What is coaching as opposed to counselling and therapy for example?  This is one of the most commonly asked questions and coaching can be commonly confused for other disciplines depending on whom you talk to.

Coaching is the discipline of developing a person's human potential through the use of incisive questioning. Through this process a coachee is trained to think about their subject matter from different angles which in turn provides ideas, choices and ultimately solutions to reaching their goal. 

Coaching is an extremely powerful process that transforms a person's current level of thinking thereby providing innovative solutions. It was Albert Einstein who said of solutions and problem solving that in order to resolve them the level of thinking would have to be different to the thinking that caused the problem in the first place.

So a coach is an expert at asking incisive questions that enable the recipient and his mind to become a power vault for producing solutions. As this is a transformational process coaching is very much about developing skills as opposed to mere knowledge.

What Is Coaching As Opposed To Consultancy?

There are some people who are experts in their industry who claim to be a coach by virtue of their knowledge, expertise and track record. Comparing that to the definition above this is not coaching but fits more under the umbrella of consulting which is more advisory, along with mentoring and teaching which is more about guidance from experience and education.

In order to help you understand this consider professional footballers who go on to become coaches after their playing days are over.  Years ago you did not need a coaching qualification to become a coach in football.

Just because a person may be a good footballer does not make him a good coach. An outstanding footballer is technically gifted to perform well as and individual and team player.  An outstanding coach is able to transform others to reach those skilled heights - two totally different skill sets.  The reverse applies too - an outstanding coach will not necessarily be a gifted player.

What Is Coaching As Opposed To Therapy?

A therapist usually helps clients resolve emotional blockages that cause them to become dysfunctional in one or more areas of their life.  For the client this involves expressing their feelings and for the therapist facilitating expression and catharsis of emotions en route to helping the client achieve healing, closure and functionality.  For coaching to benefit a client need to have functionality and energy to work at their goals.

It is understandable that the three disciplines mentioned cause people to ask 'what is coaching?' because the skills used in all three have some overlap in terms of listening and questioning. Hopefully this article has provided the clarity that distinguishes not only the differences but essentially to understand what coaching really involves.

 Anita Narayan is a success coach, business consultant and international bestselling co-author who specialises in providing a No Win No Fee Business Consultancy
http://www.mypersonalbestcoaching.com

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The National Science Foundation estimates that the average person thinks about 12,000 thoughts per day. Deep thinkers have as many as 50,000 thoughts per day. If you subtract 8 hours for sleeping, that comes to nearly a thought per second! That's a lot of noise!

So how do you learn to master your thinking with all that noise and what has this got to do with your business and life in general?

Albert Einstein said that in order to find  creative solutions we need to think differently than the thinking that caused the original problem.  In order to think differently you need to know first how you are thinking before you can start to master your thinking and direct it creatively.

For example which of your thoughts support your success and which thoughts might sabotage your efforts towards your goals? Many people do not know how they are thinking let alone be able to determine exactly what thoughts are supporting or sabotaging their efforts towards success. 

So how do you get to know your thinking with a significant degree of accuracy in order to master your thoughts and allow them to serve you rather than the other way round?

Most profiling tools that exist measure personality, behaviour and attitude. However there is a system that goes beyond the layers of emotion, behaviour, attitude and personality to uncover the driving thought processes that lie beneath.

Its called the Six Advisors based on Nobel Prize winning research by Robert Hartmann and is based on the science of axiology - the science of making judgements based on values. You can take the Six Advisors Assessment for FREE and obtain a FREE report to discover how you are thinking in relation to your values.

Imagine a boardroom meeting where you have six advisors round your table and you are the head of the meeting. Your twelve to fifty thousand thoughts can be categorised between these six advisors who are constantly advising you on views to take and decisions to make. 

Sometimes they may be in harmony or they may be in conflict with each other at any given point. Just as the chair of the meeting has the control to decide you are in control of your thoughts as conveyed by those advisors and at any time you can choose to listen, retrain or ignore those advisors.

Your Six Advisors Assessment Report will go below the surface of behavior and personality and measure with great accuracy the thought processes that are driving your decisions and actions. By gaining this new knowledge and awareness you will then be in a position to develop the next stage of your thinking and that is to master your thoughts.

In short, the Six Advisors Assessment is designed to help YOU:

1. Measure your current thought processes.

2. Understand the relationship between YOU and your thoughts and recognize and become aware of how your thought processes have been running your life.

3. Discover that YOU can choose to think differently and provide YOU with the tools, time-tested principles, techniques, and processes needed to master your thinking.

4. Assist YOU in recognizing Pivotal Moments throughout your day when YOU can choose to be in control of your thoughts versus letting your thoughts control your life.

In short, the Six Advisors will put you firmly on the path to enabling you to master your thoughts in order become successful in life and business. Only then will you be able to direct your thinking creatively towards breakthrough and profitable solutions.
 
Anita Narayan is a Success Coach, Consultant and International Bestselling Co-Author who specialises in offering businesses a NO Win NO Fee Consultancy Service.  To take the FREE Six Advisors Assessment go to http://www.mypersonalbestcoaching.com

In the wake of the demise of giants such as Woolworths, Setanta and MFI may businesses are shuddering and even more afraid to take risks or spend money investing in their business.  However understandable this might be in the current economy it is important that you take steps to learn how to recession proof your business.

There are three principles I would like to share for those of you who want to know how to recession proof your business.  Firstly you have to dare to review the foundations on which your business grows to check that they are strong so that whatever has been built on those foundations stands a chance of surviving the economic downturn.  For example what are the values on which your business is built? Are those values tangible to your prospects?  People want value for money and if they do not feel they are getting it they will not listen to you.

The second principle involved in learning how to recession proof your business is that you must take a scientific and systematic approach to your business. For example it has been researched and documented that 20% of prospective customers do not buy in the first year.  So what systems do you have in place for those who take longer to become clients?  Marketing experts like Chet Holmes and Jay Abrahams do not teach scientific and systematic principles that are necessary for success for no good reason. if you adopt a scientific approach to your business you will avoid many of the mistakes that have cost others dearly. 

A third principle you must take on board in order to know how to recession proof your business beyond the basic values stated above is to determine and utilise the business skills of others that you need to in order to thrive rather than just survive.  It's extremely difficult, if not impossible, to build and sustain a profitable business (either online or offline) unless you reach out and harness the skills of a wide range of people.

One person doesn't have all necessary skills to do everything that is required to build and grow a successful business. Nobody has the monopoly on business success.  It's a simple formula-the more high quality business connections you have, the easier it becomes to get things done and make money.
Many become tense at this point thinking this means more money to pay up front with no guarantee of better results. 

However if you want to know how to recession proof your business the smart way then working with others on a profit share basis will take the stress of upfront costs away and is risk free.

I had the privilege to work with Tony Adams after he left Arsenal and became manager of Wycombe Wanderers. If people like Tony have taken this on board then there is a vital clue left which separates those who thrive from those who survive.

 
Anita Narayan is an international co-author, business coach and consultant who specialises in a NO Win NO Fee Consultancy service for businesses. Find out where you are leaving money on the table? Obtain your FREE business audit at http://www.mypersonalbestcoaching.com/free.html

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