Martin Kettelhut - Executive Coach
What Is Coaching?
The follow videos and article are designed to assist developing an understanding and comfort level with the coaching process. If you are inspired, please pick up the phone or email to arrange an initial discussion with Dr. Kettelhut.
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What
you need for the journey
Since ancient times, in every tradition, we recognize three
aspect of human being: body, mind and consciousness of body
and mind. To go beyond mediocrity and succeed as a human
being, you need to have a healthy body, to quiet the mind,
and to practice whatever you want to excel at for a coach.
We’ve
all been there: you can’t even show up for practice
because you’re not in good health. The health sciences
(fitness, medicine and dietetics) are close allies of coaching.
Similarly,
though, you say you don’t have enough time, that you’re
overwhelmed, and that you’re stressed out. Do you
realize how important it is to quiet the mind? Never underestimate
the power of your mind to wreak havoc on an otherwise healthy
life by clogging it with strife and struggle. Notice in
your life that moments of peace and moments of success often
coincide. The journey--from your being USED by the mind,
to your USING the mind to excel--is the practice of being
still, observing the mind’s machinations, expanding
conscious awareness.
We’ll
gladly recommend methods and courses to support your practicing
quieting the mind. Immediate benefits you will see are:
mental discipline like you’ve never known, much less
reactivity, increased productivity, effectiveness with others,
refreshment of the childlike awareness of love and enjoyment
of life.
Let’s
talk about coaching specifically
Industrial
cultures are currently rediscovering the importance of a
coach to those who excel. Coaching has always been a part
of non-mass-produced success, whether in the form of a mentor,
a master-apprentice relationship, or a sensei. In our culture,
we see this in the arts, sports, and crafts.
Coaching
is not for everyone; it’s for people who are up to
something, people who want to excel and succeed at it. And—by
the way—there’s nothing wrong with not being
up to something.
From
the outside, coaching looks like help at making choices
about what to do and how. Actually, this is advice, which
is great; however, you probably get plenty of that without
it making any difference. Just because it worked for Joe-Success-Story
to do it only eating grapefruit doesn’t mean that’ll
work for you and what you’re dealing with. It’s
not about knowing more or doing something different; it’s
about doing what you already do differently.
What
makes a difference in coaching
What
makes a difference in coaching is the access your coach
provides to what is hidden from your view, especially of
yourself, your habits, your thinking. The greatest golf-player
on the planet, Tiger Woods, knows that something crucial
is available by turning to his coach, Butch Harmon. A coach
is a beacon through the fog of self-help. And yet, where
you go when you want different results is to consult with
the same person who got you the results you’re already
getting, namely yourself.
What
is that something else that’s available in the light
of coaching? Coaching gets you clear and specific about
what you really want. ‘Oh, believe me, I already know
what I want,’ you might say. Yet, have you ever noticed
how, once you really focus in on what you want, it’s
already started to happen? That wasn’t coincidence;
that’s your power as a human being. Consider that
the reason things aren’t showing up the way you THINK
you want is because you’re still thinking, deliberating
over reasons, weighing options, dithering around obligations.
By
showing you things you cannot see about how misaligned your
behavior is with what you want to accomplish, and how your
thinking limits what’s possible, your coach works
with you at manifesting the life you truly want. I, as your
coach, am a partner who’s more committed to your fulfillment
than you ever can be, given the nature of the mind.
You
do not have an effective plan
Secondly,
consider that you do not have an effective plan for succeeding
at getting what you want. If you are getting the results
you want at the rate you want them, then great, you do not
need a coach. If everything you do just creates more of
the same old same old, it’s time to work with a coach
on putting together the kind of plan that is a living testament
to your clarity and power. You know you’ve got such
a plan when the results you want start happening at the
rate you want.
Practice,
practice, practice
Once
all of this is in place, it’s time to practice. Imagine
the sense of confidence and relief, knowing you’re
no longer just winging it. Practice and succeed; practice
and fail; practice for your coach, so he/she can observe
what’s working and what’s not working; practice
working your plan, so you can observe what needs restructuring;
practice till you can celebrate your success at living the
life you dream of.
Me
and my coach
I
was relatively effective at what I do, but found the work
pretty tedious after a short time. Then I got a coach. My
coach watched me working, and pointed out all the things
I did while talking on the phone: play with pens, look out
the window, bounce my leg, etc. I wasn’t really listening.
We
started training in attention. I did long meditations only
paying attention to my breath. I identified all the incompletions
in my mind from life, and got them complete. I observed
my mind through long-distance swims, and piano recitals.
I practiced being in the zone, where time disappears and
everything is in its place.
Now
I have a client who says, ‘Doc, you are the best listener
I’ve ever encountered; you hear things no one—especially
not I—could hear in the patterns of my thinking.’
She changed firms, bought her dream home, and earned her
biggest bonus ever in the last year. I was recently introduced
to a prospect by an advocate, saying, ‘Watch out;
he understands things about you no one else does.’
Another client recently told me I should have a 900 number
like the fortunetellers, because I hear so deeply into things.
In short, instead of spending the day in tedium, I now spend
my day in the zone, where time disappears and everything
is in its place, because of the coaching I got.
To
find out more about coaching or to register, please call
me, Martin Kettelhut, at
303 772 0351.
