Personal coaching can be likened to a personalized self-help book or tape that has been brought to life. It's like attending a motivational seminar where the speaker focuses solely on you, helping you to maximize your unique gifts and talents. This coaching environment keeps you positively charged and motivated, not just for a day or two, but week after week. The reasons behind the growing popularity of personal coaching are varied and numerous. However, if we take a historical perspective and examine societal changes over the past century, the need for and benefits of personal coaching become clear.
In the early 20th century, our survival depended heavily on each other. Despite our pioneering spirit, the enormous risks we took in exploring new territories necessitated mutual support for our most basic needs. As we fast forward through the decades, we observe a gradual weakening of these tight bonds that were once essential for survival. The traditional family unit, once a multigenerational support system under one roof, has dwindled to single parents struggling to make ends meet, both financially and emotionally.
The rise of personal coaching could be seen as an attempt to recreate the safe, supportive environment once provided by the interdependent family unit.
While multigenerational families may not be the solution in today's society, it's clear that the pendulum has swung too far in the opposite direction. We interact with grocery clerks, bank tellers, and convenience store workers without making eye contact. We live next to neighbors for years without knowing their names. This conscious disconnection, often justified by the pace of our lives and the needs of our families, is not nourishing our bodies, minds, or souls.
Despite reading self-help books and listening to self-help tapes, many of us find these resources only marginally helpful. They become more 'shelf help' than self-help. Deep down, we realize that we can't do this alone.
For years, top athletes, actors, and politicians have used personal coaches to maximize their skills and abilities. These professionals, despite being at the top of their game, wouldn't dream of going it alone. Many of us are now recognizing the value of this unique relationship and adapting it to a personal level.
Personal coaches are more than just friends to share problems with. They are sounding boards for solutions to daily challenges, mentors in some cases, cheerleaders in others. They are part consultant, part family. Coaches unleash the power of partnership, helping us to do more than we would on our own, reach our goals faster, and take ourselves more seriously. They serve as accountability partners who share our best interests and keep us moving forward. Personal coaching is about taking action and making things happen.
Left to our own devices, we often justify our average existence by convincing ourselves that we're coping well given the world's challenges. A personal coach helps us catch what we need, deflect the unnecessary, and disregard the irrelevant. We don't have to do it alone, but we are challenged to take responsibility for ourselves and to take action on our behalf. As former Dallas Cowboys coach, Tom Landry, once said, "A coach is someone who gets you to do what you don't want to do, so you can be who you want to be."
The time for personal coaching is now. The reasons are the ones bouncing around in your head at this very moment. The question now becomes, are you ready for the rewards that come with taking the game of life to the next level?
