I ALSO LAUGH AT COACHES. AND YET, I BELIEVE IN IT.
LET'S BE HONEST: COACHING HAS AN IMAGE PROBLEM.
Scroll through social media and you see it immediately. People who, after a burnout, divorce, or existential crash, suddenly call themselves a coach. Ring light on, quote added, personal story included. I laugh at that too. Without shame. Because yes, sometimes that image is accurate. And no, that doesn't make it any less uncomfortable. But anyone who dismisses coaching as just hype for people who can't handle life is deeply mistaken.
COACHING IS NOT THERAPY-LIGHT
I never ended up with a coach because I was "broken." Not because I was stuck. Not because I needed to be fixed. I went because I felt there was more in me. More clarity. More awareness. More direction.
I had questions that weren't dramatic but they were honestly uncomfortable. About friendships that no longer felt aligned. About love. About choices. About who I was and who I could still become.
AND NO, I DIDN'T WANT TO KEEP DIGGING
This is not an attack on psychology. It's a choice. I didn't want to endlessly analyze why something once began.
I wanted to know: what do I do with it today? Not from "What's wrong with you?" coaching doesn't start there. But from: Where are you now, and what is this phase asking of you?
The difference is subtle, but fundamental.
"BUT YOU CAN DO THAT WITH FRIENDS, RIGHT?"
No. That's the biggest lie we tell each other. Friends don't listen without judgment. Family even less. Not because they're bad people but because they're involved.
They want to comfort. To fix. To reassure.
Coaching is different.
It's not a conversation. It's a space.
A space where someone:
interrupts you when you get lost in your own words
stays silent where you want to fill the silence
asks the questions you'd rather avoid
has no personal stake in your decisions
It can feel confronting.
And that's exactly why it works.
THE UNCOMFORTABLE TRUTH
We are never "finished."
If you believe personal growth is something you do once, you also believe that relationships, careers, and identities are static.
They're not. And yes, the industry attracts people who help without structure, without training, without depth.
That is dangerous. But that doesn't make coaching worthless.
It makes superficial coaching worthless.
SO WHY DO I BELIEVE IN IT?
Because I have experienced what happens when someone truly listens. Without judgment. Without agenda. Without projection.
Because those moments, repeated over the years, have consistently moved me forward. Not spectacular. But sustainable.
I laugh at coaches. And at the same time, I take coaching deeply seriously. The two are not contradictory. They belong together.