Well, you CAN hide. In fact, I am a bit of an expert in hiding. But inevitably, the truth catches up and outs me…
As some of you may remember, in February I won a coaching scholarship to work with a life coach in Australia, named Káren Wallace. My scholarship allowed me 4 weekly one-hour sessions via Skype. Although I want to keep much of what we actually worked on private, I do want to share with you the process we went through and what I got out of it.
I have worked with many coaches and therapists in my life so I am familiar with the process, but I know that some of you have never worked with any sort of adviser, mentor, counselor or coach and wouldn’t even know what to expect. For this reason, I want to walk you through the process.
The first thing Káren did was to send me an intake form to fill out prior to the start of our first session. These were the questions on the form:
1.
2.
3.
4. WHAT DO YOU THINK IS YOUR BIGGEST OBSTACLE IN REACHING YOUR GOALS?
5.
6. AS WE WORK TOGETHER, WHAT DO YOU MOST WANT ME TO LOOK OUT FOR, TO KEEP YOU ON TRACK?
Wow, just by writing some thoughtful answers to those questions, I made major strides in my sense of clarity. You should jot some answers to those questions for yourself and see what you come up with.
I wanted to work with Káren because I was feeling stuck on some pretty big questions concerning the direction of my business, our geographical location and lifestyle, and some more personal issues that I had been feeling discouraged and worried about. That’s a tall order for 4 sessions!
I knew it wasn’t much time so I decided I would really focus and make the best of it. In other words, I was a good client. What was this “work” though? Well, after talking for each hour-long skype session, Káren and I set goals each week and I worked my best to get them done. Sometimes I did, other times I was stuck, but I explored that stuckness in writing and painting until I found it’s source. When you are stuck, there is ALWAYS a good reason for it. Your job is to figure out why, and when you do, it usually dissolves. Many people see their stuckness and just turn away. It seems too hard, too solid, too implacable… but the whole point of hiring a coach is to have that support to explore your stuck spots in safety.
When I began with Káren, I wrote in my intake form that I had “lost the thread” of my life and my business and was floundering about lost and ineffective.
By the end of the month I had learned something amazing. I had not in fact “lost the thread”. The thread was right there with me all along, and I had already worked it all out in great detail as a matter of fact! But then, because it frightened me and made me insecure, I tucked it away, forgot about it, and showed up “lost”.
Káren gave me the courage to uncover it, the support to share it out in the open, and the confidence to begin rolling it out. The changes are already taking place for me. You may notice them or maybe they will be too subtle to see. They are basically an evolution for me. It was time for me to grow but I was afraid to allow that to happen because my comfort zone had been working just fine.
Now, this is what is really interesting to me: I took photos of both myself and my work space the day I began with Káren and then the day of our final session, 21 days later. I am not going to share my work space photos yet because I still don’t feel “done” in that area, but I want you to see the difference in my appearance:
Same amount of makeup. Same place and time of day.
Note: Káren and I did not work on my appearance! These pictures show the difference between someone who is avoiding what she knows to be true about her path and a person who has decided she will be bold and step forward on it.
This, my friends, is the Magic of Coaching. If you are at all feeling stuck, fuzzy, confused, worried, or lost, hiring a coach is the best thing you can do! But hiring the coach is only half of it. You also have to be willing to do the work. Your coach, (or therapist or whatever), cannot do anything FOR you. However, the clarity they mirror back to you, the safe place they keep for you, and the gentle encouragement they provide for you, can give you the courage and strength you need to break through to your next evolution.
To hire Káren, you can visit her website HERE.
To hire me, well, you know because you are already here. You can book a trial session with me by emailing Emily@TriumphWellness.com.
No more hiding, OK? Not for me and not for you.
Dearest Emily, you were *more* than a good client! You were the kind of client I absolutely love to work with. You were so dedicated to your own journey, you were courageous and not afraid to look the gremlins in the eye, you were willing to take that deliberate action, and to ask the hard questions. And you’re reaping the rewards!
I so love the glow in your ‘after’ photo – you look radiant!
Thank you for filling my heart with joy this morning. I am so grateful to have had the pleasure of working with you. xx