When I got to the center median, there was a woman on the opposite side of the street (my destination) that was waving frantically for me to continue crossing. A little odd, especially considering she wasn't crossing the street herself!
Upon first glance, it appeared that it was safe to cross. As I was processing this strangers encouragement and resisting the temptation to blindly listen to her, the cars in the left lane (immediately in front of me), began turning left. If I had listened to her, I would have been hit by a car, and no-less an SUV.
Now do I believe this woman's intentions were good. Yes. Do I believe she was genuinely trying to help me cross the street and give me proper guidance. Yes.
But...it doesn't mean I should've have listened. Imagine what would have happened!
In this scenario, my coach was the red hand on the light pole, warning me to wait until the little silver man showed me it was ok to walk (and even then, you need to filter it through a brain cell, to see if the cars surrounding actually are paying attention to the silver man too!). The silver man is credible and has a good track record of ensuring that his pedestrians receive the proper signal to walk or wait.
Obviously, I am being a little dramatic here, but it proves the point that, it's important who you listen too. Sometimes you may get "guidance" that has the best of intentions but is still the worst advice for you, in your situation.
A coach, with a vested interest in your success, can help guide you to making the right decisions for your life, your health, your future. A good person can be a really bad coach for you, and it's important to know the difference.
If you have a real goal, it's important to find someone who's been there, has accomplished it, and can then teach you how to do it too. For example, I've run distance races (5k, 8k, 10k, half marathon and full marathon), so I am pretty confident that I could coach you to run a distance race, if you've never done one before. Now if you are an elite marathon runner and want to improve your time, I'm not the coach for you. If you want to participate in a triathlon, I'm probably going to refer you to a colleague who's completed those types of races.
Now to throw the monkey wrench in...you can have multiple coaches; EVEN for the same goal. For example, if your goal is to lose weight, you could have a personal trainer who guides you with your exercise program, you could have a dietitian or nutritionist who helps you with your diet, and you could have a friend who has lost weight and can give you encouragement, and set your mind right.
I encourage you to take the time to think about your goals, and then think about if you have the right guidance to get to them. Are you moving forward on your goals, or are you narrowly escaping getting hit by a car (symbol disaster) on a daily basis? Here's a hint ( and I've been here many many times!):
If you are constantly playing defense in your life, you are simply surviving, not thriving. Start playing offense and you will move swiftly toward the goal.
Great post Monica!
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