Does Making Progress in Coaching Require a Large Investment of Time?
Are you considering working with a coach, but concerned that it may require a large investment of time?
A prospective client posed this question to me: “I’m all consumed by work and family right now, and don’t really have spare time. How much of a time commitment would be necessary on my end (outside of our scheduled calls) in order for me to make meaningful progress?”
It’s a great question. Anyone considering making a financial investment in coaching will want to know what other commitments will be necessary to yield the full value of coaching. Making progress in coaching doesn’t necessarily require any extra time beyond the time you spend in coaching sessions, which may be as little as two hours per month. There are no required readings, no papers to write. What it does require is a commitment to reflection, conscious intention, and motivation to take action in support of your goals and vision. This makes coaching a very good modality for people who have a high level of demands. Coaching gives you a space to slow down, reflect, and deepen your insight into your patterns of thinking, reacting, and behaving. This awareness serves as the basis for clarifying outcomes you’d like to achieve, but may not otherwise have the mental space to envision or pursue successfully in the midst of everything you’re handling right now and while experiencing stress or exhaustion.
The way I practice it, coaching is a supportive process through which you find the motivation and means to invest your attention, energy, and time in what matters most to you. My observation and the consistent feedback from my clients is that they generally leave a coaching session feeling more centered and having more clarity and motivation to move forward than they had at the outset of the session. This is not to say that coaching doesn’t involve moments of discomfort; deep reflection often reveals aspects of ourselves that we weren’t fully in touch with and aren’t completely comfortable with. A skilled coach will guide you in a process of integration, helping you to feel stronger, more capable, and often happier and more alive.
Certain coaching goals will require a substantial time commitment. For example, if you are working with a coach to help you launch a business or write a book, you will clearly need to invest time in doing the work required to bring those things to fruition. Making progress toward just about any coaching goal will involve thinking differently about how you allocate your time and energy. But coaching needn’t be overwhelming to the overwhelmed. In fact, it’s often just what you need to find your center, clarify what’s most important to you, and take steps toward bringing your vision to life.
