My Coaching Journey
My name is Chloe, I am 57 years old and have a senior management position in finance. I found that many changes were taking place in my life - some brought on by me, and others that I had no control over.
As I looked at the changes taking place, they were the death of my nineteen-year-old cat, who had become my friend and confidant since finding myself on my own again after the breakdown of my marriage some nine years ago.
Added to that, the retirement of my boss of eleven years, and various other small changes including the re-housing of my young female tenant brought about through a change in circumstances.
She had lived with me for just under a year and came to me via a local charity that helps young adults that find themselves homeless, within the age group of 16 to 25.
Fear and Chaos
As I read the Fiona Harrold Weekly Newsletter, I realised that I had to do something about this feeling of fear and chaos that seemed to be enveloping me. Fiona was offering to coach some of her site members, so I contacted her, and my journey began.
The one thing that came out of our initial contact was my Lack of Confidence. Had all these changes happened when I was in my early forties I know I would have found this inner strength that had always seem to exist inside of me and just taken life by the horns and got on with it.
This strength seemed to have left me and I found myself looking for guidance and a way of refocusing my life and so I started my journey with Fiona.
Empowered
In the past five weeks since starting to work with Fiona I have been empowered to face my fears thus enabling a rekindling of my inner strength and a focus that I feel I never used in the past and a growing confidence in me.
So instead of being this shrinking violet with my new boss I have become innovative in the way I think and view things. I am loosing resistance to the changes that he wishes to implement; I can view his ideas with fresh eyes.
If I do not feel that the change will be beneficial to the organisation that I work for then I am able to voice my opinion in a constructive and assertive manner. I have also found myself coming up with ideas and instead of keeping them to myself actually voicing them and discussing in how they could assist in growing the business, this is something that I would not have even contemplated three months ago.
Working Out
Some of my ideas put forward have been included in a paper on the future of the organisation for discussion by the board and have been noted as my ideas not his. Like all people we still have our differences of opinion and I can see that is just what it is, I no longer take it personally.
I have also come to realise how my work had become my life and my boss leaving was like losing a member of my family so this is another area of my life that Fiona is helping me to look at.
I have joined a local political party with a view of not only assisting them in their efforts for David Cameron to become elected as the next Prime Minister but also as a way of meeting new people and creating a social life in the area in which I live.
This social aspect of my life has lead me to taking up golf lessons again at my local golf club in Beckenham, I had my first lesson last Saturday and I had forgotten how much I used to enjoy it.
There are various other things I am looking into at the moment, such as training in counselling to enable me to have a more active roll with the charity. As well as training in various types of computer software that will not only have a beneficial impact at work but also assist in how I produce my study assignments.
Responsibility
I do not want any of you to think that this process is easy because it isn’t - the coaching allows you to look at and reassess the areas in your life that you would like to change.
The work or how much of it you are prepared to do is down to you. You also take responsibility for yourself and your life and as I am finding some of my friends might not feel comfortable with the changes.
All I can do is encourage them to take the journey with me at their own pace and involve them as much as possible.
There is no guarantee that every one will want to come on the journey with you no matter how much you try to include them. This could mean that you have to leave some friends behind, this can be a painful aspect of change.
Here again, in the short time that I have been having coaching and because of the changes in me, I have started attracting other people into my life with a similar outlook.
Journey
Life is a journey - we can either take part in the journey or get pulled along as though we are in a permanent trance and that is were I feel I have been for the past few years.
It wasn’t until I lost my cat Boots that I realised not only how much I loved her and what a great part she had played in my life but also how I had used her as an excuse for not living my life.
I know she would be proud of me starting over again but, most importantly, so am I - my journey has just begun I have come along way in the five weeks with Fiona’s help.
I have a lot further to go, but I know that my remaining weeks of coaching with Fiona will be fun and innovative, especially as I start to look and plan for the next year or two of my life.
