What is a life coach doing explaining to us our political turmoil? These may be strange times for our nation, but Dr. Walter Sims, who has built a career as a lifecoach, seems to hit the nail right on the head in his piece for The Good Men Project. Sims lists five “ingredients” common to personal life coaching programs that explain why Donald Trump is now “president-elect” Donald Trump.
- He believed he could do it. At some point, Trump must have said out loud, “I think I could be president.” And very likely, someone else agreed with him. He internalized that possibility and followed it through to reality.
- He didn’t apologize for being himself. This was evidently true in the way he continued to make disparaging comments about women and minorities without apology — a tactic that proved very unpopular among his dissidents, and yet very popular among his supporters. Many people applauded him for “saying what he really meant,” no matter how offensive it was.
- He was fearless. Sims says that all of those bankruptcy filings actually show how fearless he is as a businessman, willing to take risks.
- He ignored the negativity. It’s no secret that most mainstream media outlets despised Trump, and that most polls showed him lagging far behind Hillary Clinton. But he didn’t pay any attention to the haters — and guess what? He prevailed.
- He gave the people what they wanted. After the election, there was much analysis of the “forgotten” white rural working class people of the midwest who turned out in droves to vote for Trump. They saw what they wanted in Trump, regardless of what that means for the rest of the country.
Whether you think Trump’s story is one of a political underdog succeeding in the face of bureaucracy or a terrible rise to power based in hatred and violence simply depends on your beliefs. But what is a life coach for if not helping us through bad times? After this election season, we may all need a little bit of spiritual coaching to get us through the next four years.