out along the way through trial and error and plenty of re-writing, just like coaching.
I’m grateful to Thom’s client Jenni for such a great insight and also for making my life during consultation calls a little bit easier.
Tim Brownson is a Certified Life Coach and has been unsticking people and helping them reach their true potential since 2005. If you would like to know how he can help you