Enthusing - Part 1

This first class in the course was held on Thursday, March 15, 2007. We began by defining what enthusing is: energize, motivate, inspire. It comes from the Greek word meaning “From God”. It can apply to us physically and mentally and emotionally. Why do we as adults lose the sheer delight in life? Children live in the moment whereas adults tend to be thinking about what’s to come. Children also have more imagination and as adults we tend to be more realists.

As a coach we can bring our clients to a ‘childlike’ moment. How do we create a moment when all is possible for our clients? Sometimes it may be just by being the person who believes that they are capable of more than what they think they are capable of.

We talked about how well we do this for ourselves. I think I have a lot of faith in my abilities, and it grows everyday. I feel I am a positive person, generally. The concept of enthusing is a stretch for me. When I read the module and hear people talking about enthusing it seems very ‘cheerleaderish – rah, rah, rah’ and this is just not me. I feel I can encourage and support others well but the whole idea of energizing doesn’t fit for me. I am asking myself, “How do I develop a more enthusiastic approach?”

The conversation that we had in class was much more focused on shifting perspective, encouraging, supporting. If these are qualities of enthusing then maybe I do enthuse others. I was thinking of enthusing in a much ‘peppier’ way. I think I will re-frame my perspective about enthusing.