Coaching can enable doctors to find their own way forward to a more balanced and happier life. This is what coaching can do for you if you are a doctor who is wondering about coaching and feeling hesitant about hiring a coach because you don’t really understand how a coach might be useful:
A coach can:
- Motivate you to move forward and do what you want to do by encouraging you to take the first step and then some more, especially for those things you have been procrastinating about for some time.
- Listen to your concerns about possible courses of action and then by asking you challenging questions make you think afresh about what’s happening in your life and make the decision that’s best for you at this time.
- Challenge your beliefs about the way things are and the ways they could be, by helping you question long-held ideas which no longer serve you.
- Be on your side, supporting you in whatever course of action you decide to take without an agenda of their own. For example, colleagues might be shocked to hear you say you might leave the medical profession, or would like to spend more time with your friends and family, whereas the coach will help you consider alternatives you might not have thought about before and then motivate you to do what you need to do.
- Be in contact with you on a regular basis either on the telephone, email or Skype thus avoiding lengthy journeys for face to face meetings.
- Enable you to clarify your goals so that you can make decisions and take action in relation to challenges old or new, so that you make a difference to your life.
- Teach you skills you can use if you are faced with similar challenges in the future. For instance you could learn ways to communicate more effectively and use what you learn when faced with a similar situation in the future.
Thus coaching can be useful for doctors like you. But only you can take that first step of making contact, discussing what you hope to achieve and then making a commitment to the process.
When you take that first step, which means you may feel you are stepping out of your comfort zone. However when you do this you are embarking on your personal journey and you will quickly find your very own prescription for change.
