Investing In You

I always tell people that one of the first steps they can make in committing to change in their life is to hire a coach. A monetary investment is a statement that you are serious about shaking things up.

Now that might sound a bit self-serving coming from someone who is a coach. But I do walk the walk on this one. Since the first time I entered a therapist office in 1982 when I wanted to summon the courage to leave teaching I have hired numerous coaches, worked with intuitive healers and partaken in more than one group seminar. Sometimes the reasons were clear and other times the reasons were to get clear. While the investment at first might have appeared less tangible than others, I have found if done right, to have a much longer shelf life.

What I continue to be perplexed by are the people who balk at such an investment. They’ll hire a tennis coach to improve their game, they’ll invest in the stock market or real estate, think nothing of spending $2000 on a piece of jewelry or art, not to mention $300 on a pair of Manolos, but consider investing money in someone to coach them through a tough patch, to start a new business, to reinvent their career or to improve their communication skills to be a frivolous expenditure.

The only investment they see worthwhile is in something concrete with a quick return that  they can hold in their hands or at least be able to show it off to friends at a dinner party.

Ask them to invest in the part of them that most can’t see, their psyche, their soul, their spirit, their power or their dreams and they’ll tell you they cannot afford it or they can do it themselves.

Maybe it’s because I’ve never been a do it yourselfer but I’ve always enlisted support whether it was to paint the bedroom or launch a new career. But mostly it’s because I believe we were not meant to walk this path alone.

I believe that real change requires a good assist. That a good coach will guide, give you the tools you need, get you thinking, cheer you on through the ups and downs, hold the space for that which you want to transform and offer the tough love when needed.

I would not have left teaching without professional support, I would not have been successful in the corporate world, I would not have written a book nor would I have embarked on yet a third career as a writer and coach, without the help and guidance of those I hired along the way.

A good coach will help you to find your best you. A good coach will help you to see what you might be avoiding. A good coach will help you strategize your next promotion, take the seed of an idea for a new business to fruition, or take the scary out of how to start that blog you keep saying you are going to write.  

A good coach believes in you enough to invest her time.

The question is do you believe in you enough to invest?