If you follow my instagram @coaching_that_works you will have noticed today something different.
Coaching is often perceived as being sat behind a screen (since COVID) or sat opposite in chairs, working through life’s challenges. Whilst both environments have much to offer the Coachee in terms of their goals, today I did something a little different and met my Coachee in one of Brussel’s most beautiful parks.
There were so many benefits to going out of the usual comfort zone for my Coachee (and for myself) but one thing in particular was striking:
The process of walking and exploring was a learning for her in itself; neither of us agreed what path to take, or where we should end up. I just accompanied her on the journey. We ended up at exactly where she needed to be ready for her next appointment after our allotted 50 minutes yet she never looked at her watch once. She trusted me to get her where she needed to be – and I trusted her that she knew exactly how to get herself where she wanted to be; I didn’t hurry her, we walked, proceeded (and stopped on occasion) at her pace. She owned her own journey – and whilst it may have only ben a could elf kilometres on foot, she travelled far and wide in her exploration.
Learning to trust ourselves can sometimes be one of our deepest challenges. How do we know that we have done enough in order to trust ourselves? And who do we look towards so that we can trust everything is OK?
Reflecting on this morning’s walk in the park, perhaps we all need a little blind faith in ourselves? Much like my Coachee who blindly trusted me to get her back on time (she was all she needed to get her where she needed to be both literally and metaphorically). It’s not doing enough hours, or tasks on our lists to ensure that the job is good or that we have done enough. Nor is it through seeking the validation of someone so that we can trust something is good enough. Rather, it’s about being enough.
With this in mind, I invite you to trust yourself today, that whatever it is you focus on this afternoon (or morning/evening depending on where you read this) is enough. That you are enough in that moment to deliver whatever it is you need or want or is required.
And if what you offered wasn’t ‘enough’, for your boss, your spouse or your child then that notion of ‘enough’ sits firmly with them – and the lesson that comes from that conversation is solely for you… maybe to reflect upon the next time you’re walking through the park.
