This week's Coach in the Spotlight is Andrew Davies, who decided to pursue coaching and made a commitment to add it to his many skills. Today he is a certified coach, helping others reawaken and find balance in their lives again.
Stephen Covey once said, "The challenge of work-life balance is without question one of the most significant struggles faced by modern man." I believe this to be utterly true, but I also believe there is a mental shift happening in society, and this is what I coach people on.
I have interests in all areas of life. My main interest is Ballroom Dancing. I am Three Times Undefeated British Champion, and now the Head Instructor of a dance school. Teaching all ages including social dancers and competitors, organising multiple events along with managing the business, I’m hard-working and consider myself a high-achiever.When I commit to doing something, I not only do it, but I make sure I do it well. As a multi-passionate entrepreneur, I have had many successes in my life.
"Coaching has awakened me to what, in life, gives me absolute fulfilment. Change takes time, but little by little, I have re-found true joy in my life."
I have always loved my job, but slowly over time, the pressure I was feeling caused me to lose myself. I was unable to enjoy my successes as much as I should have been because I didn't know how to juggle everything and I was always moving onto the next thing.
The only thing is, ‘the next thing’ was always about achieving, and never about self-fulfilment, self-care, or taking into consideration “what makes me happy… really happy?”
Through studying the science of happiness and joy in 2019 - 2020, I stumbled across The Coaching Academy and quickly decided that coaching was something I needed to learn about. The dreadful reality of COVID-19 really hit the UK in March 2020, but having no work gave me plenty of time to study, and so I immersed myself in the world of coaching for the months that followed.
Coaching has awakened me to what, in life, gives me absolute fulfilment. Change takes time, but little by little, I have re-found true joy in my life. I now do so much more of the things I enjoy, and still have all the time I need to commit to my work which I'm so passionate about.
The best part is, I am doing all of this, and yet I’m more time-rich than I ever was before; as a result, I’m more effective as a person.
This huge realisation has led me to help other like-minded people. I know many suffer under the same pressures I was experiencing, whether inflicted by others or by self, and I now coach people to help them work through the same wake-up call that I had.
The Coaching Academy gave me everything I needed to pass the Certificate exam with a Distinction, and with this qualification in hand, I use my newly-developed skills in all areas of life:
I use my new coaching business to work with people on a 1-2-1 basis, primarily on life-balance, by helping them to understand their needs in both their personal and professional lives. This helps them to know themselves better, to find fulfilment and to become their most effective selves in all the areas of life that are important to them.
"The most rewarding part of Coaching for me is how it brings a new type of mindfulness to our ways of thinking. A coach is a catalyst for another person’s change."
Not only this, but I am able to tie coaching in with my teaching job. Where I find necessary, I can use my coaching skills to help my students see things from new perspectives, enriching their learning experience.
Furthermore, I even use coaching in my personal day-to-day life. I have a coach friend; we often discuss what we do, and we have developed a little saying with which one of us will joyfully interrupt conversation: “Coaching is so cool!” because we still get amazed by how the benefits of coaching spread endlessly across all areas of life.
The most rewarding part of Coaching for me is how it brings a new type of mindfulness to our ways of thinking. A coach is a catalyst for another person’s change. Coaching is something that everyone can benefit from because we’re all moving forward in this life together.
We may isolate ourselves when we face difficult challenges, but something I have learned is that a lot of us face the very same challenges; we’re not all that different from one another. When you reach out to a coach, you’ll find your ‘difficult challenges’ are squashed upon realising your actual potential.
If you’re reading this and considering enrolling with The Coaching Academy, there isn’t much to consider. The Coaching Academy are excellent at what they do, and you will gain a wealth of knowledge from their teachings. As they say, “The best investment you can make is in yourself”.
If you are currently training with the academy, my top tip would be to coach! There is a lot to learn, but you’ll only find your ‘flow’ through the actual practice. So without further ado, and without putting too much pressure on yourself, take the leap and get as much experience as you can.
If you would like to know more about what Coaching is and how it can benefit you and the lives of others, or if you feel that Coaching could be a potential full or part-time opportunity for you, join us in this live training. Choose from available dates here.
The Coaching Academy was established in 1999, and is now the world's largest coaching school.
In that time we have trained over 14,000 people to become life coaches.
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