This article describes coaching and how it can help you set a direction for your life.
Many people want to find their special purpose in life or focus on their passion. But either don’t know what that is or how to get there. If you can connect with someone that has experience in coaching or is a subject matter expert in the area that you are trying to strengthen, their feedback could help you get started.
There is a small subset of people that while they are growing up have some ideas of what they want to do for a career or know that they want a family, a house in the suburbs, nice vacations, and be able to pursue their interests. Other people, however, find themselves just taking what comes along without much planning or thought. Only after years of inward examination can they determine their dreams, passions, and what could make them happy. A coach can help accelerate that exploration to zero in on what you may want to accomplish.
If you have a job now, there are coaching opportunities to strengthen your skills as part of your goals and objectives. Usually, this activity is a partnership between you and your manager to determine what you will work on for the next six months or a year. If you are successful, you could get a good performance review and a raise. But, these opportunities are limited to what the company and manager can offer you as part of the larger business goals.
Some people can find themselves in a dead-end job where what once made you happy or at least provided an income to meet your living expenses, is no longer satisfying. The earlier you notice the signs, the easier it will be to make a change. Seeking a coach outside of work could be an option to help you pursue those next steps required for either a new career, more education, a break for some travel or a retreat, or just some much needed self care.
Goals and passions require plans on how to get there. Plans require the work to be done. For example, if you want a new career, how will you get it? A coach would prompt you to look at the job boards such as Indeed or LinkedIn to see what types of jobs are available, what skills are required, and typical salary. Research education opportunities such as certificate programs, coding boot camps, or college degrees. Review the costs and how long it would take to complete the program. Many of these programs can be completed in the evening and weekends and study time can be fit in before and after work. Costs can be incurred over time to avoid loans. There are also federal programs to help reduce costs as well.
Other people need a coach to help with budgeting. You must earn more than you spend in order to have savings to devote to those things you really want such as a new car, a home down payment, more education, or a vacation. Once people see the actual numbers of their income versus their expenses, it’s like a reality check and they are able to make changes by either finding more lucrative work or cutting back on unnecessary expenses such as excessive dining out or online shopping. A coach could help get a spreadsheet started and help the client with the tracking needed to start saving money again. Then larger dollar amount items can be prioritized and purchased using the money that has been saved.
There are many reasons why a client may not be ready for coaching. Sometimes, certain plans do have to be put on the back burner to focus on more emerging life activities such as health or family. But, when the client is ready, they can resume their coaching activities. Other clients may have trouble getting started such as negative thoughts of not being able to do a task, or being overwhelmed by how long something may take. The most helpful thing to offer is to be able to break down big tasks into smaller achievable pieces. Even if it takes longer than originally expected, the objective can be accomplished.
Conclusion
This article describing coaching and helping to set a new direction in life.