Creative Mamas

I need to tell you a little story explaining how this article came about. The whole thing came to me as I was walking down Ocean Parkway on my way to the F Train. I was stewing about a workshop I was scheduled to deliver in two days at the ASGPP’s national psychodrama conference. The title of my workshop was “The Coach’s Role in the Director’s Shoes”. I knew what I wanted to do, but I had no idea what I would say. How would I talk about coaching and explain the coach’s role without repeating the same old jargon that I’ve heard and said a thousand times? From experience I knew that the same old lingo usually left people with a blank look on their face. (Not a fun experience when facing a room filled with 20 of your professional peers.)

The standard lingo sounds like this:

“A coach helps you make the changes you want make in your life.”
Or
“As a coach I partner with you to help you realize the life of your dreams.”

Whenever I talked about coaching using language like this I would see people’s eyes glaze over and I knew they had just turned down the volume button on their ears. Or, I might get a reaction similar to my Great Aunt Tilly’s, “That’s nice dear. But, what is it you actually do?”

So there I was walking down Ocean Parkway on my way to catch the F train having this conversation in my head when a truck horn blared in my ear and woke me from my trance. When I looked up, there was a huge MACK truck coming straight at me. Fortunately it wasn’t coming very fast. I even had time to give the driver one of those, “Yeah, thanks buddy. Back at you” kinds of waves people in Brooklyn are known for.

But I took a second look at the truck because something caught my eye. On the front of the truck there was a tinted plexi-plastic bug shield with the words “Live Your Dream” painted on it in beautiful pink and purple script. My first thought was, “Live your dream? What a weird thing for a trucker to have painted on a bug shield.”

Then it hit me. Dare I say like a MACK truck! A coach is exactly like a MACK truck with a great big “Live Your Dream” bug shield on the hood. A coach is there to help you get from Point A: where you are to Point B: where you want to be. A coach is exactly like a full-service “Live Your Dream” Trucking Company. So, as your full-service “Live Your Dream” Trucking Company, here’s what a coach can do for you:

1. Where are you moving? The coach is there to help you define a clear vision of your Point B (the life you want to be living). So when you get there, you know you’re there.
   
2. Where are you now? And how many miles are there between here and there? The coach helps you plan your course and create the map that will get you from Point A to Point B.
   
3. When do you want to get there? You will work with your coach to create a realistic timeline.
   
4. How much stuff are you taking with you? The coach will help you assess what is working and what isn’t working. They will help you load the truck with the things that are working and leave as much of the rest behind as you can.
   
5. How many boxes and how much bubble wrap do you need? The coach encourages you to take very good care of yourself. Roads are bumpy. Change is hard. The better care you take with yourself and your packing, the more likely you are to arrive at your final destination in one piece.
   
6. Hit the road. Mile by mile and step by step your coach is there to help you take the actions you must willingly take to reach your dream.
   
7. Careful unpacking. Now that you have arrived the coach is there to help you create the new environment that will allow you to sustain your dream.

That’s it. You’re done. You have arrived safely. You can say thanks and so long to your coach. But, be sure to keep the number of the “Live Your Dream” Trucking Company handy because you never know when you may be ready to make another move.

Finally, I arrived safely at my destination, the F train. The workshop was a success. I even got some people up on their feet, on their way in their figurative moving truck, and one more mile closer to their “Dream” destination.

Go Live your Dream. Have fun. If you want a coach to help you make your way, give me a call. In the meantime, I’ll be off hunting down another metaphor to club relentlessly.