Words are an instrument for me to get you to see what I’m seeing. Until someone – using words – explains a Picasso to you, it’s a bunch of cubes; Mozart, a bunch of very pretty sounds. Enough words, and the form starts to make sense, or take on meaning.

It’s by the words that I use that I see myself too. I describe myself to myself using words. If I change the words, I change myself. But I can’t just change the words, because I don’t know which words to use, or how to order them. I can pull big, fancy words out of the financial press, rearrange them and string them together, but it won’t make me any the wiser about money. I can rephrase words I use about myself – many do, they’re called mantras – and they won’t make me any more happy or successful. I need the right words, in the right order. I need a word mechanic, just as a diesel truck needs a diesel mechanic.

Coaching is a specific language; it’s words ordered in a specific way to make a difference to the way you describe yourself. Done correctly, it can give you the meaning of yourself; it can turn all your lights on.