"In the Goo" is a well worn metaphor in coaching land, but I still love it because of how relevant it is.
Cookie dough itself? Delicious. Whether or not you believe that you’re going to get salmonella from it, raw cookie dough is delicious. Cookies? Also delicious! Not many things are more delicious than a freshly baked batch of cookies. But when you put cookie dough in the oven and take it out while it’s in the process of cooking - it’s goo.
In my work as a leadership coach, I spend a lot of time in the goo with my clients. When you are really doing the hard work to achieve transformation things can get a little messy.
When you begin coaching, you’re probably at a place that works okay for you. There are changes in your life that you want to make, but it’s workable. This is the cookie dough stage. It might give you salmonella, but it sure tastes good! At the end of a coaching cycle, let’s say after six months of working with me, you will have gotten over hurdles and experienced transformation. You will have gotten to the point of completing a project, building your business, or instilling new habits into your life.
Congratulations! You’re a cookie. Yum! But a lot of that time will have been spent in the goo.
The goo is when you have to tell your team that things are going to change, but it’s for the best. The goo is when you know you could take time off to be with your family, but you still have to tell your boss. The goo is when you’re in between having a great idea for a book and publishing it - when you might beat yourself up because you’ve suddenly decided that you’re a terrible writer who has nothing good to contribute.
The goo is when you know what you have to do but the idea of actually doing makes you want to vomit. It’s when the thought of completing the next step makes your palms sweat. It is the feeling of resistance when everything seems like an uphill battle.
With support from the right coach, you can go from cookie dough to freshly baked cookie. There is nothing comfortable about being in the goo, but you don’t have to be there alone!
Originally published on Linked-In
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