Remember Ali Baba? His windfall in discovering the magic words to open the treasure cave?
Turns out, Ali had a brother, Cassim. At least until he followed Ali to the cave, learned how to open it and became SO enthralled by all the riches that he overstayed and…well, let’s just say the thieves weren’t too happy when they returned and found him. Ali Baba’s sister-in-law was widowed very soon after her (late) husband became aware of the cave.
In this case, awareness was hazardous to Cassim’s health. Not only did he not realize his goal of attaining great wealth, he lost his future. All because he had awareness without discernment. Knowledge without wisdom. Access to treasure without the growth that would allow him to make use of the treasure.
Ouch.
As a coach you help people find and access the treasures buried within. But your job does not stop there. To provide life-changing value, you need to support your clients’ in learning what to do with what the treasure they find. Growth and wisdom are required for real results – and sustainable ones at that.
And therein lies a gap for a lot of coaches.
It’s so easy to get caught in the bright, shiny-ness of awareness. To be held in thrall like Cassim when you discover the treasure. But you can waste yourself, your life, your gifts if you never apply the treasure to get what you want in life.
You gotta’ get that treasure out of the cave, into the light of day and converted into a meaningful, applicable form.
Otherwise – to draw from Cassim’s lesson – you’re dead in the water. Or, in this case, dead in the cave. (Hey, either way: Dead is dead.)
Here’s the challenge: Knowledge requires action. Awareness confronts you with the need to act. If you want to convert the treasure into food on your table, next months’ mortgage payment…you can’t stay in the cave fondling all the pretty shiny things.
Neither can your clients. And, wow – can that be scary!
If you stop the coaching process with the finding of the treasure, you’re at risk of selling your clients short (along with you as a coach capable of delivering real results and life-changing value).
Coaches ask me all the time, “Lyn, what do I do when my client is not taking the actions they say they want to take?”
So, I ask:
What learning needs to happen for the client to take action?
Do you, Coach, have the tools you need to help your client get that learning?
Do you know how to move from the beautiful high of awareness (ooohhhh, pretty, shiny!) to ensure you don’t overstay your time in the treasure cave?
Here’s where awareness can get really dark. When you know what needs to be done AND you aren’t doing it, awareness becomes the big stick you use to beat yourself up. What follows: Frustration. Self Doubt. Ultimately: Despair.
You can be covered in gold and still not feel golden.
Moral of the story? Go for the learning. Help them find the treasure and learn how to use it in their lives. Don’t leave yourself or your clients in the cave to molder quietly away.
Learn how to turn treasure into the results you and your clients want. (I can show you how, in just 5 weeks.)
