Seven Symptoms Coaching Can Help

You may have heard about a friend whose life coach gave him a new perspective on an old issue. Perhaps you read an article about a rise in the need for business coaches. Whatever sparked your interest, the idea of having a personal coach has caught your attention. How do you know if coaching is something you should pursue? Here are seven signs you may need a coach.

You are burned out or checked out in a particular area of life

If you find yourself repeatedly thinking about work while you are with your family, it could signal you are spending too much mental and emotional energy on work. It’s such a common slippery slope in our fast-paced culture.

Being aware of it is key. If you feel that you are checked out when you need to be present, that’s a sign that coaching can give you the redirection you need. Coaching isn’t the same as psychotherapy because the purpose is different.

With therapy, your counselor is trained to recognize and diagnose mental health issues. Yes, a therapist will listen, but he or she may not offer solutions first thing. A therapist’s main role is to assess, diagnose, and develop treatment plans for patients.

However, with coaching, the purpose is to bring clarity, identify blind spots, highlight limiting perspectives, and help clients identify and work toward meeting their needs and goals. If you’re overworked or overwhelmed with one specific area of your life, a series of coaching sessions can help you put your finger on what is wrong and get to the root of it.

You feel stuck in a particular area of life

Many people turn to coaching when they can’t seem to make progress in a particular area. For example, many successful businesspeople already know how to make a sale, what a sound investment looks like, whether it’s an investment of time or money, and how to problem-solve business issues that arise.

But those same people may turn to friends and find they have few to lean on when they’re going through a personal problem. They may feel stuck in their ability to make new friends, to trust old friends, and to develop healthy relationships in general.

Other areas you might feel stuck are in health goals or in a specific family relationship. You think you understand what the issues are, but when you try to overcome them, there’s a block of some sort. Coaching can help you explore what’s going on in your mindset to hold you back.

Good coaches can also refer you to a trained psychologist if they think you may need more help than they are trained to provide.

Your goals are simply goals on paper

Goal setting is a wonderful tool for growth. But many adults struggle in knowing how to set goals that are actually achievable.

We almost always want to accomplish a goal that’s too lofty or reach a milestone before we’ve allowed ourselves the time to make lasting changes in an area. Coaching asks the kinds of questions that lead to realistic goal setting and teaches clients how to break those goals into steps that feel doable and timely.

You need accountability in a specific area of life

One such coaching group showed great progress in a short six-week period of time. How did they do it? Each individual identified an area of life where they knew all the right answers but kept falling short of their desired end result. They were given a short survey that helped them narrow their emphasis to something small.

A member of the coaching group said she needed to stop making excuses for a family member who wasn’t taking their responsibilities seriously. Another group member had done everything possible to launch a business but struggled to take the final steps to launch. A different group member needed help sticking to a budget they’d made.

Lacking accountability is common. It can feel awkward to ask a friend to hold you accountable, and coaching may make you feel less vulnerable to ask for help. However, the success this group saw boiled down to reporting and holding each other accountable.

You notice a pattern in how others respond to you at work or in family life that makes you  uncomfortable

When your co-workers respond with hesitance if you ask them a straightforward question that evokes a need for honesty, it may bother you that they don’t feel comfortable sharing from their heart. If this happens once or twice, it’s probably not a cause for alarm.

However, if you notice a pattern of response that echoes over time and across the breadth of your previous and current co-workers, it may be time to take action. Coaching can help you identify ways you may be communicating that you’re unaware of and that others might not want to be forthright and tell you.

Another scenario could be that your family members tell you a particular topic causes them to shrink to the background, avoid you, and prepare for the worst. They may reveal a theme that  –  where this topic is concerned  –  you aren’t as available or compassionate as you’d like to be.

Again, this is where coaching can help you see what is often tough to recognize when it impacts those you love. A coach can give you feedback on nonverbal body language, and he can ask you questions that help you get to the root of why you feel the way you feel anytime that topic arises.

Helping you work through relational patterns is one of the benefits of coaching.

You want to see breakthrough in an area of stagnancy

Most of us can identify with the inspiration and motivation that follows when we’re tackling a goal we’re passionate about. We start with the drive, and we follow through for a while.

However, what happens when that follow-through wanes? How do you recover from an extended absence due to illness or some other obstacle that prevented you from keeping the same motivational pace?

Coaching fits nicely into these situations, where we are headed down a path that leads to health and wellness in a particular area of life, but we get derailed. A coach can give you the tools you need to rebound even if you feel like it’s impossible.

Maybe it has been two years since your delay, or perhaps your motivation is so lagging, you’re not even sure the goal is that important anymore. Coaching can help you explore what’s behind the uncertainty and point you to areas of awareness.

Once you have clarity, you can make changes, whether it’s on your way again or a rerouting that takes you somewhere new.

You want to discover a deeper purpose in your life

While goal setting and accomplishing specific objectives are worthy pursuits, not everyone who seeks a coach knows where to start. Some just know that they need a deeper purpose. A coach will know how to ask questions that help you make self-observations.

Learning what you need is often half the battle. Being able to identify where you feel passionate, what you feel called to, and how you want to make a mark are all areas a coach can guide you in developing. Whether your purpose is found in an activity or a relationship with God, a coach can help you unpack what you’re feeling and give you assignments to help you reflect on your past and present.

Reflection is a powerful way to access what you need in order to feel like your life trajectory matches your beliefs and values. As you start to pay attention to patterns, you’ll also notice places of repetition. Maybe your purpose is something you pursued as a young child and a teen but have ignored as an adult because of the everyday concerns of adulthood.

With coaching, you are free to examine where those early experiences struck a chord, gave you fresh inspiration, made you want to help others, or allowed you peace of mind. All of these can be clues that a coach will help you recognize, name, and use as information to guide you to your purpose.

Get started

If any of these seven symptoms resonate with you, give coaching a try. Coaching can take place in different formats, from a shorter series of sessions to a longer, more elaborate timeline with booster sessions and check-ins. Your needs can determine the best fit. Likewise, coaching can be individual or in a group session format.

Reach out to one of our offices today, and we will help you find a coach to support your needs.