A Friendly Push: Jackie the Life Coach

I received an e-mail from a personal life coach the other day.

Jackie Harder of Key Dynamics said she'd read my story and thought  I might be able to benefit from a little outside motivation.

Up till this point in my life, most of my life coaching has come from my parents. I've never before solicited help, nor has it ever been offered. But I find the idea intriguing; I often feel my best laid plans end up falling by the wayside, and that they're not very well laid out at all, anyway.

A general procrastinator by trade, I've got to admit that such a relationship could improve my overall productivity. Still, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't skeptical. I am, after all, a self-described realist (which means, apparently, that I'm a pessimist. Go figure.) I've been to a therapist or two -- which seems like the closest thing to a life coach in my experiences -- and I've never found it to be very helpful at all.

Jackie Harder had this to say:

"Some people see a correlation to therapy. There is one, but not what people
think. Therapy is the antibiotic; coaching is the vitamin. Therapy helps you
attain insight; coaching says, 'Great insight! Now what are you going to do
about it?' "

I'm not entirely certain I see the difference. I suppose a truly good therapist should really be helping you to make changes to your life based on insights you have in session. I just don't think most therapists work like that. In my experience, they have been mostly full of air.

So I've got to give it a try. If my new friend Jackie can help me in some way that too many therapists have been unable to, then it will be worth it.

Comments

[Aisha]

Sounds like a good move to me, Bray. It might help ... and it couldn't hurt, right? It's nice to get a little insight from someone not so connected in the familiar sense.

Keep on truckin',kiddo. But foremost, maintain a positive spirit. Every crisis is followed by an incredible opportunity for growth. You're on your way to something even better.

[jackie]

i also recommend a book called 'getting things done' by david allen. he revolutionized the 'seven habits of highly effective people' by letting a person organize from the bottom up, instead of the top down. in effect, you don't need to create a hierarchical structure in order to define your goals. rather, start taking notes with 'tags' and the structure will reveal itself. it does take discipline, but it's worth it.

-jackie (not the life coach)