4 Ways to Experience Effective Coaching

You know that you want to improve certain aspects of your life, be it career or personal. You’ve researched coaches and found one that seems to be the right fit. Now you want to get the most out of your time together. How can you make sure you have an effective coaching experience?

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord. – Colossians 3:23, NIV

4 Tips for an Effective Coaching Experience

1. Have definable goals.

You may go into your coaching sessions with some big goals, and maybe even some specific goals, early in your time with a coach you want to make clear, definable goals for your time together and apart. Effective coaching will help you determine the best sequence of dreams and make smaller milestones toward the big goal you are trying to achieve.

Start by doing what’s necessary; then do what’s possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible. – St. Francis of Assisi

2. Set deadlines or milestones.

These could be private and rather arbitrary, but by setting a deadline you create the pressure you need to achieve the results you want. The deadlines can be milestones or stepping stones. Examples include: “By the end of the week, I will…” or “In three months I need to finish…”

Finding an approach that works for you can help you maximize the effectiveness of your coaching experience. Have a plan to celebrate those milestones. Maybe you watch a TV show after you accomplish your goal for the week. Perhaps you plan a coffee date with a friend after a certain deadline. Deadlines can be used to reward as well as drive you toward your goals.

“Remember to celebrate milestones as you prepare for the road ahead.” – Nelson Mandela

3. Commit to monotony.

Whether you are trying to stick to a routine, build a business, or learn a new skill, there are going to be lulls. There will be times that you are repeating the same motions, sometimes literally, and seem to be going nowhere. Holding steady after the excitement of starting is one of the most valuable skills of true success. Trust the process, and you will find yourself achieving great things.

“The three great essentials to achieve anything worthwhile are, first, hard work; second, stick-to-itiveness; third, common sense.” – Thomas A. Edison

4. Plan for failure

Not everything is going to work the first time you try. There may be rejections, setbacks, and other challenges you cannot anticipate in the beginning. Effective coaching can help you plan for failures and setbacks. It is often a matter of your own mindset. It is okay to be a beginner, to admit that you don’t know things, and generally be okay with trial and error. This is how you learn.

“Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.” – Winston S. Churchill

You are the person who truly determines whether coaching is effective. No amount of money or time will make a difference if you do not put ideas into practice. No coach can make you better if you are unwilling to listen and do the work. Take notes, be an active listener, and take the recommendations your coach gives you with humility. These skills will take you far in any goal or dream that you have.

All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty. – Proverbs 14:23, NIV

If you are looking for effective coaching, give us a call today at Plano Christian Counseling in Texas. A Christian counselor in Plano, Texas can help you set goals and take steps to achieve them.