It’s easy to surf the web and talk to coaches about the profession of coaching in order to find out more about it. Going inward and finding out your ‘why’ is a more reflective process that some may be resistant to. Plus the true answers may not be apparent right away. You may need to understand the profession better and what your skills, expertise and talents are before you can get to the deeper answers.

You may be thinking that the ‘why’ isn’t really that important. According to Robert Kiyosaki, in “Retire Young, Retire Rich,” the why is more important than the how. Given that he obtained financial freedom at the age of 48, he’s worth listening to. When you think about it, it makes sense. Knowing your ‘why’ gives you the fire and drive to do what you need to do. Obstacles don’t become a dead-end, just a challenge that needs a solution.

Many of us know what to do but for some reason don’t always do it. And if we don’t know what to do, we’re intelligent and resourceful enough to find out what to do from books, seminars, or those who have obtained success in the area we want to achieve it in. Plus if we’re in touch with and listen to our intuition we will be guided towards resources and people.

We may even come up with tons of excuses for not doing the thing that could bring us success. And yes, that is likely an indication that limiting beliefs are in our way. From personal experience, when I’ve wanted something badly enough, those beliefs didn’t get in the way. Here we are… back to the why.

The ‘why’ somehow focuses our energy on what needs to be done. A sense of urgency develops. Action is taken. Momentum develops and we become an unstoppable force. The why and our desire are one and the same.

So how do we figure out the why?

Get a piece of paper or open your word processing document on your computer. Take a few minutes to get settled and take a couple of deep breaths to relax.

Ask yourself the question: Why do I want to become a coach?  Write down all the answers that come into your head without judgment. No matter how fleeting, just write them all down.

Review your list and put an asterisk besides those that resonate with you most, the ones that feel truest.

Now try to go below the surface of each answer to see if there’s a deeper answer. For example, your first answer might be “to help people” and your second answer might be “my skills and talents are a match for this profession.”

Ask: Why do you want to help people?
(answer) To make a difference in the world.

Ask: Why do you want to make a difference in the world?
(answer) Because then I know my life mattered.

When you can’t go any deeper, stop and proceed to the next answer.

In our example, we would then ask: Why do you want your skills and talents be a match for this profession? And continue a few layers with that question.

As you keep answering the original question, you’ll find the true ‘why’ for you. The one that resonates with a place deep within you. The one that reveals what you truly value.

If the ‘why do you want’ form of the question does not flow for you, try ‘why is it important for me to” or some other variation. The important piece is to keep digging down.

There’s one more step…

Take a look at the last answers from above and ask: Is becoming a coach the only way to obtain these outcomes? In our example, we would ask: Is becoming a coach the only way to know that my life mattered? If not, how else can you know your life mattered?

This is not to discourage you from becoming a coach or investigating the profession. You may find other more immediate ways to know that your life mattered, as per our example, in your life. Coaching may also be a way to have this desire or value expressed. Some of you may even find that your ‘whys’ can be expressed through your current profession or job after a perspective or attitude shift.

In summary…

Each person is going to have their own set of criteria for determining whether a profession is right for them or not. The above exercise is just one more tool to use in your research process.

Imagine how energizing it would be to live your life using your unique talents most of the time, whether it be in work or play!

To discover your unique talents consider these ‘clues’:

• Time flies when you are doing the activity.
• You’re skilled at the activity. If you haven’t been using the talent you may be a bit rusty
  but will quickly come up to speed.
• Other people may comment on how good you are at an activity yet you may think ‘Isn’t everyone good at this?’
• You feel energized during and even after doing the activity.
• You’d do it for free.

Here are three exercises that can assist you in finding your unique talents:

1. Create a list of activities that you’re good at and determine if they meet the criteria in the ‘clues’ listed above.

Consider activities you loved to do as a child that you no longer partake in. You may have been told that art, for example, was not a good career choice so you stopped drawing. Perhaps you were told or thought that women didn’t fly planes. You may find your mind telling you it’s silly to include a certain activity on your list. If you are (or were) good at and it fits the criteria from the list above, write it down. You may rediscover a unique talent during this process.

