January 12, 2009
And Breathe Regularlly
You’ve probably heard the preflight announcement so many times you have it memorized. ”In the unlikely event of sudden cabin depressurization an oxygen mask will drop down in front of your face. Pull down firmly on the tub to start the flow of oxygen. Place the mask over your nose and mouth. Pull on the elastic tabs on the side of the mask to adjust the fit and breathe normally. Put on your own mask before helping those around you with theirs.”
While I’ve always had to suppress a chuckle at the line “and breathe normally,” like THAT is going to happen, there is wisdom for coaches in the next line. “Put on your own mask before helping those around you.”Unheeded the words could be deadly. Helping all those around you and unable to breathe would soon lead to hypoxia, impaired judgement, unconsciousness or worse.
The obvious application is clear. Self care is critical to providing quality care for those you are trying to coach.
So, how is this year starting out for you in the area of self-care? How’s your emotional, physical and relational health? How are you doing spiritually? How are you managing your time? Are you consistently living out your core values? Are you being a good steward of all of your resources?
What is your most formidable obstacle to improving your self-care? What do you intend to do about it?
Log on and take the Coaching Assessment to create a plan to increase the quality of your coaching it might be a good place to start. For your sake and those seated around you.
You can follow this link to access the Assessment Feature: https://www.coachnet.org/v.4/module/Network/action/Index/n/422