FRUSTRATION!

What’s the point? Frustration is one of our many emotions that may well be natural, understandable, reasonable and justifiable, but, is it useful? It can be; when it helps galvanise us into action to do something to address the cause. But very often our frustration is with another person’s behaviour, a situation or a system that is outside of our control or influence. All too often it has a negative impact, diverting our energy and clouding our thinking so we cannot see the situation clearly, or from more useful perspectives.

Since training to be a coach I have often been frustrated by the general lack of understanding about coaching and the difficulty of describing my service and this is compounded by the lack of regulation in the profession and the increasing fashion of using the term ‘coach’. The power of coaching is in its subtleties and coaching clients find their own solutions with the light touch of a skilled coach. Subtleties are by their very nature difficult to explain. And I am not alone in the coaching profession to be frustrated by the ease with which others can add ‘coach’ to their professional description without any coaching qualifications.

However, deciding to separate out that part of my frustration which I can do something about from that which serves no positive purpose for me, this blog is being written as an action towards addressing a part of the cause of my frustration whilst sharing an approach that can be generally applied.

Standing back to look at the situation with fresh eyes I acknowledge that the term ‘coach’ has been used in a sporting context for many years and well before it was adopted for the process I am passionate about. It is actually very reasonable that it should be used in a casual way to describe a process of training and support. Any frustration that I feel about others using the term ’coach’ to mean something other than professionally trained, is clearly misplaced. To be able to address this frustration I need to turn my attention to highlighting and demonstrating the benefits of working with a coach who is qualified and takes their continuous professional development seriously.

If you’re feeling frustrated about something, ask yourself ‘what’s the point?’ and think about identifying what you can and can’t affect. Take action on that which you can. Recognise the futility and negative impact of hanging on to frustration with that which is outside your control and you will find it easier to let it go.