"We do not learn from experience... we learn from reflecting from experience." - John Dewey
Self-coaching is a practice of self-reflection; a conscious and intentional practice of self-examination.
In order to self-coach successfully, you need to have a deeper understanding of who you are and what drives you. When you understand yourself better, you will be able to create actionable plans that are catered to your needs and environment. Journaling is a critical tool to gain clarity of your thoughts, motivations, and actions and to better understand what is happening around you.
Exploring self-coaching practices can help enhance three skills that are critical to personal growth:
#1: Self-Observation
Self-coaching cultivates self-observation that allows us to observe our inner thoughts and emotions.
Knowing what we feel and think at all times requires focus and deep awareness of ourselves. Being self-aware gives us the power to change negative thoughts and emotions and replace them with positive, empowering beliefs.
#2: Self-compassion and removal of negative self-judgement
Evaluating oneself requires compassion and being non-judgemental of our actions. Having self-compassion and removing self-judgements allows us to assess our actions objectively.
#3: Conscious responses
Having self-awareness will also allow us to create conscious responses. This gives us complete autonomy over our thoughts, emotions and action. Conscious responses are the ability to resist knee-jerk reactions in any challenging situation we may face in life.
Enhancing these three skills helps guide our self-coaching journey to a place of clarity and self-awareness. It provides an opportunity to gain an in-depth understanding of ourselves, be in control of our actions and take charge of our life.
