COACHING WITH T.E.A. (CONNECT)

 20220901 Module 23: 

Key Idea: T.E.A. is relevant to how we help our Coachees self-regulate, and in so doing, be responsible to connect & commit to Right Actions that are balanced with positive thoughts and emotions.

T.E.A. stands for Thoughts (Inner Processing), Emotions (Internal States), and Actions (External Behaviours). Psychiatrist Dr. Aaron Beck (father of Cognitive Behaviour Therapy) proposed the idea that our Thoughts, Feelings and Actions are interlinked. By changing one of the parts, we would affect the others.

For example, Cortisol, which is a stress hormone, is necessary for human survival. However, when a person’s cortisol level is consistently high over a long period of time, the individual is easily triggered (in thoughts and emotions), is increasingly reactionary, and the prolonged condition can even lead to a critical illness.

In another example, the emotion of LOVE is shown to have the highest positive vibration on the body. The feeling (or emotion) of being loved encourages (our thoughts) and affects our actions by motivating us to give, grow, & contribute to other people around us. At the workplace, love can be expressed as care, appreciation, recognition, respect, & trust. By removing this emotion, our thoughts are negatively affected (distrust, dissatisfaction with work) and our physical work declines.

Therefore when Coaching with T.E.A., by making a change in a person’s Thought life, we can affect their mood, heighten their emotions and thus motivate them into action. An example where this is used in Coaching is asking the Coachee to envision him/herself 5 years into the future. By engaging in this role play, we can challenge our Coachee to imagine their ideal lifestyle. Then using their imagination and having engaged their emotions (their motivation), we can engineer backwards the necessary steps (actions) to achieve their goal.

Envisioning and Visualising the Future is a powerful tool to get your coachee focused & motivated to keep moving forward. So keep dreaming about the future & celebrate even the smallest milestones to keep yourself motivated to persevere towards the goal.