Recently I started doing extraordinary practice. Each time I do coaching or training sessions I write down the most valuable lesson I learn from each of the coachees/trainees I meet. Then I read those reminders every day, for at least one week ahead, and act on them.
Lucky, last week I had the pleasure to work with three extraordinary gentlemen. Their common trait is the desire for improvement, so my role is to coach them in the journey of improving their lives.
The first one, let’s call him Nigel, a very intelligent, small-business owner, craving interesting lifestyle and looking for new stuff in life.
Nigel has the luxury of achieving complete financial stability at his young age and is obsessed with bringing more quality in his life. His business is going great, he loves sports (16-20 workout sessions per month), and he is fascinated by smart and successful people.
His major goal is to find what drives him in a long term. How to get a sustainable motivation for life? Nigel has challenged himself to do 10 major challenges in a month, record them and share in our next session.
In one word, Nigel reminded me of ‘curiosity’. For a person who achieved quite a lot he has insatiable appetite for new and interesting things in life. He reminded me that when we stop being curious we get old, and eventually die (one way or another).
The second guy, I’ll call Luis. He is very emotional, even artistic, he experiences ups and downs, and often feels insecure.
He is good at deeply connecting with open and friendly people. And in the next month his challenge is to motivate his best friend and 4 other random friends. He also would be working on his negotiation skills and deliver a solid pitch to convince a professor in sharing slides at the Uni.
I was amazed when Luis looked me in the eyes and said ‘I want to give love to the people, that’s my goal’. We (especially I) often forget that people not only need to be trained, coached, satisfied, or challenged. They need to be loved. They need to feel somebody truly cares about them and loves them no matter what happens, and they need to feel it every day in order to unleash their full potential.
My third coachee is Vlad (another fictional name to another real person).
He describes himself as worried, creative, self-improvement enthusiast, optimistic and not-self-sufficient. He uses a lot of filters when communicating and often doesn’t believe in himself.
And what an interesting character – Vlad is quite sporty and goes for a swim 4 times a week, while doing street workouts almost every day. He doesn’t look bulky and possess great amount of strength, he defeated me in friendly arm-wrestling competition.
Vlad is going to beat the crap out of his insecurity by meeting and communicating with quite a lot of random new people for the next thirty days.
So, what did I learn from him?
Showing more respect and appreciation to my parents. Vlad has a very supportive family and shows his appreciation every day. I have a busy life (we all do), but taking a minute or two to call my parents and just show my respect and appreciation is something I was reminded to do much more often.
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