Have you heard of Carl Rogers? Carl Rogers was a humanistic psychologist who believed that humans have one basic motive, “the tendency to self actualize”, and to be able to fulfill one’s potential and achieve the highest level of “human beingness” we can. That’s some forward thinking for someone who was born in 1902. Carl Rogers died in 1987, just before coaching took root, but his belief and theories that every person can achieve their goals, wishes and desires in life made him best known for creating what is known in psychology as client-centered therapy; Rogers rejected the deterministic nature of psychoanalysis and behaviorism. Very much like Life Coaching he believed that “no one else can know how we perceive-that we are the best experts on ourselves.” Life Coaching now is what Carl Rogers felt therapy should have been then!
Rogers identified 5 characteristics for the fully functioning person:
- Open to experience: both positive and negative emotions are accepted. Negative feelings are not denied, but worked through (rather than resort to ego defense mechanisms)
- Existential living: in touch with different experiences as they occur in life; live in the present
- Trust feelings: feelings, instincts, and gut-reactions are paid attention to and trusted; trust ourselves to make the right choices
- Creativity: creative thinking and risk taking are features of a person’s life. A person does not play safe all the time; we change and seek new experiences
- Fulfilled life: a person is happy and satisfied with life, and always looking for new challenges and experiences.
This was his psychology in the 60’s (he wrote a book called On Becoming a Person, in 1961), but this is very much what Life Coaching is about today. A goal oriented approach that places the client in control of the process is Life Coaching. I just find it interesting how things are born.
Carl Rogers said “Experience is, for me, the highest authority. The touchstone of validity is my own experience. No other person’s ideas, and none of my own ideas are as authoritative as my experience. I believe it would be evident that for the person who was fully open to his new experience, who was completely without defensiveness, each moment would be new.”
I myself have known about Life Coaching for a number of years, I’ve also known about things like star fruit, and that quinoa seeds can add more protein to your diet. I’ve know that Kale is a good leafy vegetable. Kale, what? I know that the word racecar and kayak are the same whether they are read left to right or right to left. I know that rubber bands last longer when refrigerated. Yes I know this from experience. Strange what I person knows.
Why do I mention these things? I mention them because if you haven’t heard of something, it doesn’t mean it hasn’t been around for a while or it’s not worth knowing about. Life Coaching may be one of those things for some people. It’s impossible to know about everything, but once you do know about it, you will be so much better for having learned about it. Okay, well in some cases, just a little better. You might not care that your rubber bands will last longer if refrigerated.