The meaning of life is to achieve perfection and tell others about it. Bach “The Seagull Called Jonathan Livingston” More than 10 years passed when I first came across R. Bach’s book “The Seagull Called Jonathan Livingston” and I didn’t know then why only one phrase stuck in my memory – the one I quoted as an epigraph. This phrase was like lightning cutting the horizon, although the book is magnificent, and there are many catchphrases in it. I didn’t ask the question “why?”, I just lived all these years, I lived differently, completely unconsciously and irresponsibly, but the inner knowledge that I can do anything, that my life depends only on me, that if someone can , that means I can do it too - this knowledge has always been with me. It was somehow logical and reinforced concrete for me. And, apparently, this is my knowledge, which “from nowhere” responded when I read Bach. And, apparently, this knowledge of mine led me to COACHING. However, it took many years, and only after all these years did it become clear to me what connects me with Jonathan the seagull. I see coaching as the perfect way to achieve change. Perfect changes. This now fashionable word is penetrating more and more into the minds of Soviet-Russian people. Soviet - because in the Soviet Union - they walked in formation and lived according to command. And the fact that you had the audacity to be somehow different from everyone else could cost a lot. Even if you were born in Russia, your parents, grandparents, were born much earlier - and they hardly managed to avoid this influence. The concept of coaching was created in 1974 by the American coach T. Gallwey. And in Russia, coaching appeared in the mid-90s. The word “coaching” is translated from English as “training, mentoring, tutoring, consulting.” But these definitions are of little use, because none of the translated words are coaching. There are a lot of definitions of coaching and each one reveals the essence, so it is not possible to single out the correct one. It seems to me that you need to feel it or create it yourself. T. Gallwey defines coaching as follows: “This is the disclosure of a person’s potential, with the goal of maximizing his effectiveness.” I found a definition from Marina Melia that seems closer to me: “Coaching is a dialogue between a client and a coach, aimed at realizing, formulating and achieving true the client’s goals, disclosure and realization of his personal potential.” This is a special way of counseling, unusual in our experience. And even the word counseling does not fit here. Because the coach does not give recipes, does not say “do this or that and you will be happy”, the coach does not know! A coach is driven by faith in a person. Trust in people, the process, life - we still have to learn this! – opens up amazing opportunities. Thus, I seem to say - “you and I are of the same blood.” I cease to be a teacher, guru, big, smart. And at the same time you cease to be a student, small, stupid. It becomes easier for you to realize that you are able to reach the stars or simply believe in yourself. One of the main principles of coaching is “Every person is good.” Good - in the sense of correct. In our life, everything is correct and there is a time for everything. Because no one gave us the right to judge what should be and what should not be, which of us is better and which is worse. If we say we know better, we declare our superiority. Out of habit. We are all children of one creator, and if this exists, then it must be so. But this task is not a simple one - to let go, to resolve. After all, we know what is best, we are used to controlling everything, taking life into our own hands, taking the bull by the horns and forward to the barricades. All life is a struggle! Only with whom and what? We are used to striving for something in life in accordance with the “should”, “obligated”, “it’s customary”, “just like Vasya” imposed by society, because we have forgotten who the most important person in our life is. As my friend’s 3-year-old son told me, “You’re the little one!” This guy knows for sure whether he wants Smesharikov or a designer, hug.