Mindfulness for Coaches: your weekly plan
“Meditation trains the mind the way physical exercise strengthens the body” Sharon Saltzberg
Mindfulness can be an incredibly powerful tool for any coach. Not only will it help you stay fully confident, present, and centred when you’re on your client calls, but it can also help you let go of the unhelpful thinking before and after the calls that can get in the way of you running your business with confidence and ease.
In this blog, I will share why mindfulness can work for you as a coach. I’ll break down the key steps to creating your own plan so that you can build a regular and consistent mindfulness habit.
Finding the time to meditate is often one of the biggest issues my coaching clients face when building a mindfulness habit, even though they really do know the amazing benefits that come with being present for their own clients and their business.
Our lives are busy enough, right?
Keep reading, and you’ll realise that you can find time, and that it’s not as hard as you think.
5 reasons to have a mindfulness plan
1. Feel grounded and settled in your coaching calls
It’s no surprise that when you don’t practice regularly, you can’t access these benefits when you need them most i.e. at those times when you need to feel grounded and settled in your coaching calls, when you want to tame the nerves before a sales call or when you find yourself comparing against your peers.
You want to be able to see it and let it go so that you are full of confidence and can offer the impact you know you can deliver.
2. Regular and consistent practice is key.
A mindfulness plan helps you to practice regularly. If you were learning a musical instrument, you’d have to practice regularly to develop the skill. If you were running a marathon, you’d have to run to build up the capacity for that distance.
Mindfulness is no different, if you want the benefits, you need to just do it.
If you practice mindfulness regularly, it will be there for you when you really need it
3. Presence comes more naturally when you meditate regularly
Another advantage of practising regularly is that those mindful pauses or moments will come more naturally, and it becomes part of your make-up. It becomes more obvious when you’re present and when you’re not –a must when facing your clients!
You become aware more quickly when you find your mind has been hijacked by overthinking, over planning or self-criticism. This, of course, is not helpful because it can lead to time-wasting and procrastination.
You will automatically become more aware, more often and this can be crucial during those tricky moments of the day.
4. You can recognise and deal with your stress signals sooner
You can quickly notice when your thoughts or emotions get triggered, and your mind takes you along another path or story. Through meditation, you train your mind to move your attention back on track to where it’s meant to be – your client, your marketing or your admin.
You become less hijacked by your overthinking or self-critical thoughts about yourself or your offer because you see it and take a change of perspective.
5. Your mind becomes less distracted and more focused.
Being naturally more mindful also helps you to be less distracted when you’re trying to focus. Your phone or those email notifications no longer swallow your time and take you away from your tasks, well, if they do, you’re quickly aware of it and get back on track.
The more you do, the easier it becomes to be aware of each moment and overall, you become less distracted and more focused.
Creating your mindfulness plan
As a coach, you’re no doubt great at setting goals and making plans, so this bit should be the easy bit for you!
Step 1: Think about your typical coaching day and where mindfulness might be helpful.
There are probably times in the day when you have gaps in your schedule or when you have the time and space to practice.
You may also find times when you’re more likely to be nervous, stressed or overthinking, and a mindful practice could help you become more present in that moment.
Step 2: Write down your plan
You, of all people, know that when you write a plan down or make a SMART goal, you’re more likely to commit to it. Sorry, I know this is coaching 101; I’ll shut up :)!
You’re going to create a solid plan you don’t need to think about or ‘find’ time for because it’s already there in black and white.
This will include all those moments in your day that you identified earlier.
Be specific. Write down what, how, when and where you will do your mindfulness meditations and mindful pauses.
Step 3: include a longer meditation practice.
Ensure you include longer mindfulness meditations, as these help you to build the muscles of the mind. Every time you practice, you train your attention, build awareness of your mind and body and cultivate a non-judgemental attitude.
Remember, don’t over-commit yourself. Only include what you know you can manage for the next 30 days and build from there. Even one minute counts!
Step 4: include some mini-meditations
Shorter meditations can be added to your day or week when you might anticipate any stressful times or when you need clarity and presence e.g. before you have a sales or coaching call, deliver a presentation or write your marketing copy.
Try this 5-min meditation to prepare for your next coaching call, it has been designed specifically to settle the mind and help you feel calm and confident.
Step 5: Decide where and when you can be present
Mindful moments or pauses can be added to the plan to remind yourself to be present. Regularly coming back to the present moment unhooks you from the mind chatter. We all tend to have places where our minds love to go, whether comparing ourselves to others, worrying about future sales or income, or worrying about our offer.
Whatever it is, if you can take a moment to pause, you can step back to see it clearly; you’re not ‘in’ it. It doesn’t own you.
Research shows that we are distracted from what we are doing 47% of the time and are more likely to be unhappy when we are not present, so reducing this by regular pauses can be very helpful
Try this quick STOP practice or this 5-minute pause which can be done at any time, eyes open or closed. It helps you pause long enough to move out of the autopilot mind and unhook from unhelpful thinking.
Step 6: have a backup plan
You may be fully committed to your plan and determined to have a regular practice, but, it’s guaranteed, life will get in the way. It’s always good to have a backup time for when you inevitably slip up e.g. if I don’t meditate when I first wake up, then I’ll do it at lunchtime; if not at lunchtime, I’ll do it at bedtime etc.
Making time in your plan for all these types of practices will help you remember to do them. It’s so easy to forget the mini-meditations or the pauses unless we plan for those too. Try adding them to your plan even when you don’t ‘need’ them so that when you do, they will be easy to tap into.
Having a mindfulness plan will support you in having a robust habit that you can stick to, and by regularly practising mindfulness, you will be building your confidence as a coach and getting the best outcomes for your clients.
Sign up for my weekly newsletter here for further hints and tips on building a sustainable mindfulness practice specifically to support your coaching.
