Unveiling the Top 6 Career Coaching Myths

Jason Shiers

What Do Career Coaches Do? Unveiling the Top 6 Career Coaching Myths

A career coach is someone who helps you find your ideal job or career. They can’t do the work for you, but they can help you uncover the magic that is inside you (run a mile from anyone claiming they know what you should do) and also listen to your instincts first, beyond anyone else’s ideas, yes, even mine. On the journey, you will start to identify what you want to do, and how to go about it, maybe only the first step, but sometimes that is all you need. You may end up moving into business coaching if you come to a place of creating a business.

Career Coaching is really expensive

Of course, this depends on who you are working with, but I always consider the relativity to what you are looking into gaining out of it. I have lost count of the amount of people who come at 40 after a 20-year career in something they hate! How do you put a value on how much enjoyment you have in your day, and how excited you are about the job you are doing on a daily basis? We spend half of our life working, sometimes more for many, it’s worth doing something you love, this is a priceless experience of being alive.

My coaching always leads to some form of transformative experience, this is about career coaching but the lens through which you see yourself will change and that makes fundamental changes in all areas of life, more priceless experience.

Career coaching takes forever to work out what you want

Often it is the case that you already know what you want, but your own mind-set or belief system is what is holding you back. Actually, the career part of this coaching is a small and simple part of it, the bigger picture is the free added bonus, people often get better relationships, more joy, more contentment and better opportunities. This can happen as quickly as 1 hour, or it may take 3 months, and we travel the journey together. Either way, you are supported.

Career coaching and mentoring are the same thing

Mentoring is a different thing, often when people are convinced they need to go a certain way in life, let’s say you want to become a property investor, you choose a ‘successful’ property developer and sign up for a mentoring programme. I am not against this but, I ask people to imagine, if there were no restrictions, what would you be.. and we start there. What kills the imagination is your conditioning and personal mind. OK you may not become a brain surgeon with a course on Facebook in a weekend, but the journey of a 1000 miles ALWAYS starts with 1000 footsteps.

You get a lot more from my career coaching than you would from a mentor, you get to define your own level of success and while aspirations and goals are nice to meet, your true goal is always happiness, peace of mind and security, and we find the true source of those, within, not outside. This leaves you free to aspire to be wherever makes your heart sing.

Career coaching and therapy are the same thing

Well, this one is closer to true, however probably not your traditional understanding of therapy. The fundamental blockage to taking the next step is in your mind, in fact, all of your life is happening inside of you, has anything ever happened that is not inside you? Worth wondering..

There is no need to unpick the past, or bring up painful events for example, but again we are looking at the lens through which you see life, your own mind. As a therapist and a coach, I can see they are very different, often to the untrained eye they seem similar, you get to lead the exploration, and you get to uncover your own greatness. I am just shining the light to see new things.

Coaching is a difficult process where you have to force yourself

This is usually an enjoyable, light hearted exploration of the truth of your own mind, and finding out what you want. There are no forced experiences. You may realise things about yourself you did not know, you may find your life wanting to go in unexpected directions that other people do not like, but it really is about uncovering your true joy and potential, that could not be a painful experience.

Imagine being excited to wake up for work each day, being pulled towards doing something you love, feeling proud of things you achieve, the satisfaction, the fulfilment that comes with doing something you love and have a true passion for, does it sound hard?

You can’t guarantee career coaching results

Actually this is true, but results can mean many things, the results that can be guaranteed are that you will uncover your blockages to doing what you love, know the next right step, and understand how to take action. Results are quantified in so many different ways, we hold ideas about them in our mind, and it often looks like those beliefs are facts about life and people. When actually they are nothing more than a thought, we have believed over time. This is a magical and revealing journey about understanding how you are, and how the mind works.

Results are quantified in several ways. We need to first identify the limits to business growth before taking the necessary actions that the business coach recommends. Then you realise the limitations of business growth are nothing but a thought, we have believed over time. This is a magical and revealing journey about understanding how you are, and how the mind works for growth.