What is coaching? And what is it not?

Coaching has been a very popular word to use in various areas; therefore, I find it important to explain a common way to see coaching. Coaching concerns the non-clinical people, so it is not meant to be therapeutic even if that might be some effect of it. Together they built an equal relation, not an authoritarian relation where the focus person needs any treatment or being repaired. 

It is the focus person who has the responsibility for the action in their life and the coach is only there to support the focus person. The coach will help the focus person to be conscious and get the feeling of responsibility for their own actions. It is a systematic process where the coach is going to make it easier to evolve the focus person’s thoughts, feelings and behaviour. 

The way forward is going to be adapted to the focus person. It is also meant to help the focus person to find the inner recourses with their attitudes that help them together with a methodical way of seeing it and creates a bigger intuition knowledge and experience. The coaching should also focus more on solutions and goals than on problems. The coach is doing this by listening actively and asks powerful questions. (Source: Coaching, 2018, Susann Gjerde)

My way of coaching

Method

• On-site in Amsterdam
• On-line (Skype or Zoom)
• Try to keep the same time every other week.

Language

• English
• Swedish.

Theme: Life Coaching

• Personal growth
• Existential matters
• Philosophical matters
• Holistic view – everything is connected to each other
• Workrelated issues
• Mental health – avoid stress, burnout and other mental issues

Coaching

The coach is there to support the focus person to reach their goals. It could be to find new angles to approach their problems and obstacles that come on the way. I hope the conversations give us some new insights as well, because finding a way forwards might not only be about to reach a goal. I think it is more about walking towards a vision of who you want to be in the future. Often it is the most simple way, the best way to go, life should not be that difficult. When everything comes around, we do not need that much.

TTT – Thoughts Takes Time or Things Takes Time

I do not think that life changes have to happen fast, even if it can fall out that way. We need some reflections on the road and also, now and then, think about where we are and where we want to go. I think a fundamental idea with coaching should be to find what motivates you from the inside and not what you can get from people around you, like salary and likes on social media and so on and so forth. Sometimes we need that as well, of course, especially when it comes to salary.

Philosophical and existential approach

My coaching is based on existential conditions that we cannot get away from. We as a human are born with the endeavour for meaning. We also have freedom and will, so we can find meaning. We are all going to be affected by existential anxiety during our lifetime. We will also meet insecurity in life. And like that would not be enough. We are also going to die some day, but until that day we are going to live.

Exist – show up, step forward

What I also try to have some focus on is the philosophical idea about “is” and “ought”. We need to focus on the “is” to see what is possible; we often follow the surrounding culture, how we think that something ought to be and forget about ourselves and how we are wired biological and cultural in some degree. Another “is” might be if we are going through some life change, then we have to struggle to get to this “new world”, even if it comes to some anxiety during the journey. And with change, it will come some anxiety.

When we are going to find meaning in life, it is often three things that can be a hinder to endeavour it, one is how we are brought up and how that constrains us, a second one is the “rules”, traditions and norms and the last one is that we want to belong to a group. All these three make us to be formed in some certain way that not might go together with what we are, so from there we have to find something that we are wired to be – the values we have and follow our inner compass. It is also said that we follow our nature more when we get older. When we are young, we follow the crowd. We want to belong. It can be a tough journey.

Without work, all life is ruined. But when work is without soul, life suffocates and dies.

– Albert Camus

Who are my clients?

Highly sensitive and highly sensation seekers

Highly sensitivity and sensation seeking are both innate personality traits. A person can also be both, which can be seen as they have both a brake and gas. There is a lot of research on highly sensitive people. Elaine N. Aron is the one that coined the term and also the one that has done a major part of the research about it.

I have experience of coaching both highly sensitive people and sensation seekers. My coaching is about to get going in the right direction and not to stay in a position where you can not thrive and flourish. Even if it is a bit scaring to change your life, it might be worth it.

Multipotentialites

There is a connection between the two traits above and multipotentialites, or as Elaine N. Aron among others call them, multi-gifted or generalists. Common among multipotentialites is that they are also highly sensitive people and their great curiosity also suggests that they may be sensation seekers. With that said, I also have to emphasise people that see themselves as multipotentialites do not have to see themselves as highly sensitive or sensation seekers.

Elaine N. Aron mentions it in her book on highly sensitive children. She says that there are some highly sensitive people who are specialists and some that are generalists. I have experience of coaching highly sensitive people, sensation seekers and multipotentialites and also well read about the various traits. I know what it means to be one or the other, but nobody is like the other.

I have experience from coaching multipotentialites and they have a lot of ideas, passions and interests. Often it is about getting some structure in all the interests and makes more things possible to execute, but also sort out things that is not gain them anymore, like a specialist job or some other thing that is taking too much time and energy. As a multipotentialite, find a concept that works for you.

A large part of life comprises work. It is therefore important that it works, develops and is satisfactory. It is therefore of great importance to find the right one when it comes to work tasks, work environment and everything else that concerns the working day. It is in this search that I can, with the help of questions, get you closer to your calling or as a multipotentialite how to find a structure for all your callings and passions.  

Self-growth

I have a great insight into self-development and how you can thrive in this world. How to come over obstacles and things that stand in your way towards a happier life.

Values and moral questions

I can help to clear up your values, see what is more important for you and why things are more important. If you wander what is the best thing to do in one situation.

Business development

My experience of being a business owner in the grocery and restaurant business gave me an insight into how it is to run a small business. The most central when you run a business is the people. Without wellbeing people the company will not survive.

Writing and self-publish

Just about to publishing my own book has made me spend a lot of time in self-publishing jungle. I therefore know what you talking about when you are about to publish yours. The first question is whether you will self-publish or go for the traditional way to publish your master piece.

Price list 2023

One session is 60 minutes. 

Private people

One session: €150

Package of six sessions: €495 (before 2023-12-31)

Companies and organisations 

Send me a message of your ideas and we can arrange a meeting.

Pro bono

Allows pro bono requests.

Found it interesting?

Contact me if you find it interesting and we can book a 30 minutes video meeting so we can see if we get along. Just send me a message and we will find a time that fits us both.