I Haven't Arrived

I've always had a little trouble with people who seem to have it all figured out.

You know the ones.

They've learned the lesson. Cracked the code. Developed the system. And now they're going to tell the rest of us how to get there.

Maybe that's unfair. Experience matters. We should learn from people who have walked roads we haven't traveled yet.

But I've realized something about the way I want to approach my own work:

I don't want to coach from a place of arrival. I want to coach from a place of pursuit.

Because I haven't arrived.

I'm still learning.

I'm still getting things wrong.

I'm still discovering blind spots I didn't know I had.

I'm still having conversations that challenge things I thought I understood.

And I'm still occasionally walking away from situations wondering, Did I handle that well? What did I miss? What could I have done differently?

I hope that never completely goes away.

Not the insecurity.

The curiosity.

The willingness to believe there is still something to learn.

Because something happens when we decide we've arrived.

We stop looking.

We stop questioning.

We stop noticing.

And when we stop noticing, it becomes much harder to recognize what belongs to us, what needs to change, or what we need to build next.

Even sustaining growth requires that we remain willing to grow.

Maybe that's the irony of personal growth:

There is no finish line.

There are milestones. Breakthroughs. Seasons when things finally click. Lessons we learn and habits we build that genuinely change our lives.

We should celebrate those.

But then we keep running.

That's the kind of coach I strive to be.

Not someone standing at the finish line shouting instructions about how to get there.

Someone running the race too … perhaps a little farther down one stretch of road, perhaps behind you on another … paying attention to what I'm learning and occasionally saying:

"Hey, I noticed something here. Maybe it'll help you too."

I don't coach from arrival.

I coach from pursuit.

And I hope I always do.

— Coach Dave

Your NoBS Reflection

NOTICE: Where in my life have I quietly started acting as though I've already figured it out?

OWN: What might I stop seeing when I become too certain of what I already know?

BUILD: Where could I intentionally become a student again?

SUSTAIN: What practices will keep me learning even after I've experienced success?