Meet Shouvik Lahiri, Coach and Author

The author of Date Your Goals, Shouvik Lahiri is a coach who works with individuals as well as groups. Shouvik's skill is in helping people know what you want, what's holding them back, and what must happen for people to move forward. He offers support in developing strategies and solutions to help in finding the inner confidence, personal strength, practical tools and resources to guide people through any change or challenge.

1. What is the main idea of your book, Date Your Goals?

Date Your Goals is about helping individuals to Realize, Set, Plan, Visualize, and Achieve their Goals.

2. Did your work as a coach influence the content of your book?

Yes, very much--in fact, the idea of this book came to my mind while I was doing a coaching session for one of my coachees in goal-setting. I realized that there are many people in this world who are not aware of their goals. They are working and performing but aimless. And that is how I started writing the book, Date Your Goals. It's very important to realize goals. "Goals are the most loyal friends of us... They exist till we exist."

3. How did you get into the field of coaching?

It was in my corporate days; a team member of mine was lacking in something, and as a result, he was not being able to perform in spite of him receiving trainings in several skills. Then one fine day I sat with him in an coffee shop and started discussing with him what actually is wrong with him; after an hour discussion, I came to know that he was going through a family crisis which led him to experience mental trauma and which was stopping him from performing.

After coming back home, I started surfing on the internet for a good psychiatrist's number, and while searching I came across a Life Coach's site and approached the coach for my team mate. The coach had almost around six sessions with my coworker, and after the sessions there was an drastic change in his performance: from a non-performer, he started performing and after three months he was one of the top performers in my team. That is the time when I got interested in coaching and started studying various courses related to coaching, and that is how I entered the field of coaching.

4. What are some examples of situations when individuals--or businesses--can benefit from working with a coach?

1) A few years back I coached a lady. The lady tried committing suicide several times; her family being helpless approached me. On the first session with her, after an hour talk, I came to know that she loved an guy who has cheated on her and left her, and that is why she wanted to kill herself as, according to her, she could not live without him. I had around five sessions with her, and during the sessions I helped her realize that a person who can leave you can never be the reason for your living; no one can ever be so strong in her life that for him/her she can ruin and give up her life. I started making her love herself and slowly began working with her on her career planning. The first few months in her job, she was facing some problems as she was not able to give her concentration, but slowly things changed and now she is the Zonal Manager of an MNC.

2) A young CEO of a company was frustrated and exhausted, due to which he approached to me. On my first meeting with him he did not know why exactly he wanted to meet me or what the reason of his frustration was. After the orientation session, I realized that the actual reason of his frustration was that he was not aware of his goals or plans regarding what actually he wants to do. We had 16 sessions together, and the sessions started with his goal-setting then slowly started focusing on developing leadership in him, and now he is one of the most successful CEOs in his generation.

5. If you could only choose five small things that readers take away (remember) from your book, what would those things be?

Well, following are the learning tools one can realize while going through the book.

1) "The best way to motivate yourself against all downfalls is to see your longer goals... Feel it and jump for your shorter goal towards it."

2) "Seeing and Feeling the goals with the mind's eye will increase your faith towards it."

3) "Framing goals under the SMART method will increase your confidence about the goal."

4) "If we have passion for our goal, we will make ways... Or else, we will have excuses of not achieving it."

5) "We must be persistent in our belief towards goals, not on the methods of achieving it."

Thanks, Shouvik!