Right so, life coaching…. Where to begin?
A lot of people don’t even know what life coaching even is- and who can blame them? You hear life coaching and it almost sounds a little ridiculous – like ‘are you training me on how to be alive or have a life or simply not be dead!?’
It really doesn’t surprise me that so many ask that same question – what does it ACTUALLY mean! Life coaching is a very broad based name which essentially refers to helping someone live their best life.
In terms of what it means more specifically, you really would have to examine a case by case portfolio of clients. Well, that doesn’t seem like a very efficient use our time now does it!
So I am going to attempt to put it into much more simplified terms for you (or confuse you even more, perhaps!)
Life coaching focuses to a number of key themes and ideas that make up the dynamic of a person’s life, this might be their family, their relationships, their health, their jobs, their possessions etc. At times in our life, we can lose grasp on some (or all even) of the themes listed above making is pretty damn impossible to ‘live your best life’
Here are some life-features that a person might need some coaching on:
Confidence, Self-Worth & Self Esteem
Loving Relationships That Work
Career Change - Creating Workplaces That Work
The Mastery of Balance - Juggling a Life
Self- Care - Getting Your Own Needs Met
Living Your Purpose
Managing Anger, Upsets, Frustration and Stress
Managing Grief, Loss, Sadness and Change
Connection Parenting
Self & Identity - Surviving the Oppressive Over-Culture
Homesteading, Environmental Activism
Artists – Creativity, art and writing
Food, Nutrition, & Optimal Health
It is very normal to find that certain periods of our life are more difficult than others, for a lucky few, this is very temporary, maybe because the person struggling is already equipped with the tools necessary to move forward with their lives for the better. Sadly though, this is not the case for the many.
Life Coaching can help with lack of direction or even a severe change in circumstances (which has a result has a massive knock on effect on other aspects of our lives,) a life coach will give you simple, manageable and most importantly achievable objectives to help get that balance right again.
As with all humans, there are times in our lives where no matter how bloody hard we rack our brains, the answer to our ‘big’ questions just aren’t there. For example (and probably one we can all relate with) what do I want to be when I grow up??? My boyfriend is 30 next April and he still doesn’t know! But it’s ok!
What’s more, fundamentally we can be doing literally EVERYTHING to say (off the top of my head), get the job of our dreams but then when we get it, instead of rejoicing and revelling in all the effort and relief, We’re still not happy!
It sucks majorly!
That’s the worst place to be in, right? You think to yourself, “oh sh*t I have plugged away at this day after day after day, but for what? What happens now, where do I go from here?
These are some of the typical questions you may ask yourself as a normal human being!
A client of mine spent years training to be a nurse, even going back to school doing access courses until she was blue in the face to climb up the professional (and financial ladder) BUT last year she entered motherhood and that changed EVERYTHING. All of a sudden the job she once longed for and worked herself to the bone for was no longer the priority.
In fact, it was worse than that, she realised she actually hated the job, literally hated it and dreaded the very concept of going back!
What a swizz!
It feels as though our minds are trying to (as my friends would say) “mug us off”!
But our little brains just love a sequence, something they can stick to and rationalise or habituate, don’t they? It makes us feel safe and that is our instinctive, innate survival feature that we are programmed into, so why do we get these sudden changes in the way we feel and behave? Why do put ourselves through it, if our natural instinct is to survive and be safe and secure – why!? She knew her job would pay the bills and give her that security. BUT SHE ALSO KNEW, SHE WASN’T LIVING HER BEST LIFE!
Going back to what I said earlier, ‘It’s the worst place to be in’….. WRONG.
It is the BEST place to be in, and do you know why!???
Because if you don’t know about something i.e. it doesn’t sit right or you are having doubts then you are feeling like that for a reason – act on that feeling, it is there to protect you, as scary as it seems! Staying in a situation that isn’t right for you can be infinitely worse than taking a bit of a gamble and going for something that enable you to live your best life.
I have a mantra for my life and it is so simple yet so effective:
IF YOU DON’T KNOW, YOU KNOW.
This principle can be applied to any of the themes mentioned above – relationships, jobs, families, health, finances, the list goes on!
A life coach will give you the confidence, guidance and support to motivate you into taking sensible risks or let’s call them life moves so that when you get that yucky feeling of doubt in your tummy, you know you have someone to turn to. Talking to a Life Coach will help take away that irrational fear and show you that are capable of ANYTHING. They will gear you up with the belief in the skills you already have (or help you obtain the skills you need in order to get where you want to go)
A Life Coach will work with you, not just on the end destination, he or she will examine ALL of the contributing factors and help you build strategies that are personal to you and your goals.
No matter what the barriers are, where there is a will (and a Life Coach) there is a way!