Written by 
by Gina Lokken, WeAlign Executive Coach
Here I was in a job I loved, but I was miserable.
My values and beliefs aligned with the mission, I was coaching and loving my clients, and I enjoyed the people I worked with. But, my health was declining, I was becoming increasingly more frustrated and fatigued, and my desire to do anything at work plummeted to an all time low. So what was the problem?
I wrestled with the decision to leave for over a year and a half, asking God daily if I was just being selfish in my desire to leave or if it was the wise decision to make. I ultimately decided to part ways with the job, but I still had lingering feelings of guilt nagging me daily.
It wasn’t until I went through WeAlign’s 5-hour Strengths Alignment Process that I realized why I had been miserable – none of my intrinsic needs were being met.
When I discovered this during a coaching session, the guilt melted away and I could finally move on. I only wish I had heard about WeAlign’s 5-hour Strengths Alignment Process earlier; it would have saved me a lot of worry, frustration, and heartache.
My coach helped me get unstuck and move on. Here are five others ways a coach can help you.
1. Overcome Barriers & Setbacks Quickly
A coach will partner with you to help separate your person (or identity) from the setback or problem at hand by offering objective feedback. Being able to see your problem or circumstance from an objective point of view will give you greater understanding and free up more options to reset and move forward. Ultimately giving you the opportunity to overcome your setbacks quicker than if you tried to sort it out alone.
2. Create New Pathways of Possibility
One of my favorites, coaching jolts your mind out of autopilot and provides new and exciting pathways of thought. A professional coach has access to a multitude of creative tools & models to help expand your awareness of self, others, and the world. Innovation, ideas, and possibilities become endless when you have the right coach on your side.
3. Gain Greater Clarity & Purpose
A professional coach has been trained to ask the right question at the right time to help evoke deeper understanding, create new pathways of thought, and they invite you to become a part of your own story. Sometimes the answers are staring us right in the face, but we’re too close to see what’s in front of us. A coach will help you take a step back and see your life, problem, or situation from a whole new perspective. You’ll be able to see the whole picture and decide what needs to go and what needs to stay.
4. Unleash Your Potential: Known & Unknown
Great coaches will hold a space for you to experiment with who you are becoming in the world without judgement, and help draw out your gifts and talents. When you know who you are, what you do well, and what you don’t do well, you can start to choose the life you were meant to live. You’ll find you’ll go from average to extraordinary because you’re working in your giftedness and this dramatically accelerates your results and forward momentum.
5. Build Your Legacy
Our lives are so chaotic most days we never allow ourselves time to reflect and contemplate our lives in meaningful ways. What’s the importance behind what you’re doing? What’s the legacy you want to leave future generations? Your children? The world? A professional coach pays attention to what’s said and unsaid, providing meaningful space and offering objective observations to help you grasp the deeper meaning in your life.
Coaches are invested in you, 100%. It’s your agenda, your timing, and your life. So, if you’re feeling stuck, directionless, overwhelmed, burned out or just want to find deeper meaning in your life, there is a coach waiting to help.