Life Coach for the Knobs

Why I Became a Life Coach

This is why I became a life coach: because people are knobs and I like turning knobs. Before you take offense at this perceived judgment of mine, just bear with me. Let me explain.

“I like turning knobs” is the most bottom line statement I could come up with. It’s a perfect metaphor too. At first I thought it was because I like to help people and I’m a good listener. That’s only part of it.

I have an insatiable appetite to try to figure things out and life coaching provides endless opportunities to figure things out. But it’s not the life coach who does the figuring; it’s the client. It’s not the life coach who has all the answers; it’s the client. Only the client knows what is best for the client.

The life coach holds the space for the process to unfold and for the answers to be heard. Turning the knobs adjusts the tuning; it turns the volume up or down; it clears the static out of the way. Turning the knob creates the space and amplifies the listening.

The bottom line is that it’s about the process itself. It’s beyond getting answers or achieving goals; they are the byproduct of the process.

We are intelligent enough creatures with the resources to achieve our goals. We don’t need to be fixed. A lot of people come to coaching believing there is something “wrong” with them.

We can collect answers, build skills, practice communication and heal old wounds through choosing new perspectives. But in all honesty I’ve begun to see life coaching as entertainment. Seriously. Simply.

I believe that when we are entertained we are engaged. The trying stops. The fear of failure or even success, for that matter, stops. I never know what is going to be revealed in a coaching session. The spontaneity is the entertainment. It’s brilliant. We’re brilliant!

When we are entertained we are fully present in the listening. When that happens the barriers come down. We become more like children; experimenting, curious, playful… learning; not achieving. Learning.

Life Coaching for the Big Kidz

Children are pretty good at entertaining themselves. As most parents will agree, they are highly curious and eager to learn. But as we grow into adulthood we lose this way of being.

I’ve been working with a new process of life coaching where I encourage clients to work with metaphors. It is called Symbolic Modelling.

I love it! It is like a game where both coach and client are playing off each other. Only difference is that it’s not about winning or losing. It’s about the experience. That’s what life is anyway… experience.

Metaphors are the pictures that are worth a thousand words. Tiny packages that are chocked full of wisdom. Wisdom that is revealed to us as we go through the process.

During a Symbolic Modelling session I will repeat your words back to you in the exact manner you speak them, followed by a question. Repeating your words back to you lets you know you’ve been heard. As you hear the words reflected back to you, the knob turns. You begin to adjust your channel.

You receive prompts from within yourself. It’s like an artist doing a painting or a writer writing a book. They have something they want to express; something inside that needs to be let out. Through the process of symbolic modelling, information is revealed, packed in the form of metaphors; pictures that tell a story.

During Symbolic Modelling clients actually sit back and watch the pictures being revealed to them. They don’t have to try. It just happens. And in that allowing of the process to unfold is where the information is revealed. It’s where you step into your process; your movie.

It doesn’t happen overnight. It happens gradually; in a way that we can grow with it and not control it. Like we are captured by a good movie or a good book. You’ll notice that the process continues between coaching sessions as you find yourself more open and engaged in your thoughts.

“What lies behind us and what lies before us are small matters compared to what lies within us.”

—Ralph Waldo Emerson

Special Promotion

Starting on March 1st my goal is to accumulate 100 hours of coaching using Symbolic Modelling. The first 25 hours will be free of charge. The next 25 hours will be at a reduced rate and so on in groups of 25 hours, until the quota of 100 hours has been reached.

After 100 hours of coaching, regular rates will apply. Long distance phone charges are paid by the client.

The first 25 hours are on a first come, first served basis and cannot be booked as a package. Only one session can be booked at a time and each client can book a maximum of three free sessions over the period of one month. Contact Davina if you are interested.

I hope you’re ready to be entertained; to hear your story. You are after all, the star :-D

Photo Credit: Klaireebearr

Tagged as: Life Coaching, metaphor, symbolic modelling