I love the concept of coaching at a heart level. It releases Kings and sets captives free in amazing ways. At the same time, coaching, books, and conferences that don’t produce real fruit are a reality, even in the Christian community. So why don’t we measure the results? Let’s come up with the metrics that define the fruit and measure the effectiveness. Here’s my initial try. I would like to expand this list with your help so feel free to comment.
It’s in writing – Whatever defines our passion and direction should be in writing. We should be able to capture it and articulate it so that we and others can discern it, improve it and implement it.
Reflects my own heart – My life purpose and direction should have a connection with my deepest heart’s desires. God wrote desires on all of our hearts. Connecting the dots between those passions, talents, personality, experience and Kingdom is the leverage that makes life work and creates wealth. Making a plan around a “mental” pathway doesn’t last, even though it may have some logic in tradition or the expectations of others. Finding the real dream in our hearts is compelling and self-propelling. I don’t need anyone to motivate me from the outside.
Reflects God’s heart – Coaching that defines our deepest heart’s desires should also discern whether they overlap with the desires on God’s heart. He’s building his Kingdom in the earth right now. Whatever we decide to do will work a lot better if we work with God instead of independent from Him or in opposition to Him.
Heart boundaries – We all have boundaries in our hearts that represent vows from our past which have cemented into ceilings for our future. We are all on an “automatic” path defined by our hearts already. Changing the beliefs in our hearts about our own identity and potential is a key step of inner healing before we can go to the next level, get on the right path, and be “automatic” in a good sense. Coaching should identify those road blocks and give our hearts a reason to let go of them and embrace the new.
A team – none of us have all the gifts, skills, anointing or wisdom to pull off a big dream by ourselves. We’re always more effective when we identify the other players and their roles. People who are successful in life are very careful to surround themselves with the help they need. They find those with a similar heart’s desire but different strengths, and work with them to multiply the effect of their mutual dream. It’s a powerful dynamic, both spiritually and practically.
Cash flow – Putting our finances into a monthly cash flow format is an essential part of integrating our life’s plan with reality. Whether it’s personal finances or business finances doesn’t matter. We are stewards of the destiny that God has given us, and we all have to navigate the real world of making money and converting some of it to ministry. Creating wealth is a spiritual discipline. The real dream that produces fruit and works in a practical way has two ingredients: 1) It creates value for others, and 2) That value produces wealth
The dream reproduces/grows – The first earmark of a fruitful dream is that a person in touch with his own heart has an innate ability to help others to get in touch with their hearts. It’s very liberating and it frees us to be who we really are. There is a multiplication effect… a viral evangelistic contagion of enthusiasm that encourages other people to be who they are. We become more charismatic and inspiring. Our dream resonates with others in the sense that they are inspired to identify their own dream – not just copy ours. Lastly, there is some connection with the big picture in the Kingdom. Somehow our dream helps disciple nations.
Love – There is one final metric for coaching at a heart level. I usually show people my own heart plan as an example. By the time we’re finished with their heart plan we’ve each seen the deepest heart’s desire and dreams of the other. It’s easy to encourage others in their dream and when you do, they love the feeling of being loved and they love you back. It’s like the frosting on the cake and it can work in marriages, children, co-workers. When we connect with God at a heart level and see what he has for us, we fall in love with Him as well. It’s a huge bonus and it’s very different from “serving” a God of works and rules and accountability. Kingdom is a relationship.
Summary – I’m sure this list can be expanded. If I had to pick one metric to measure the value of coaching, I think it would be wealth creation. If coaching won’t improve your personal and practical prosperity, don’t buy it. Coaching is like the hammer used to build the house. When the house is finished, people don’t look at the beautiful architecture and say, “What a beautiful hammer that must have been to build this house.” We’re building houses full of love that can be lived in, not selling hammers. Coaching is one of the tools that we use to build dreams… nothing more, and nothing less.
