Practice, practice, practice! And by doing so, I believe we get to really
comprehend the theories discussed in the class. For example, yesterday, while I was practicing with a peer of mine during the session, I was the coach and started asking questions; halfway through questioning, I realized we were ending up somewhere else in the discussion, and I had to bring the questions back to the main goal! After reviewing the manual this morning, I realized I still needed to utilize the SMART goal setting during my session entirely. Now that I have had a chance to read it while remembering what was missed from my session, it makes much better sense, as I can feel the lack of SMART questions. Using the open-ended questions will also allow the client to elaborate more; as coaches, we will have a chance to bring their answers to specific answers from the ambiguity.
We discussed the NLP communication model, which is fascinating; learning about it makes you see everyone from another angle. It’s so interesting to know that our brains work as a factory while receiving data through our five senses. Not only will we take the information through visual, auditory, kinesthetic, olfactory, and gustatory ways, but we will also delete, distort, and generalize the thoughts without even being aware of doing so on so many levels. Not two people will interpret the same thing after receiving the same information. I learned that the most unpredictable thing in life is behavior! Behavior is projection; how we project is how we perceive! We create our own reality in our heads, which, to me, is very fascinating. The NLP communication model focuses on how external events will turn into internal events after passing through a filtering system such as Meta programs, Values, Beliefs, Attitudes, Memories, and Decisions. After responding and reacting to the filtering system, we function by deleting, distorting, and generalizing external factors.
“I am another you. You are another me” is a Mayan Greeting that I find
very close to what Coleman refers to in the Emotional Intelligence topic. Monitoring myself, now that I am thinking, I have a good level of social awareness as well as relationship management at work; however, what I will need to work on would be primarily self-management and personal relationship management. As Dr. Haris said during the session, “The ability to control emotions could be good or bad.” I never thought that controlling my emotions a lot would be wrong! He made perfect sense
that if you don’t vent it out, it could come out of your body in the form of a disease or another harm to the body. I understand that keeping calm all the time is not the right thing to do; I don’t need to become hysterical while venting out; just talking it out will help.
Apparently, there is always more to learn about listening! I thought
activating the listening muscles. But it just gets more and more interesting as we dig deeper. I had no idea I was downloading by just hearing sounds without paying attention. In factual listening, I usually answer a closed question with an open answer and elaborate on many things. Sometimes, I hear: Get to the point, Ramona! It makes me feel as if I am talking too much, the listener doesn’t have patience, or there is a lack of interest in knowing more about me. I learned that the factual listener is only after the information they asked for earlier, nothing more, nothing less, to the point. I am definitely an empathic listener, and it is good to know what more to work on. I will be transformed after this course, which will make me happy. Generative listening is the key to becoming a coach, and I say it will take a lot of practice partnering with the client, listening to what is emerging now, and not having the fear of the unknown or what to ask next! It takes bravery, confidence, intuition, and practice.
In conclusion, since taking the CTA CPC course, I have started working on improving myself, which is my number one goal. There are some areas I need to work on to improve myself that I was just aware of. Becoming a personal/life coach suits my character more than other types. Of course, there is always room for improvement, and I try other coaching types also, but I like to start with that. With the help of this course, the materials provided, and my own research and practice, I will level up from conscious competent coach to conscious competent coach and, hopefully, with effort, will arrive at unconscious competent coach. I need to start putting the word out so that my family members, friends, and colleagues can start approaching me for sessions so I will also have a chance to work on my log-in hours, practice more, and get a few steps ahead with my goal.
