Sometimes other people know us better than we know ourselves.

And if we use this intel the right way, we get to know ourselves better too.

Let me explain what I mean.

My favourite subject at school was maths.  At A-Level I studied double maths and physics.

(after all, physics is really just maths in disguise)

But I also chose to study English.  Which isn't mathsy at all.

And the more English I studied, the more I enjoyed it.

So when it came to choosing a subject for uni, English was definitely an option.

I wrestled between Maths and English for a while. Maths was always the frontrunner.  And English wouldn’t been a left field decision. 

In the end I plumped with Maths.

And I’ll never forget a teacher’s comment when I told her:

“I think you’ll come back to English one day”

This was curious.  After all, my teachers knew me as a maths guy.

And I was still a maths guy after uni.  I worked in banking for 13 years.

(I thought banking would be quite mathsy.  Spoiler alert: it wasn’t)

But nowadays I’m working for myself.  And a key part of my business is writing.

I write these daily emails…

I’ve written a book…

And I’m doing some copywriting too.

So you know what?  I have come back to English.

Not “school English”.  I’m not reading Shakespeare or studying Wuthering Heights between coaching calls.

But I am doing my own writing.  I’m doing English in a way that works for me.

So my teacher’s prediction has come true.

And if I could travel back in time I’d ask her - why did you say that?

I can’t do that now.  But I still have an idea what she’d say.

It all comes down to this:

She saw something in me that I couldn’t see myself.

And guess what?

This isn’t unusual.  In fact it’s common.  Everyone has things they can’t see about themselves.

Things like patterns of behaviour, beliefs or ways of thinking.

But as my story shows, just because we can’t see these things ourselves doesn’t mean they go unseen.

Far from it.  Other people can see them.

And I don’t just mean friends and family.  I mean people whose job it is to look for these things.

Teachers are one example.

Coaches are another.

And this is one of the benefits of working with a coach. 

Spending time with someone who can see things that maybe you can’t…

And has no qualms in saying them.

Things that act as obstacles and get in the way of achieving a goal…

Or things which give glimpses into what’s important to us and who we really are.

Coaches bring awareness to these ideas, and then help people to make changes.

So if this sounds interesting and you’d like to find out more about how we could work together…

Just hit reply and say “interested”.

That’s it for today.

- Tom