ABOUT COACHING

What coaching is:

Imagine a professional coach as a neutral observer to your thought processes. You have thousands of unintentional thoughts every day. Depending on the subject matter there may be a few of these thoughts that are more pervasive, and may actually be holding you back. Coaching will help you determine if thoughts are related to feelings that are helping you, or in many cases harming you. But only you can determine this.

 A coach will help you clarify if the thought is a fact or if it is fiction. Sometimes we tell ourselves stories that are not true. We have to determine what the facts are that are causing the thoughts. These exercises can be repeated independently, and are very helpful when done on a daily basis. However sometimes you are stuck. You need somebody with an outside perspective to clarify what is going on, but many times you just need somebody for external validation that what you were thinking is actually true.

 Coaching is a journey, not a stop. It is a process of constant innovation where you are the experiment for yourself. You are already in the river, you are either paddling upstream, or slowly drifting down. Through this journey you have the ability to change nearly anything in your life. A coach is a guide for the journey.

What coaching isn’t:

 Coaching is not a substitute for therapy or medical advice. It does not take the place of medication, or other forms of wellness that are tried and proven for your personal well-being. Coaching will not be somebody cheering you on, motivating you with inspiring quotes. Coaching is not some sort of mindfulness meditation where you simply repeat positive affirmations to yourself to keep you on track. For the most part coaching is not a one and done, but rather a process of growth.

Your mind as a muscle:

 As a physician, you have already reached a pinnacle in education and knowledge and that will put you in the top 0.5 to 1%. To put this in athletic terms, you have reached the professional level. But even professionals have coaches. I’m not sure there has ever been an Olympian in any sport who self-coached themselves to the pinnacle of their career. Even if there was one, they would obviously be the anomaly, as you have seen these elite athletes all have received guidance. This is where coaching comes in for you; you are at some of the highest levels of mental achievement in society. To keep the analogy going, the coach prescribes the workouts but cannot do them for you. A life coach can help you do the thought work that can change every aspect of your life, but they cannot do it for you. You are the magic in the equation.

Do you even need a coach?

I don’t know, are you satisfied personally and professionally?

Are you happy with where your career is going?

Are you happy with the direction medicine is going?

Are you available and present for your family?

Do you look forward to going to work every day?

Have you found time for the things that you enjoy in life?

Are you living the life that you imagined prior to medical school?

If you have answered yes to the questions above, perhaps you do not need a coach? But if there is anything from the above list that you want to work on, finding a life coach should be a priority.

 Why hire me as a coach?

 Well, that is a good question. Through the process of becoming a certified professional coach, I began to work on myself in ways that I had never imagined. I have been there. I have done that. I have gone down that road, and I have come back. It is not that I have achieved some imagined pinnacle of greatness, but rather I have learned to grow in every dimension listed above. I am a better father and husband today, because of my life experiences, AND the self coaching I have done. I am not done, I am still growing, still improving, and becoming better in every facet of my life.

Professional coaching is a way to objectively look at your thoughts about any given situation. Changes occurred when I actually started getting coached. I had listened and read a lot to that point, but when I used someone to help me delve into my own mind and thoughts, that’s where the changes really happened. Let’s start this journey together.

You are not alone. We are in this together.