What “The Alchemist” taught me about coaching
Recently, I enrolled in an Accelerating Coach Excellence (ACE) program hosted by David Goldsmith and David Peterson. One assignment had us reading an article by David Peterson, entitled The Alchemy of Coaching. This article reminded me of “The Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho, one of the bestselling and most influential authors in the world. I was astonished by how much of the work/life lessons taught in my Co-Active Coach training had been captured in his writing. If you haven’t read the book or don’t recall its wisdom, I’d suggest you make the time to revisit it. Below are five takeaways I’ve summarized:
1. Fear paralyzes us
“There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.” Fear of failing is the greatest obstacle to making progress. We stop taking risks and begin to limit our choices until the playing field gets smaller and smaller. Failure is one of the quickest ways to learn. Failing fast is an approach in design thinking where iterative steps are taken. To succeed, we must be open to failure and learning from our mistakes or experience. It takes courage and commitment to risk at failing.
2. Be present
“Because I don’t live in either my past or my future. I’m interested only in the present. If you can concentrate always on the present, you’ll be a happy man.” “because life is the moment we’re living right now.” This concept is about mindfulness which is being with one’s emotional and cognitive state in an open, non-judgmental and curious manner. In coaching, “being with” is to be present and fully engaged in the moment with no other goal other than to share the experience. We live the Co-Active Model which is all about the being and the doing. Who we are being in a moment is just as important as what we are doing.
3. Take action
“There is only one way to learn.” “It’s through action.” Action is an important outcome of coaching as we always look to “forward the action.” Yet it isn’t just about being in action, it’s just as important to be learning while we’re in action. What we learn along the way informs our choices and action and learning leads to sustainable and effective change. It’s a constant cycle of forwarding the action and deepening the learning.
4. Make a choice
“He realized that he had to choose between thinking of himself as the poor victim of a thief or as an adventurer in quest of his treasure.” “I’m an adventurer looking for treasure.” Choice is more than choosing a perspective. Making a choice is affirming the power of deciding. It’s liberating and empowering to know you can choose. You are no longer a victim with no control but instead a change agent in command of your future.
5. Be grateful (practice gratitude)
“when each day is the same as the next, it’s because people fail to recognize the good things that happen in their lives every day that the sun rises.” For many of us, every day can be getting through to-do lists, meetings, eating, connecting with loved ones, catching up on the news. While we are moving through the day, we get lost in the sea of our mind and the noise of everything around us. With all the things going on in the world, it is easy to lose touch with the present moment. We can start to forget about all the good things that are happening and start to focus on what is going wrong. It is always a great time to slow down, reflect and be in gratitude.