Power of professional coaching

Many a times, I am asked by my prospects & people whom I meet & connect generally as to what professional coaching is all about. This question makes me think because I don't want them to have a superficial understanding of what coaching is and just derive the intellectual meaning; but have a visceral experience of it. Instead of explaining much, I many a times invite them to experience what coaching is all about by gifting them my pro bono session. This would make more sense to them and they would be in a better position to relate to what I say about professional coaching. More so, the maximum benefit & the power of coaching is only derived & perceived by those who are coachable and are open to receiving not because someone else wants them to, but because of their own choice, own commitment to grow, learn, improve, excel & peak-perform. And it is said that the highly successful people are the ones who are coachable. Quoting Michael Jordan: "My best skill was that I was coachable. I was a sponge & aggressive to learn." Now you must have got some idea why he is known as the best basketball player ever. 

I want to take you to my journey of how coaching changed my world. In fact, I have just touched the tip of the iceberg, more to experience & enjoy as the journey unfolds. Have you wondered why I used professional coaching & not coaching per se?! In professional coaching, the commitment of the client to derive immense value from the sessions is much higher because here you are consciously making an investment for your growth & development. You have build your intentions to create, act & receive. This shift in your thoughts, takes your commitment to an altogether new level. When your inner commitment is high, the actions that you take are profound too. Because at the end, no matter what, you create your situations, circumstances & the life that you want. The choice to create is always yours and no one else. When there is no choice, nothing can force you to make that choice. A coach will act as a catalyst, an enabler who would help us to see the light within us & believe in our inner wisdom. That's also one of the reasons that professional coaching is not everyone's cup of tea. It requires high level of commitment, actions and most of all the willingness to drop our strategic self (the mask, the amour).

So here I am sharing with you all how coaching transformed me and as a result of which, my world (personal & professional) looks different now. I hope this will help you to understand the power of coaching:

1. It increased my awareness of self to a great extend. Earlier I used to find problems & solutions outside of me. What happened because of that was, I could never find fulfilling & long lasting solutions. Anything outside of me can never be controlled. It resurfaces with time. When  my awareness of self increased, I then tried to look within for problems hiding in my inner basement of my psyche & found solutions accordingly. I took responsibility for what was happening in my world. 

2. I got an access to my inner wisdom, my light within. I became more open to receiving what Universe is giving. 

3. I shed away drainers and embraced energizers.This includes projects, people, thoughts & habits which either drained me of my energy or rejuvenated me. I learnt to say YES and NO; the word MAY BE was totally scrapped from my space. In a way, I became powerful to see and decide what I really wanted.

4. I acknowledged my strengths, my top fives and leveraged them. I got to know the strategies that I use to block myself from living the exponential life. With this awareness, I also learnt what strategies people use to block theirs. This gave me a better understanding about human dynamics & contributed in building better relationship with people both professionally & personally. 

5. I have a deeply fulfilling successful career. I am doing what I always wanted to do but never knew what it really looked like. My work inspires me to do more. I don't get drained or get busy being busy. From a zombie, I turned into a fulfilled person.

6. I learnt to lean against my fears. My growth lies there. Because I never knew how to face my fears, I didn't explore that segment wherein my strength lies. I did many things that once upon a time I was fearful of & only wished for. I learnt swimming(there was a time when putting my head under water scared me); I did paragliding which I never had the courage to do so, I traveled to US all alone for the first time and was pretty comfortable, I could leave my son behind for more than a week to attend a workshop abroad which seemed very difficult in the first place given the kind of mother I was. The list goes on. These are very simple things yet, it makes a whole lot of difference to my being, the way I show up and as a result what gets created.

7. The inner shift in me enabled me to perform all my other roles of a professional, a partner, a parent, a daughter-in-law, a sister, a friend & most of all, a human being more efficiently & joyously.

8. I connected to myself. With this my ability to connect with other people increased manifold. Instead of running away from emotions, I learnt to feel it completely and learnt to process my emotions which paved my way in removing the blocks/the guards/the armour that I used to protect myself & never allowed to bloom.

9. My nurturing time includes those activities that rejuvenates my soul and doesn't hold me guilty of the fact that I have my own space which is very personal. I learnt that donning different roles in life doesn't entitle you to less of your time, but is a reminder that you need more nurturing time to fill your cup. I exercise, meditate, read, listen to music, blog, interview inspiring individuals, go on long drives, connect with nature and yet have it all. 

10. As I grew along all the bodies: mind, body, emotion, spirit; I could lead myself more authentically & powerfully, became more present & more productive. I gained craft mastery, leadership depth & business acumen.

As I embraced all these, I could definitely see my intentions getting fulfilled, things falling in place. Today, I am empowered. I see life from a newer perspective and I show up differently in my work & life as a whole. I now know that we can have it all. 

I may have missed few things, but the crux is I have experienced the power of professional coaching. I believe in it. Only when you experience it, you can relate to what I am saying. It will make sense only when you see the transformation happening within you. It is beautiful.

Mastery is a journey. You don't stop but keep moving. 

Love. Priyanka