6 Signs That You’re Not Ready For Professional Coaching

There are several tell-tale signs that you’re just not ready for professional coaching. These signs include a lack of personal accountability, constantly seeking problems as opposed to solutions, not willing to communicate openly and generally showing a disinterest in what your coach has to say.

Coaching can only work if you’re willing to allow yourself to be receptive to its endless benefits. Let’s take a look at some of the major signs that you’re not ready to commit to professional coaching yet.

6 REASONS WHY COACHING DOESN’T WORK FOR EVERYONE (AND WHY IT MIGHT NOT WORK FOR YOU)

Sometimes, people aren’t in the right frame of mind at the right time in order to make coaching work.

Here are 6 sure-fire signs that the time isn’t right for you.

#1-You’re Too Focused On Problems Rather Than Solutions

If you’re the kind of person that finds the negative in every positive and generally doubts or criticises every piece of supportive or constructive information you receive, then it’s very unlikely that coaching is going to work for you at the moment.

Coaching is for progressive, forward thinking individuals that want to improve their personal and professional lives. This can only happen when you become solution orientated rather than problem orientated. If that isn’t you at the moment, you might want to reconsider enlisting the help of a professional coach.

#2-It’s Always Someone Else’s Fault…

The word ‘fault’ carries negative connotations, so it’s understandable that you might not want to accept that you could be at ‘fault’ for the circumstances you currently find yourself in.

However, it’s safe to say that some of the decisions you’ve made in the past are likely the reason why you’re considering enlisting the help of a professional coach today. There’s nothing wrong with admitting that, it actually shows an acute sense of self-awareness and personal responsibility.

However, if you’re still hung up on blaming everyone else for your past decisions and you take no responsibility for anything that has lead to you seeking assistance today, you’re probably not ready to start moving forwards emotionally.

Even the best coach in the world could not work with this foundation unless you’re willing to make a vested effort to try and break it down for them.

#3-You’re Focused On Making The Coach ‘Prove’ Themself To You

It’s important to understand that the job of a coach is not to justify themselves to you before you open up to them. That completely defeats the purpose and displays backward logic.

If your initial conversation with a professional coach is more about trying to determine whether they’re ‘good enough’ to support you rather than opening up to them and trying to get to the root causes of your lack of emotional wellbeing, then be prepared to never change.

By leaving your ego at the door and surrendering your defences, you’ll find that you’re able to progress swiftly and effectively. Great professional coaching isn’t about the coach, after all.

If they’re qualified and you’ve shown enough interest in their services to find yourself in the same room as them, they’re good enough. That’s when the torch gets passed over to you.

#4-A Lack Of Responsiveness To Guidance

As strange as it may seem, some people actually show a total disregard for the support and guidance being provided by their coach.

Quite why this is remains a mystery, because it’s the client who first approached the coach for assistance, after all. A lack of responsiveness or receptiveness for the information being provided by professional coaches is surprisingly common, however.

It’s also a classic sign that the person simply isn’t ready to make any emotional progress. If you’re the kind of person who thinks that you know best all the time, then you should consider why you’re seeking guidance from a coach in the first place.

You should also use this thought process to guide you towards actively listening to your coach and showing a willingness to work with them towards taking inspired action based on their guidance if you want an improved professional and personal life.

#5-You’re The ‘Quick-Fix’ Type

Far too many people think that by paying a professional coach, they’re going to get some kind of magical, immediate quick fix to their professional and personal issues. This simply isn’t likely to be the case, however.

There are instances where you might genuinely act and absorb the guidance of your coach from the moment you first work with them thus leading to immediate progress in the areas you’re looking for. This isn’t usually the case, though.

Often, it’ll take several weeks’ worth of digging deep to begin to understand yourself enough to be able to make some kind of emotional advancement that leads to the kind of progress you’re looking for.

You need to be prepared to make a longer-term commitment in order to see some great results. If you’re expecting to achieve everything you’re looking to achieve after one session, then coaching definitely isn’t going to work for you. It’s important to properly manage your expectations before diving in.

#6-A Lack Of Willingness To Open Up

Nothing will stop professional coaching dead in the water faster than a client who refuses to open up. This sign is similar to not being responsive to guidance in that it entirely defeats the purpose of coaching, yet some people still inexplicably do it.

If you’re not willing to open up and make yourself vulnerable to your coach in at least a mild capacity as you initially begin to work with them, then you’re going to find that the sessions aren’t going to go anywhere fast.

Being open is the only way that your coach is going to be able to access the vital information they require to be able to steer you down the right path towards emotional wellness. If you can’t be open with them, you probably shouldn’t get in contact with them at all.

THINK COACHING ISN’T RIGHT FOR YOU? THINK AGAIN

We can all change our perspective and take responsibility for our actions. If any of the above barriers to professional coaching sound like they resonate with you, then you’ve at least displayed that you have enough self-awareness to be able to recognise the more, shall we say, difficult facets of your personality in relation to making coaching work seamlessly.

If that’s the case, as millions of others already have, you can choose to change and adapt to the coaching process. It may be difficult at first, but over time you’ll find it easier to succumb to your coach’s guidance as you see the benefits pour in.

Can you remember a time when you were perhaps ‘shut off’ to professional guidance and you managed to change for the better? What were the results like afterwards? Share your successes in the comments below!