Let me address the big question – what the heck do you do in a coaching session? If you’re a type A personality a little like myself and you want to understand it all, I feel you.

Why do people want a coach?

I think that’s the real first question to answer. I’ve sought out coaches to make advancements in my life. I’ve used a personal training coach, fitness coach and even an mindset coach. That’s in addition to using a therapist and also having attended events such as Tony Robbins’ Unleash the Power Within. Um, not all at once though!

For me, it often started with someone recommending an inspirational video, which lead me to reflect on my own life and wonder, can I have that too? What’s stopping me? Where do I start? I sought out books or more videos too, but sometimes the desire to change something was so great I wanted to make the investment into having a personal coach. I wanted to take big action and I didn’t want to waste my time.

How do you choose a coach?

Like choosing a therapist, t’s important to find someone you ‘mesh well with’ (yes I’m quoting Cher from Clueless). A coach should leave you feeling empowered, help you develop a plan, keep you on track and generally is someone you enjoy talking to. You may also want to find someone who focuses in on the specific area of development you are looking for.

How do you start?

Get clear first on what it is you’re looking to do. What’s your vision? What do you want to solve for? Write it down. When you know where you’re going, it’s easier to get there. Sometimes, you may not know where you want to get to – you just know where you’re at ain’t it. And that’s fine too. A coach can help you tease out what your priorities are and help you come up with a plan to figure that out. We can do this together in my 30 minute free strategy call.

What do you do in the hour?

If it’s my client’s first time I’ll remind them that the sessions are confidential and I’ll ask them what they’d like for the outcome of today to be. For me, I often came to sessions with a situation that was top of mind, or sometimes I didn’t even realize what was on my mind until I started talking. I could then decide if I wanted to continue to focus on that or move on to something else. I aim to end the session with at least one action item or step you can take.

If it’s a returning client, I’ll remind them what the action steps identified last time were and ask how that worked out. It is not guilt and shame time here. This is for reflection. Sometimes what you identified in the session may not be what you end up working on at all. That’s great! It means you reflected on what you discussed and figured out what you needed to focus on – on your own! My goal is to get you doing this on your own and not feel the need to use me.

How long does this go on for?

Four to six sessions weekly is a recommended amount of time to commit. This length of time allows you to see progress and even refine things based on what you may be uncovering. But the end time is up to you! I trust my clients to tell me when they want to slow down or stop the sessions. You can always come back for an occasional session when you feel it would help.

If you’re ready to get moving, or you’re still not sure, schedule a strategy session with me. We can get to know each other a little better there. This isn’t a sales call, this is to help you get clarity on what you want! I always enjoy meeting and talking to people, so don’t wait!