How can you identify your blind spots as a Life Coach?

Blind spots significantly shape our perception and judgment of life. It is crucial that we cultivate awareness of them, facilitating an easier embrace of a holistic perspective. They ensure we navigate challenges with greater clarity and develop a more comprehensive understanding of our experiences.

Blind spots are important hidden corners of your psyche in which the brain stores information/impressions and assumes that hiding it will keep you safe. Oftentimes, it blocks information from you in order to save you, however if you don’t know what it is, you can’t know what to work on. That’s why it is important to talk things through and seek perspectives. The only way to light up these areas is to see it from someone else’s viewpoint.

As a coach, you probably understand that the most effective way to identify and work on your blindspots is to work with someone on your own journey through life. If you are not willing to invest in your own development and work with a coach/therapist/etc how can you expect to enrol clients to do the same with you? Of course, you don't need to be working with someone all of the time, but being onto your own development is super important.

One of the most important capabilities any coach requires is to drop their presumtions and presuppostions about life events that the client goes and view that situation with disassociation. This means that you are able to emapthise and understand the person without bringing your own personal generalised views of the situation. The same when done for our selves with perceptual positioning (NLP terms) can allow for people to notice potential blindspots as they are able to view themselves from a third person perspective. This art needs to be practiced and calibrated to get an accurate perceptual positioning of ourselves and also have a frame of acceptance when we realise what pattern of behaviour the blind spot may show you.

Get coached! It's so important as a coach to be investing in getting coached yourself. Coaching helps us to become aware of our blind spots, which by their very definition, we are unable to see on our own.

We’re all oblivious in pertinence to our fears, insecurities, and biases. Identifying blind spots requires self-awareness coupled with self-analysis. However, one’s awareness is depressingly narrow. Self-analysis and traditional therapy are both highly beneficial, yet still have their respective limitations. Our margin of control is limited when it comes to our consciousness, people, or circumstances. Ultimately, we’re all governed by our unconscious. So why not shift our focus to our bright spots? By engaging in daily self-reflections and taking stock of our past self, present self, and future self. That way we can bolster our commitment to self-mastery (inside out metamorphosis), while helping others achieve mastery in life.

Get coached! By definition our blind spots are things we cannot see. Asking for feedback and self-evaluation will take you so far, but getting coached by someone who can see and offer perspective is vital - it's what we offer our clients and we need it too.

As a life coach, it is indeed very important to FIRST work on yourself and deal with your rooted issues. Here's how I do inner-work 1. I register the event that triggers me. 2. I find out what 'emotion' is it making me feel and what is it making me 'believe' about myself. 3. I then trace the 'belief' back to where it was first formed in my personal life story. 4. I then correct that limiting belief using my current awareness of life and an expanded perspective which I definitely didn't have as my younger self. 5. This shift in the belief and self-concept helps me to change how I look at the trigger situation and also shifts my 'emotions' around it. 6. Once the emotional charge vanishes, I then take actions which are most appropriate.

Blind spots can only be addressed by first hiring my own Coach! By exploring my ideas with that person, and having my coach offer me what they're noticing that I'm not - with brutal honesty! As for the solution, well that depends on the specific nature of the blind spot...

Before we bring transformation in others it becomes important that we bring inner transformation in ourselves. The challenges and triggers are best opportunities to delve deep in your mind, thoughts and beliefs. 1. Identify what makes you sad, fearful and anxious. 2. Who triggers you and what triggers you. 3. what are the words and incidents that you listen or watch that gives you low energy. 4. What is that you try to avoid and procrastinate even when it may be important. Write journal everyday especially when you feel lost and confused. These are the questions that will help you to work on your blind spot.

Do the work! No one I know in my career as a coach or otherwise, who has figured it all out on their own. Engage with someone who knows what it takes to unearth your hidden blocks.

Build your relationship based on trust and adopt a tone that is kind and empathetic. It is very difficult for people to hear a critique on the way they process life. When you establish that your feedback comes from a place of kindness and will help them embrace a growth mindset, people listen better.