4 Ways Coach Training Has Changed My Life
When I first learned about coaching nearly 20 years ago, I had no idea how much it would affect my personal life, my ministry, my family, and more.
Here are 4 ways understanding coaching culture has made a difference in my life — and why I think it could do the same for yours.
1. The weight of "figuring it out for people" has been lifted
I used to feel like I needed to come up with whatever someone needed the moment they brought me a problem. After all, they came to me for a reason. I felt responsible for a whole range of resolutions — finding provision for a need, weighing in with the "right" answer, sharing a timely nugget from my own study, providing emotional stability, and more.
Now, I help people learn to discern how God is already there for them, whatever they're facing. That shift alone has changed how I carry other people's burdens — and how much lighter I feel doing it.
2. Truly listening while someone processes is a selfless, needed gift
We all probably deal with a bit of self-focused listening — waiting our turn to share our own thoughts instead of actually hearing the other person. Coach training helped me understand and embrace the power of presence. When I shift the focus fully onto the other person, I offer them a beautiful gift: space to process their own journey.
In coaching culture, I've embraced this idea — who I bring to the conversation as a listener is more valuable than what I bring as a response.
3. Making disciples is a high calling
I learned that coaching is, at its core, about making disciples. That includes some teaching early on, but in the long game, our role is to be fellow travelers, not mediators. This one is HUGE. Sometimes I want to tell people what to do — I want to keep them from making mistakes, I want to figure things out for them, I even want to bear the weight of what they're dealing with.
In Galatians 6:1-5, we see a progression of care in three movements: calling out sin, being there for someone when they're overwhelmed, and finally, each person carrying their own responsibility. Hebrews 8 and 10 carry the same thread — in the New Testament, we're each called to know God directly, rather than going through someone else to get answers.
Partnering with someone as they walk their own journey takes patience, and it builds our trust in God while we breathe confidence into the other person that the Holy Spirit truly is guiding them. Helping others embrace ownership for their pathway is exactly what we walk through in Coach Training, step by step, until it becomes second nature.
4. God is ALWAYS there FOR us
The Bridges Coach Training curriculum includes a concept called the Always Circle. It has three parts: there's always going to be stuff, God always offers a plan, and we always make choices.
I've experienced these truths as valuable in my own walk, and sharing them with others has built connection for them as well. It's one of the simplest tools we teach — and one of the ones I hear back about most.
Coach Training changed how I view my own faith walk, and it changed how I come alongside others in theirs.
So let me ask you the same questions I ask myself:
How are you doing in your journey?
Where could you partner with someone else in theirs?
Coach Training brings transformation and discipleship both to you and for you to offer to others. It's not just a course — it's a shift in how you show up in every relationship that matters to you.
Registration for our next Coach Training classes closes this Wednesday, September 30th. Classes begin the following week:
- Tuesday, Oct 6, 1:00–2:15 pm EST
- Thursday, Oct 8, 7:30–8:45 pm EST
If this resonates with you, don't let this window close without taking the step. Register for Coach Training here by Wednesday.