Why We All Need Coaches
or, Information Doesn't Bring About Behavior Change
One common misconception is that information produces behavior change. Just make arguments backed by facts and research, and people will automatically change, the theory goes.
They don’t. If they did, everyone would be healthy, in good financial shape, be at a good place in their career, and so on, since there’s more than enough material covering all these aspects, in every imaginable format — books, audiobooks, podcasts, blog posts, and more.
Instead, we need coaches to help adapt these frameworks to our lives. Why do we need them? Well, for many reasons: we may not have the time and inclination to research all these frameworks ourselves. We may not have understood a framework because they often tend to be abstract and not obvious how to apply. We may have misunderstood a framework and a coach can help clarify. A framework may need to be customised based on our personality and the situations we’re in. Someone looking outside in, with a fresh perspective, may understand our situation better. These frameworks may have several aspects, and a coach can help us identify or prioritise the two aspects we need to apply given the problems we face.
For all these reasons, coaches are the valuable bridge between knowledge and application. They’re like the wires connecting your house to the power station — without them, the power stays in the plant.
I have a lot of coaches helping me:
A chartered accountant.
A tennis coach.
A health coach who helps me with food, sleep, exercise, energy levels and emotions.
As CTO, I have another CTO advising me on topics that he knows better than me, or just available to bounce ideas off. And another who’s much further along in his journey.
A lawyer.
Don’t go it alone. You’ll succeed much better with a team, and their fees are more than worth it.