After travelling the world and living an adventurous and ‘nomadic’ life for a number of years, driven by the excitement of meeting many new and different people, I enjoyed a job at Manchester University where my role fulfilled my need for connection. However, my interest dwindled when my work became process-driven.
I started to explore disciplines like counselling, and mentoring and coaching became the obvious choice for me because it is a future-focused way of facilitating personal development. It suited my natural pre-dispositions: active, positive, in the present and believing in people’s resourcefulness and capacity for change.
"Coaching has enhanced my self-awareness and has made me more self-reflective: I have learnt to be less impetuous, more composed, more patient, more curious and above all a better listener."
I registered to go on the Introduction to Life Coaching course offered by The Coaching Academy and I was instantly captivated! Before the end of the course, I was already projecting myself not only as a coach but as an inspiring coach, equipped with the suitable tools and techniques! It was still a dream but a dream with a date, or a ‘goal’ in coaching terms.
The first lockdown came and within one week of being desk-bound at home, I gave my notice and completed my coaching qualification in 18 months as I had intended.
One of my clients from an ethnic minority group who worked for a British Educational Institution aspired to become one of the Board members. Her ultimate motivation was to help young girls from ethnic minorities like her believe that they too can aspire to leadership roles.
She came to me not believing that she would ever be a Board member because of her background and the ‘glass ceiling’ that she was facing. We had 6 sessions together and 2 weeks later I received an email from her informing me that she had been nominated to become a Board member.
Another of my clients who was getting very anxious about her life after work, and whether or not to retire, took the decision after 2 sessions to continue working for 2 more years and together we started planning her life after work.
We spent another 2 sessions establishing the skills that she had or needed and a final 2 sessions exploring options and actions. She has now regained her serenity and started applying for activities that suit her interests in view of working as a volunteer when she retires.
"Through my coaching, I am doing what gives sense to my life: supporting people to the very best of my ability"
My first challenge was, that similar to many students, I was still working full-time for most of my training. The way to overcome this issue was by allocating specific times outside of work when I would study or coach, and I tried to ‘stick’ to them as much as possible.
I used the ‘study log’ which is in the Members Area, to plan the whole training requirements, ahead of time adding a column for self-deadlines.
I made sure to fill the Learning Records Sheets systematically.
I read coaching books and made notes for myself.
I always kept my eyes on my end goal which was to complete in 18 months.
My other challenge is that English, not being my mother tongue, reading especially is slower. Verbal expression too is a challenge; even though I am fluent in English, having to express myself in front of an audience or on videos is still a nerve-wracking experience! This non-native status gives me the feeling I am an imposter at times when coaching native English speakers! However, my belief is: feel the fear and do it anyway!
They say your niche will find you. Well, this is what happened to me: my niche presented itself as a revelation when I was coaching my client who feared retirement. I had just retired myself from the university after 2 years of questioning, and I felt naturally empathic with and drawn to people dreading that period of transition.
I was their avatar! From there, I realised I could also empathise with people experiencing all the transitions specific to this baby-boomers group: the empty-nest syndrome, change of status, relationship break-ups, hormonal changes and at a deeper level, the anxieties in the face of old age and our purpose in life.
My niche has further helped me to define my own purpose; I wanted to be an inspiring coach and make people happy. By encouraging my clients to develop a vision and manage their energy to achieve that vision, I am helping them to transform their lives positively. I am helping them to perceive this second chapter of their lives as a happier version than the first.
Through my coaching, I am doing what gives sense to my life: supporting people to the very best of my ability. Through coaching, I have met amazing people who in turn have inspired me to believe in my work and my passion.
My coaching business is called Life Beyond Walls and individuals can find out more about it on my website.
In the autumn of 2020, I enrolled on the Harmonizing Wellbeing and Confidence Coaching course, a new programme created by Dawn Breslin for the Coaching Academy. The Harmonizing model helps people “to be compassionate towards themselves, and watch their self-confidence flourish” (Dawn Breslin).
By using a gentle organic process of reconnecting with the inner child in us, it aims at optimising our personal growth and wellbeing. I have found that this model complements perfectly the more goal-oriented GROW model and in my coaching.
I like to interweave the two models to suit the needs of my clients. It fits particularly well with this mid-lifers group who have not always allowed themselves to practise self-care because of life commitments but who have now the time to devote the second half of their lives to re-centre and reconnect with their true self.
This is what I love helping them with.
Make sure that you will be able to prioritise enough time for your studies over the next 12 to 24 months
Failing in submitting an assignment or in meeting a deadline, is only a delay, not a defeat. Failure is part of the process of learning. I failed my 3rd practical assessment and that gave me the impetus to try harder and I passed the next time: “There is no failure except in no longer trying.” - Chris Bradford
The most rewarding part of my coaching journey has been to be part of the coaching community and to meet inspiring people:
The TCA staff, Kris Robertson, Jan Lonnen and all the other mentors and speakers are a wonderful team of professionals and pedagogues. They are so generous in imparting their knowledge and so intent on helping us to succeed. Being taught by this amazing team has been one of the best experiences I have had in the academic world.
The Coaching Academy students: I have met such beautiful human beings. Their enthusiasm and their dedication to coaching, have more than matched my own thirst for learning. Being among like-minded people has been such a treat!
My own coachees: I have grown through coaching wonderful people. I learnt from their ability to change and grow.
Through coaching, I find a sense of purpose; it has contributed to giving meaning to my life
The free Introduction to Life Coaching webinars are available for you to join. They are interactive, informative and designed to help you understand if training to be a life coach is for you.
Take positive action, project forward and plan for a year to remember for all the right reasons. 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.
We are accredited by the International Coach Federation and the Association for Coaching, and we're rated 4.8 out of 5 on Trustpilot.
