Supercoach - Michael Neill [6]
You’ll also find two kinds of exercises throughout the text:
1. Coaching exercises are generally in the body of the text and are intended to be practiced and played with as you go through each session. They’re designed to facilitate transformation, and often produce the kinds of Level III insights that lead to effortless success and change.
2. Supercoaching tips are bite-size versions of the techniques and strategies I use with my clients to help them break through whatever is holding them back from going wherever it is they want to go. Whether you’re a helping professional, use coaching as a part of your job, or simply want to be able to make more of a difference in your own life and the lives of your family and friends, these tips will serve you well!
Creating Effortless Success
One of the best descriptions of the shift that happens when you begin to live your life from a deeper understanding of these secrets is the creation of what my clients and I call “effortless success.” This isn’t about an avoidance of physical effort; it’s about an absence of mental struggle. Happiness leads to success, well-being leads to inspiration, and that success and inspiration become the basis for creating an ever more wonderful life.
In my work with private clients and discussions with readers and students, I’ve come to recognize that the journey to effortless success takes people through three distinct stages of development. While the length of time it takes a person to go through each of these stages varies wildly, the stages themselves appear to be quite consistent. . . .
Stage 1: Learning a New Way to Drive
Some years ago, I interviewed supercoach Maria Nemeth, and she shared the following analogy for what it’s like when she meets a new client for the first time:
Imagine a person standing in front of you complaining they can’t walk properly because of a sore foot. As they’re calling your attention toward their foot, you can’t help noticing that they’re holding a gun directly above it, pointing straight down.
Next, you notice they have a severe twitch every couple of minutes and that every time they twitch, the gun goes off, sending another bullet directly into their foot.
No matter how enthusiastic and motivated they are to begin moving forward, it would be a waste of time to work on getting anywhere, or even on healing their wounded foot, until you did something about the gun and the twitch.
Similarly, when I begin work with a new client, they often come to me with a list of goals they want to get started on immediately. Yet inevitably our first few sessions together are spent clearing up loose ends in their lives and building a foundation that will ultimately support their dreams.
The general report from people in this phase is that a sense of ease and well-being begins to permeate their lives, coupled with a sense of surprise that things have begun to shift in their circumstances “all by themselves.” This can be unsettling! As one client said to me with great concern in his voice, “The problem is, I don’t have any more problems.”
When you’re in this stage, you may find yourself worrying about not being worried, and being a bit upset about the fact that nothing seems to upset you anymore. As another client told me, “It feels like something is missing from my life.” When we explored this statement further, it turned out that what was missing was all the stress!
While for some people the relief of reaching this kind of equanimity is success enough, I’m interested in complete transformation. Some of my clients were already pretty far down the road to success when they first hired me, but after a while it’s as though they’ve learned to drive in a whole new way. That’s why for me peace of mind and greater contentment and happiness aren’t the end of the road but the place where the journey really begins. . . .
Stage