Could Socrates be one of the precursors of coaching?
You will certainly know the motto of Socrates the "Know thyself" which now appears in the pantheon of great philosophical phrases, some of which did not belong to him! For the record, this inscription appeared on the pediment of the Temple of Delphi.
- "Know thyself":
Is it enough to know yourself? To simply know all that there is to know about you? Even so, it is very obvious that knowing yourself is no small task.
The path of self-knowledge becomes a quest for inner wisdom, a place that few people want to explore and few people manage to reach without help.
It is by knowing himself, by seeking within himself, that man can find wisdom.
Is self-knowledge the key to inner wisdom?
Well, this is where the whole history of personal development coaching techniques begins.
Where the examination of conscience must deliberately pass through the encounter with oneself, until the discovery of what is called "the deep self" occurs.
And that is why support seems to be essential, as this path cannot be walked alone.
The interest of setting goals, as much as possible, must be well defined before any support from the coach can be given.
Socrates said: - "People who are questioned, as long as they are questioned well, find the right answers on their own."
The very principles of coaching are to establish a pyramid of needs, aimed at self-fulfillment "Carl-Jung's personal development technique".
The principles of personal development in coaching are often used to unify body and mind.
Any personal development technique aims to transform, and that with a specific goal: that of getting rid of certain pathological aspects such as phobias, anxiety, depression, various addictions, shyness, stress ...
We decided to continue this article with a few simple questions asked to Claire Rogers, personal development coach:
Q: What are the techniques in personal development?
Claire: whether this is persued over several sessions, or an individual consultation, we can combine different practices. What will define personal development will simply be the goal that the client wants to achieve, for example some will flourish using meditation techniques while others will focus on different techniques such as coaching, NLP or sophrology. Or different approaches that I qualify as positive approaches, like dream analysis, the enneagram, and art therapy.
Q: Do all these techniques have one thing in common?
Claire: I just want to say yes, because it goes without saying that we are talking about personal development, personal fulfillment or personal growth. All of these practices have a purpose which remains the rediscovery of oneself, in order to learn how to live a better life, in order to flourish across all areas of your life.
Q: Who is personal development for?
Claire: (Claire answers this question with a huge infectious burst of laughter) Matthieu Ricard, this is the person you need to answer this question.
YES, Matthieu Ricard, because he was asked this question a year or two ago now and I found his answer just wonderful.
"It's very clear that we are hearing more and more about personal development and that it is high time to stop tossing around that expression."
When we practice this profession, we are aware that it has also been practiced for millennia by people who have devoted a good part of their existence to the foundations of all these practices."
As Matthieu Ricard says: it is not a “Tote bag” in which we find advice from cosmetics to how to cook good meals, to the most absurd that I have read on the net, how to respond to an SMS when you have just been dumped. I believe that this is beyond my comprehension! The ultimate goal of personal development is self-transformation! Isn’t it? So we're not here to flatter the ego or teach it to better fulfill its whims.
And to answer your question simply, and quite simply, personal development is for anyone who is eager to get to know themselves.
To anyone who wants to learn to love themselves ... yes, here is the real key to coaching, relearning to love yourself! This is the key to self-esteem! This is the "key" to achieving your personal growth.
