By: Christa Coletti

What I’ve always loved about life coaching is that it’s co-creative. As a coach, I grow along with my client. Every interaction is an opportunity for us to grow and see the world in new ways. Through this co-creation, coaching has helped me grow as a person, and one of the greatest areas of personal growth I’ve experienced through coaching is compassion.

Those interested in coaching are probably already very compassionate people. However, we all have blind spots, aren’t 100% in all areas of our lives. I have found that the tools I acquired in my coaching studies have benefited me in these ways:

• I am more successful in managing relationships.
• I am better equipped addressing conflict in my personal life.
• Coaching frees up more personal energy for my professional pursuits.
• I am very motivated to share these tools with others, both personally and professionally.
• In turn, my friends and clients free up more energy to focus on their lives' passions.

For example, I tend bar part-time. I keep up this side job because it allows me to be outdoors at a beach bar, to be active and meet new people. Anyone who has spent any time in the hospitality industry understands that dealing with so many different personalities, both customers and coworkers, is at times difficult and stressful. I have found myself short of patience and awestruck by the audacity and rudeness of others. Coaching has helped me realize that I was coming into each situation with a set of assumptions that were influencing my responses. My coach training has helped me to remain detached and maintain positive affinity towards both coworkers and customers. As a result, I’m reducing my stress levels and remain calm and centered.

Facebook, a necessary tool in the Age of Social Media, creates more challenges for me. Social media creates what I sometimes feel is information overload. I’m subject to the constant opinions of hundreds of others, from elementary, middle, and high school days, to family and extended family. Even my colleagues, coworkers, and the cleaning lady have important and valuable opinions on life, which I am expected to absorb.

My stress rises from the online manifestation of having to deal with hundreds of personalities at once; with some I inevitably disagree. As with my dealings in the “real” world, my coach training allows me to manage my relationships in the virtual world. I keep detached in a positive way, and centered rather than being drawn into an opinion war, which is ultimately futile and drains both time and energy.

The set of valuable tools I learned in my coaching studies continue to be honed as I work with more and more clients. Coaching has bolstered both my personal and professional life in ways I did not foresee, and I am excited about the value it will add to my future endeavors.

Christa is a Professional Life Coach and owner of Vivacious Living. She spent a third of her life in the bustling city of Tokyo, Japan, and focuses on cross-cultural coaching, transitional coaching, coaching those with chronic illnesses, and general life coaching. Create the life you seek! Read more from Christa here: http://www.bevivacious.com