By: Kim Green

The end has come. Foundations is over, but it’s just the beginning. It is so true that Coaching is transformative. Just the word seems to evoke and provoke positive changes. It seems just being in the conversation of transformation on a weekly basis can make things happen. I really witnessed miracles over the past months and I do want to share.

In fear of sounding like a crazed televangelist, I will say it again, I witnessed miracles with my own eyes. They were not the mystical type of miracles; not the preacher-hit-you-on-the-forehead-and-you-are-healed miracle, but the type of miracles that only coaches have the courage to live into.

One of my classmates had a dream of owning a place for those who need quiet, peace and time for reflection. And just before the end of the class, this idea that seemed like a “pipe dream” happened. Over the weeks of the course, he started looking for the land, prepping his family, seeking financial options, etc. And just before the class ended, it was done; land purchased, family onboard and his dream begins.

Another of my classmates had taken time off to care for her family members but was ready to get back to work. She had started a search for a high level position, in her new city where she had no contacts. The week before our last class, she accepted a great position and back to work she goes.

On a personal note, when I started the class, my biggest woe was how to motivate my ever-lethargic teenage son. I have sought coaching from a couple of parental coaches who specialize in families with children who have ADHD. Miracle. And, thanks to a lot of coaching from my peers, something new and promising has shifted in me, causing my relationship with him to greatly improve and because as I shifted, he has shfted. He has actually started doing his schoolwork! At last!

I consider all these to be miraculous because I know the struggles that each of us has grown through to get to where we are. Together, in class and in our peer groups, we have shared our fears, our hopes and our dreams. We listened, we coached and we cared about each other. After each coaching session, we all felt better, supported and a little closer to the outcome that we wanted. Coaching works. It’s a process that honors each of us and our unique intuition.

All of these things that each of us brought to the table were possible. Doable and within reach but when we brought them to the conversation, that was not so. I see now that the process of looking at things from all angles, being honest about what we want and feel and asking the important questions is what makes everything possible. Coaching is transformative and I am so excited to have seen it in action.

There are so many other miracles like this that occurred in our group. I was just not fortunate enough to get to know the rest of the class as well as my peer group and I can say that from the small to the major, these shifts in our lives are all a testament of the power of coaching and being coached. We’ve got the power.

On the Tuesday of the last week of class, our discussion was the perfect way to sum up the weeks that we had inadvertently created miracles in our lives and in the lives of others. The topic was Love. Lynn reminded us of our good fortune, that we had entered a loving career. She said it’s a career that lets people change. Being a coach shows us that change is possible in every corner of our lives, whether we are shifting how one thinks or lifting other from their doldrums -- if we acknowledge the power of love, everything is possible. “There is energy in love,” Lynn said, so beautifully. That is what I have walked away with.

Coaching is love energy – it’s like a ball moving forward unable to ever roll back. I drew so much of this energy from my classmates as I watched us all grow through our challenges from week to week. I can feel coaching deep down in my soul. I breathe easier knowing that I have a new intangible force within me, which is a new penetrating manifestation of love.

That Love class was a tough one to follow. Perhaps it should have been the other way around. Nonetheless, on Thursday, Lynn answered last minute questions about next steps. Lynn answered questions that were pertinent to things we needed to know and do to go toward accreditation. Once that was done, we all just reveled in what we had just accomplished and all that we will. After our imaginary champagne toast, Lynn sobered us up quickly with important information about caring for ourselves as coaches. She warned us about the symptoms of burnout including resentment, irritability and loss of humor. There were many other signs, but those struck me the hardest. We must be careful to not let that happen.

I guess my favorite part of the last class is when she left us with an idea that I hope to incorporate with my own clients going forward. She asked us to create a list of 10 Daily Delicious Habits. In other words, ESP – Extreme Self Pampering. So, I thought of 10 things that I want to do for myself to make me “a happy energized coach,” which is what the world needs most from all of us.

Here’s my list:

1. Tell the people in my life that I love them
2. Eat a vegetable with every meal
3. Exercise and stretch my body everyday
4. Eat only when I am hungry
5. Laugh at least once an hour
6. Drink water instead of anything else
7. Compliment someone daily
8. Throw away things that I don’t need
9. Give things I don’t need to someone who needs them
10. Strive to be brilliant, competent, creative and smart, just like my clients already are.

Kim Green is a writer and a student at The Institute for Life Coach Training. In this blog series, she has documented her experience as she goes through the Foundational training. To read about Kim's journey, click here.