One of my favorite books on life coaching is… Sir Jonn Whitmore’s “Coaching for Performance.”
And one of my favorite quotes from the book is a somewhat obscure reference to setting goals in a team…
“My experience with goal setting on team-training courses is that teams invariably set goals based
on what has been done rather than on what can be done in the future. In many cases, they make no attempt to calculate what might be possible.”
There’s a lot packed into those two sentences… and it’s one
of the main reasons people need to work with YOU… an incredibly effective life coach… someone who has spent time (or will be spending time) training to be a life coach.
Why?
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Well… think about what Sir Whitmore is saying.
Most of the time … when we set goals… we look at what has been accomplished… we add a few percentages… and call it a new goal. Whether is sales figures… growth in your company… cutting time off your lap time… or cutting inches off your waistline. We look… as a team… at what’s been done… and we decide on what could be done in the future.
This is how most of us have experienced goal setting with managers… sports coaches… and teachers.
I call it “Incremental Goal Setting.”
A manager might say… “Let’s grow your numbers by 4% this year. You were able to grow it 2% last year and I think you can push past that this year. Don’t you?”
A track coach might say… “You shaved 7.2 seconds off last year. If we could shave another 5 off… I think you could make state.”
A teacher might have said… “If you get all of your papers in on time for the rest of this semester… you’ll move that B to a B+ or even an A-.”
And since people have been introduced to this approach overtime… in the workplace… in the locker room and in the classroom… they tend to think that that’s how they need to do it when they are considering other life decisions.
Incremental changes… based on what’s been achieved in the past.
It can work.
BUT…
Big decisions… decisions like switching careers… launching a business… pursuing a big dream… these decisions need something outside “incremental.”
When someone works with an effective life coach… the coach can help their “ally” (our word for client) to see outside what’s been done before… way outside.
The coach can crack open possibility and help them to see beyond what’s been done in the past… and move into what’s possible… exponentially.
The coach can open the door to new ideas… new angles… new directions. New opportunities.
Your current and future allies need you to coach them through a “Exponential Growth Goal Setting Process.”
Opportunities that are way outside what the ally has experienced… or even thought about achieving.
So instead of incremental growth… your current or future ally can potentially achieve exponential growth… because they’re able to see beyond the limitations of what’s been done.
They’re even able to dream about what they would LOVE to do and achieve… and let that dreaming (and planning) happen at a level that is way beyond anything the “incremental goal setting process” could ever help them to achieve!
This is one of the key reasons why people need YOU… to be their life coach.
Not only that… this is one of the most subtle but also the most important reasons why most people need coaching help that is beyond what their friends or family can offer them. Because although most of us have experienced the “incremental goal setting process,” very few of us have sought out specific training to be a life coach.
Life coach training that helps you to assist your allies in an “exponential goal setting process.”
Life Coach Training that helps you to ask powerful questions… life coach training that helps you to listen effectively… life coach training that helps you to hold your clients accountable in a way that pushes them but also helps them to feel safe… life coach training that offers you strategies that will open up possibilities… and finally life coach training that helps you help your clients to achieve exponentially more than they ever thought possible.
And again… that’s why your current and future clients need YOU!
They need you to help them to see beyond what’s been done… and help them to move into what is possible!
Make sense?
Would like a few tips on how to do this?
Or… are you someone who is thinking about becoming a life coach… or you’re thinking about training to be a life coach yourself. Well… we have a free mini-course that might just help you to sort through the decision of whether life coaching is for you or not. You can click here to find out more about that free course.
Either way… please join us in helping people to move beyond “incremental goal setting” to achieve a life full of exponential growth and possibilities!
Lastly…
Have people that you met with been on the receiving end of “incremental goal setting?” How might you describe this phenomenon to a potential ally? How might you describe the “exponential goal setting” that’s possible when someone is working with an effective life coach? Click comments and let us know. We’d love to hear from you.
In the meantime, keep dreaming BIG and helping others to do the same,
Mitch Matthews
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