This past week there were so many classes that really got me feeling as though I need to get moving with some trial sessions. I feel it will create more confidence in my decision to become a coach. I am certain that there will be sessions that go smoothly and some that are a little more rocky, in the beginning, however it is time to go forward.
We head out on a 7 day vacation tomorrow morning. I will not be calling in for any teleclasses however I do plan to bring along some of the “tools” from the ICA website to begin developing my materials to be used in my coaching practice. I hope to do a first draft of my trial session questions, think about my policies and procedures and perhaps even consider what coaching model and/or philosophy I will incorporate. I also hope to get some ideas down to use in my biography.
I have to believe that this vacation is going to allow me to clear my head and rejuvenate me to take a good look at what my niche(s) could be, putting a personal touch on my materials, getting an idea of what type of interactions I would like to have with my clients during sessions and in between, etc.
I am looking forward to free time with my husband, my kids, my sister, my brother in law, my niece, my nephew and my dear friend …. I am lucky enough to have all of these people traveling with me. Just breathing in the same space as them will be a welcome experience. I firmly believe that just being in the moment with these people will make some or all of these things for my coaching practice just come … without much effort at all.
Cheers!
The weather here in Wisconsin is finally coming around to getting back outside and using our legs to get where we are going with our kids rather than relying on our cars. We live about 25 minutes, at a steady clip, from our son’s school and this morning everyone was up, dressed, “breakfasted”, etc in time to get a walk in. It was a perfect start to the day!
The walk allowed us to talk about this summer’s goal of our oldest 2 boys to learn how to ride a bike. It allowed us to talk about why it is important to walk rather than drive whenever possible – environmentally, personal health-wise and financially. It allowed us to talk about our oldest son’s fear of birds, since we walk along a nature trail with lots of them around. It also allowed me to acknowledge the fact that he has made great strides in dealing with this fear. He is able to say “hello” to the birds now rather than jumping into someone else’s pocket the instant he senses one is around.
My perspective for the day is one of gratitude.
Well, I’ve started setting more concrete goals for myself in order to accomplish my life coach training. One of the things is to attend a minimum of 10 teleclasses. I made it this past week!! YIPPEE for Me!! So I celebrated by getting in touch with a friend I had not seen for quite some time and we went for a walk. It was so satisfying and rejuvenating. I intend to make it a priority to celebrate each week when I have reached my goal.
I had lots of great classes this week. Classes on reframing, goal setting, trial sessions, responding vs reacting and several others. These classes really get you thinking about your own life and the ways in which we can improve relationships, overall outlook and life in general. I was a psychology major in college and the joke was always that “psych majors are just trying to figure themselves out”. I find myself thinking back to that joke as I’m going through these coaching classes. The way I look at it is that 9 times out of 10 there is room for improvement in some respect. The only thing we have control over is our own actions and choices so it only makes sense to be the best “me” that I can be.
My classes also got me moving forward with ideas for the documents I’ll be using with clients. The trial session questions being the starting point to see if the potential client is coachable and interested in the process. The contract to be signed once the commitment has been made to do coaching. And then ideas of resources to use when working with a client.
I also got my peer coach this past week and will continue being coached by her for another 11 weeks. She is a mother of small kids who is working through the coach training as well. We seem to have many things in common with our every day life and the basic events of the day.
My goal with her is to stay on task with my coach training by being able to balance the training, my at-home job and my family life. My “to do” lists are always way too long to be realistic so I need to focus on what I did get done, rather than being frustrated with myself for what I did not get done. One of our instructors recommended that “to do” lists be called “WMM” lists (What Matters Most).
I have been using this idea to prioritize each day’s list. I meet with my peer coach again tomorrow and am anxious to share with her the progress I have made with selected 2 days a week that I focus on coach training, 2 days a week that I focus on my at-home job and the 5th day will be for whatever I need to catch up on.
