Someone’s listening. Mindsets are changing. Things are happening. We need to stay positive in the battle for mental health. Life coaching gets a reputation for sounding too cheesy, fluffy, even flighty, but its methods are real and produce real results. Focusing on the good and promoting one’s strengths, what you can do instead of what you can’t, drives forward motion.
Resilience
Dr. Samantha Boardman published an article earlier this week, The One Question Therapists Don’t Often Ask But Should, and she posed that exact point. Dr. Boardman says that “focusing on strengths instead of weaknesses unlocks potential and boosts resilience.”
We couldn’t agree more and we talk about resiliency often. Coaching focuses on resiliency and, in doing so, on your strengths. Resiliency doesn’t come from negative thinking or dwelling on unhappy experiences. Yes, sometimes those need to be hashed out in therapy, but they help with healing, not with forward motion. For those ready to move forward, they need to stay positive.
Forward Motion
When you stay positive, you have forward motion. Dr. Boardman tells her clients to “write down what went well at the end of each day.” She also suggests they “explore their strengths” and “use them in new ways.” Imagine for a moment your own strengths.
What are you good at? (It’s easy to be sarcastic in our industry, but really try this!) Do you like to figure out puzzles? Are you good with mechanics? Are you creative? Finding ways to use those strengths brings a positive outlook and forward motion towards your goals. Maybe you look at your situation as a puzzle and – with the belief that there’s a positive solution – you get to figure out the path through it. Are you good with mechanics? Figure out how your path is working and where it’s leading. If it’s not leading somewhere good, backtrack and find a better way. A better way always exists!
Positive Coaching
Life coaching focuses on the positive because staying positive is proven to bring about the best results. Sometimes trauma and past situations need to be faced, but when it comes to forward motion and reaching one’s goals, coaches stay positive and work on your strengths with you. They lead you to better perspectives, new goals, attainable outcomes, and better outlooks on yourself and what’s possible for you.
We’ll end on the same note Dr. Boardman did in her article as she puts it so well.
“We can all benefit from a similar shift in perspective. Catch your child doing something right today. Give a compliment to a friend. Congratulate a co-worker on a job well done. Thank a loved one for a gesture you take for granted. Focusing on what’s right in yourself and others may be just what the doctor ordered.”