How to understand your coaching needs

Do you have an inkling that you want to make some changes, a touch of dissatisfaction with how things are, and a desire to rewrite what is next? Do you think you need coaching, but you aren’t quite sure where to start? You aren’t alone. I want to give you some tips on how you can pick the area to focus your coaching on. Let’s understand your coaching needs.

By the time clients start to work with me, they have begun to understand the goals they want to work on. Many will have tried different avenues or approaches that haven’t hit the mark. From conversations, informal mentors, and books to copious hours of podcasts, the more you unpick the areas you want to change, it can feel harder to start. Everything feels important; life can feel like a Jenga set, and you worry if you start pulling on the wrong part, it could all fall down. This is often a reason why people don’t start with a coach, as EVERYTHING feels like it needs to be dealt with, so nothing is touched. You may have experienced this decision fatigue before. 

I feel the issue with understanding your priorities, and therefore the best coach or resource to go with, is based on the incorrect belief that our coaching needs exist in silos. This is not the case, and coaching can only work by considering the impact on all the areas of your life. However, you can take steps forward by considering the most urgent issue that you need to work through. This can help you create realistic goals and practical steps to make change happen.

One way of unravelling the layers to life is through the “Wheel of Life” (although it doesn’t have to be a circle!) The following will be a streamlined version, will a sprinkling of The Balance Collective way! 

Over the years, I have seen that life can fall into one of these six areas:

1. Work
2.  Relationships
3.  Health
4.  Wealth
5.  Personal Development
6.  Confidence

How you define each of these areas is up to you. They represent the backbone of most of the areas in life; and to be honest, the majority of the areas that I work on with my clients.  

So, it’s time to get creative with the Wheel of Life. You could create a circle with six sections; you could draw a box or a line. It doesn’t; matter how, just create a visual way of acknowledging what you want to work on. Take a few moments to decide what those titles mean to you and jot down your definition next to each of the categories.

Now we start focusing; if 10 is totally fulfilled, where you have everything the way you want it to be, do and have, and One is unfilled, where would you say you are at this moment in time?

 For each life category, write down what “10” would look like. you can’t get somewhere if you don’t know what the end goal looks like! 

 Then, write down the number you feel you are at the moment.

How to understand your coaching needs

Now, we are going to take a step to work out the FIRST THING you want to work on. Otherwise, you risk goal-setting overwhelm, and end up doing nothing at all!

We are going to do something a little differently, that I have uncovered over the past twenty years, and where I feel that the traditional circle of life falls down. Often the area you think you want to work on, isn’t the area that needs the work!

How to unpick this is simple. First, look at each of the areas and consider what your life would look like if you moved one step forward. If you are on a one, what would it look like to be a three? If you are a seven then what would be it to be an eight? 

You get the drift.

What would you need to BE, DO and HAVE to make that move? Think about the reality of where you are at the moment and where you want to be. This isn’t about starting to make massive plans; don’t start talking yourself into “scary big audacious goals”. These are the ACHIEVABLE steps to get you where you want to be.

By going through this process and paying attention to what these changes will look like, you can start to recognise the area that needs the biggest change. In traditional coaching, with the circle of life, you pick up the areas that have the lowest score. Theoretically, these are the areas that need the most work.

But, hold on, this is not the way we are going to work it. We are going to have a look at the IMPACT of change in your life. 

Work through each of the areas and think about what impact an increase in rating would have for each area. NEXT, consider how the areas interact and connect. Nothing in our life exists in a silo or in isolation. You may have a slightly higher rating for Career than Wealth. In the traditional definition, you would be looking at working on your wealth over a career. Working on them independently.

But in reality, unless you work on your career, you may not impact your money. So, don’t assume the lowest rated is the FIRST area you need to work on. 

By working through this method, you can uncover the area that, if you made a change would make the greatest impact on your life right now. This approach can help you start with who and what you are now, and the time, energy and opportunities that work with your current commitments. When you start to get energised and excited about making a change, then you have understood your current coaching needs. 

If this has uncovered your first step, and you think a career and return to work coach is the way forward, then book a call to understand how we can work together. 

If you know you want a coach, but it’s not me, then follow these tips to understand how to scope out the support that is right for you! 

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