Many of our clients think they can’t begin coaching until they have reached a certain point in their development or gone over a certain threshold. They think they need to have achieved a particular level of success before they can begin investing in themselves and trust that they can move to the next stage in their lives.
Although I understand the urge to be successful or to attain certain things before you begin working on the next step, we have no choice except to start wherever we are. Right now. Today. I also understand wanting to look good for your coach. You want to look competent and somewhat together. However, we can put off beginning to change our lives indefinitely if we are waiting for the right time or the right circumstances. If you’re anything like me, you know that as soon as you make a goal, you see the next one, and you put off what you were going to do until you reach that next one. It can become a never ending cycle.
Any big changes you want to make in your life are going to take some time to do well. You’re going to have to do things in stages, smaller goals that add up over time to reaching bigger goals. The decision to begin on a new course can be the hardest one of all. It’s scary to step into the unknown and trust that you are heading in the right direction. It’s difficult to push against the tide and to do things differently than you’ve ever done them before. It’s easy to take a mistake and then doubt your reasons for trying to change in the first place.
Starting where you are sometimes means acknowledging that you aren’t anywhere near where you thought you would be at this time in your life. It also might mean recognizing some truths about yourself that you’d rather not know. Starting where you are means taking a good, hard look at where you are and how you got here and where you are headed. Starting where you are means making the commitment to begin and to stop making excuses.
If you are ready to begin, find a coach you connect with who can work with you to illuminate the path for you. If you aren’t ready to start now, know that a time will come when you are ready, and you will know exactly what you need to do.
