WHO NEEDS A COACH? you do… and so do I.

I get the question all the time… “Who needs a coach?”  Well, I guess it’s really more of a conversation-ending statement… a rhetorical question.  My answer though, always is “YOU DO… oh and, by the way, so do I.”

Coaching isn’t for losers.  It’s not for people who are failing, miserable or confused.  (Though such people can also benefit from a coaching relationship.)  Having a coach is a way for ambitious people to guarantee success.  A coach helps you define where you are going in life and in business.  S/he helps you see the water you are swimming in (see fish bowl analogy in “Four Heads are Better than One”) and then make choices that will give you different results in your life.  A coach helps you exceed your expectations and get more joy, happiness, success and balance out of life.

I have 3 coaches:  (I often joke that it takes 3 people to keep me in line!) 

• The first is Deana, my weight loss coach.  She is compassionate and loving and keeps pushing me to accomplish my goal of losing 100 pounds by the end of the year.  This is a goal I have taken on dozens (maybe even hundreds) of times since I was 15.  It is a goal I have failed at each time, but is vitally important for my health and well-being.  Now more than ever, after last year’s cancer diagnosis.  Deana is a butt-kicker.  I LOVE fire in a coach.  I need it.  I need someone who says it like it is and is willing to chase me down and hold me accountable.  I require a no-bs approach to everything.  Deana is awesome.  I am well on my way to meeting my 100-lb. goal, though it is still a stretch for me.
• Second is Christopher.  He was a “booby prize” I got from having breast cancer… get it booby prize?  (I HATE when Lance Armstrong always says cancer was a gift… would you want a gift like that for your birthday or Christmas?  Ugh.  So I like to think of the sidebar opportunites I got from my cancer treatment as booby prizes… again, Christopher was one of them.)  He is a brilliant, amazing social worker at my Cancer Center.  He is unequivocally one of the most powerful, insightful people I have ever met.  He is experienced, intelligent and slices through bs like a knife.  I was terrified of him immediately.  So, of course, I requested that he start coaching me.  He began with helping me flourish through my cancer treatment.  He taught me mindfulness and helped me hone my ability to surrender control.  He has continued to coach me in seeing all things as an opportunity, and maximizing my life purpose.
• Finally, my husband Doug.  He is my daily butt-kicker.  He is a perfect mirror for me; every moment reflecting what is important to me: my family, my career, my desire to find the hero in people.  He holds me accountable for being gracious, coachable and productive.  He loves me unconditionally when I fail.  He wades through my garbage and tirelessly leads me back to myself.  He is my rock.

Everyone needs a coach (or three.)  A coach can be a trained professional you hire, or a person, already in your life, who will act as your committed listener, holding you accountable for accomplishing your dreams.  We all need someone(s) in our lives to help us see people and situations with “new eyes.”  We need accountability.  We need someone who will remind us who we are in times of struggle and resistance.

Who do you have in your life that will hold you accountable?  What could you accomplish with a coach? 

Find out more about coaching today!