My Journey…..
Have you ever wondered is there is more to life?
I was at the top of my field as executive recruiter in Australia and the pressure was intense. Typically, we “find candidates for employers, not jobs for candidates,” but I preferred working with the candidates to motivate them to be their best. I never seemed to have enough time to do this, worst still, I never seemed to have enough time to think about my own goals. So I set off on holiday to ponder.
When I returned, I did the best, yet hardest thing for me at the time. I resigned to become a professional coach. Parting with the dollars and the status to start anew was difficult, but I had carefully researched coaching, and I felt certain this would be the right fit for me. I had been doing it informally at work but knew there was so much more to learn about empowering lives, especially mine! A month later I enrolled as an ICA student where I met and began working with Kathy -- a gifted and intuitive coach.
I had never been coached before and I was genuinely surprised how quickly it worked, opening up new possibilities and approaches for me. It was a bit like tapping into my inner self and the energy from my coach was exhilarating. I always wanted to find more energy or inspiration in my life, I just hadn’t realised it could come from coaching.
My view of coaching is best expressed in the following story:
It is about a romantic weekend escape I planned with my husband. We set off for a relaxing time B&B on the South Coast of Australia designed for international visitors to experience Australian tranquillity. It was called “Ngairin” (“Black Swan”) on the Sapphire Coast.
One day, after a glorious breakfast set in an Eden-like garden, we decided to kayak to a beach for a picnic. After 10 minutes, we found ourselves fighting the current, the wind and eventually each other. My husband wanted me to row harder and I claimed that he was rowing too hard. We needed to communicate better to manoeuvre the boat as a team and combine our strengths. We considered giving up but we decided to keep fighting. We eventually caught sight of the sand spit entrance a short distance away. At the time, it seemed almost impossible for us to cross that stretch of water, but we set it in our vision and somehow through conversation and observation became acutely aware of each other’s strengths. We synchronized our rowing, and at times resorted to grabbing handfuls of reeds and digging along the muddy shore, inching our way around the island. There was a strong sense of urgency, if the wind picked up we could became stranded.
Our team work paid off, we reached the beach and enjoyed our picnic. If my husband and I hadn’t communicated effectively, motivating and observing each others moves, we may not have made it.
It was only later that I realised that this experience started my thinking about coaching. If we have a vision, can enthuse and tap into our individual strengths, be committed and motivated into strategic action we can all celebrate the journey that much more!
Today I feel empowered to move on with my new journey in life. I am now successfully coaching others and feeling more inspired than ever.
I am so thankful to Kathy for her coaching and for inviting me to be a guest blogger.
My journey continues…
http://sylviecarter.wordpress.com
