Friday, April 24, 2009

Life Coaching, Being Coached

I only heard about Life Coaching when I took a course in it a few years ago. It seemed like a great way of counseling, helping people. But par for the course, or typically me, I never had the guts to go out and do it, open a business.

It's not like I haven't used the skills and techniques over the years to help people, but I always just "did it as a friend."

Now the time has come to start the next phase of my life. I no longer have the physical and emotional strength to control a classroom, not that full-sized classes were ever my specialty. My teaching success was always more in the problem-solving needed to tutor, whether individuals or small groups. I can easily see what skills and knowledge are faulty or missing, and then I have creative ways of explaining/teaching it.

To help me, I've taken a coach, Yehudit. From what I've experienced with her in contrast to the course I took, there's a lot of room for individuality in coaching. Each coach brings with him/her different skills, techniques, personality etc. That's reassuring.

Honestly, Yehudit's coaching techniques, at least as far as we've progressed is extremely different from what I had learned. That's not a criticism, just an observation. Yes, I'm an observer, which is a skill I also use in my political articles. My out of the box mind makes me see things differently from the conventional. Sometimes that's a problem, but I think that as a coach it should be a great advantage.

I've begun my own "internship," stajj, in Hebrew, with a diet support group. I don't take any payment. G-d willing, in a few months, the participants will enthusiastically recommend me to others, and then I can open a business and charge money.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Your comment on Life Coaching, and particularly your mention of Yehudit as life coach, caught my attention. I clicked on the link and saw that, yes, you are talking about the same Yehudit that coached me for several years.

Never having had training as a Life Coach, I did not think about Yehudit's style as "unique". Whatever it was, I liked her style. I felt so safe, guided, and was so pleased with the results. So much so that I recommended her as a coach to my sister-in-law. She has been in a coaching relationship with Yehudit for several months and is noticeably progressing in a very positive way. My sister has taken note of the progress of myself and sister-in-law and is planning to begin coaching with Yehudit as well.

Maybe Yehudit does have an "out-of-the-box" style. Maybe that is why she is so successful at coaching. I know so many times I discussed situations with Yehudit that I felt had no solution--that I would just have to manage the situation. Yehudit had a way of asking the right questions to cause me to realize there was a solution! In fact, there was always a solution. That still amazes me. Also, I consider myself a positive person--to the point of being a "Polly Anna". However, when I would begin negative self-talk without even realizing it, Yehudit would detect that instantly.

You mentioned in your blog that you never had the guts to go out and open your own coaching business. Likewise, Yehudit coached me through a situation requiring much courage to step out and make a reality. She helped me with clarifying my goals and setting definite steps to achieve my goals.

My hat is off to you for stepping out and beginning your own coaching internship. It sounds like you are doing so with Yehudit as your coach. Hmmm...this out-of-the-box style seems to be working!

I will watch your progress with great interest.
Cheryl Green

Batya said...

Cheryl, thanks so much for the encouragement and input!
Good luck!