Why You Need a Coach
Award-winning actors and athletes work with a coach. The credits at the end of your favorite movies include a list of coaches. Olympic athletes often have a team of coaches.
People would think an actor or an athlete wasn’t thinking clearly if they said they were trying to win an Oscar or Olympic Gold Medal without engaging the best coaches they could find.
Imagine a sports team winning a major title with no coach. The more senior the position, the more likely someone has been benefiting from the support of a coach for decades.
Are you any less important?
The more committed you are to achieving your life goals, the more you deserve (and need) professional coaching support.
People perform at a higher level when they have a coach. The power of great coaching is in helping people accomplish goals they could not have done nearly so well on their own.
Coaching is not new. However it is a profession that is recently coming into its own as a vital resource for supporting people in achieving their goals and performing at their best.
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“A simple way to see the value of coaching is observing people working out at a gym. There are always people who are doing an exercise wrong and in ways that are not only high risk in the present, often lead to longer term issues. For example, watch for a person doing a weight training exercise with about 40% range of motion with as much speed as they can muster. I suppose the belief is they did the exercise in the minimal amount of time possible.
Not only do they lose the full value of the exercise, they are increasing the likelihood of injuries.
My coach and I wink at each other the next time we see the same people doing the same physically dangerous technique. If there is an opening, we make a kindly suggestion. But people like this do not usually appreciate advice.
This illustrates another phenomenon about coaching: often the people who need it the most, are most resistant. Higher performing people are open and continuously seeking ways to improve. They have a growth mindset. Lower level performers resist help. They remain certain they will fix things on their own.
Eventually the people doing exercises with poor form no longer show up at the gym.
Working out is a relatively straight forward “job” compared with the many more complicated, challenging life jobs. Who is there to provide you feedback when your form slips and puts you at risk? With a coach, you get the feedback you need to get back on track right away.
I’ve learned a good deal about what makes for a good coach by using a professional trainer and observing other people working out at the gym. who clearly would benefit from a professional trainer, but don’t hire one.”