On Coaching, Part 4: Why It Matters

"Too many of us are not living our dreams because we are living our fears."

—Les Brown

When someone starts their coaching journey with Begin Development for the first time, their calendar is normally full to the brim. Sound familiar? Overwhelmed by tasks and responsibilities, it’s difficult at first for them to try to squeeze in a weekly or biweekly coaching time. But they do. And then the coaching journey begins.

During the early journey, we take a good hard look at that calendar and at those commitments.

• How do the commitments line up with your goals?

• Are they evidence that you’re being driven by your dreams?

• Or driven by your fears? 

In our society and work culture, we tend to wear busyness like a badge of honor. At the root of our overcommitting, though, is often fear—fear of others’ disapproval if we say “no” to them, or fear that we’ll be perceived as unworthy of our position if we are not driving hard all the time. This is why it matters to have a coach.

A coach will be a consistent voice to interrupt your fear defaults and the negative energy that has become an accepted norm in your life. With a coach, we see people start focusing more on their dreams and goals than on their fears; they start to feel permission to make space in their calendars to dream more, reflect more, celebrate more, and strategize more. From the place of dream-orientation, they get promoted. When focused on their dreams, they do their best work; they click into their potential and into their purpose.