[Upgrayyed_U]

If you're seriously considering it already, I say just do it. I'm a "normal" by your definition and have a both an individual counselor and an executive coach, both paid for on my own dime. I've committed over $10k between the two so far and feel like it's money well spent.

80% of the value for me has come from identifying hidden sources of fear and working through plans to overcome them. I'm naturally risk-averse and really had no real understanding of how much I was letting my own self-limiting belief system hold me back. A good coach can help you identify ways in which you're inadvertently sabotaging your own progress and help you to overcome them.

The other primary benefit (the remaining 20%) has come from having a completely new and fresh perspective on problem-solving. I can easily say that I've had more directly actionable "Aha" moments in the last three years of coaching than I had over the previous 20+ years of my career. For every "unique" problem you think you have, a good coach or counselor has probably seen some variation of it dozens of times and can probably offer you a half dozen useful ways of tackling the problem. It's the same thing that something like YC does for startups, but applied to you on an individual level.

The major caveat of course is that good coaches are often hard to find and you might have to search a bit to find one that works well for your specific needs. YMMV and all that.

[quickthrower2]

How did you find your coaches?

[Upgrayyed_U]

I searched for coaches in my area, did a handful of interviews, then went with the one I related best with. The only unique insight I can offer here is to take any recommendations with a heavy grain of salt. Counseling/coaching is highly individualized, and what works for one person could do absolutely nothing for you. For the reason, there's no harm in ending a relationship that isn't working for you.

[quickthrower2]

Thanks for that. You have planted a seed for sure!

[dexwiz]

Sounds like that 80% could also be covered by talk therapy. I’m not discounting your approach, but identifying fears and their sources is pretty common.

[ethanbond]

Isn’t coaching basically “non-professionalized” therapy? Like insofar as a decent chunk of therapy is this^ (interrogating belief systems), there’s hardly a reason you need someone to do it from the blessed perch of a paper that says “Doctor” on it, and hardly a reason your beliefs need to be pathologized to the degree that you become a “Patient.”

[uxp100]

Therapists are already kinda non-professionalized, in that many already do not have a doctor piece of paper.

I’d say coaching probably is a different framing, maybe some different techniques, but similar goals as therapy? Idk, just sort of speculating.

[theGnuMe]

Coaching should focus on work issues and your personal development in the workplace. While that does overlap with regular therapy, regular therapy can involve family and more complex personal issues. You may also expect a coach to have more experience in corporate life than a therapist may. But the central tenant is their that the only change that can happen is the change that you make.

HBR has a good podcast that is run by Muriel Wilkins that is useful for those that can learn vicariously.

[cobertos]

My thoughts too. I think the hardest thing is finding a therapist who will actually be giving you good data/challenging the things you're stuck on versus a therapist who just agrees with you

[elif]

80% of what personal trainers do could also be reduced to "talk therapy" and the other 20% is literally googleable.

Perhaps you can see how my example is an over-reduction that eschews the actual value of a personal trainer, and then likewise for founder coaching.

The main value is overcoming your own bias and limitation by accessing an informed neutral perspective. A coach isn't there to provide you with all the right answers. He's there to help you see the right problems.

[sam0x17]

I didn't know there was such a thing as an executive coach. Where do you find one?

[Upgrayyed_U]

You can easily search for one online or LinkedIn. But generally, once you start running in certain circles (think executive networking and chamber of commerce type events), you'll usually find a bunch of coaches and mentors waiting for you there. Or, at the very least, you'll have a group of people who you can ask for leads for finding a good coach.

[Bellamy]

Can you share some of possible fears?

I feel like I really don't have any but as you said those are hidden, so maybe I have some but I just don't know that.