“Mind is the Master power that moulds and makes,
And Man is Mind, and evermore he takes”
– James Allen in As A Man Thinketh
As human beings, we are bestowed with an inner knowing that enables us to consciously choose the
course of our lives. Like a ship’s weather monitoring system, this guidance is ever present to you, the
Captain at the wheel, to sail through everyday life. The question then is, why do we find it so difficult
to make the right choices, to navigate masterfully, not just in rough waters but even when the sea is
calm?
Say, you are about to go to the gym or have a critical work assignment to close or an urgent errand
to run and at that very moment, you happen to pick up your cellphone and look at a YouTube
notification. A voice in your mind tells you of your task at hand but one glance at the video feed
lights up your eyes and another voice says, just watch this one video and by now, you know what
happens next. In Timothy Gallwey’s “Inner Game of Tennis”, he writes about this back and forth
mental game we play and labels these voices as Self1 & Self2.
Now imagine the same dilemma, when it is time to make life altering changes, like a business
purchase, marriage or buying a house. Or maybe you want to rid someone or something damaging
from your life.
At that point, how would it feel to have developed the ability to bank on your own mental and
emotional acumen to decide effectively? How empowering to know that you played this game so
well that those voices turned into Consultant1 & Consultant2 or in other words you created your
own inner coach.
This is where life coaching comes in.
When preparing for my coaching certification, a pre-requisite was to complete one hundred
coaching hours and to accomplish this, I could employ the services of other coaches at various stages
of their own certification. I consider this period to be one of the most elevating experiences of my
life. Two weeks come to mind, where I spoke to five different coaches, to whom I poured out all the
challenges that I had faced since childhood. And as a past life regressionist, the universe kindly
connected me to spiritual coaches too, with whom I shared predicaments from previous lives. I
remember telling a friend that it felt as if five doctors had administered care to different wounds and
I slowly and steadily gained healing. I felt so fortunate to get the opportunity to open up and share
my anxieties and issues with non-judgmental, supportive and encouraging individuals who had
nothing but the best intentions for me. Even after so many years as an executive coach, I was
wonderfully reminded of the power of sharing, deep questioning and planning.
Dear reader, I cite this example to bring to life the fact that your inner coach also needs a voice of
reason to build itself. Of course, you do not need five coaches. But there are times in life when our
inner coach, like a phone battery has just one bar charged and needs to power up to fully support us.
I have worked with over 500 individuals over the last 10 years, from varying backgrounds. As a
coach, it is highly satisfying to observe clients have clarity of thought a-ha moments and take action
during the coaching process but the most fulfilling part is to witness the development of their own
voice of reason, mental fortitude and emotional resilience.
Once your inner coach is powered up, your thoughts crystallize more easily, the decision making
process is clearer and you will find that you have a willing and able partner and teacher within who is
always working on your behalf.
Allow yourself to initiate this process through reflection and self-management. As a practice, find a
quiet corner at the start of the day where you and your inner coach have the space to consult each
other and remember to journal takeaways to refer later during the day. This is an enriching way to
begin self-empowerment and will act as a strong lead in to working with a life coach.
I wish you all the best in this journey, as I quote Mahatma Gandhi who once said
“A Man is but a product of his thoughts. What he thinks, he becomes.”