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Relaunch Your Life - At Any Age
Reading the conversation board as I write this, one of the themes that strikes me – and it’s a theme that as a coach I come across a lot – is: "I’m too old to change my life."
How old we are is a very common "hold-me-back." So I thought this would be a good topic to take for this week’s Relaunch Your Life newsletter.
Life changes
When we are in our teens and twenties, a lot of us don’t even think about the changes we are constantly making. Change is a given. It’s okay when we’re young to take risks, in fact most of the time we don’t even recognise that we are taking risks. Without knowing it – and certainly without feeling it – often we’re pretty bold.
As we get that little bit older, though, we start to become more constrained. We get into a routine, and often that routine becomes a kind of trance – so we ignore the mild feelings of frustration that may start to build.
Until *POW* suddenly we realise we’re not happy with our lot, we don’t want to continue what we’re doing... BUT... and here’s the rub: we feel trapped. Stuck. And the thought of changing, risking, takes on daunting proportions.
In an earlier newsletter David shared his story with us – he relaunched his life at the age of 42. He changed from a ‘respectable’ (there’s another hold-me-back!) management job to setting up his own landscape design company – and as we hear, he’s going great guns!
There’s another inspiring story you might like to read, on the conversation board – check out Jenny in "Mike’s Top Tips" and how she made a radical change to her life in her mid 30’s.
Catherine’s story
Catherine, 37, was a partner in a law firm earning a rewarding salary… but not feeling fulfilled in her career. So intent on passing exams and climbing the career ladder, she didn’t realise how law just didn’t fit with her personality. Here’s her story:
"Thinking about giving it up was a huge decision and I hesitated. I needed to take time out to prioritise what was important in my life, to assess my skills and look at different career possibilities. I didn’t have enough money to travel without working, so I spent a month obtaining a TEFL qualification.
I returned to work and saved up for a year before leaving, which provided me with a retraining fund. I was lucky enough to be offered the post of reception/year one teacher at an international school in Madrid. I taught English to Spanish children aged four to six and realised I could be creative in a way that’s impossible in law.
I arranged to have life coaching sessions with Sue, who specialises in career change. Speaking to Sue crystallized what I was feeling and gave me insight into the reasons behind it. I needed help to make the next step though because it was scary giving up the security of my career.
I had three telephone sessions of one hour each over three months and it kept me on track. This was the best money I have ever spent.
Sue helped me realise that I don’t like to be put in a compartment – working in law meant I had to suppress the more creative side of my personality. Without her insight and support I don’t think I would have seen how crucial this was to me. She helped me understand how rewarding I found teaching and that it fitted in with my need to feel I am making a real difference.
Back in England I was accepted on a year-long course under a scheme called School Centred Initial Teacher Training. Graduates spend a year working in the classroom being mentored by experienced teachers and receiving free tuition.
Although I’ve more than halved my income I don’t regret it. Teaching is so much more to me, I get a real enjoyment from it and no two days are the same. I am still having coaching with Sue, working on my five-year plan, and am looking at the exciting possibilities that teaching opens up to me."
