Attaining Goals

Coaching is a solution-based approach for one person, the coach, to aid another person, the client, in order to achieve personal goals. This system was developed by Steve de Shazer and Insoo Kim Berg who discovered that when clients focus more on the solution to their problem rather than the problem itself, it is easier for the client to reach the solution.

In order to accomplish this, coaches are encouraged to focus on "Solution Talk" which highlights the outcome desired, the resources that the client has to achieve that outcome, those things at which the client is already succeeding, highlighting any and all progress (no matter how small), and concentrating on the evidence that the client is making progress.

("What is Brief Coaching") This approach must be reinforced through multiple counseling sessions in order to create a "progress narrative" that will demonstrate to the client the progress they are making toward the intended goal. But in order for this approach to succeed, the coach must always remember that it is the client's narrative that sets the parameters of the coaching. With this in mind the coach must accept that the client knows what they want, knows how they can get there, and can actually achieve the intended goal.

It is the coach's job to facilitate the client's journey to their goal, not to influence their choice of journeys or goals. But how does "Brief Coaching" work in the real world? What kind of people can utilize this method of achieving goals. The answer is everyone. Each person has goals they want to achieve but simply have no idea of how to achieve them. For instance, an athlete wants to win in a sporting event but may need "Brief Coaching" in order to attain this goal.

In sports an athlete needs self-confidence multiplied by the "evidence they have accumulated from their preparation and past performances" in order to achieve the "Critical Confidence" they need to win. (Goldsmith, 2014) "Brief Coaching" can provide a mechanism to instill self-confidence through a "progress narrative" involving the improvements made through their preparation and past performances. This can include opportunities for athletes to learn by actually doing, by problem solving and overcoming adversity, by learning to lead and accept responsibility, and finally by setting high standards and continually increasing those standards.

But it is not only athletes but anyone who can utilize this method. Students are especially open to this kind of method for improvement because, not only does it focus the student's attention on the goal and not the problem, but it stresses any improvements made by the students no matter how small. Continual reinforcement of improvement, even slight improvements, help increase the.