The first time I went for coaching years ago I was struggling with burnout š°. It was so bad that a friend had remarked I wasn't looking well. I was planning our wedding, writing a book, speaking at events, volunteering in my local tech community, learning Italian (for fun), gyming regularly, working full time and and and and and and....... IT WAS TOO MUCH.
I went into coaching desperate for answers, wanting my coach to tell me how to balance it all. There must be a way, I thought. I played the comparison game in my head. I saw all these successful women out there, some with kids doing tons of things and thriving. Surely all I had to do was plan better or approach things differently?
everything changed and yet nothing had really changed
I often tell people that after that first coaching session, everything changed and yet nothing had really changed. How can that be? Coaching provided the space for me to make sense of my thoughts. It helped me to really understand all those "shoulds" that added all this extra weight on me. It helped me to figure out what was most important to me, what was needed versus what I wanted.
All the coach did was hold the space for me to make sense of what was happening to me. She didn't tell me what to do, she didn't offer advice nor try and push me into action. That was the catalyst that encouraged my own journey into coaching.
What is coaching to me?
There are so many interpretations of coaching and the benefits it can offer. It's an unregulated industry, unlike therapy or counselling. My definition of coaching is placing you as the client in the driver's seat and letting you decide what is important for you to work on at that moment. It's about providing a safe space for you to uncover what's holding you back, what limitations are you setting for yourself and what you are comfortable changing. It's very easy for people to offer advice and while it can sometimes be useful it's not always going to be relevant for you.
Coaching has had a major impact on the way I engage and think of myself, others and the world around me.
If this sounds like something that you want for yourself then reach out to me for a 1:1 30-minute exploratory call.
And if you're interested to know what really changed for me after coaching:
I let go of my volunteer work. Even though I loved contributing to a community I didn't have that capacity anymore and that was okay. I put my own oxygen mask on before serving others
I stopped learning Italian. It was a passion hobby and there wasn't any passion in it anymore. I was the only one judging me from stopping
I stopped working after work. I stopped investing more than I needed to because overworking is not the answer to security (more about that later)
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