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I hadn't intended on doing anything this evening but found myself and Ted the Maltese going for a walk. Ted was restless all evening and I remembered that before leaving the house this morning I promised him we would go for a walk when I got home - he didn't forget, unlike me !


As we walked along, I thought about how I found the motivation to deliver on my promise to a small white dog much more easily than any promise to myself to continue with my daily exercise routine … 


As we turned to make the return walk home before it got dark - I looked along the road and couldn't help but see how the long road is such a popular reference to our lives … clearly not enough unexpected twists and turns in this road to reflect true life!


I completed a programme of coaching with a client this evening and I used the remainder of my walk to reflect on the meetings we had and the close out of this particular engagement. My coachee was positive about the work we had done - and yet I am always left with the thought that maybe they didn't find coaching as beneficial as they hoped - could I have done a better job?


That self-doubt  is a recurrent experience for me; only heightened by the fear of sending my questionnaire and asking for formal client feedback. Always expecting to read what they really thought - thankfully the feedback and assessment of their coaching experience I receive have always been positive - but my inability to hear this positive feedback on my abilities and skills as a coach are almost harder to accept than if the feedback was negative.


Strange; how for so many people - receiving positive feedback can be so difficult to hear and accept - but like my walk this evening - the effort and motivation to practice and work at hearing positive feedback does get easier and does make a difference to your self-perception - you just need to get moving and do it.


CH Executive Coaching




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Location: Knock North, Co. Mayo, F12 T6W8, Ireland

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