In the first guest post of this year coach Charlotta Hughes uses her experience and knowledge to focus upon:

Getting Your Client’s to RACE towards their dreams in 2014 (beyond the second week of January!)!

by Charlotta Hughes

Of course there’s no surprise that people tend to start out the New Year hoping that this will be the year when those changes will really happen. They’ll lose the weight, land the perfect job, develop a great social life, find their life partner or leave the one who isn’t making them happy.

The list goes on and I’m sure you agree that for us coaches, there’s lots of opportunities to help clients change their lives for the better around this time of year. They have the motivation, will and determination to invest in themselves and their lives.

Yet, despite this surge of energy and optimism, so often people soon lose sight of their goals and ambitions. They get busy with their day to day lives, old habits kick back in and once again their comfort zone is keeping them prisoners of the same reality they’ve been experiencing, probably for quite some time.

Having a life coach can, of course, make a huge difference. However, for many it turns out not to be enough. What started out as an exciting journey for the coachee and rewarding and energising work for the coach, then turns into a disappointing and frustrating experience for both of a ‘stuck’ client.

So why does this happen, when the person seemingly really wants the changes they set out to achieve? The problem might very well lie with the goal, not with the dedication or ability of the client. In my coach mentoring I help coaches decipher whether their goal setting actually empowers the client enough to make the desired changes their new reality. Frequently I help them see how the main tool used in goal setting today isn’t enough. Namely, the acronym SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Timely).

I totally agree that the rules applied here are sound, however, SMART only deals with the goals. Not the person who’s going to achieve them. This is where RACE comes in. RACE is to the person, what SMART is to the goal. Here’s what it stands for:

Responsibility – this is about the fact that unless a client takes full responsibility for their own goals and dreams, they will never reach them. That ownership is pivotal! People tend to blame others or the circumstances they’re in for their own failings – it’s only by taking complete responsibility that they are in control of reaching their goals. Similarly, people often put their own happiness and ambitions in the hands of others. If a client’s dream or target involves someone loving them more or someone saying sorry to them, they are really setting themselves up for failure. They are in no way in control of this happening and they therefore can’t take responsibility for it or make it happen.

Action – people tend to plan, analyse, discuss and make decisions on how they’ll improve things and what they’ll achieve in their minds and with those around them. In the process of doing so, they can almost feel like they actually are moving closer to their goals. However, it’s only when they take actual action and DO something that they start moving towards them. Many little things will add up to the big stuff – get clients to focus on at least taking one small action in the right direction every day.

Commitment – if they aren’t dedicated and committed to achieving their dreams they’ll quickly lose sight of them. Ultimately, growing as people and instilling positive change in their lives will involve some degree of discomfort. After all, it has to involve them pushing themselves out of their comfort zones. To stick with it when the going gets tough (maybe when the ice cream craving sets in, when the unknown feels scary, when letting go of control is daunting, and so on …), they must be completely committed to themselves and they own goals. Wanting something isn’t enough, they must be 100% dedicated to accomplish it!

Emotional – clients must be emotionally attached to their dreams and goals. This is so pivotal for personal success as if they don’t care sufficiently about them to stick with them when distractions or challenges come along, they’ll be long gone by the time February arrives! They must be perceived as friends. This is also why it’s vital that the motivation for their goals comes from themselves in the first place – if they are developed for the benefit of someone else, such as to please their partner, boss or parent, they won’t have this important emotional connection to them. The goals may sound great in theory but they could soon feel more of an enemy than a friend, and that’s never going to work!

I hope you have lots of exciting work coming your way this month, and when it does, make sure these four ingredients are in the mix when establishing your clients’ goals, and once you, and they, are confident that they are, set them off to RACE towards their dreams!

About Charlotta Hughes

Charlotta has been coaching professionally for over 12 years and in March 2013 she won Life Coach of the Year, awarded by the national body Association of Professional Coaches, Trainers and Consultants.

Her background is within Human Resources and she started her busy coaching practice, be me life coaching, in January 2007.

Charlotta specialises in coach mentoring, confidence, direction and entrepreneur coaching.

Her academic qualifications include professional Life and Corporate Coaching qualifications. She also has a BSc (hons) in Psychology & Computing, an MA in Human Resources Management and she is a Member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.

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