Almost all of us can benefit from hiring a coach, provided that we are prepared to make changes. Regardless of whether you hire a coach to help with your career, your relationships, or your personal and spiritual development, here are some hints towards making the best use of your coach
1. Organize your thoughts before each call. Know what you want your focus to be.
2. Understand that the coach cannot and should not ‘fix’ you – you are responsible for yourself.
3. Be prepared to DO the actions on which you and your coach agree. Do not agree to something that you are not prepared to do or that you do not feel comfortable with. The coach is not your boss – you are the one in charge of your life.
4. Be fully honest. Secrets will hold you back. Your coach is not your judge and will not judge you. S/he can coach you better if s/he knows what’s on your mind.
5. If you don’t like something that is happening in your calls, say so. If you don’t say what is bothering you, your coach will not be able to fix it.
6. Recognize that progress comes one step at a time, and be prepared to work on isolating the next steps to be taken. The big picture is a useful guide, but it is not useful if it remains just a picture. To best use your coach, be prepared to take action so that your dreams can become reality.
7. Listen to what your coach says. Try to hear it without preconceptions and without overlaying it with the thought patterns that have held you back in the past.
8. Remember that a coach is not a therapist. If you need a therapist, then find one, or ask your coach for help in doing so.
9. Understand that as your coach works with you on your outer goals, you may need to make inner changes. The one is unlikely to occur without the other.
10. Be open to success, to wonderful changes in your life. Expect them. Demand them – of yourself..