Coaching for sports people

[JamMan]

Hi,

This is my first forum post, be gentle with me please....

For a while now I have been interested in NLP, coaching and personal development. I currently work in sales but the little voice in my head has been telling me that I need to do something else eventually, something that connects sport with personal development. I've also done some volunteer coaching for kids and cycling which I really enjoyed. I love to present to groups, speak in public and get a real buzz from seeing people progress in any format.

I haven't done any trainings yet, but its definitely on my agenda and I've booked onto a one day intro for NLP with a sporting bias to it to see where it could take me. I have a fuzzy idea of where I'd like to be eventually and hopefully that will crystalize at some point in the future. Eventually I'd like to be working with sportsmen/woman and specializing in sport that involves wheels and racing, both on a one to one basis and creating products to help them acheive their goals. I'm not limiting myself to that, but its where I'd like my area of expertise to be. I'd also like to help Joe Public with things like confidence, public speaking and weight loss, that interests me too.

My question is this; With my thoughts on where I'd like to be, would I be better heading down the NLP route, or more of a life coaching route? I get the distinct impression (rightly or wrongly) that life coaching is more generalised and I can use NLP to focus on certain scenarios. Would this be a correct assumption?

My only other battle is with the 'little voice' It keeps saying 'Stop dreaming, and get a 'proper' job' Any tips on a) Shutting the little sod up, and b) transitioning to where I want to be.

I'd love to hear your thoughts, thanks in advance.

[Tomwalked]

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I am still processing michaels "supercoaching"  concept... transformational coaching... transforming the person instead of "fixing" some elements of their life.
and I love this idea... it is genuinely resonating with me.

Im not an NLP guy, nor am I a coach... so I can't really speak intelligently on that... seeing as that has never stopped me before... here I am responding... hehe


I think bottom line... you have glimpsed a better way to be in the world... a dream... a passion and to deny that would be like spitting in the muse's eye... not a great move...
so do it.

and the little voice... the one that keeps telling you not to...
it's just a little voice... it's not God, it's not the muse, it's not even you...
maybe it is the wafting smoke of burning meat left on the grill too long - just as rubbery, tastless and ashy.
maybe check in to see if it seems real... but if not... it's just smoke... and smoke disapates.




hope that was in some burnt morsel of a way helpful?



.

[Nik]

Hi JamMan,

Discovering something you really enjoy doing for a living is a fantastic first step! Congratulations!

The bottom line is that you like empowering people to blossom and expand so -- if you really have to classify -- you could consider your work to be life coaching while NLP could be one of the tools, one of the approaches you use to make a difference.

You can keep things deliciously open -- no need to self-limit with labels -- you might like to leave yourself space for unlimited expansion, space to master and share new ways of supporting your clients. NLP is a great starting point -- it has helped many folks make surprisingly fast progress -- but then keep learning new things and delightfully broaden the ways you can support your people. Offer them a wide variety of options to transcend their limitations and the value of what you're doing (and getting back) will also constantly grow.

Regarding the little "job" voice in your head: Simple decision -- If we assume that living with joy and inspiration is a priority for you, which experience makes you happier: empowering people or listening to social conditioning messages playing by default in your mind?

Nothing wrong with having a job, of course. You might do this for a bit until your coaching takes off. You might want to combine doing sales (your current field) but in the realm of human potential development: Michael has a sweet affiliate program too.

Also, if you have time and energy left to listen to little voices doubting your ability to succeed and live the life of your dreams, you simply need to focus your ENTIRE energy on what you want and why you want it. Don't struggle or feel bad about negative self-talk -- your attention will feed it with more energy. If you trip every once in a while -- no biggie -- gently redirect your mind to thoughts & feelings that nurture your joy and enthusiasm.

If not you, then who? If not now, then when? If not this, then what?

With love,
Nik

[Tomwalked]

Nik

delightful response!
karma points for you.



especially loved the turn of phrase... "deliciously open"

redoing my resume today for a project I am going to be applying for... and doing it while being deliciously open...

Thanks
Tom

[Nik]

Thanks so much for the kind words, Tom, and best of luck with your application!