Students of I Liceum Ogólnokształcące took part in coaching workshops. The workshops were aimed at young people facing the choice of their own path in life. The participants were helped in making their choice by a personal coach – Magdalena Choma.
The business trainer and coach planned the workshops for students in the second year of secondary school because she believes that this is when students face their most difficult challenge: defining their future. Remembering her own doubts and dilemmas from that period, she decided to offer the students life coaching – personal training.
What is coaching? It is a type of mental training. It can be compared to doing physical exercises with a personal trainer. The trainer says which exercises might be useful, but we must determine which parts of our body we want to change and, most importantly, we must do all the work ourselves for changes to occur.
During training, participants always work individually. At the beginning, an honour-based agreement is made with the coach. Both the coach and the person being trained must define the rules they will follow. One of them is usually a guarantee of confidentiality. But what matters differs from person to person. Individual sessions then begin. In general, they involve defining the purpose of the sessions and the goals the participant would like to achieve in the future. This only seems easy. A goal must be measurable over time and realistic. Some people have difficulty answering the basic question: What do I want to do in my life and who do I want to be?
Magdalena Choma says that, in her personal opinion, the participants sometimes found it difficult to believe that everything was in their hands and that they had all the potential needed to do everything they dreamed of.
What surprises people most during the sessions is precisely the fact that life belongs to us. More than that – in reality, only we have an influence on it. Good ideas and solutions had long been in our minds; we simply did not believe in them or give them the green light.
Through tests, games, conversations, interviews and various other techniques, a coaching participant changes their approach to problems. Problems begin to turn into tasks to be completed and cease to be insurmountable barriers. Instead of calling something “impossible,” people begin to say: “difficult or not quickly achievable, requiring very hard work.” This is because during the training, participants define their own path in life, not someone else’s. It is difficult or even impossible to fulfil someone else’s dreams or plans in our own lives. But once we learn what we ourselves want and need, taking control of our lives becomes easy and enjoyable.
At the very beginning, the participants had no idea what to expect. – At first, I did not really know what coaching involved, and I did not know what to expect from these sessions – says Dominika. – I thought these were sessions that would guide me onto a path that would help me prepare for further education. I really enjoyed the workshops. I am sorry they have already ended. The exercises and sessions with Magda were like talking to a friend. They changed my approach to life. I look at different matters from another point of view. Thanks to the sessions, I improved my sense of self.
– I generally wanted to work on myself and try something new. I found the workshops really very positive because Ms Magda is a very kind, trustworthy and friendly person. She is very committed to what she does. My attitude is certainly more positive after the workshops – adds Natalia.
Magdalena Choma is very pleased with the workshops she conducted. Coaching is not yet a particularly popular method, and awareness of it is limited in smaller towns.
– I am glad I did it – says Magdalena Choma. – I am pleased that I decided to try it in Bolesławiec, where coaching still seems to be a new subject, in my opinion. I like challenges. And this was one of them. I feel that the people I worked with, who wanted to take part in these meetings, benefited from them. And each person took something different for themselves. That is fascinating, because everyone chooses exactly what they need. The people I worked with have enormous potential, enthusiasm and a desire to move forward, although it was not always easy. They did not give up; they consistently moved in the chosen direction. And that is beautiful.
The main goal and idea of coaching is that each of us can change the reality around us. Change should begin with ourselves, remembering that “the decision you make and the path you choose are neither better nor worse. They are yours” (a Buddhist proverb).
Magdalena Choma is a graduate of the University of Wrocław. She completed studies at the Faculty of Social Sciences, majoring in sociology, as well as postgraduate studies at the WSB University in Wrocław in human resources management and at the Kozminski University in Warsaw, Wrocław branch, specialising as a business trainer and coach. She is currently undergoing ICF (International Coach Federation) certification to become a certified coach.
(information: Grażyna Hanaf)