Everyone needs a coach. Everyone deserves a coach. Did you know that the world’s most successful people have their own coach?
Let me explain my story:
The Beginning: Finding My Coach
I didn’t really know exactly what coaching was until I reconnected with a friend of mine from college. like me, she was an engineering major, and had discovered after getting into the corporate world that she wanted more. She was bogged down by perfectionism and the Story she told herself – that she needed to have a “smart job” to be worthy – to be good enough.
She gradually realized she was destined for more, and she realized that the way she had been conditioned to believe was the way to be successful in life was a very limiting belief. She started her coaching career and has never looked back. She is doing work that is aligned with her truth, with her authenticity. She is doing heart work and it was these things that led me to reach out to her.
When I reconnected with my friend, I had no idea what I was going to do with my life. You may have read my story on the blog before – about my ex-husband coming out, the divorce and the subsequent rebuilding of my life basically from scratch. I was in a particularly dark place. I was a sales rep for a local brewery that paid me next to nothing for a job that was a lot of work. I was one of the best local reps out there and was paid the least. I knew I didn’t want to do that hustle forever. I had a photography business in the past, but I grew tired of that hustle too, of people wanting beautiful artwork for next to nothing.
My friend introduced me to a world of possibility. She inspired me to think outside the box. She introduced me to MY coach, who changed my life. I invested a handsome sum of money in this woman in hopes she could help me figure out what I was going to do with my life. It seemed so daunting.
Part 2: Uncovering the Truth
I’m hoping this article will spark some inspiration for you, or some hope that you can find your own truths and realize your dreams. You can figure out what you want, and you will know it because you will feel aligned. Your life on the outside will feel aligned with who you are on the inside.
Onward to the truth! 🙂
My coach helped me learn that no dream is too big, no goal too audacious. And there is no reason why I can’t do what I dream of! She helped me turn “but what if I can’t” into “but what if I can?
Seems really simple, doesn’t it? Shouldn’t I already have known that? Well, yes…probably. And I think I did know it, but I just forgot about it. Here’s why:
I grew up with the belief that there was a path to a successful life. It was a complex belief system that, like most of us, I inherited from my parents, teachers, peers and the world. That path looked like this: you worked hard in school to get good grades so you could go to a good college. If you were smart, you needed to go to school for something that seemed “smart”… like math, physics, engineering, medicine, law. If you were one of the “smart ones”, that was really expected of you. You should use the brain that God gave you. In college, you needed to work hard to keep a good GPA so you could get a good job. Once you were in that job you worked so hard to get, you put your head down, went to work every day, worked hard, got promotions, raises and eventually saved enough money to retire. Then what? Ugh. You’ve spent all this time getting to this career that was supposed to be “it”. And you realize it’s not all it’s cracked up to be. It’s a hamster wheel, a rat race.
I knew, more than anything, that I didn’t want any of that. I didn’t want a “smart” job. I wanted to help people or teach people something. I wanted to do something that truly lit me up. I knew I was meant for more than a desk job, but I felt like a loser that I was letting my engineering degree go to waste. Being a photographer, or a mom, or a coach – didn’t seem like “smart jobs” to me. I was afraid of what people would think.
Another part of the story I told myself was that you were never to want money too badly, because that was greedy, and money created bad things. Spending too much money on things was frivolous, and it was imperative to save and play it safe when it came to money.
My coach helped me see that a job is just something you do for money. What if there were no money involved. Then it’s just a job… and there really isn’t a prestige factor. She helped me remember that there are many paths to success, and that looks different for everyone. She helped me see that I had a big “money story” that was a HUGE limiting belief for me. She helped me know that I really am enough.
She reminded me that I am worthy of success – as I define it – and abundance. She helped me see that sometimes the path to “success” is not linear. A + B does not always equal C.
Part 3: Possibility Thinking. Your Dreams are Possible!
Keeping these things in mind, I learned that for real, no dream is too big.
As a kid, I believed that. I believed that I could do anything I wanted to. But life happened, society infiltrated the brain that was full of possibility and told me I wasn’t good enough, I wasn’t smart enough, I didn’t have the advantages that others have, so I could never achieve more than a certain level. I told myself that Story, and it became part of me. That story told me that it wasn’t really true that I could do anything I wanted to, but it sure was nice to dream.
But the truth is I can do anything. So can you.
The thing that I forgot for all of those years, is that it’s ok to fail. It’s ok if things take a long time to take shape. It’s ok if your goals change. It’s ok to not have everything figured out before you take the first step. It’s ok to dream big. Just because you don’t do it the “conventional” way doesn’t mean it’s wrong because there is no one right way to get there.
Working with my coach was life-changing and I am forever grateful to her for that. (And oops… Brooke, if you’re reading this, I don’t think I ever wrote a testimonial for you! ? )
Without my coach, I may still be stuck in the same spot of not knowing what to do with my life. I would probably be stuck in the same old Stories I told myself.
I am so passionate about helping people have these same “a-ha moments” that I decide to pursue coaching as well. I just completed a life coaching certification program and have graduated as a certified life coach with a health and wellness emphasis. I am on the road to achieving my big dreams, and while they look very different than when I was a kid, they are mine, they are real.
And they are possible. Absolutely POSSIBLE. I have no doubt in my mind.
I’d love it if you’d check out what I’m doing on my web site HERE. While you’re at it, download this free e-book that will get you started on the road to realizing your dreams.
