Every so often, a client shows up for a coaching call with their gremlin in tow. Your gremlin is that little voice in the back of your head that never shuts up; it's the down-side of your non-stop stream of consciousness. It pokes it's nose into everything to make sure you never forget that it's the gremlin who's in charge.
The little buggers are sneaky and relentless, and they can be so distracting that a client feels unable to make a move. What can you do when a client drags their gremlin into the session and says, "Here…YOU deal with it!?"
Three tips for breaking the gremlin's death grip:
Make sure your client reads the one book their gremlin doesn't want them to read.
Taming Your Gremlin by Rick Carson is like an owner's manual for gremlins, providing simple, fun and effective ways to disarm your inner critic. Carson, founder and director of the Gremlin Taming Institute™, has trained thousands of people to tame their gremlins over the last twenty years .
One of my clients reported that he actually caught his gremlin trying to talk him out of paying full price for the book. (And it's not even that expensive – just $14!) Simply noticing what his gremlin was doing was all it took to get it to shut up.
Keep an eye out for your own gremlin. Gremlins love to feed off each other, so when your client shows up with their gremlin, be alert – your gremlin is likely to pop up with some scary thoughts and judgments.
If your gremlin does try to get in on the action, don't struggle with it; just notice it and stay detached. Imagine that your gremlin has a volume knob in the middle of it's forehead, and turn the volume waaaaaaaay down.
Gremlins are profoundly uncoachable. When I was getting started in coaching, I used to try and work with the gremlin. It didn't take too long to figure out that gremlins are not coachable! There's no point in trying to reason with, sooth or challenge a gremlin. They're only interested in one thing: self preservation. They aren't interested in changing; in fact, they're designed to resist change. So don't even try to coach a gremlin—it's a waste of time and energy.
Instead, educate your client about gremlins. Then you can ask, "Is that YOU or your gremlin talking?" That's often all it takes to bring a client out from behind the gremlin.
(Does your gremlin have you in a head-lock? All you need is one life-changing conversation and in just 90 minutes, you can be unstuck, laser-focused and confidently taking the right steps to grow your coaching business – 100% guaranteed, or your money back. Strike fear in the heart of your gremlin today – schedule a Stuck-Buster Strategy Session!)
