What a small word for a huge topic. When I started my coach training there was an exercise we completed (or should I say endured) where we sat across from a partner in the class and looked at each other over a period of an hour. It seemed like a year while we were going through it. We were not permitted to talk to make any noises or change our facial expressions. Then we were given 10 minutes with a topic and one at a time had to talk non-stop on that topic. One I remember is “I am afraid of _____” Again the 10 minutes felt like a long time. We were all glad when this exercise was over but as you can see it really stuck with me.
The goal of the exercise was to start a process of understanding that coaching requires that we stop all outside activities (mental and physical), distractions and focus only on the client. This sounds easy but trust me it isn’t. It requires practice and is easier some days than others depending on what is going on in your own life. Personally I find it refreshing to drop my life for a while to focus on someone else. I almost always feel better after a coaching session. I always learn something about my client and myself at the same time. I don’t think that clients understand that coaches learn so much from their clients it changes their lives and their coaching over time.
I was thinking about how I would approach the blog now that I am focusing it on the coaching. It made sense to me to begin with the beginning which was the introduction of presence. Imagine if tonight instead of trying to do everything at once and doing everything half assed, you took 10 minutes and sat with your husband, child, friend, sister and gave them your full undivided attention. If you are not ready to share, just let them share and make it all about them. They may want to reciprocate down the line. I guarantee your relationships will improve.
Interesting that the one hour exercise continued to be a thread between myself and my fellow student throughout the 7 months although we had nothing in common and at the end of the course she thanked me for doing it with her.
If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or subscribing to the feed to have future articles delivered to your feed reader.
Related posts:
- Dancing In the Moment
- I Did It! I Quit My Job to Become a Life Coach
- TheKayWay Goes Back to School
- I Would Rather Regret Something I Did Than Something I Didn’t Do
- Gratitude
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
Interesting stuff, espcially applied to parenting. It’s amazing what happens if you just stop everything and concentrate on your child. I notice that my son calms down right away, and he seems to want to tell me things, to have conversations. I feel this is priceless.