A Coaching Power Tool created by Ndeye Seck Sanchez
(Professional Coach, SENEGAL)
Introduction:
What a topic! How many among us are not in the present moment? How many are stressing out because of the future? How many of us are aware of the situation and would work on it through coaching? A minority! What a pity!.
Coaching can be a very good means to not only overcome this issue but also help in switching the actual tendency.
We all know there is an evident link between the past, the present and the future. However, as you may know in coaching the past stays in the past and does not get involved in the process and therefore we will focus on the present and the future.
As a coach, we can help the client to be or to live more and more in the present moment even if staying in the present is not evident. The role here for a coach is to accompany the client on his/her journey from the present to the future .The present will define the future. The present influences the future. The present can change the future.
The coach will help in clarifying ideas of the present before the client‘s plan his/her objectives or future.
Self-Application:
Being in the present:
It is living your life at the present moment at the fullest. It is also understanding that the present is not the future and the future is not the present. As Horace said
Carpe Diem seize the day.
While coaching, we can notice that most people are consciously or unconsciously stuck in the past. The client talks about the past often and we as coaches are listening actively because we need to understand better the client’s story and also the current situation. As Fabian Black said: “The fact is you can’t escape the past by moving on, it just moves with you”.
As coaches we are always keeping in mind that the past stays in the past therefore we will help client in moving forward and changing his/her perspectives. The past in coaching is a means to help the coach in better knowing the client but also linking it up to the client’s present. This can be a good opportunity for the client to understand that past choices are done and others options are possible.
Henry David Thoreau describes well how to live the present:
You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, and find your eternity in each moment.
Supporting the client to be in the present moment means for a coach to:
- know the client’s story by active listening
- understand the client without judgement to create a space of trust which is crucial in a coaching relationship,
- Discover the client’s true self, values, beliefs, strengths, UAC, projects, And things that matter to him/her,
- Help the client to be aware of the actual situation and where he/she stands presently. This can be done by a mirror effect,
- Make him/her accept the current situation and therefore he/she should be able to move forward, change or go to any direction in his/ her life.
- Make the client take responsibility in the present moment knowing he or she has choices ahead.
- Empower and support the client to set objectives and a vision in life.
When the current situation is clearly understood from both parties the coach and the client get involved in the future in an easy and evident ways.
How can we help the client to be in the future?
In thinking as John Maxwell says in his book Developing the Leader Within You:
Success is the progressive realization of a predetermined goal.
Being in the future:
It means being in the next present moment and plan for the future moment. It is also not being in the present moment in all you do and have your mind somewhere in the future. The limit is the sky with Coaching. According to Gifford Pinchot: “The vast possibilities of our great future will become realities only if we make ourselves responsible for the future.