Hip Replacement Surgery And Coaching
5 ways that hip replacement surgery and coaching are alike.
1. It took years but I knew I needed help that called for resources that I did not possess. After hobbling around for much too long and always being asked why I'm limping, I knew I needed to find someone besides me to help me out. My orthopedic surgeon was the solution because he had the resources (knowledge, experience, training, track record and more) to address my situation. Finding a coach also means first recognizing that it's ok to get help and that we don't always possess or may not ever have the resources to get the outcomes we want. There is real vulnerability in coaching. It's not easy to let someone else see us limping along - in ways that don't make us look strong or competent or capable. Yet, a coach is the right choice to provide the right help. The right coach has the resources and expertise to address the specific coaching client's need and to do it in a way that honors the client, makes them secure despite their vulnerability and reaches the outcome wanted.
2. I tried every other available option before I decided to have my surgery. My quality of life deteriorated, my health deteriorated as did pretty much every other aspect of my life as my hip osteoarthritis worsened. No it wasn't getting better on its own nor by my own "treatment" plan. Coaching, like my surgery, is not a last resort, but the best option. When we think "I can find an alternative solution" we often delay receiving the expert coaching help that will actually resolve our situation.
3. The process only began when I had my surgery. I'm looking forward to weeks of intense physical therapy to learn how to use my new joint so I can have the life I want, free from osteoarthritis, its pain and limitations. The healing, recovery and moving ahead process that happens through coaching also only begins when the coaching engagement starts. From that first meeting, for the client to succeed they must put in the effort and work to achieve the result they want. My physical therapist can't make my hip flexor muscles strong and work properly, only I can by doing the exercises required. When we follow our coaching plan, we should expect to achieve our desired outcome.
4. It hurts. Surgery and recovery hurt. You get help after surgery to manage the pain, but the process of healing includes hurting. Coaching involves moving and acting in ways that are often new, challenging and uncomfortable. The change causes pain. The pain however, tells us not to give up, but that the change we want is being forged in us and through us every time we feel, act and think in the discomfort of where we are going.
5. Throwing a baseball. I'm going to do things I couldn't before and again do things I had to stop doing like throwing a baseball. My hip surgery is the way I am able to achieve goals I've dreamt about. I now can say that I will throw a baseball again. Coaching is the process through which clients can confidently say that they will achieve their goals. So many times there is only a hoped for outcome. Not so with hip replacement surgery because it produces one of the most successful surgical results in medicine. Likewise, coaching also produces wonderful results for clients needing all kinds of help.
Coaching and hip replacement surgery. Who knew they had so much in common? So don't put off getting coaching. There is no need to let your life limp along.
Eric