Coaching & Encouragement to Sustain the Climb

Be committed to spend the time needed for the Climb. Focus on Strength and not just Weakness. Enlist others, especially their loved ones. Do body, mind and heart Operations. Go - It is rewarding intrinsically and extrinsically.

Continuing with my last post Giving Hope - The Trigger for Change, change begins at the moment of decision but it is a process too.

Change is of two major kinds: Strength & Weakness

1. freed from past bondage of addiction or other bad habits.
2. development and acquiring of new skills and capability to do more.

In the case of freedom from bondage, for some people,  the change takes place instantaneously and sustain it ever since. There is some how a natural dislike for the smoke and cigarettes or the alcohol they used to crave for. For many others, during times of temptation and weakness, they may fall back to their past addiction.

For those acquiring new skills, the challenge of learning and training and the lack of apparent progress will discourage them and they would want to give up.

Focus on Strength.
Let me stress that to build champion, we must focus on the development of your strengths and manage your weaknesses. If we just focus on fixing weaknesses, even if we succeed, we are just a mediocre average, not a champion. Health is a necessary but insufficient condition for Olympic Champions. Champions are strength based. See The mentality & danger of TQM.

Success in the development of strength will also help in overcoming some of your weaknesses because you are energized when you put your strength to use and you feel better about yourself and creating less likelihood to go back to past bad habits.

Nevertheless, for some, extra help may be needed over a longer period of time. AA 12 Steps are applicable for helping people to change. The principles are the acceptance of problem, getting outside( God, loved ones, fellow addicts) to help and encouragement and helping others over long period of time.

Get A Coaching Team
Usually, one person will do. For more difficult cases, getting more people to help will be better. Husband and wife form a good coaching. The key related members of the one being coached are also very important.

Man are made of body, mind and heart (spirit). Coaching must include

1. For the Body: practice of skills, 
2. For the Mind: acquiring new knowledge and wisdom
3. For the Heart: encouragement and motivation of the heart and development of attitudes of a champion (recall the vision and identity of the last post).

Commitment of Time
In the starting stage, more time and effort must be committed. As the progress is made, less and less time is needed. But always be available for consulting and help.

It is Rewarding

Helping other to be a champion is a very tough process. Nevertheless it is a rewarding one. There are professional in this area known as Executive Coaches and they made good money. For even for us who work out of our calling, seeing the improvement, seeing the smile on their face, the restored family relationships, the pride of their accomplishments are more than enough to get you to continue in this hard but rewarding work of helping others to be champions.

May God give your wisdom and strength and bless your work of helping others.

The Series of 4 Posts in Helping Others to Be Champions are:

• So Powerful & Yet So Easy - Changing by Accepting
• Creating Awareness For Change - Must do it Rightly...
• Giving Hope - The Trigger for Change
• Coaching & Encouragement to Sustain the Climb

See also: Handling Repentance - Finishing Discipling Well