How to use coaching to find your motivation.

Motivation is a funny thing. You need it to drive you forward with something, but you can lose it when you can’t see a way forward with something. Therefore meaning you feel like you are starting again trying to find motivation to be able to drive once again.

When you feel motivated, you get things done, and you are most crucially more able to see the value and the opportunity in situations as they arise, ready to tackle them proactively. The opposite is annoyingly true, in that when you aren’t motivated, thing become more of a battle and barriers build up, which makes it harder to become motivated to tackle whatever the challenge is in a positive way.

Obviously, being a true Coaching advocate, I am going to talk about why coaching works so well for these times when, for whatever reason you can’t find the motivation to do something that you need to do. This might be a work project on a deadline, or something bigger, like progressing your career, or starting something completely new.

It is important to recognise that wanting to do something and being motivated to do it are different things, despite feeling the same. I wanted to do coaching in addition to my NHS role but took a while to do this. I needed to find my motivation to start and to continue, even when I knew getting initial engagement and uptake might be tough. Staying motivated despite wanting something so much, is tricky when you aren’t getting the initial results or outcomes you may want. Why coaching works is it builds the resilience of the client, identifying motivating factors and focusing on tasks and actions rather than the focus being weighted in tracking obvious performance. Having a supportive coach helping you stay accountable and on track, believing in you and allowing you space to reflect, to grow and to try new things enables the motivation to keep on track and not lose focus of the bigger picture and your long term goals.

CASE STUDY: I once coached a client who already had a successful small business. A friend of hers and her had an idea for a larger scale business together that would require investment. After the first few sessions my client had not made any progress with her actions, which had included researching grants and some Market research in the local Area. This was when I asked her what her “ why” was to do this project. We spent a session exploring the importance of her daughter and being a role model for her. She found the motivation to succeed with realising her why. Interestingly, my client went on to explore her “why” in more detail in the subsequent sessions, realising taking on a bigger project was not the right time for her in her family life. This was very interesting because we realised why motivation had then been such a struggle. Lack of motivation in this case was actually because the task at hand wasn’t right for my client, and she needed coaching to realise what she did want and need. We worked on restoring her work- life balance instead, with transforming outcomes.

Motivation can also be a symptom of many other barriers and blockers. These often are fear, or lack of confidence. Themes we see a lot in coaching and a supportive coach can work through these with you to help you find your drive by eliminating your blockers. One of the reasons I used Clarity in my title is I know that coaching helps my clients see things clearer for them. Whatever they may need, coaching delivers.

If you have “lost your mojo” lately, or are struggling with how to tackle or start something, I can help you work through this- we can look at your why, and I will ask you questions that help you explore the factors blocking you. Get in touch today to find out more- a complimentary no-obligation call with me is available, and

we can see what your needs are and plan how to meet them.