“A great coach tells you what you need to hear, not what you want to hear.”
I became an International Coaching Federation qualified coach a few years ago. However, I still find myself explaining what coaching is far more than I expected to. So, here’s what coaching is and isn’t.
My coaching journey began as a client. I'd had a difficult ending to a position a few years earlier which had knocked my confidence. Working with a coach enabled me to change the narrative of that experience and focus on my achievements and skillset and use those as a springboard for my new goals. Without exaggeration, this changed my life. The power of coaching is vastly underrated.
Coaching traditionally was only used in sport with executive coaching beginning in the 1970’s with Tim Gallwey, a Harvard educationist and tennis expert, writing his first book ‘The Inner Game of Tennis’ Inner being ‘Internal state’ Though the father of coaching is said to be Sir John Whitmore a motor racing champion and entrepreneur. In 1968 he gave up businesses to study psychology in the USA, before returning to England to set up a tennis school and a ski school in the Alps, licensed by Timothy Gallwey.
Both Gallwey and Whitmore played crucial roles in shaping the coaching landscape, with Gallwey's emphasis on the mental aspects of performance and Whitmore's expansion of coaching into diverse fields beyond sports. Their work along with the teachings of eminent psychologists has had a lasting impact on how coaching is practiced and understood today.
While coaching has its roots in sports and business, its principles have been adapted and expanded to serve the broader needs of individuals seeking personal and professional growth. It is a form of personal development that focuses on enhancing self-awareness, managing limiting beliefs, and promotes positive mental habits and overall psychological fitness. Ultimately It aims to empower you to overcome mental obstacles, set and achieve goals, and lead a more fulfilling life.
Why have a coach rather than a counsellor or psychotherapist? I have both. I use my coaching time to explore my goals and manage my limiting beliefs and use my psychotherapist time to manage my negative automatic thought patterns and look at where they have come from. Coaching tends to move forward; counselling tends to focus on the past. The choice between a coach, counsellor, or physiotherapist depends on your specific needs and goals. Each profession has its unique focus and expertise.
Why Mental Fitness Coaching (MFC)? We discuss our physical fitness endlessly; however, we often ignore our mental fitness - in fact we've traditionally been taught to have a 'stiff upper lip' and 'just get on with it!' MFC will help you improve your mental well-being, emotional resilience, and psychological fitness.
I have devised a new 4-step program aimed at growing your mental fitness. Interested?
Get in touch emma@redwoodellis.co.uk I look forward to hearing from you!
“Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.” Rumi