The first step to change is awareness

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- by Lynn Colwell

Since I started coaching, I have been constantly amazed by the impact that just one call can have on a person. Many of the testimonials I place in this newsletter and on my website come not from ongoing clients, but from people to whom I've spoken only once. I've thought a lot about why these calls are so often life-altering. I'd like to think it is due to my amazing coaching skills, but it's not.
Here's the way I see it. People today, regardless of whether they are working, retired, stay-at-home parents, young or old, are busy. We careen through our lives, going from one activity to the next without pause. Underneath, we may feel stressed, sad or even happy, but we rarely stop to acknowledge our feelings. We are so focused on getting things done, on accomplishing whatever is staring us in the face at the moment, that we are oblivious to the experience we are living.

We may recognize a certain dissatisfaction, even depression underlying our daily lives, but unless it interferes with carrying out our pursuits, it can lie dormant and unexamined forever.

Coaching stops us in our tracks. It forces us to lift the veil on what propels us. It asks us to take time to focus on our needs, our desires, on who we are right this moment. For many people, this is the first opportunity they have taken in years to consider whether where they are headed is where they want to go.

The first step to change is awareness. We cannot change what we do not recognize to be true for us. It is this sense of discovery, of opening up to ourselves, that fuels the phenomenal responses that people have to that first half hour phone conversation.

It is not about me and my coaching abilities. It is about what the caller brings which includes a willingness to stop, look and listen. My opportunity and privilege is to encourage callers to examine their strengths, to accept who they are, to discover (or rediscover) their dreams. Once they are aware of how they want their life to be and acknowledge where they currently are, we can play in the space between. It is here that coaching becomes concrete, where people recognize that they can have what they want if they are willing to do the work.

I believe it is this realization that generates the thrilling results I've seen. It seems a simple, even obvious truth, but if we have been ignoring its reality, recognizing its existence can be life changing.

Know that you don't need a coach to become aware. Take time for yourself. Discover who you are and what you want. If you'd like help and support with the process, of course I'm here to assist. But you can take this first step yourself. It isn't difficult and it just may change your life.

(c) 2004 Lynn Colwell

Lynn Colwell is a life/personal coach and writer. After a career including public relations and corporate communications with hospitals and high tech companies, she decided to devote herself to making a difference in people’s lives. Her complimentary online newsletter has been called, “An inspiring, exciting, fun, pick-me-up.” Sign up for the newsletter or contact Lynn at www.bloomngrow.net.