Value of coaching as you design the future of your life trajectory

When you design the future of your life trajectory, engaging a life coach to partner with you in clarifying your intention, decisions and actions can be an investment that pays dividends. Coaching plants the seeds for personal growth that comes when we do things we have never experienced before. The issue could be personal or professional related. For example, you could be looking to clarify the future you want to create, reassess life priorities, improve health, improve relationships, switch out from behaviour that no longer serves you, clarify your career direction, and explore new ways to contribute your talent.

Coaching conversations flow back and forth with ease, and they are fundamentally different from the ones you have with family, colleagues, and friends. Coaching conversations are time-bound (example, 1 hour). Coaches, who have undergone accreditation training, are unbiased professionals who provide a safe non-judgemental space in a thoughtful conversation with powerful open-ended questions. The conversation allows you to explore the issue and the future you want to create, and identify what exactly you need to work on to close the gap.

The coach is someone you resonate, trust and have rapport with. You feel inspired by the coach to grow and be your best self. You feel safe even as the coach actively listens and responds to your words, emotions, gestures, and subtler cues that show up in the moment. For this reason, coach-client engagements are not your typical service transaction. Rather, it is a 2-way selection between 2 persons who decide to partner one another for the engagement so that the client can confidently reach for the desired outcome.

Coaches use your words when they mirror back what you have said. They ask for permission before sharing observations that you can choose not to take up (for example, you said A and B; to the coach, they contradict but this contradiction is not obvious to you). Coaches do not give advice or share from their personal experience.

Identifying what exactly is the real issue that stops you from living the future you want is crucial in a coaching conversation. We often think we know what the problem is, and all we need to do is to push ourselves to tackle it. Often the real issue emerges only after a thorough exploration has been carried out in a coaching conversation. For example, you might feel frustrated about a situation you are in. Through the conversation, you uncover new insights on how your behaviour is contributing to the situation. Other forms of new realisations could be coming to a new level of acceptance of the situation, reframing it with an expansion or shift in perspective, and/or letting go of pent up emotions. With increased awareness and the new realisations, you empower yourself to tackle the issue in the best possible way.

Designing what needs to be done comes naturally after, and is typically closer to the tail end of the coaching conversation. This is counter-intuitive as most people try to be helpful by jumping in to give solutions or help with problem solving. Coaching recognise that every individual is unique, and so is the context and focus of the issue. What works for one person may not be useful or even relevant for another. Questions at this stage of the conversation could include what resources you can tap on, what challenges might arise as you take the actions you design, and what else might open up for you with the new realisations and actions.

Coaching shifts you internally as a person. To reinforce learnings and make the desired outcome real, you commit to taking actions you designed and keep yourself accountable. Coaching engagements that span over a agreed period could provide assurance that you have a coach in your corner as you grow your confidence and focus in closing the gap, and know challenges that come up can be tackled in the next conversation.

As you design the future of your life trajectory, believe you are capable, worthy and ready to create it. Life shifts when we do. Coaching may just be the gift your future self would thank you for.

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Me as a life coach

I have experienced the power of transformative coaching, and witnessed how seemingly small shifts in perspectives, choices and actions can lead to expanded perspectives of situations, healthier interactions with people, and clearer sense of what is important on both personal and professional fronts.

I first underwent life coach training in 2012, and actively coached 50 individuals within 2 degrees of my social network over a span of a year. For various reasons, I stopped actively coaching for a number of years, but remained curious and a member of the Singapore chapter of International Coaching Federation.

More recently, as I navigate a life transition where I make time and space to reassess what makes me come alive, I find again the value of coaching.

I am currently undergoing a 6-month professional coach development program with Collective Change Institute. I hope to bring coaching services to individuals who want to shift into intentional living with purpose and meaning.