What does it take you to trust someone? How about trusting yourself? The role of the Life Coach is to help the client believe in herself -- to trust her own judgment and decision-making capabilities. Trust comes out of a belief that people are telling you the truth, that they are trustworthy. Trust is a cultural value and a cultural motif. There is the ubiquitous used-car salesman, the symbol of the deceptive, devious, anything-for-a-buck liar who can't be trusted. Then, on the other end of the spectrum, is the elementary school teacher, the kindly mother or father figure trusted with our children, a person believed to be moral, kind and decent based upon career choice alone.
When we examine ourselves, do we fall somewhere in the middle, or are we paragons of trustworthiness?
In coaching, trust is often used synonymously with self-belief, the opposite of self-doubt. The feeling of trust, or self-trust is empowering to the client, while doubt, the lack of trust, is disempowering. What can you accomplish if you don't trust that what you are doing will ultimately succeed, ultimately work out for the best.
Sometimes you have to consciously choose to trust, in order to keep doubt at bay. Think about it: Everything you have achieved has come out of your self-belief and trust in your decisions.
On the other hand, the positive function of doubt is that it can serve as a warning system to steer you away from making the wrong decision. You may have heard, "When in doubt, don't."
You have an opportunity to find the trust you need out of the doubt you possess. Work on it and let me know! Have a great day Coach Paula
