Life is full of challenges and uncertainties. Sometimes, we may face situations that test our ability to cope and adapt, such as losing a job, going through a divorce, work challenges, or dealing with a health crisis. These stressful events can affect our mental and emotional wellbeing, and even lead to more serious problems like anxiety, depression, or burnout.
But what if we could learn to bounce back from adversity and thrive in the face of difficulties? What if we could develop a mindset and a set of skills that enable us to overcome obstacles or even prevent them in the first place and achieve our goals? This is where coaching can help.
So how is coaching linked to wellbeing?
Coaching is a personalised, one-to-one intervention that supports you to discover your strengths, clarify your values, boost your performance, and pursue your aspirations. Put this into a working environment, and coaching becomes a powerful tool for success. A coach is not a mentor or a consultant, but more a partner who listens to you, asks you powerful questions, challenges you to grow, and holds you accountable for your actions.
Instead of reacting once challenges have become too much for us to cope with, coaching can help us reduce stress and prevent resilience and wellbeing problems before they become an issue – an investment, especially when faced with a turbulent time of intense change.
Here are 4 great examples of ways coaching can make a difference:
- Developing a positive outlook: A quality coach can help you identify and appreciate what is working well in your life, and how you can build on your existing resources. They can also help you reframe negative thoughts and emotions, cultivating a mindset of optimism and gratitude. By doing so, you can reduce the impact of stress on your wellbeing and increase your happiness and satisfaction – whether at work, or in your personal life.
- Helping you set and achieve meaningful goals: Exploring what matters most to you is a key part of coaching, as it enables you to consider these and how you can align your actions with your purpose. A coach can also help you break down your goals into manageable steps, monitor your progress, and celebrate your achievements. This in turn can drastically enhance your motivation, confidence, and self-efficacy.
- Coping with challenges: Having the space to recognise and overcome the barriers that prevent you from reaching your potential is considered a luxury – but just imagine if we all were able to do this. The result is to develop coping strategies, such as problem-solving, seeking support, or practicing self-care. This allows us to improve our resilience, adaptability, and emotional regulation – qualities to help us remain on top during difficult and challenging times.
- Learning and growing: Coaching enables you to reflect on your experiences and extract valuable lessons from them. This is key to helping you to acquire new skills, knowledge, or habits that enhance your performance and wellbeing. By doing so, you can foster your curiosity, creativity, and lifelong learning.
We know from solid research of workplace coaching, that it has positive effects on resilience and wellbeing, in turn delivering various enhanced outcomes such as performance, skills, coping, work attitudes, and goal-directed self-regulation. We often see reduced absenteeism, turnover, and stress in the workplace as a result.
Coaching is not a quick fix or a magic bullet, but more a process that requires commitment, effort, and openness from both the coach and the coachee – also known as a coaching culture. Adopting a coaching culture can be a rewarding and transformative experience that can change your life for the better. I wonder what would happen if we changed our mindset from reactive to proactive and looked at coaching as something we invest in before we realise we have an issue?
If you’d like to learn more about the support we provide for organisations and individuals in coaching and developing a coaching culture, or anything else relating to People Development, visit our website or give us a call on 01491 414010.
