The 3-step blogs
Here is blog post three in the 3-step coaching method focusing on motivators and blockers to changing up and breaking through. Let me know if you would like to follow this up.
Challenge Comfort Companion
Each of these words has a deeper meaning offering fresh insight when you are experiencing inertia in moving forward. Exposing the root of these words can help you dig a bit deeper to find what is within and unearth a new measure of confidence and resolve to cultivate a new season of growth.
Testing the CHALLENGE
The root word comes from the Latin noun ‘provocation.’ And you’re already getting my drift on this! The ‘provocation test’ is used in allergy testing when blood and skin tests have proved inconclusive. The testing procedure then changes up to the provocation test in which the patient is given a very small amount of a substance and then observed for any reaction. Sometimes the challenge you face to make a change feels too radical according to what you know to date. It is inconclusive. But, if you find your mind constantly going back to the idea - or maybe friends or colleagues have nudged you about it - then I suggest you might be wanting to take the risk and test it out somehow. Precisely because you have assessed the risk of the change as very high, you have to find a means of trying it out or testing it which gives you the opportunity to experience it rather than just think about it and staying stuck. Coaching can help you unearth possibilities which you have probably already thought of but filed in the holding folder at the back of your mind!
Finding the COMFORT
The root word is the Latin verb ‘comfortare’ and literally means ‘to strengthen greatly.’ The Bayeaux tapestry depicts the famous victory of the battle of Hastings in 1066 and, in the height of the battle, there is a scene in which Bishop Odo ‘greatly strengthens’ the French troops. The caption to this section is “Bishop Odo comforts his troops.” However, on close inspection of the picture it appears that the Bishop is actually waving a great big club (possibly the Bishop’s mace!) at the soldiers and their horses – not quite the illustration of ‘comfort’ we might expect, especially from a Christian cleric! But so often, in my experience, this is exactly the sort of ‘comfort’ people require when they are considering a significant change or a new move in their lives. They might appreciate kind words of understanding, an arm round the shoulder, a knowing look from a trusted friend but what they know they really need is a bit of a comforting push to make the courageous step forward. They need to be greatly strengthened … but probably not bashing over the head!
A good COMPANION
The root word is the Latin ‘Companio’ which literally means ‘bread together’ with ‘com’ meaning together, and ‘panis’ meaning bread. Before all you Christians dive for an obvious eucharistic connection, let me dig even deeper than that. Bread has always been a basic food since forever. And I believe Jesus deliberately chose the symbols of bread and wine precisely because they were, and still are, basic coming-together items. Apart from the nourishment it provides, bread has always served a friendly purpose. Bread and cheese, the humble sandwich, the pizzas and the endless varieties of rolls, flat breads and buns … all serve well in the enjoyment of being together. The more recent arrival of the ‘tear-and-share’ bread simply emphasises the place of bread in coming together in companionship. But, while chewing bread together, good companions usually chew through the stuff of their lives (‘tear-and-share’ life!) and can give time to getting under the surface of the facts and feelings. And a good companion will often be both a comfort and a challenge and may indeed provoke or urge you on. After a hard-worked coaching session I often ask clients if they have a companion to help them process some of their findings or intentions. Whilst a coach can help you unearth things and unpack stuff and encourage you to act on what you have discovered or realised, a companion will help you chew it over in a more relaxed setting.
If you find this post helpful why not book a coaching session to explore an alternative view and shift a stuck situation and release a fresh potential? For teams there is a one day coaching exercise using this methodology to get underneath the surface and unearth the root to a more fruitful way forward together.
