1. I’m pretty sure that working with a coach would provide me with a lot of benefits, but I can’t afford personal coaching.
2. I can get what I need for my development from the popular products and approaches that are available.
3. If I develop in my practice (like yoga, meditation, weight training, etc.), it will inherently transform the rest of my life.
4. All I need is to gain new insights and realize what’s true for me, and then my life will be transformed.
5. I can do it on my own.

THE 5 REALITIES OF PERSONAL TRANSFORMATION

1. I’m pretty sure that working with a coach would provide me with a lot of benefits, but I can’t afford personal coaching
I realize that when I look at my budget for a year, I spend $185 on books, $690 on attending workshops and classes, $480 on my gym membership, and another $210 on other products and subscriptions. That’s $1,565 that I already spend on my own development in all these different ways. However, there’s nothing that’s actually holding the underneath of, “What does all that development sit in?” There’s not one person that’s putting it together for me, making all the links, holding the wider container of my development, and I find myself questioning whether all of this is even helping me get to what I really want.

Integral Coaches are trained in how development occurs, so they can include everything I’m doing and make sense of the whole thing. An Integral Coach is going to hold the ‘all of me’ and my unique unfolding in the world. She will help me to make better use of all my developmental activities and can help me to sort out what to focus on right now to help me move forward in my life.

Actually, if I really stop and think about it, I spend $3.86 a day at the coffee shop. Besides a warm drink, what do I have to show from spending almost $1,000 a year on this? Is all this just to make myself feel good for a little while? And then what?

2. I can get what I need for my development from the popular products and approaches that are available.
Sure, there are some great products and classes out there that could probably help me. But what I realize is that they are all designed to meet the needs of as many people as possible. How do I know that my unique set of needs will be met? And even if I get something from it, where’s the support to help me actually integrate the new insights into my life where it really matters? I know what it’s like to be inspired by something new, then just go back to doing what I’ve always done after a short period of time. That isn’t the ‘change’ I’m looking for.

I’ve already done a lot of development in my life, and now I want to cut through all that and get something that’s designed just for me. Someone that can meet me one on one, and support me through the process of not only gaining new insights, but taking the necessary steps to apply these insights in my life in ways that really matter to me. Whether or not I like to think about it, I’m going to die one day. I only have a certain amount of time left, so how do I want to spend it? I don’t want to go out with my book left unwritten, with my song left unsung, my gifts left ungiven. I have so much more to offer, and working intimately with an Integral Coach can be the key to unlocking the doors that are holding me back.

3. If I develop in my practice (like yoga, meditation, weight training, etc.), it will inherently transform the rest of my life.
Yes, the practices that I’m already engaged in make a difference in my life. They help me to manage the rest of my life, and I feel good for having them. But if I’m honest with myself, I’m not sure how I’m really taking my practice ‘off the mat’ and showing up differently in my life. How does my yoga practice help me to deepen my relationships? How does my meditation practice support me in working through my career challenges and making a living that’s aligned with my values?

An Integral Coach will start to work with me by clarifying what’s most pressing in my life right now – the ‘topic’ that is most important to me. Then from that place, my practices will be designed in such a way that I see a clear link between what I am practicing and how it supports my topic. The topic then becomes both the catalyst and context for my transformation. This allows me to see the tangible benefits of my practices, which then re-enforces my motivation to keep practicing.

Not only will an Integral Coach give me new custom designed practices, I will be shown how I can go into my current practices in a way that leverages what I’m already doing to develop the specific capacities I need to meet my goals. Now that’s the type of leverage that I’m looking for.

4. All I need is to gain new insights and realize what’s true for me, and then my life will be transformed.
It’s true. Expanding my awareness and getting in touch with what matters most to me is a crucial step in the transformative process. But it’s not the only one. When I gain new insights about myself and the world around me, I may feel different and see new possibilities. And yet, that alone won’t have any impact on my life if I don’t act on it. Even if I do, I will likely apply my same approach of doing things like I’ve always done to this new idea… which ultimately gets me to the same old results.

If I want to manifest a new reality, then I have to show up in a whole new way. An Integral Coach can work with me to identify the exact capacities that I will need to develop in order go from insights to embodiment. This is what will allow me to live in alignment with my highest values and offer my greatest gifts to the world.

5. I can do it on my own.
Yes, I can. To a certain degree. I can engage in new practices and learn methods that might help me to grow. But working with an Integral Coach would enable me to see that even when I’m trying something new, I’m bringing my old way of ‘trying new’ to the table. I likely would be approaching my development with the same frame of mind that I’m seeking to grow beyond. Doing this allows me to change here and there. But why am I wasting my time, and what was that thing I keep trying to forget? Oh yeah, I’m going to die… Am I going to keep making these half-hearted attempts at growth that ultimately don’t have lasting impact? Or am I ready to stand in the middle of my life as it is right now and show up with all of who I am and what I’m capable of?

I know that time is precious. An Integral Coach can help me make sense of my life in a way more profound way, be challenged in my life in a way more profound way, and wake up in my life in ways that I can’t possibly imagine. So why try to do it on my own, when I don’t need to?