In the spirit of the Olympics, today I’m sharing a story from childhood. I spent a good chunk of my youth training to one day be in the Olympics. I specialized in Giant Slalom and Super Giant Slalom on a team in Lake Tahoe. We were good and we knew it, and in full disclosure, I was pretty cocky.
I had two incredible ski coaches, Mike Spaulding and Chuck Frye. One day, at a competition, Chuck reminded me to take off my jacket before competing, and I went against his better judgment. I had been on a big wining streak and I didn’t think it would affect my performance. I was cold and I had beaten the guys I was about to race against anyway.
As soon as I entered the course I knew I had made a BIG mistake. I could feel how slow I was. When I hit the finish line, I had lost by a couple hundredths of a second. In that moment, I knew I should’ve listened to my coach. For the first time, I realized the importance of the great coaches I had in my life.
In life and business, it’s so important to have somebody that’s been there to help you along. Every time I do a LifePlan, I talk about the importance of not only having a coach or mentor in your life, but being a coach or mentor for someone that’s not as far along as you are. That’s why I do what I do!
I’ve been leading and coaching people to grow in life and business for almost two decades. If you’re interested, check out the Coaching page. I coach people in a wide variety of industries – from leaders to entrepreneurs to people that want to be leaders and entrepreneurs.
Chris,
I initially was hesitant towards hiring a coach because growing up my dad was my only coach until I got to high school. At that time I can honestly say I didn’t have very good coaching experiences. However, what I have learned from our coaching sessions has been invaluable and I know that is necessary part of my growth.
Speaking of…let’s talk soon!
I appreciate that brother! It’s a blast working with you on the incredible future you have!
Coaching provides a mindset. Very few people work as hard as they did as when they were being coached athletically. The same is true for all other situations in life.
CLO, did some of the cockiness come because the coaches wanted you to feel confident? Confidence is a huge benefit of coaching.
As a former basketball coach, I helped young women navigate from being totally clueless (at the start of our high school program) to actually becoming reasonably good. The value of coaching is paramount, as a coach is one who helps another sift through various situations and how to steer through them…..good post!
I totally get the analogy between coaching in sports and coaching in life and business. I have hesitated to do it because, as my friends at Launch Conference say “you sell tickets”. This means you are now accountable for doing what you committed to do. You will have someone on your corner, but they will be pushing you to do your best. LifePlan is the next step for me. I need to know which direction to take and I’d rather have the support of a great coach than try to figure it out on my own. I love DIY projects, but I doubt that getting perspective on life is one of them.