Cathy Liska By, Janine Sunday Certified Master Coach (Center for Coaching Certification)
ICF Member, https://www.linkedin.com/in/janine-sunday-84505b208
A coach’s job is to ask questions that move a client into a positive, hopeful, confident mindset. Once this mindset is achieved, the “doing” begins. Clients tend to mull over their goals, negative self-talk, and change the plan a few times until they build up the confidence to “do the thing.” Step one is finding the positivity, which is that first baby step into the world of possibility. Then positivity is use like salt and pepper in every session, sprinkled in to taste, during every step of the recipe for success.
I am blown away by the frequent use of negative self-talk. Why, oh why do we do this? Negativity drives the downward spiral that we then must climb out of, clutching and clinging to the sides of the funnel. Everything is so much harder when we don’t stop the funnel in mid spin. Flipping limiting talk to positive self-talk was one of the most powerful assignments in the Science of Positivity class I took with Center for Coaching Certification. I was asked to list 20 negative things I say to myself and flip them to a positive affirmation. The positive flips were eye opening and empowering. I immediately invited clients to do the same and they too, were amazed at how the positive reframing quickly helped them see their strengths, and how to use their gifts to move forward.
Being positive is hard work some days, because the human experience has challenges. I am not suggesting that clients put on blinders and refuse to deal with hard things. Finding the positivity in any situation, keeps the spirits up, creates the confidence that they will get through it, and makes smiles more frequent. Positivity ultimately helps clients develop coping strategies that become habits that lead to a healthy and fulfilling life.
