When I get questions about life coaching, what it is and how it works, I go back to my own experience, how I found coaching and what it meant for me. That experience, in part, has informed how I work with clients. Hopefully this read is helpful and if you have any questions send me an email, I’d love to hear how this lands for you.

I have had a lot of therapy in my life, my mom took me when I was a kid and then it just became a thing I did. It has been so valuable to me. It might have something to do with the fact that I like talking. But more importantly if gave me an outlet for the busyness of my thoughts. I tend towards worry and overthinking but therapy gives me an opportunity to take all of that out of my brain and examine it with someone who can help put things in prospective.

But at a certain point I hit a wall with therapy…so much talking but not a lot of action being taken. I gained understanding around why I behaved in a certain way or believed in certain things but there was no follow up once I had identified the things I wanted to change. I was ready to take action. I was ready for a plan. My therapist suggested coaching…and after a session I was in. Together we explored what I wanted and how I could make it happen, emphasis on the I. The focus was to empower me to make change. This seems subtle but the shift from exploration to action was really powerful for me.

Fast forward a couple years and now I am coach and I get to work with women who want to take action, who are ready to make a lasting change. There is still exploration but the purpose is to use that information to propel yourself forward.

Here is a short summary of my personal values when coaching:

• Empowering – the focus is on the client, deep down each person knows what is best for them
• Future focused – what are your goals? How can you get there? Don’t get stuck in old stories and habits
• Inspiring – it is much easier to take action from a place of inspiration, what do you find inspiring?
• Accountability – once you have identified the vision you want to achieve, I hold clients to that standard with warmth, honesty and encouragement.

I know that it’s easy to get caught up in the day to day, in the responsibilities we have and the endless list of little things that have to get done. We tell ourselves there is always tomorrow to go for what you really want…but I think the right time is always now.

Are you ready?
Kate