You Are Here

“Coaching helps you take stock of where you are now in all aspects of your life, and how that compares to where you would like to be.”

– Elaine MacDonald

Canadian Activist

You are at a mall where you have never been before.  It is the biggest mall you have ever seen.  Now it is time to go but you are not sure what exit to head for, so you go to the kiosk and look at the map.  In the center of a picture that looks like a jig saw puzzle you see a little arrow that reads "You Are Here!"  The problem is, you still don't know where "Here" is.

               That is what it can be like for some who are pursuing their goals.  They know here they want to go, but not sure how to get there.  When they go to books and blogs for help, all they find is "You Are Here!".  This is why many will seek the help and guidance of a coach.  A coach allows them to meet with a real human, talk and discover just where their "Here" is.

                Coaches are there to give the detailed direction through the maze surrounding many people's goals.  You do not set the goal not do you create the path they need to follow.  What a good coach does is help the client make sense of the path.  It is the discovery of the best route to follow.  Note, I said the best, not the fastest or the easiest.  Many times the quickest way is not the best way to follow.  Our desire is not to help people get where they want to go as fast as we can, but to help them succeed in getting to where they want to go.

                The advantage that a coach has is that you are looking at the map from the outside.  You can remove all the emotion, fears and distractions along the way and point out what needs to be done and when.  The person in the middle of the map is like the person in the middle of a maze.  You cannot see the twists and turns to avoid.  The person who is on top can see it all.

                A few years ago I took a group of Cub Scouts to a corn maze here in Michigan.  Not long into the maze we were hopelessly lost.  We kept going in circles and could not find the way out.  There was however a man sitting in a tower at the edge of the maze.  His job was to find the lost souls inside and tell them where to turn to find the way out.  He shouted a few directions to us and in time, we found the exit from the maze.

                A coach is like the man in the tower.  We can help those who are lost in the maze to find the way to the exit.  We do not go in and get them, not do we cut a new and better path, we just have the ability to see things from an angle that allow us to help the find their way to their goal.

John Patrick Hickey is an author, speaker, and Life Coach. To read more from John Patrick Hickey or to get his books, training and book him to speak to your church, business or group, visit our website at http://www.growthcenter.net or www.johnpatrickhickey.com.   © 2014 John Patrick Hickey