I had a Pam Slim smackdown and I liked it.
It hurt so bad/good/bad/good/ouch! I can actually feel the heat rise up in me as I remember exactly how the smackdown went down.
It happened nearly 10 years ago. I credit Pam for teaching me the art of the coaching smackdown and how powerful it is when you know just how far you can to push your clients out of their comfort zone.
I always say that I coach with my hands and my feet… I use my hands to hold my client’s hands while my feet are gently kicking them in the butt.
I’m pretty sure Pam had her foot on my throat that day!
It started off innocently enough.
Pam, I’m afraid to put myself out there, I confided.
-Out where?
You know, out there. Where there are lions and tigers and mean people. (In case you don’t yet know this about me, I am prone to hyperbole, sarcasm, and peanut butter cups.)
-What are you afraid of? Pam asked.
I don’t know.
-Yes you do.
I do?
-Of course. You know everything.
That’s true. I do. But this one thing is stumping me.
-I think you’re being a diaper baby.
Wait, what? Hey…..
Okaaayyyyyy, so Pam didn’t really call me a diaper baby, but that’s what I came to realize about myself after this little “what are you afraid of” interrogation. (I swear she even had a bright light shining in my eyes.)
I caved.
Ok, fine. I’m afraid people will laugh hysterically at me and call me names and point their finger at me and never want to talk to me again because, after all, what kind of lawyer becomes a LIFE COACH(!), and I’ll never be able to show my face in the world, ever, because the embarrassment will be so severely unbearable I’ll become agoraphobic and people will have to slide food under the door so I can eat to (barely) survive. (There was absolutely no hyperbole whatsoever in that explanation.)
I have to admit, it felt good to get that out. That was one big beach ball I’d been holding under water for a very long time.
And that’s when the real fun started, if you call Pam Slim with her foot on my throat fun.
-Lin, why do you want to be a coach?
Because it’s gratifying? (Ugh. How lame was that answer?)
-Why is it gratifying?
Because I like to help people get to the other side. (This was not a why-did-the-chicken-cross-the-road joke. I felt tongue-tied. I felt like I was in the second grade?)
-Why is it gratifying?
Seriously. Why? Why is it gratifying?
This went on for a while.
Because it’s what I feel compelled to do.
-Why?
Because I’m a 5’2″ Pisces?
-Why?
Because I know how powerful coaching is.
-Why?
Because I want to change the world. (Eye roll.)
By the 437th why (Pam is like a hungry dog on a t-bone when she’s coaching), when I was forced to think really hard to come up with answers as to why the previous answer was my answer, my mind was ready to explode.
Pam was really getting on my nerves. What more did she want from me? Were we going to do this all day? The woman was relentless.
-Why?
I’d had enough. I couldn’t think anymore. It was at this point that I suddenly blurted out these words:
Because I want to water the seeds of immeasurable greatness that are within me and encourage other women and girls to do the same for themselves because we owe it to the world to be great.
Wait. What? Did I just say that? Where did that come from?
Pam simply responded with, “Good to know.”
I was a wet noodle. And apparently, we were done.
Do you have a WHY that blows your mind? Because once I realized I had that Big Fat Cheesy Why inside me, I became fearless and unstoppable (being fearless and unstoppable is part of my Coaches F. U. Playbook – if you’d like me to send you a copy click HERE.)
I have never forgotten my Pam Slim Smackdown, or my Big Why for that matter. To this day my mission is still to encourage women and girls to water the seeds of immeasurable greatness they were born with.
PS: Want to know when the doors open to the next 100k DNA Masterclass? Click HERE.
