Finding Your Tribe: The Transformative Power of Group Coaching
As human beings, we are designed to do life together. We are a tribal freaking species! And after spending months in isolation during the pandemic, we are craving community. It’s one of our basic human needs, and it’s what makes life so sweet and special.
I had the joy of connecting with my three business besties recently in Montana, and it was nothing short of sensational! We brainstormed together, ran ideas past each other, and shared parts of ourselves on a truly deep level.
Being in such an immersive environment and sharing things vulnerably is not always easy. But when you are surrounded by people with a shared vision and similar goals, it can seriously fast-track your success.
Through that experience of the four of us coming together, we realized just how much of an enriching experience it is for all of us. We all run group programs for our clients so know the benefits a group setting can bring, but today I want to share our experience and show you just how much of an impact community, connection, and collaboration can have.
What is beneficial about putting yourself in rooms with people who have similar goals versus meeting with friends?
It is pretty freaking special to be able to put yourself in a room where somebody loves you enough that they’re willing to ask the hard question and have the hard conversation in the name of your future self and growth.
And a curated, goal focused group is a completely different experience to just meeting up with friends. Of course there is still a place for that but when you’re with people who are all working on some version of the same goal, the experience is totally different.
Often when you meet up with friends, they don't understand the same struggles and challenges you face with the goals you are working towards. They can’t converse in a way that's as meaningful when it comes to exploring your future self. Inserting yourself into a group with a common goal takes the pressure off other people in your life. That means you can just enjoy those people rather than needing something from them that they're actually incapable of providing you with.
The others in the group hold the vision for you, even if it feels unrealistic. This is why connection is such a basic need because we don’t want to feel alone on our journey, whether it’s weight loss or starting a business. Being in a group circumvents the doubt and the disbelief that comes up.
When you're in a group setting, you have the opportunity to see that you’re not alone in dealing with the cr*p that’s thrown at you. You realize that it’s not a unique defect, and being validated in that is deeply impactful in solving the problem.
Being curated by a coach is also an important factor because they can teach the group how to hold belief collectively. As much as it is amazing to rely on your friends, it's difficult to get the same experience and enable growth.
It happens so often with weight loss, when friends get together with games and bets about losing weight but then all of a sudden, people stop doing it! And when the others aren’t doing it, then you quit too. It is false accountability and you are the one suffering by using it as an excuse to quit too. Yes there is the aspect of fun infused into it but when you have not invested (not just financially, but in time, energy and bandwidth), someone is inevitably going to drop off.
Why groups make it easier to achieve your goals:
Other people in the group bring stuff up that you hadn't even considered.
If you’re dealing with the same or a similar thing, but someone else is working through it and getting coached on it, the answer and the path forward becomes abundantly clear.
It is eye opening to see how people react to things, and when they become overwhelmed. The “aha” moments happen so much faster when you're not in it and emotionally tied to the situation. Watching someone else get coached on it means you are in a place of being able to fully receive the information.
It makes you realize there is nothing abnormal about what you are experiencing. You're not a unicorn, you struggle with the same things as everyone else, and there is no reason to be ashamed.
You don’t have to reinvent the wheel. People with shared values, ideas, and goals, can pragmatically share resources like who to work with, and which processes to follow. You don’t have to figure everything out on your own!
Groups normalize the ups and downs of whatever goal you're working towards.
When you put yourself in these groups, you’re making it almost impossible to quit, which is so valuable.
The importance of vulnerability
Don’t forget that the reason you’re struggling with something is probably because you've just never learned it before! If you've never been taught it, you're not going to know how to do it, so put yourself in a room with others where you get to learn it together as quickly as possible.
True growth can be stopping being such a perfectionist, needing to have everything figured out, and allowing yourself to be as much of a student as you like to be an expert.
Going into a group container without all the answers can feel challenging, but remember that the reason you put yourself in these containers is to grow past the answers you have already come up with. Being in a group pushes you to find the answers.
…and one last thing…
You need to put yourself in a group setting to figure out how it will be valuable for you. You have to trust that it will change your life, even if you don’t know exactly how until you're in it. Think of it like a mystery gift box, where you know there is a prize, but you just don’t know what it is yet.
If you find yourself hesitating, take the risk and invest. You have to go through it in order to learn that. High achievers love the feeling of certainty but don’t worry about feeling uncertain, just take action.
Now you know the mind blowing benefits of being in a group container, you might just feel inspired to join a private community of like-minded women looking to lose weight for the last time. If so, get your booty on the waitlist for The Yummy Mummy Experience now! 6 months of group coaching, coursework and community is about to start in August!