In each of our lives, there are inflection points, moments in which we have key choices to make in our careers or personal lives.  Perhaps you’re trying to decide whether to remain in your current job or return to school to obtain new training or a degree or even to take those special skills of yours and strike out on your own as a business entrepreneur.  Whatever the challenge, you don’t have to make these critical choices on your own.  There are skilled professionals who have the training and experience to help—personal coaches.

A personal coach will help motivate you and clarify your goals so you can make informed decisions and improve the quality of your life.  Personal coaches are skilled communicators and motivators with powerful people and organizational skills.  Although there is no specific degree program that directly prepares people to become personal coaches, most have experience in counseling, consulting, social work, teaching, or human resource management—and many have obtained specialized post-graduate training to enhance their effectiveness.

If you’ve never worked with a personal coach but are considering hiring one to get you from where you are to where you want to go, you probably want to know the precise ways in which a personal coach can help you.  Specifically, your personal coach will help you:

1. Clarify your goals:  success is at the intersection of what you love doing and what you do better than almost anyone else.  A personal coach will help you identify those activities which energize and motivate you, and then determine from among these the ones in which you excel.  For example, you might be the person to whom everyone comes when they have a problem because they know you’ll be compassionate and have the skills to find a solution—but it might never have occurred to you that those people and problem-solving skills would make you a successful counselor or psychologist.  Your coach will not only help you identify your skills and competencies, but also show you what steps you need to take to launch a new career which better meets your needs.
2. Stick to your plan:  one of the reasons people’s plans fall off the rails is that they encounter obstacles and eventually lose interest.  A personal coach will help you understand that those obstacles are part of the process of making progress and help you keep your eyes on the prize.   In those moments when you’ve experienced failure and begin to lose heart, your coach will remind you of how much progress you’ve already made and help you understand how much closer you are to your goal today than you were yesterday.
3. Give objective feedback:  if you’ve ever shared a problem with a friend or family member, only to hear them tell you what they think you want to hear, you know how valuable unbiased feedback can be.  Your coach is there to ensure that you make progress towards your goals—when your coach evaluates the actions you need to take, he or she will do so objectively, providing an honest and forthright assessment of what you’re doing right—and what you’re doing wrong.
4. Focus on you:  as much as those close to you want to help, they have problems and concerns of their own.  Your coach has a single-minded purpose—to help you.  You will always have his or her complete attention, unimpeded by his or her own concerns and issues.

Conclusion

Anything worth doing requires both hard work and a commitment strong enough to carry you through the rough patches and obstacles in your way.  By working with a personal coach, you will have a determined and constant advocate who will help you move outside of your comfort zone to face whatever challenges are in your way.   Personal coaching will enhance your personal development, help you achieve your career goals, and ensure you take the actions necessary to get you where you need to be, and where you want to go.

Want to find out more about Nadia’s take control coaching program? Find out more here!