A Coaching Model Created by David Moseman
(Life and Health Coach, UNITED STATES)
The ABLE model
A: Aware of what you are and want to become
B: Belief in what you can do
L: Levity relaxes and enjoys the trip of life
E: Expression let the world know about your goals.
In life we often find our abilities change. When we are young we naturally grow and mature our abilities increase. With schooling they increase even further. As adults new things come up. The younger people only have to learn the new. They don’t have to unlearn the old. As we age our abilities change even further. Then illness and injury can reduce our abilities even further.
How can we keep ourselves ABLE?
This is the task of the ABLE coaching model. It evolved from my work with people facing disabilities. It seeks to overcome the barriers that prevent these people from living full and abundant lives.
AWARENESS of who you are and what you want to become begins this journey. When a disabling condition strikes, your self-image shatters. In a short period you go from doing everything to debating if you can do most things. Injuries and acute illnesses do this most abruptly, but chronic illnesses do this as well.
Thus the first question arises, what can I do now?
When you break your leg, it is obvious that you can’t stand and walk. At least until you get crutches or a walking cast. Such an injury causes other changes in our bodies. The damaged tissues release materials that result in depression and fatigue. The pain of the fracture usually gets treated with medications. These medications dull one’s mental abilities. The energy and nutritional requirements for bone healing differ from our norm.
These are just the physical consequences of a broken leg. There are psychological and social consequences as well. The memory of the event that broke our leg will be with us forever. Others expected us to do things we now won’t do. As we return to our past roles we will find some filled in our absence. Will we be welcomed back into those roles?
The medical system with it’s’ rehabilitation program restores the physical function. The psycho and social function must be addressed by the individual. Here a coach can help.
Coaching can direct you to various assessment tools and help you understand them. Coaching with its focus on the future starts with dreaming and then fits you into that dream. Thus the coach helps you become AWARE of what you now can do and what you want to become.
BELIEF is necessary to live into those dreams. Without belief we neither try nor succeed.
We learned to believe in ourselves over time. With coaching we can set achievable goals and celebrate the achievements. None of us learned to drive a car by getting behind the wheel and heading out on the Interstate. We first learned how to adjust the seat and mirrors. Then we turned on the engine. In the same way we must restart our lives in our new bodies with slow and simple tasks. When someone who learned to live with a body similar to yours accompanies you, you know it can be done. You will BELIEVE.
LEVITY makes everything go better. There are many frustrations with a disability. Learning to laugh at life and yourself puts those frustrations in perspective. We come to see life as the journey it is. We didn’t get here overnight and there is still time. We will visit places we did not plan. We did not plan to be here. We will learn to understand others and forgive. We will get help from others.
EXPRESSING our needs lets others know how best to help. If we don’t let others know our leg might be broken they will try to stand us up. That can make matters worse.
To express our needs we first have to be aware of them. That requires us to think the process thru before we try. Walking with crutches differs from walking on legs. Crutches don’t have knees or muscles to flex them. Thus we need a wider space to travel. We can get help moving objects out of our path. Others don’t need such a wide path.
Thus we become AWARE, BELIEVE, LAUGH AND EXPRESS our needs to walk the path of life.
Do you need a coach to help you become more ABLE?
Cpbywrite 2015, David Moseman