Why Hiring A Personal Development Coach Can Be An Investment In Oneself

By William Hughes


People used to want only to be safe, to be fed and to be comfortable. Millions of people have long ago achieved those goals. Now they want more out of life. Hey think there is more to life than they can see. They want to experience meaning and purpose. They want to be happier and they want to know what their place in the bigger scheme of things is. With a personal development coach many people do discover deeper meaning in life.

People hire coaches because they are not sure exactly what it is that they want to change in their own lives. They just have a vague desire to become better people, to be happier or to better understand themselves and others. They hire coaches to guide them, advise them and to encourage them to actively pursue the changes that they desire and to teach them how to go about it.

Individualized coaching is not a magic formula for getting all the answers and for achieving high levels of fulfilment. Coaches worth their salt will never be prescriptive and they will never goad their clients in a specific direction. Instead, their job is to be a sounding board and to gently lead their clients towards the development of a determination to improve on an individual level.

Experienced coaches know that most people do not know themselves. It is too painful to carefully examine the self. The first priority of coaches is therefore to lead there clients towards a greater sense of themselves, even if the process is painful. It is only when one knows all the strengths and weaknesses that comprise the whole that one can identify areas where improvement is necessary.

Self examination inevitably lead to the identification of areas where improvement or growth will be beneficial. Identifying these areas is important, but it is also important to set very specific goals. It is not good enough, for example, to say that one will spend more time on community work. The goal should be more specific. It would be better to say that one wants to spend at least three hours each week performing community work.

People fail to achieve their goals because they become disheartened with their slow progress. That is why good coaches help their clients to break down their goals into small, measurable steps that are easy to achieve. By achieving each little step, the client will realize and be motivated by the fact that he is indeed making progress towards the achievement of the bigger goal.

Coaching can only be effective if their is a bond between the mentor and the client. It is often difficult to find a mentor that instils confidence and that is why it may be a good idea to try a few before settling on a specific professional. If there is not a close bond of confidentiality and confidence in each other the relationship will not work.

Individual coaching has become a rather large industry. People have developed new needs. They want more from life than just survival and material needs. They want meaning. In this respect, coaches can certainly be of great help.




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