It is The Start That Stops Most People by Cindy Stradling CSL, CPC

Making any change is a challenge, whether it is a change in a personal habit, a career path change, or a change in an organization. However, it is only through change that individuals and companies are able to grow and develop, which means the discomfort in stepping off the beaten path in a new direction is always a bit uncomfortable.

The beginning of any change is a starting point. This means assessing where you are today and where you want to go in the future. Without a clear plan and vision for the endpoint, change can seem like a never-ending journey, and this creates a challenge in even getting started.

Other people may suffer from “paralysis by analysis.” These are the people that have to have a myriad of factors all in the right place before they can start to make a change. They tend to analyze everything and find items or factors that must be implemented before they can begin. Perhaps not surprisingly, this list of factors seems to grow exponentially with the challenge at hand. Analyzing every last detail becomes the reason not to start.

How Coaches Help People to Start

One of the most effective methods to overcome the challenge of getting started in making a change is to work with a coach. Coaches can specialize in different areas, including resilience coaching, executive coaching, and leadership coaching, to name just a few.

A coach provides a highly engaging, confidential, and interactive process to work with the individual as a collaborator in making change. Coaches use a variety of different tools to help people to understand where they are and where they want to go in their personal and professional careers.

Coaches work one-on-one with clients to help the individual to understand her or his motivation, goals, and to develop a plan of action. The coach does not design the path the client takes, but helps to motivate, explore, analyze, and reflect on the best possible options and opportunities to achieve the individual goals.

The Coach as a Motivator

The role of a coach is also to challenge a client to help to make a change. In many cases, coaches are keen observers of the differences between what people say and what they do, helping individuals to make significant paradigm shifts in their thinking and their behavior around reaching their goals.

Getting started often seems overwhelming. The coach assists the client in organizing thoughts and setting big goals as well as milestones along the way. Having a partner in making a change helps to make the discomfort in change more comfortable. It is also an effective way to streamline and accelerate progress through a well-designed set of goals and plans.