The best book I've read on self-coaching is not a personal development book; it's actually a memoir.
I've read a number of self-coaching books, but the best book on the topic, in my opinion, is Total Recall: My Unbelievably True Life Story by Arnold Schwarzenegger. When my coaching trainer recommended I read this book, I admit my first reaction was, what can I learn about self-coaching from a memoir? As it turns out, quite a lot.
In telling his story from his days growing up in Austria to his successes as a bodybuilder, businessman, actor and Governor of California, you can find examples of how Schwarzenegger used self-coaching and implemented other habits to successfully reach his goals in life.
3 Self-Coaching Examples Arnie Shares From His Memoir.
#1: Writing for Clarity
"Writing out my goals became second nature, and so did the conviction that there are no shortcuts."
Schwarzenegger practices writing his goals down for clarity and keeping track of his habits and milestones. It's a method he uses to document his journey towards growth, development and success. Writing or journaling is an effective self-coaching tool for personal growth.
Recording progress helps to track what led to achieving each milestone, and the insights will make it easy to plan the next steps that can lead to success.
#2: Growth Mindset
"The more knowledge you have, the more you’re free to rely on your instincts."
It's clear from Schwarzenegger's stories that he values knowledge and is a lifelong learner.
In his book, he shared a lesson that led him to not only "... build the ultimate physical machine but also the ultimate mind." Schwarzenegger invested time in learning new things to expand his mind. He not only took courses to better himself but also made sure to surround himself with successful people from the fields he wanted to excel in, so he could learn from them.
Having a growth mindset is essential when you are coaching yourself. A growth mindset means keeping an open mind and exploring different opportunities to grow as a person.
#3: Self-Belief
“If you don’t believe in yourself, then how will anyone else believe in you?”
This is one of my favourite quotes from the book. Schwarzenegger states, "the only way you become a leading man is by treating yourself like a leading man and working your ass off." This is his method of overcoming his limiting beliefs.
The ability to coach yourself effectively towards achieving a goal or overcoming a problem is highly dependent on the ability to overcome limiting beliefs.
In my self-coaching experiments, I have found that writing does help to provide clarity and to coach yourself successfully; it's essential to have a growth mindset and the ability to overcome limiting beliefs. Besides the valuable lessons he imparts in his memoir, Total Recall is also an interesting read. I enjoyed listening to the audiobook version, and I can't recommend it enough.
