I get this question all the time. “Sanket, so what do you do?” is the innocent question. My humble reply to which is, “I am a Life Coach, a Leap Ahead and Human Potential Coach, helping individuals create exponential life growth, by saying Yes to Themselves!” 6/10 survive this initial response and follow up with their next (innocent) question is, “So, what do you exactly do?” My supportive answer is, “I help people get unstereotypical and start saying yes to themselves, and no to their social conditioning. I help them to bring out their innate desires and dreams into reality, one step at a time. I help people get out of the rut, and create a lifestyle they wouldn’t won’t to escape from. And, I help all of that through impactful, life-changing coaching conversations! Would you like to experience a  powerful and life-changing coaching conversation with me?” If their answer is a clear yes, I have them book an appointment with me.

While I am of the opinion that personal coaching is something that can be best experienced, not explained, I would still like to spend some time to elaborate on what I do as a leap ahead coach. As your coach, I am there to offer you a wonderful listening space where you can be yourself, where you can find yourself, and where you can tune out all the ‘shoulds’ that you’ve come to believe. I am there to allow you to feel more connected to your own energy, and your own unique being by opening you up to perspectives and possibilities that you were previously unaware of. I am there to help you get more clarity and focus towards the inspired goals and dreams that you truly desire for yourself. I am there to help you create a life by design rather than by default. I operate from a space of truth and non-judgement so that you can be just you in our time together. I also operate from the space of non-advice, because I truly believe that you are whole and complete, and are capable of generating your own answers. Just recall any of your innumerable conversations with friends, colleagues and close ones. How many times have they not stepped in with their opinion and their view of your ‘situation’ and not offered an unsolicited advice? Chances are zero. There is advice everywhere in the world. For start, just Google. Growing up, I had my reservations to advices sometimes, if not always. Advices are often doled out from ‘someone’s experience and view of the world.’ Where is my ownership and sense of accountability in that? In my coaching sessions, I would always counter an advising approach with an open-ended question. That makes you find your own solution knowing that you are supported in the process. Having said that I am still open and willing to drop my ideas into a hat for you to pick up as we brainstorm through your goals and dreams during our coaching sessions. To pick it up and to move ahead with it or not, is completely your choice. It’s altogether a different perspective from giving an advice. When I speak of all this, I often remember Michael Neill and his ‘lamp post’ metaphor. He explains that if a person walks over to a lamp post every day or every week and tells his hopes, dreams, and problems to it, the simple act of unburdening himself and leaving his mind free and clear will lead to more inspired ideas and a better life. I am like that lamp post, only better because I can listen, see and talk back.

If you caught the phrase ‘exponential life growth’ from above, you might still be wondering what it is. Let me explain that with an analogy. We are all familiar with mutual funds and the concept of systematic investment plan (SIP). In layman’s terms a SIP is a disciplined and committed approach to investment and wealth creation. Each month you earmark a certain amount of money, it could be Rs. 500, or Rs. 5,000 depending upon your wealth creation goal, to be systematically invested into a mutual fund that you have selected (either on your own, or with the help of a financial consultant.) The principle is disciplined, consistent and committed investment to make progress in the area of wealth creation with a long-term timeframe. Periodically you would check in on your funds to see how they are faring, and what course of action you need to take. You would then continue investing the same amount, or increase the monthly amount, or even channel that amount into another mutual fund. But the SIP ideally goes on. In other words, you keep investing systematically, year after year. And, over time, with the power of compounding, you see your wealth grow significantly. Similarly, when it comes to our goals, our dreams, and our life, exponential life growth is something that comes with power of the same compound effect. Compound effect is nothing but time and repetition. Repetition does not mean doing the same things blindly. Repetition comes with clarity of what you want and why you want it, coupled with taking action and making course corrections. But, keep in mind that exponential life growth only works when you set goals that you truly and deeply desire, not because of your subjective realities and social constructs, not because of you saying yes to someone else, but because of you saying yes to yourself! Exponential life growth is a process, it is a journey that needs vision, clarity, discipline, focus, commitment, and consistent action. And, to help you through this journey, I act as your mirror showing you what you cannot see, your sounding board telling you what no one else would dare to say, your wrecking ball to blow up your limiting beliefs and fears, your cheerleader to motivate you, and your companion in times of glory and gloom. Throughout our journey, I powerfully serve you as you move towards the dreams and goals that you innately desire. I promise to see you as the most powerful person even when you forget to believe in yourself or even when circumstances appear to be out of your control.

With me so far? Great! The other area where I often sense a reservation is towards paying for coaching. “Why can’t I do it myself?” is the common objection or even worse, “Why should I spend that kind of money on myself?” My answer to this objection is simple, “If you can coach yourself, great! If you can’t coach yourself, great!” The truth is, as Jon Howard, an athlete and personal trainer, says, “Coaching is not a fast talking game. Coaching is thoughtful. Coaching is strategic.”  In the words of the great Albert Einstein, “Obstacles & circumstances cannot be solved by the same level of thinking that created them.” And people who are committed to doing what it takes require a new level of thinking, which often comes in with the support of a life coach. As with my earlier mutual funds and SIP analogy, the longer you are in the process, the better and higher are the results. I work with my clients, one-on-one, for 3, 6 or even 12 months. Anything less than that doesn’t set you up for change and betterment. And, when it comes to the money, think of it as an investment (similar to mutual fund investments) rather than an expense or spend – an investment that you do in your personal growth. Yes, as with mutual funds that are subject to market risks, coaching is subject to risks too. These risks mainly arise out of your commitment, or rather your lack of commitment, and your lack of responsibility. When it comes to growth any action is better than no-action. And for exponential growth, the actions need to be deliberate and consistent.

The bottom line is coaching is life-changing. Even a single session. People don’t usually know about it, or even associate it with mentoring, advisory support, consulting, or even counselling. And, I don’t blame people for this. The coaching industry is unregulated, and there are virtually no barriers to entry to the coaching industry, and start-up costs are minimal. So, technically anybody can label themselves as a ‘coach,’ even if what they do is consulting, counselling or even running a private tuition business. I wouldn’t blame them either. ‘Coach’ is quite a trendy word, so why not use it to attract clients and business? But, what gets dangerous is when quarks and incompetent ‘life’ coaches set up shop with the objective of making quick money. My way of life, as I learnt it from my mentor, John Assaraf, is this – “With anything to do in life, you are either interested or you are committed. If you are only interested, you will do what’s convenient. On the other hand, if you are committed, you will do what it takes to make it happen!” So, when my inner calling guided me into this profession, I had to make a choice – am I interested in coaching, or am I committed to coaching? If I was only interested, I could set up shop virtually the next day and label myself as a life coach. But, I was committed to this journey and this profession. I approached an ICF-accredited institute for proper coach-specific training and to get myself certified. International Coach Federation (ICF) is the leading global organization dedicated to advancing the coaching profession. After 9 months of rigorous curriculum, practical training, and assessment, I became internationally certified. Here are my two certificate links – Leap Ahead Coach, Human Potential Coach. I am also a certified NLP Coach Practitioner, and currently I am pursuing my EFT Practitioner certification. I am not trying to brag here, I am only proving my commitment to myself and my service to you.

My mission is to transform lives of 10 Million people to start saying Yes to themselves and not just start accomplishing goals that they truly, intuitively and deeply desire, but also help them push past what they think is possible. If you want to be one of them, let’s talk.

To The Warrior Within!