I am attending a session of Integral Coaching with my amazing coach on Friday.

I’m feeling a bit stirred up !

It feels a bit like a period of pre-exam revision as thoughts and feelings come pouring into my mind and I try to organise them into coherent stories to discuss with my coach.

My attitude to coaching is that it essentially it is I who have to prepare and although I am sure she does prepare to see me, my intention is to be prepared for her – my expectation is that I will be prepared for my meeting with her, not the other way round.

I prepare as follows:-

• I allow thoughts, ideas, memories to whirl around until I arrive at a point that I need to jot as many down as I can with minimum effort – if I have to force the stuff out, I have not allowed enough time to think freely.
• I review my last update and write down any progress or regression that I have experienced
• I review my previously agreed actions and think about whether I have made progress or not – I resist any feeling of guilt or judgement about whether I have done what I set out to do – that in my view would be counter-productive.
• I review my diary since I last saw her for themes that have been coming up that perhaps have the origins of a pattern of behaviour that I want to explore with her when we meet.
• I review any literature that I have read – particularly if she has recommended books/blogs/articles to me and I have a quick review to seek out any topics that struck a chord within me.
• I review my own blog posts and see if within them there are connecting stories which perhaps demonstrate my progress to my desired outcomes from the coaching process.

Out of all this preparation drops out a neat little list of issues that I feel would be good for me to discuss with her and so I write a brief update of issues/progress/setbacks together with a suggested agenda for our meeting.

This means that when I meet with her, I am prepared and she is briefed and has some advance knowledge of my place on the journey at this present moment in time.

And, I think I have a better chance of being able to actively listen when she does speak so that I am propelled forward onto the next stage of my lifelong journey of self discovery and self acceptance.

My next blog will be: Holding back

William Defoe