How to Coach at Your Best: The Importance of Self Coaching

Do you have leaky gutters when it comes to coaching yourself?

It is interesting how plumbers often seem to have leaking gutters and, to my amazement, cleaners have messy houses. I have also noticed, working as a coach mentor, that a lot of coaches are not aware they have missed an area in their life where they could improve themselves through coaching.

Most of us come to the profession of coaching because we have overcome adversity or experienced being coached in some way to propel ourselves forward. We would like to do the same for others.

You will be familiar with the process of being coached and have experienced the power of coaching in your life. Being coached would most likely have been a part of your study journey also.

Coaching check: Do you have leaky gutters?

I have noticed that many coaches get through their training and then struggle to move forward with the next steps to create their dream life or business as a coach. They seem to miss the power they have to coach themselves in their niche area, or get someone else to coach them. It’s like the Plumber who walks under their own leaking gutters every day without noticing them.  (I have a friend whose husband is a plumber and she ended up calling in someone else to fix her gutters after waiting many months).  

I know many of you coaches work on yourselves in lots of ways, but so often creating your ideal life as a coach one an area that gets missed. You know you want to make a big difference, you have big plans, but you allow yourself to become blocked by limiting beliefs that you have the tools to remove. Have you just had an “Aha”?

I suggest you coach yourself around topics such as—

• Being the most confident and successful coach you know,
• The steps you need to take to have the ultimate coaching business, or
• Getting clear about your area of expertise.

Has the light bulb gone on? Remember you don’t have to have an emotional issue or a big problem to benefit from coaching. You can be coached to move from something that is “ok” to making it “awesome”. You can be coached to gain more clarity. You can be coached to experience confidence WITHOUT having to get more training or more experience. That is right, you can be confident RIGHT NOW!!! Imagine how great your coaching sessions will be when you experience that level of confidence.

Fix those leaky gutters: Coach yourself

A great exercise is to put your coaching hat on and coach yourself.  Use your strengths to get you to where you want to be. This is how you will “walk your talk.”  This works really well when you do it like this:

• Sit in the spot you would if you were your client (If you coach on the phone just sit somewhere else other then the seat you coach from). After a few moments move to the seat you would sit in if you were being the coach. Look at where you were sitting as though you are still there and role play…. be your own coach.  This means you will address your issues from a completely different part of the mind then you usually do. This can be amazingly powerful on so many fronts.

Don’t continue walking under your leaky gutter. Take steps today to fix it yourself or call in the professionals. And like gutters this too needs to be maintained. Whether you continue to coach yourself or you have other sources that give you inspiration everyday to “walk your talk,” make sure you keep it up.

Walking your talk

I have podcasts that I listen to, people I speak with, and I continue to coach myself as well as having my own coach to make sure my gutters are shinny and fully functional and I encourage you to do the same. If you are feeling unconfident, you can fix it. If you don’t know what step to take next in your business, you can fix it. If you need more clarity, you can fix it. You know you have all the resources you need AND you know how to unlock them or have them unlocked.

I would love to hear from you.  Comment below on how you have used your skills to coach you.