Self-coaching is something all life coaches should be teaching to their clients. Why? The answer is simple: Eventually, all the clients who use life coaches will be on their own. Ultimately, life-coaching is about getting clients to manage their own life and to achieve their goals through their own decisions and actions. Life-coaches should be preparing their clients to make better decisions and develop internal motivation to control aspects of their lives that are truly under their control. That takes both self understanding and forming reasonable goals that are appropriate for each individual. It is a process that goes well beyond encouragement.

 

Some self-coaching approaches define the process of self-coaching as achieving mastery over oneself. The idea of "self-mastery" is certainly appealing, but it implies having a good handle on one's real motivations. Few people challenge their own motivations, and even fewer people challenge their beliefs. One's beliefs about oneself and the world play a large part in forming goals. Our approach directly challenges each participant's motivations and beliefs. And our definition of self-coaching is a bit different. To truly learn how to take control of your life, you have to first understand yourself in ways life coaches seldom teach. You have to understand the many influences that made you the "way" you are and understand why you believe the things you believe. Genetics, early life experiences, your culture and environment, and your beliefs have shaped you and have been absorbed into what counseling and therapy refer to as unconscious influences. The truth is that it is those unconscious influences that become the real stumbling blocks in making the changes you desire.

 

The Freedom To Change™ approach begins by having the client come to truly understand the many things that have shaped his or her life. All of those influences have to be understood and acknowledged. Understanding the differences between things that can be controlled in life and things that are beyond our control is also a crucial step. Clients also need to understand why they want the things they want. What is it that they are trying to achieve with their goals in life? Why are certain goals important, and what are the unconscious influences working against the goals? Why is it that some goals are continually thwarted?

 

In this approach, self-coaching is derived from determining the individual's aspects of what we call the "True Self." It is one's "Higher Self," the person the client is aspiring to become. There is a process that individuals can use to truly visualize and understand what their "Higher or True Self" is. Once you determine the aspirations and motivations of your True Self, appropriate goals are easily formed and motivation to achieve these goals become a natural flow and process. Along the chosen path many situations arise that can lead to frustrated efforts, and clients are asked to look at their higher self and determine what response is appropriate.  In addition, using a simple cognitive-behavioral process to challenge one's beliefs is employed. In essence, self-coaching is using your HIgher or True Self as your mentor.

 

The Freedom To Change™ approach is a workbook based program that employs three separate workbooks, each of which is designed to be used for at least a month. There is a primary book entitled "Freedom To Change" that gives the philosophy and techniques of the method. It is recommended that clients start by reading the main book, but they can start Workbook 1 (The Experience) while reading the main book. They can discuss techniques and issues with a life coach while working through the first 30-day workbook. Then they move to Workbook 2 (The Test). In that workbook the idea is that their goals and aspirations will be tested regularly. We all have a tendency to slip back to old habits and to take the "path of least resistance," so there will be times that many individuals' efforts to change their lives will be frustrated by both unconscious tendencies and external forces. When clients complete that 30-day workbook, they move to the third one (The Process). Here, they come to accept that maintaining control is always going to be a process. Once you are on your True Path, staying on that path will be an ongoing process.

 

Freedom To Change™ is a program suited to virtually all life-coaching approaches and it can be used as a self-help program or as an adjunct to any life-coaching and counseling process. The approach is suitable for clients in virtually any type of treatment program or individuals can use the materials on their own. All of the materials are available on Amazon.

 

The primary text is entitled Freedom To Change.

The Experience is workbook 1.

The Test is workbook 2.

The Process is workbook 3.