Just recently, I graduated from the Self-Belief Coaching Academy. This six month program, run by inspirational master coach Sas Petherick, aims to up-level the skills of experienced coaches. The course takes a deep dive into the drivers of self-doubt and equips coaches with some awesome tools to support others to build up their self-belief.
And, as far courses to improve my coaching skills go, it’s easily the best I’ve ever done.
It’s a bold claim I know. But having completed numerous, highly regarded coaching qualifications now, I think I’m now a pretty good judge of a course. There are a number of reasons I rate this program so highly. Some of them centre around the people I studied with – I met some fun and fabulous coaches from all over the world. And some are related to the way Sas teaches – she has such an engaging style and ensures tons of interaction.
But mostly I loved the Self-belief Coaching Academy because of what I learned. Which, for the record, happened to be stacks. We dug right into everything related to self-belief, self-doubt, confidence, courage and protective beliefs. All of the curriculum was research backed and completely helpful when it comes to achieving our dreams. And not just for my clients either. I’m applying the tools and thinking in certain areas of my own life.
The lessons I learned are also quite universal, in that I think they could support anyone in any walk of life. So with that in mind, I thought I’d share my biggest learnings from my time in the Self-belief Coaching Academy.
What I learned while becoming a self-belief coach
- Everyone experiences self-doubt on some level. Yes, everyone, regardless of gender, age, career choices, body-shape, education level or financial position. And yes, even your ‘fabulous at everything’ sister-in-law and that endlessly energetic woman on the school council encounter self-doubt. It’s helpful to remember you’re not on your own with when you doubt your abilities. And it increases our connection with other folks when we remind ourselves of the fact we’re all on our own self-belief journey. Working on self-belief is not about overcoming or avoiding self-doubt, instead, we’re looking to create the conditions that allow us to courageously and compassionately navigate our self-doubt.
- Self-doubt is there to protect us. Self-doubt – especially the sort that leaves us feeling stuck – always makes a whole lot more sense when we understand this. You see, self-doubt triggers our protective behaviours like perfectionism, procrastination and people pleasing. And these behaviours are simply ways to protect ourselves from the pain of risks like rejection, judgement and disappointment. It has nothing to do with capability or destiny and everything to do with the ways we have learned to preserve our sense of safety and belonging. Once we know that, we can be more gentle with ourselves.
- Our protection mechanisms are very sophisticated. Humans are clever creatures. And we will go to great lengths to protect ourselves from pain. Even as far as stopping ourselves from having what we say we want. We’re also fabulous story-tellers. And we listen – intently – to the stories we tell ourselves.
- Self-belief can be built. The root-causes of self-doubt can be healed. And stories can be rewritten. This requires us to bust open some of those protective beliefs that hold us back and discover who we are beneath the self-doubt. It also requires us to take action and to be prepared to undertake some experiments. But this experimentation doesn’t have to involve massive leaps of faith. Baby steps count. Always have, always will.
What lessons have you learned about your self-doubt? And have you got any tips for building up self-belief? I’d love for you to share your thoughts in the comments section below.
And until next time – stay fabulous.
Janelle xx
P.S. If you’re a coach who’s wondering whether the Self-belief Coaching Academy might be a good fit for you, I’m more than happy to answer any questions you might have. Feel free to reach out on email – janelle@janellewehsack.com xx
