The Spirit is Willing…..
I am tired. The kind of happy, contented, feel-good tired that comes from coaching up a storm all day.
When I first started coaching my plan for myself was to see 15 clients a week and run one weekend workshop a month. I was quite put out when one of the coach trainers told me that I was being too optimistic and that I may well not be able to sustain that level of coaching.
Being an adult child (we don’t like to be told what to do even when someone is giving us very good, useful and affirming advice), I decided that I knew better and would do just that – I set out to find 15 clients a week and run one weekend workshop a month.
It took me some time – about two and a half years if memory serves me – but I did get there.
And once I got there I realized that Brooke (the trainer) had spoken the truth. It is very difficult to find the numbers of clients to sustain a 15 sessions a week habit, and it is equally, if not more, difficult to find the emotional, mental and physical energy to sustain said 15 clients a week habit.
I went, very rapidly, from being buoyed up and excited about my coaching, my clients and my practice, to exhausted, over-stretched and burnt-out. Surprisingly rapidly, but then burnout is something else that we adult children have a talent for.
I rested and recovered, took some time out.
And then I did it all over again.
Not quite so rapidly or in such spectacular style, but I resumed working too hard, seeing too many clients and, this time, I added in writing a book for added excitement…
The thing is, I love what I do. I genuinely cannot think of any way I would rather spend my time. I also have a tendency to struggle with saying no (yet another adult child quirk) so it can be hard to turn potential clients away, or even put off starting to work with them until I have a space in my schedule.
My spirit is willing to coach 30 people a week, but my body and my mind and my emotions just can’t keep up.
After many hours of self-coaching and recovery time on the couch, I have learned what my limitations are (other people may be able to see 20 clients a week, but not me), I have learned to say no when I need to, and I have learned to look after myself in order to better do my work. I now restrict my coaching to the sessions I can fit into two mornings and two afternoons a week. It works perfectly for me. I see enough clients to feed my soul, and I don’t see so many that I get depleted.
But, still, after a full day of coaching, I feel tired.
And that is OK.
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Tags: burnout | client load | coaching | coaching clients | exhaustion | managing energy | writing
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