Note: You may be very good at a skill or activity that you don’t like to do. This would not be considered a unique talent.

Also think of activities that you’ve been drawn to or wanted to try but haven’t. Approximately eight years ago I was asked to think about activities I thought I might be good at but hadn’t tried. When I wrote down writing, I started to tear up. I had never considered writing as an option as I found the rules of grammar perplexing and I had a very trying semester in first year English in university. Within 6 months of that day I took a teleclass on creating ebooks and then wrote my first ebook – How to Become a Coach.

I don’t consider writing to be my unique talent, but it is a skill that I enjoy and want it to be part of my daily activities.

2. Ask for Feedback
Ask people you trust (such as family members, friends, colleagues) to answer the questions listed below. Sometimes others can see things you’re skilled at better than you can, usually because they’re not good at it. You can send a form by email or just ask them.

• What do you think are my strengths?
• What activities do you think I’m naturally good at, do with ease, and/or am passionate about?
• If I was to change professions, what do you think I would be great at and why?

When you get the results back, see if any patterns emerge. Perhaps 4 of 6 people will say you’re very skilled at explaining complicated procedures in a simple and easy to understand way. If that’s something you love to do and time flies when you’re doing it, then that may be a unique talent.

Another person may think you’d make a great professional organizer. If you don’t like helping other people get organized then it’s probably a skill you became good at but it may not be a unique talent. It’s really important not to take anything personally. The information is just feedback from another person’s perspective.

To take this exercise a step further, take any activity that appeared as part of a pattern or any activity that resonated with you and run it through the criteria in exercise 1.

3. Rate your activities at work and home for a week.

If you completed exercise 1 in “Is It Time for A New Career?” (Part 1 of this series), then you have already completed the ‘at work’ portion of this exercise. Doing it again for activities you do at home may uncover some additional insights.

In a notepad write down each activity you do throughout the week as you do it. Give it a rating of 1 to 10 with 10 being something you love doing. Also make a note about your energy level during and after the activity. Refer to the ‘clues’ listed above. Did time seem to fly by?

At the end of the week review your notes and ratings. Did you give a 8, 9 or 10 to any activities? Highlight these or write them down. How can you focus more on these highly rated activities? How can you do less of your least ranked activities? Can you delegate them to someone else?

It May Take Time…

If you do all three of the exercises, you’ll be able to get clues from different angles and different perspectives. Look at the answers from all the exercises and see if any patterns emerged.

It may take some time before your unique talent(s) are obvious to you, especially if they’re not of the mainstream variety. It’s easy to tell if someone is a gifted singer, musician, chef, or athlete as it’s usually very obvious and it may be expressed at a very young age. It may not be so obvious if your unique talents have to do with how your brain works or how you think and analyze things. Stick in there and let the answers be revealed.

Stay tuned for the next article in this series:  Researching a New Profession

If you missed Part 1: Is it Time for a New Career or a New Job?

Resources For You

1. Forms for Exercises
If you would like a form I created to record your answers to the above exercises, please email me at info @ how-to-become-a-coach.com The form isn’t finalized yet so I’d appreciate any feedback you have once you’ve used it. Do you need more space to write? Two pages of activities versus one? Have I missed anything? etc.

2. Want to Know More About This Topic?
Have you read the transcript of an interview I did with Barb Richards on “Career Transition” yet? Just subscribe to the Becoming a Coach newsletter (top box on right).

In the interview we covered: 1) How to Know if it’s Time for a New Job or a New Career; 2) 5 Mistakes People Make During Career Transition; and 3) 3 Tips for Transitioning to Self-Employment.

Even if you’re already a coach, self-employed or enjoy your job, the exercises below can reveal valuable insights about your current work tasks and work environment.

1. Dissect Your Typical Work Week

Write down the main activities you perform at work during a typical week. Give each a rating of 1-10, with 10 indicating that you truly enjoy this task. Also make a note about your energy before, during and after each activity. For example, do you feel dread when you know you need to prepare the statistical report? Are you energized after leading a team meeting? In addition, record or estimate how much time you spend on each activity.

