Where do we start?

That’s the question I get a lot when people talk to me about coaching. People seem to think there is some mystery to what I do, but the plain truth is that there isn’t. There’s work and knowledge and training of course, but there’s no secret to it. Most of what I do is about asking questions that help you find your own answers, because most people have the answers in them. They just don’t know it. Or no one has helped them dig those answers out in a systematic manner.

Where do we start?

Basically, there are two questions that have to be solved before we get to the nitty-gritty of moving towards our goals?

• What do I want?
• What false beliefs have gotten in my way so far?

It doesn’t matter which question you begin with, but we have to know those two things to get there, where ever “there” is, I don’t care if you are an individual who wants to get to a certain place or level of success in your life, or a company trying to move to the next level. We have to answer those two questions and have those two answers firmly and well answered if we are going to succeed fully.

Neither is easy.

You would think they would be easy, wouldn’t you? I’ve been doing this since 2011, and so far I have had exactly zero people and companies who knew exactly what they wanted and what the internal roadblocks were when we began. They thought they did, but it did not take a lot of probing for them to realize there was work to be done to find the real, honest answers. It took time. to hash through them, narrow them down, refine them and take ownership of them.

What do you want? I’ve had people come to me who said what they wanted was more money when what they really wanted was more time for family, or the ability to travel, or more control over their life and time. What if they had succeeded on the first goal, more money, at the expense of what they really wanted (it happens!). All that work and effort to still not be where they really wanted to be. It can be the same for companies, who have goals and definitions of success that at times, aren’t really what they want. They get “there” (again, where ever “there” is.) and getting there, they find they aren’t where they want to be at all.

And defining what false beliefs are getting in our way is even harder, because it requires us to admit that we are responsible for our success, and not a whole slew of outside influences. Find and conquer the false beliefs that hold us back is like bulldozing the road in front of you. It prepares the way, But it takes work and more self-honesty than most of us want to do,

It can take weeks, or now and again, months, to really dig through the fluff and the stuff we want to think and find the real answers. But when we do, the rest of the road is easy. Yeah, really.

Again, it doesn’t matter which question we attack first. But to make any coaching or consulting work, those two questions have to be answered completely and honestly. And once we do, nothing can get in our way

Be well. Travel wisely,

Tom

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If you want to move from where you are to where you want to be, consider taking advantage of my “three for free” coaching sessions. Three free sessions, no strings attached, to see if coaching is for you. Want to know more about coaching’s effectiveness before you contact me? Try reading this. 

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