What is Coaching?

Simply said…
coaching is to accompany, advise and support you reach the life you want for yourself, and achieve the goals which are important to you.

A coach uses a wide spectrum of tips, tricks and techniques to help you reach all those goals.

For some people coaching is even finding out what their career and life goals actually are, and then support them to reach them.

Here are a few more questions which I am asked quite often, perhaps yours is there as well. (click on the question to jump straight to the answer)
1. Which areas of life do you mean Michael?
2. Can it work for me?
3. Training, can you not just sell me a book?
4. What’s the difference to Mentoring?
5. And what isn’t coaching?
6. So what do I do now?

Question 1: Which areas of life do you mean Michael?
There are of course many different areas for which people want coaching, simply because, people are different, so they have different goals and lifestyles. Typical areas are:

Private Life Questions
How can I get along with my parents and brothers or sisters?
How can I have a loving and enjoyable relationship with my partner?
(Perhaps even, how can I find the right partner?)
How do I raise my kids and be a great parent?
All these responsibilities, how can I relax and find time for myself?

Career Questions
Which career should I choose or what should I do next?
What short-term things should I do, so as to reach my long term goals?
What do I do about my boss?
How do I get my employees to do what I want?
What shall do I when I don’t understand all the technical jargon?

Life Goals
How can I reach my weight goals and then successfully keep them long term?
How can I get rid of unwanted habits like smoking?
How can I stop my eating attacks?
How can I get my financial life sorted?

Self-worth and Self-belief
Am I really good enough?
Am I all alone here?
Do I deserve it?
Do I fit in?
Do they really like me?
What if they think I’m wrong?
What if I make a fool of myself?

Anxieties
How can I overcome my fear of speaking or presenting in front of others?
How can I overcome my fear of new places or situations?
How can I overcome my fear of flying?
How can I overcome my stress when driving in the car?
What if others find out I’m not so good as they think I am?

…and many many more, so what do you want to change?

Question 2: Can it work for me?
This is where it is important to have a coach who is the right person for you. Typically, it is important that he has the right way to communicate with you, have similar life values to you, and understands the areas you wish to work on. So yes, it can work for you as well!

Question 3:  Training – Can you not just sell me a book or course?
This question is of course a big wish, but then, it wouldn’t be coaching, it would be schooling and training. That’s great for general topics such as learning mathematics or a language, but for life topics?… hmmm

Just think how different you are to all the people in your life and at work… and how often people do things differently (many roads lead to Rome)… this is because you are so different to others, and what you want from life and the goals you want to reach are very specific to you. Hence, coaching is accompanying advising and supporting you with techniques specifically for you, so that you reach the life you want.

Question 4: Mentoring – Some people talk about mentoring rather than coaching, what’s the difference?

Mentoring is a mixture of training and coaching and is typically chosen in specialised areas such as career and business as well as such areas as parenthood and other long-term difficult situations. Examples are:

Which career is the right one for me, and how can I reach my long-term goals in it?

I want to get my start-up company up and going. There is so much that I don’t know, what should I do next, and then in the coming months as well.

I’ve been a great technician and specialist, and now my boss wants me to be a manager and team leader. That’s too much, how am I going to do it?

My company has become stale, and I want to lead it to new successes, how do I do that without losing my good employees or annoying my customers?

Question 5: And what isn’t coaching?
Quite simply, a coach is not your parent, boss, or partner who tells you what to do! Nor is a coach a therapist who lingers on the past making you regurgitate the negative stuff from years gone by.

A coach is someone who is on your side, and accompanies you by listening, advising and giving you tips and tricks on how to reach the life and goals you wish to have. He also uses his specialised coaching techniques to help you reach these goals faster and easier. He is in the here and now with you, supporting you on your way to your positive and successful future.

That is why I am a coach, to support you to your positive and successful future!

Question 6: So what do I do now?

Easy, just give me a call or write me a WhatsApp now, and I’ll get in touch for an initial get to know conversation, and we can take it from there… the sooner the better, it’s that easy.