I decided to switch things up a little on the blog today and share a little bit more about the work that I get to do each day; though often it doesn’t feel like “work”. This is work that I love and believe me there have been many times along my career path when I could truly say that I didn’t love what I was doing for a living.
Wondering why I decided to take the time now to share this? Well, to start off with, just like the mental health and wellness advocacy work that I do and the Caregiver’s Forum and Community that I am part of, my entire work life experience right now is a direct result of my journey through and after my son’s health crisis.
You see, coming out the other side of the crisis, I realized that as much as I wanted things to be normal again, the normal life that I had pre-crisis was long gone. The journey and the high-speed rollercoaster that I rode during and after my son’s situation had changed me. I realized that I had to find my new normal and that for me it had to include work that was fulfilling and meaningful.
For those who know my backstory, you know that it took me quite some time to get my legs back under me so that I could explore what this new work would be; honestly it was much more of an unfolding than a single decision. I made it a point to learn how to live my life and embrace my experience because I recognized that I didn’t only want to survive it, I wanted to thrive in it. Through this decision to thrive, I looked at my passions, my career and my goals and realized that I could offer so much more meaningful service out to the world. So I built on the coaching and advocacy work that I was doing part-time and turned it into a full time endeavor.
When I speak with people about the work that I do as a Coach, most often I hear responses such as “well, I know what my issue is, I just have to stop __________” – procrastinating, being disorganized, feeling complacent and so on. Most of us know pretty clearly, whether we want to admit it or not, what behaviors or habits we have that keep us from making real change in our lives.
I was there myself at many points along my path. I know this routine all too well; first doing the same thing over and over expecting different results and then realizing that I needed to actually change things up. I knew I needed to change the habit or address the block in a different way. Here’s the thing, even when I changed what I was doing or how I was doing it, I still found myself standing in the middle of the same pile of rubble as I had before. I remember being so surprised that even though I had changed my behavior or how I approached specific situations, I was still getting the same results as I had before I made the changes.
What I came to learn was that because I hadn’t changed the underlying belief or the inaccurate story that led me to develop and repeat these growth blocking habits, I remained locked into repeating the same experiences time and time again because what I had tried to change wasn’t at the core of the issue.
This is where working with a coach can pave the way to lasting changes. What’s truly powerful about it is that it’s the same work that I’ve done over the years to shift my own life into a positive new directions. See, once I was able to get to the root of the issue, real change occurred in my life. When I work with a client, the first steps we take are to quickly get to the seed of the beliefs that may be holding them back; this soul excavation work is necessary to get to the root and make the changes needed. The focus is not on how to change the habit; it is on why the habit or belief exists in the first place. Pulling back the layers to figure out how the seed of this belief was planted allows for the change to start from there. Often, it is immediately obvious where this belief stems from; other times however, it can be rooted in something that is hidden beneath layers of other stories and beliefs.
The success of this work is often about creating awareness and openness to possibilities not yet considered. This level of deep recognition becomes the springboard to real change in our lives. Once we find the source, we can change the behaviors that we know are blocking our path. Until then, we will keep finding ourselves working hard to change and yet ending up with the same results as before.
Whether you are coming out the other side of a crisis or just realize that things are not working as well as they could be in your life; you can decide to make changes at any time.
Are you ready for real change once and for all?
For more information about my coaching work, please visit: Coaching Services on my website
Leave a Reply