5 Learning Items From Intensified Coaching Sessions: January 2020

From the beginning 2020 I have intensified my commitment to sharing and serving. Throughout January I have held a record number of coaching sessions. Below is a snippet of lessons I've learned during my coaching career. Coaching is originated from the regular practice of Prophet Muhammad, whereby people would either seek his counsel and he would often coach and mentor them, or he would seek the counsel of others who were specialists in their fields.

Coaching in the modern day is often attributed an Americanism concept. And in modern day business has become an indispensable need for leaders and those looking to get ahead. It is no longer an American fad, coaching is here to stay and those that embrace will accelerate their breakthroughs in comparison to their peers who will take years and decades to figure things out as they go along or learn from mistakes.

1. Coaching Is Life Changing

Coaching in its best form, should be nothing less than life changing. When I select my coach, they must have the capacity to change my life, and when I coach others, my expectation is that it will change life of my student. There is a common thread with professional athletes, business leaders, CEOs and world leaders - in one way or another, they have chosen to be coached and mentored to reach the peak of their powers.

2. Coaching Is Fun!

As a problem solver and people's person, I love the variety of challenge each client brings. From being stuck in a rut in depression, being overwhelmed, not knowing how to scale, not knowing what to focus on, how to focus, being in a crisis etc etc etc. Each situation requires careful attention and problem solving, and it gives me great joy when clients write back the day after, their reflections of impact of just one session! How about impacts after a quarter, six months or a year? For me there is no better joy in life, other than becoming a means of change and betterment for the life of another being.

3. Coaching is Not A Luxury, Including The Coach Himself

Accountability is a key aspect of reaching our goals, coaching is a framework which makes us accountable to change our lives to succeed.

"As we go after our goals this year there is one skill that will stand out high above all other skills. The skill of holding yourself accountable. To master this skill means that you are able to hold yourself to any commitment that you set." Hal Elrod

Clients have often asked me, 'have you had coaching'?

'Well actually, I have three right now,' I say.

I believe in investing in my own coaching, it has led to my breakthroughs much more effectively than learning by error. Some of my errors have been near fatal in business and I could have easily avoided those errors, had I been coached instead of learning by doing. It would have been far less costly monetarily, on time and on health had I been coached.

4. Coaching Serves To Slow Down To Accelerate Much Faster

A martial arts student went to his teacher and said earnestly, "I am devoted to studying your martial system. How long will it take me to master it." The teacher's reply was casual, "Ten years." Impatiently, the student answered, "But I want to master it faster than that. I will work very hard. I will practice everyday, ten or more hours a day if I have to. How long will it take then?" The teacher thought for a moment, "20 years." Ritch Litvin

People are in a frenzy to achieve what they perceive as success in the modern day. Much of my coaching with clients is getting them to slow down. My students often get astonished with the resounding high impact when I slow them down, people are often trying to do too much and end up not doing very much. Slow everything down, will lead to higher quality of work and impact to enhance outcomes.

5. The Secret: There is No Secret

In reference to the 'frenzy', there are success solutions being proposed by leading experts in all facets of life all the time every minute on our social media feeds. They all seem correct, and combined together can lead to mass confusion. Let me tell you the biggest secret... THERE ARE NO SECRETS.

Everyone of us are on in individual path, we all have a duty to identify and hone our strengths and subsequently devise a path suited to our natural being, this will best serve the one and only me and the people I serve. A great coach can pioneer this process.

Bringing It All Together

Coaching is not a new phenomenon, rather a traditional method for development personally and professionally through the ages. It has become an increasing important art in the modern world of mass confusion and when executed effectively will become a life changing experience. A great coach will slow down his client and challenge her in earnest, will ask questions others will not dare to ask and will create breakthroughs that seemed impossible.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Babrul Matin is known as the ‘Islamic Investor’, he is best known for Real Estate development in the UK market. Babrul's mission is to combine ethical performance with profitability, and drive shariah compliant investment and business practices in real markets across the Globe. Babrul is a specialist trainer, coach, consultant and public speaker in Islamic property development and is the host and founder of the UK Islamic Property Investors Network.

Babrul has written for, or been covered by, The BBC, The British Council, The Red Money Group, The Office for Standards in Education, The Specialist Schools and Academies Trust, Islamic Finance News, as well as various councils and local newspapers.