If you saw me or my picture and asked yourself this question, don’t feel bad. Believe me; I wrestled with this for some time before I chose to start this blog and this business. I wondered if I needed the “right look” and if should have all the principles and habits I teach firmly under control in my own life before I started teaching them to others. Then I could say, both literally and figuratively, “Look at me, I did it. So can you.”
Hopefully, if you read my Before and After blog post, a red flag went up when you read that last paragraph. I contemplated whether I needed to be living my After before I should open my mouth. That’s dangerous thinking. Imagine what great ideas, thoughts, and practices we would miss out on if the people who shared them waited until they were “perfect.” No theory of relativity or string theory, and probably zero works of art published since I know of no artist who ever feels their work is “perfect.” Almost no one would ever say or do anything.
There’s an innate power in being able to say “come with me,” rather than “look at me.” I decided to start coaching before I reach all of my goals because I want to invite you on a journey with me, not tell you about it in past tense.
As an example, one of the most fun and interesting adventures I’ve had happened on a trip to Mexico. The group I was with got into a taxi and told the driver where we wanted to end up but then added, “You’re a local. Give us about an hour tour of what you think is cool about your city before you take us to our destination. We want to see things the professional tour guides don’t show people.” Then on the return trip from our outing, instead of taking another cab, we traveled like locals and rode a city bus and walked. We wanted to “go with” the locals rather than “look at” them. We got some great stories from that less sanitized, but more real excursion. When it comes to developing a healthy relationship with food, I am most definitely a local.
Another thing I needed to remember, not only with my head but with my heart as well, was that the best coaches aren’t necessarily the best players. In fact, I can’t think of a single “greatest coach” who was also the “greatest” at what they coach or coached. Nick Saban isn’t one of the best college football coaches ever because he was one of the best football players ever. What about Michael Phelps’ swim coach? Not faster than Michael. And do you even know who Adele’s vocal coach is? I don’t. And if he or she was a better singer than Adele, I’m pretty sure we’d know who they are.
At this point, the greatest strengths I have as a coach – my passion, my compassion, my empathy, my enthusiasm, my knowledge, and experience – aren’t apparent by looking at the outside of me. But I trust myself and you enough to see past that.
To take these ideas to a larger perspective, I hope we’ll all develop and improve our desire and ability to see people less with our eyes and more with our hearts. That’s how we find the true value of anything and anyone. I believe I have something to learn from every person on the planet. I also have significant things to teach. I feel too strongly about the value and power of the information, thoughts, and ideas I have to wait until I reach some ideal image before sharing them.
Let’s do this together.