Before becoming a coach, I had a great job, which by description suited me perfectly. I was a PE Teacher; I loved my school community and my subject, but I had this aching feeling that for me, there must be more. I had some experience in sports coaching, and seeing the changes that coaching could have on achieving success with the body made me curious about the capacity of coaching the mind.
After attending the Free 2-Day Event with The Coaching Academy, I hadn’t yet grasped what Coaching was, but it got me excited, and more importantly at the time, offered me a lifeline. The positive energy I felt during those two days was uplifting and almost instantly, a light inside me started to flicker. Having enrolled on TCA’s Life Coaching Diploma, I got myself fully invested in the work booklets, webinars, interviews, recommended reading, practice clients and attending Accelerator Days. More than anything, I started to learn, not just about coaching, but about people and about myself. I became a student of people and a student of me, as my own person. I learned to coach whilst being coached, and I was my own most diligent client.
I left my demanding teaching job to dedicate my time and energy into qualifying as a coach. I took a significant pay cut and there were sacrifices involved, but I felt fortunate to be able to fully immerse myself in the course during evenings, weekends and holidays.
‘Notice what you notice’ is a phrase often repeated by Kris on training days, and the first time I heard those words, they seemed rather nonsensical. The second time, however, I allowed myself to consider and reflect on what they meant. And that was my moment! Everything suddenly started to make sense. What I would do with coaching slowly became less important than what coaching was doing with me. This is where my journey really began because I started to become aware of who I am and what I am capable of.
In July, I qualified as a Personal Performance Coach. I went back to teaching when the new academic year started, but I am no longer the teacher I was a year ago! I now use coaching every day and it has been exciting and interesting to practise my newly acquired skills with pupils and staff, and to learn about innovative ways of implementing these skills. I have realised that I enjoy listening to people and it is refreshing to remember that everyone thinks and feels in their own way. Since returning to teaching, I have been re-energised by the variety of opportunities for me to make an impact. As a teacher and a coach, I’m noticing new areas of coaching opportunity in this field.
As a PE Teacher coming from a sporting background, I know that the relationship between the body and mind is undeniable and infinitely powerful. Therefore, where possible, my approach to personal success and fulfilment is through holistic coaching of the mind and body. Moving forward, I would like to use the knowledge I have gained and the skills I have learnt to create a positive effect in the world of personal development. I want to help pupils, staff, parents and leaders to become aware of themselves and their potential. This will help them to feel positive, feel confident and feel empowered.
My favorite coaching question is, ‘What if this was not true?’ This challenges my clients to think about their values and beliefs. They are offered the time and space to think about how they could feel if their (limiting) beliefs were not true.
My top tips:
• For people who are looking at coaching: Do it! Even if you never practise coaching after you qualify, the value of the training and raised self-awareness is worth more than the time or money you spend.
• For those coaches currently in training: Practise as much as possible and pay attention to minute details and simple things – those are your moments of learning.
• For coaches that are about to qualify: Be proud and allow yourself to celebrate. Then, continue learning and practising.
• For people who are in a similar situation to myself: Courage is seeing fear and proceeding anyway. Having my own Coaching Business is my fear but I know that success is on the other side of that fear.
The success of my journey has not been gaining TCA’s Life Coaching Diploma with Distinction but rather my own personal development and growth. I can say that I already had, and already am, everything that I wanted, I just hadn’t yet recognised it! I now have the tools to access this power, the knowledge to use it and the enthusiasm to continue this process within me, and hopefully to inspire it in others.
If Phillipa’s words have inspired you and you feel that Coaching could be a potential full or part time opportunity for you, or if you would just like to know a little more about what Coaching is and how it can benefit you and the lives of others, please contact our Specialist Course Advisor, Jamil on 0208 996 4830 or email: Jamil@the-coaching-academy.com
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