How Coaching helps change your trajectory

I have written multiple posts on the advantage of having a coach in different areas of your life, whether they are virtual or physical.

In my opinion having a coach has 3 key advantages

Sounding board
Been there done that
Variety of experiences

Sometimes you just need someone to listen to you and showcase the fallacy of your arguments, without you getting defensive. In your official positions, you may have colleagues or bosses whom you could sound your ideas. But more often that not, you end up getting defensive if they point too many flaws. But since you have taken a coach, chances are you will take her feedback more constructively.

If the coach you have chosen actually has worked in your industry and has shown success, then you can be sure that the problem you are facing has been solved by the coach somewhere else, earlier. The coach would have some frameworks based on which they solve problems.

Which brings me to the last point, in terms of the variety of experiences. Since the coach could be dealing with multiple people from different environments, he can cross pollinate ideas from different industries and come out with a solution to a problem which is not being addressed at the moment in your industry.

But the biggest advantage, I think that a coach has is the Accountability or Compliance that the coach brings. You are supposed to take action on the discussions which happen and come back with the results, based on which the next step is decided.

On our own, most of us humans , me included, are lazy and keep postponing things, even when we know our success is dependent on it.

So. look out and get a coach.

Till next time then.

Carpe Diem!!!

Practical and Theory

education, experiences, ideas, Learning

You can’t experience heaven without dying yourself….this is something which my father used to say, when emphasising the importance of actually “doing & practicing” versus “learning by reading/ listening to podcasts/ viewing videos”. Its like what Mike Tyson used to say – everyone has a plan till they get punched in the face…..when that happens, its what you have practiced practically that keeps you in the ring.

I am a big propagator of the idea of lifelong learning. I have been an avid reader of books, I listen to a lot of podcasts and watch a lot of videos. Most of the people I read or follow have very interesting content. I used to find it very intellectually very stimulating. But it would all get lost in the daily humdrum.

But the items which I would practice would stay with me for a long time. As Joe Polish says there are three ways to learn – the first is to learn yourself, the second and better way is to Practice what you learn and the third and best way is to Teach from the experiences of what you practiced.

All the authors can write or talk about the ideas and challenges that they encountered. Consultants can give you ideas based on the interactions they have with multiple clients after synthesising them. Each has its value, because you can at least avoid the known “snakes in the grass”. But its only the practitioner who can give his/her experience with the “doing”.

As an example, some consultant or podcast may tell you, Facebook advertising is cheap and you can target on an amazing amount of niches because Facebook collects a lot of data of its users and preferences. But you want to say target, “start-up” entrepreneurs. When you actually go through all the filters, that Facebook provides for advertisers, you don’t find a way to target start-up entrepreneurs. This situation has actually happened with me a lot of times, when I have tried to implement some thing that I have read or heard.

Its not that the consultant is wrong, its just that they have not actually worked in your specific situation. Your learning comes out of applying the things you read and hear and then adapt it to your situation. Then the thing stays with you.

That’s why I keep prodding all of you who read my blog to give me feedback on how you applied what I shared in the posts and if it did help or where it didn’t help.

Look forward to hearing your feedback.

Carpe Diem!!!

Ability versus capability

language, Learning

I have this fascination for the nuances between words in the English language and whenever I come across something which I find interesting, I end up sharing with you’ll. Earlier I have shared the differences between being relentless and being persistent and others.

I have generally ended up using ability and capability interchangeably. The general meaning of both the terms is actually similar, so I wasn’t making an error in my usage.

Ability is generally defined as the possession of or the skill of doing something. If you look for the synonyms of ability you will find the word capability listed.

When I delved a little deeper in the formation of the word capability, I realised its the intersection of capacity and ability. So from what I could make out, in terms of the human performance – ability is about having the skill, but if I don’t have the capacity to do it then its not a capability.

So I may have the skill to play hockey – which means I have the ability. Can I play in a competition – may be not because I don’t have the stamina / capacity to last a competitive match – that’s not having the capability. Its a very nuanced difference, but it exists.

How did I come across this issue, which took me down this rabbit hole. Well I was listening to a podcast on morecheeselesswhiskers.com and Dean Jackson used the term ability to define a musician having the instruments and the skill to play and capability as something where she can also make music. So you may have the skill to play an instrument but not be able to create music on your own using the instrument.

Its a very fine line, but if you follow the English language then this could be of interest to you.

Till next time then.

Carpe Diem!!!

Execute….and you can change trajectory

execution, ideas, Marketing

I keep writing various things on marketing and sales – generallyfor B2B, personal finance and human performance.

My experience has primarily been in B2B marketing- providing industrial automation solutions, then IT and now some amount of media related work.

I was talking to a close associate on the weekend and she raised a point asking if the blogs I write can actually be applied by all kinds of companies in any of the industries that I have listed above .

I believe, except for pure start-ups, with whom I have never worked, if you even have a few customers then, what I write should definitely help you in your marketing and grow your business significantly.

But I can only give you ideas, at the end of the day, its how you take those ideas and execute that will determine your success. A lot of times when I am taking coaching or listening to podcasts, I get a lot of ideas going on my mind, but till I don’t execute them, I don’t realize the challenges that come up. So while these coaching calls are interesting , it’s not useful until I execute.

So while I hope you find my posts interesting, they can be useful only when you use them and then give me your comments, whether things worked out or they didn’t.

Till next time then….keep executing.

Carpe Diem!!!