If you can jot down each activity as you do it, it’ll be easier to remember how you felt. If this isn’t possible during work hours, make notes at lunch or when you get home from work.

At the end of the week look at your notes and estimate how much time you spent at work each day on activities rated 8 or higher.

2. Your Work Environment and Industry

Even if you love your daily activities, the work environment and industry you’re in can affect how much you enjoy your work.

What do you like and dislike about your work environment and industry? Here are some items to consider when answering this question:
- your physical work space
- the overall office space
- your co-workers
- your boss
- the ‘feel’ or mood of the office
- your industry
- annual industry conventions
- the perception of the industry by your friends, families or society in general

What Does This All Mean?

Here are some possibilities to try on and see if they’re true for you. If so, explore the solution further. If not, let it go and try something else on.

1. Do Not Enjoy Work and Do Not Enjoy Work Environment
If you don’t enjoy your work or your work environment, it may be time to look at a new career.

2. Not Enjoy Work But Enjoy Work Environment
If you don’t enjoy your work but do enjoy your work environment, can you work out a plan with your current boss that would allow you to do more of the activities you enjoy and less of the other ones? Maybe you would enjoy your work if you were doing more of your ’8+’ activities. If not, are there other positions in your company that you could apply for? Ideally these positions would allow you to spend a majority of time on the activities you rated 8 or above in exercise 1. If neither of these are options, then ask yourself: what position/career would allow me to spend more of my time doing the 8+ activities?

3. Enjoy Work But Not Work Environment
If you enjoy your work yet dislike your work environment, it may be time to look for a similar job in a different company or maybe a different industry. The latter would depend on how you answered the industry questions in question 2. If you just dislike your boss yet like everything else about your work environment, consider looking for another job in your company.

Also reflect to see if your attitude or beliefs about your boss or industry is contributing to your lack of enjoyment. If, for example, you have decided that your boss is hyper-critical of you, you may not even recognize the moments your boss praises you. What if you instead praised your boss and smiled? Sometimes a shift in attitude can turn things around. Asking for what you need may also help.

4. Enjoy Both Work and Work Environment Yet….
If you discover that you really do enjoy your work and work environment yet still feel like something is missing, is a move to a new industry the missing link? It may be time to do some introspective work and ask yourself the deeper questions. Am I expressing my life purpose through my work? If not, how could I be? Am I fulfilled? If not, how can I experience fulfillment? Are my values being expressed through my work? If not, how could they be?

Given that we spend approximately one third of our day at work, it makes sense to do work we enjoy and work in an environment and industry we enjoy.

Resources For You

1. Forms for Exercises
If you would like a form I created to record your answers to the above exercises, please email me at info@how-to-become-a-coach.com The form isn’t finalized yet so I’d appreciate any feedback you have once you’ve used it. Do you need more space to write? Two pages of activities versus one? Have I missed anything? etc.

2. Want to Know More About This Topic?
Have you read the transcript of an interview I did with Barb Richards on “Career Transition” yet? Just
subscribe to the Becoming a Coach newsletter (top box on right). In the interview we covered: 1) How to Know if it’s Time for a New Job or a New Career; 2) 5 Mistakes People Make During Career Transition; and 3) 3 Tips for Transitioning to Self-Employment.

Part 2 in this series: Discovering Your Unique Talents

Career coach Pamela Kleibrink Thompson shares reasons why many of us are in careers that hide our passion.  If you find yourself in any of her examples, it may be time to start figuring out what you truly want to do.

The article is worth a read:  Career Coaching:  Unmasking Your True Potential

Michael Lombardi did just that.  He left behind 27 years in corporate finances to become a weatherman – an avocation he didn’t believe could be his vocation, until now.

So how does this story relate to coaching?   Life and career coaching aren’t even mentioned in the article.  I just love to read and share stories about people who decide to live their passion or purpose.  And that’s what Michael did.

To read more visit:  A Midlife Crisis Doesn’t Have to Be One