Around the web: Coaching and costs

A few links with commentary for today:

Chris Brogan: What do Coaches Do?

I’m letting the video play in the background while I write this, so this link was more of a prompting to get me talking about coaching rather than commentary about Chris’ post itself.  I’ve used a variety of coaches over the past few years, and I’ve always found it a good value, though in some cases I’m finding increasing value from old sessions as I get more experienced.  Maybe I’m a slow learner, but I’m discovering that fundamentals have value at different levels. Same concepts applied at the 101, 201, 301 levels etc.

This year my coaching has been physical, and it’s probably my best recommendation to people in business who want to dip their toe into coaching.  I started with a personal trainer in January and have been working hard three days a week ever since (I think I missed 3 sessions due to illness, and one due to a client emergency.)  I thought this was just an investment in stress relief, but I’ve found my business has skyrocketed this year.  Some of that might have been the result of lots of hard work lining up at last, but I think the real value was the environment of continual goal achievement – hitting a new personal record on a lift pretty much every week, if not every session has reframed my sense of ability to produce.

I’m also in a group coaching program for business right now, but it’s harder for me to engage – I typically skip the calls and grab the recordings (which I’ll listen to someday) and don’t ask questions. Previously I was doing one on one coaching with scheduled calls, and I made more use of that, so I’ll probably seek out a new coach once my goals are better defined.

What’s interesting to me is that the accountability aspect of coaching is so necessary for me, based on the results I just outlined above, but it’s such a minor part of the value.  “Making sure I show up” is just a fundamental part of coaching, at least the kind of coaching that works for me, but the benefits I’ve gotten are so much more than that that.

Rae Hoffman-Dolan: The Cost of Entrepreneurship

This is a great intro for non-entrepreneurs about the realities of our lives, but I don’t think it’ll help.  The idea of missing a wedding (without judging that particular decision) is a great framer to give a concrete example of the kinds of decisions and sacrifices that get made, and might take people from the “oh yeah, you work hard and there’s no guarantee of a reward, sure, I get it, but anyway, let me tell you about these TPS reports” phase of understanding. I’d share it with some friends and family, but I think the end conclusion would either be more nodding, or at best/worst, “are you sure it’s worth it?”

And the reality is, no, it’s not worth it for a lot of people, and yes, there are times where I question it too.  But I’ve learned to see things how I think they should be, and I’m in a position where I can work towards that, so for me, right now, un-seeing that isn’t an option.


Posted

in

by

Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *