I’ve gradually learned in my coaching practice that experience itself is not the teacher. Spoiler alert: I’m not the teacher either.
Reflection on experience is our teacher.
John Dewey, an early leader in progressive education in America and a famously pragmatic Vermonter, inspired me with:
“We do not learn from experience. We learn from reflecting on experience.”
The time I am honored to spend with my clients is often their best opportunity to reflect. Sometimes my success as a coach is simply to have held the space for reflection amidst the clang and tumult of a normal day. The coaches I respect the most don’t even name the lesson standing out in a key experience, they let the client name it. The client owns their truth.
It is a real joy to create the safe space for my clients to uncover their truth and what it means. We each deserve space to reflect and let quiet thoughts guide us. Whether you use a coach, a journal, quiet meditation, a run, or your own way, I invite you to reflect sometime this week and see what rises to the surface.
