I am a coach. What does it mean to be a coach? For me, it means helping the athletes I work for to Claim, Overcome, And Conquer Hurdles: COACH.
As I mentioned in a previous article, one of the coach’s jobs is to hold the mirror (and do so gently). Holding the mirror simply means helping the athlete reflect on their limiters as well as their strengths.
The process of reflecting and considering limiters, through the lens of the athlete’s strengths, is a vital component of helping them “claim” the challenge. In this light the challenge becomes something that is reachable. Once this is done, the coach and athlete can move on to developing a plan and process for overcoming the challenge. Certainly challenges are hurdles to be negotiated but hurdles are meant to be jumped.
Overcoming the hurdles of our limiters is part of growth. When the coach and athlete develop a plan to break through a performance barrier and the plan is executed and leads to success, the growth in confidence, in both the athlete and coach, increases exponentially. The coach-athlete relationship should be one of a team and when the athlete succeeds the coach does as well.
When the coach and athlete approach challenges from this point of view, hurdles are not only overcome but conquered! The thing or things that once stymied the athlete are now viewed and treated in a completely different light. The process might be slow in some cases. Take, for example, the athlete who wants to learn to swim better but needs help just to get their face in the water. When the athlete achieves a newly found comfort in “blowing bubbles” this itself is a huge win for the athlete.
Hurdles are not designed to stop us, they are designed to challenge us! When we conquer one of our limiters in even the smallest way we are on the path to achieving real success in what we are pursuing. The job of the coach, my job, is to be that agent of change and help the athletes I work for claim their hurdles, overcome their hurdles, and finally, conquer their hurdles. Let me know if you'd like me to help you too.
~ Coach MarkT (markt@teamMPI.com)
