Coaching Corner by Able Coach
By Dr Shan Narayanan
Hello all, I have been writing on Child Health issues for the past four years. “Change is the only constant in life,” as the saying goes, I will now be penning about Coaching. Coaching in itself helps one to bring changes for the better in their personal and professional lives.
Our life is a journey. At times the path is straight and clear. At other times it can be winding with bumps and potholes. As my journey progressed, I wanted meaning and more out of my life.
As my mind was filled with thoughts about change and moving forward, my path crossed with Dr Roopleen, a Motivational Counsellor in Google. Two of her sayings had a significant impact on me.
The first quote: “If you have a dream, don’t just sit there. Gather courage to believe that you can succeed and leave no stone unturned to make it a reality.”
The second quote: “Don’t let mental blocks control you. Set yourself free. Confront your fear and turn the mental blocks into building blocks.”
It appears I have seen the light at the end of the tunnel. I realised it was important to have courage, to confront fear and a paradigm shift in perspective to achieve what I wanted.
The light I had seen diminished as I was clogged with the thoughts of how to develop the skills that Dr Roopleen was talking about.
Well where do we go for answers? Of course…. Mr/Dr Google. Mr/Dr Google searches came out with Counselling, Mentoring, Consultation and finally Coaching.
I searched further about each modality. Counselling looked very much into the past. Mentoring was sharing experience and Consultation was an opinion based on facts.
Coaching was defined as, “A deep learning partnership with systematic steps to empower a person to gain courage, capability and commitment to achieve their goals in the most fulfilling way”.
The words that caught my attention were “partnership”,” empower” and “most fulfilling way”.
This meant to me coaching : takes my view into account, works on my inner self to remove my self limiting belief and hence empowers me to achieve satisfying and fulfilling success.
I knew immediately, this is what I needed to find meaning and more out of my life. Instead of finding a coach, I went a step ahead and certified myself as a Coach. I then self-coached myself.
I acquired my Certificate of Professional Coach under the pupilship with Master Coach Dr Michael Heah, of Corporate Coach Academy, Kuala Lumpur. I am taking further certification with the International Coaching Federation.
In my subsequent articles, I will be focusing on “What is Coaching”, it’s benefits and the important role it plays in personal, professional and leadership development.
