We are familiar with Sports Coaches, but not many of us understand what or who is a life coach and why do we need to have one?
As per Wikipedia, “The first use of the term coaching to mean an instructor or trainer arose around 1830 in Oxford University slang for a tutor who carries a student through an exam. Coaching thus has been used in language to describe the process used to transport people from where they are to where they want to be. The first use of the term in relation to sports came in 1861”
It’s taken more than a century from there, for this beautiful concept to find its relevance in professional space.
So what does coaching or coach actually do?
Imagine a day where you feel completely helpless, dejected, not knowing where life’s taking you. What do you do? Talk to a friend/ family/loved one? Google out self-help solutions? Make a plan for yourself to make things better? Visit your astrologer/tarot reader? Then what happens? That day passes off, with some help from either of these sources. And the next day, you find yourself in the same spot? You again go to these sources. They advise you, cheer you up, help you look at better things in life. You do all of that. Things improve. But there still comes another day when it’s not looking bright and you have no idea what you are meant to do in life!
A coach, on the other hand, doesn’t give you any advice, encouragement or moral boosting that you may need at this point in time.
No, he doesn’t reprimand you either.
Through the process of coaching, a coach helps you do a lot of self-discovery. He/she helps you know what your inner most qualities/desires/aspirations are and then co-creates an action plan with you which lists down things that bring out the magnificent you! It has been established, that through the process of coaching, individuals become more self-aware and takes action towards realization of their vision, goals and aspirations. Their performance shows considerable improvement and quality of life is supremely enhanced.
Through a structure, support & feedback, a coach helps you make your dreams a reality. There are a lot of relevant questions, frameworks and processes that are part of a coach’s repertoire and hence getting into a coaching relationship takes you to another level of personal satisfaction & happiness. Imagine for every situation of your life, having an un-biased voice asking you questions for which you find answers from within your heart, mind & soul and then that voice keeps you firm & disciplined to achieve things that are important to you. How marvelous does that sound?!
There is no categorization for the kind of people who need coaching. Everybody does. But since there’s a money investment that goes into this relationship, not many people can afford it. In most of the organizations, you will see the top leadership team having personal coaches. That’s because the Learning & Development budget of companies doesn’t allow them to have coaches for everyone. Hence, they invest only in senior leaders or top talents.
But realizing the value of this process, a lot of individuals are picking up coaches for their personal & professional development. Typically, a coach would get into a 6-month contract with you, where you will meet or have telephonic conversation for 60 mins (called a session), twice in a month. Each session is chargeable, and depending on the profile of the coach, the amount may vary from INR 5000 to 20,000. It can go up to a lac per hour as well, for highly experienced coaches. So yeah, it’s money but then the worth of this investment can only be seen & felt and not justified in a write-up.
Not anybody can be a coach. There are international bodies like ICF (International Coach Federation) that provides class room training, online courses, assignments and mandatory coaching experience before it certifies anybody as a coach. So, yes, it’s a pretty tough process that a coach goes through for being certified as one!
I feel blessed that I got that “calling” and did my certification as a coach. It’s my endeavor to spread out this wonderful process to as many people as possible and help individuals lead a fulfilled life, with achievement of their inner most desires and aspirations.
I have chosen to work only with women. And my reason to do so is simple. I hate the fact that women regret staying at home to look after family. I truly believe, that with some clarity & structure, every woman can achieve her dreams and unlock her hidden potential and spread her magnificence all around while doing everything she wants to do and she has to do.
So, if you are that woman who thinks a coach would do good to you, or if you know of a woman who needs a coach, then ask them to contact me at doradevasher@gmail.com. You can read more about my background on the About Me section of my website www.storysideup.com or on my LinkedIn profile page, Dora (Devasher) Suri.
Hoping to reach out to many of you who need a coach, because when something has gone wrong, it’s far less effective to ask: What went wrong? Than it is to ask, what is it that you need to do now in order to create what you want?
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