Many thanks to Sarah Dawkins for this post. Sarah is a graduate of the Wise Goose Advanced Programme and works as a Confidence Coach here in the South West.
If your confidence stopping you from taking those steps to getting where you want to be in your life or work then confidence coaching is a great opportunity for you to work towards overcoming areas that are being hit by lack of confidence, be it that interview, talking to people or making that speech.
Something has got to change.
That was the thought that had been buzzing around in my head for 2 years before I decided to actually take action with my life; before that, the nagging thought was just something to squirrel away in the back of my mind to revisit when I reached that magical state of having time to think about it.I stumbled across coaching by accident, I was in the midst of considering a career change; searching for something that involved helping people to really believe that they could make things happen for themselves; to help people be their best. I went on one of the Wise Goose coaching taster days and that was it. I was hooked.
I was completely struck by the positivity of the group and the concept of coaching. It opened up a whole world that I didn’t know existed.
For the time since University I was meeting people from completely different backgrounds to my own, all of a sudden I was connecting with people on a number of different levels. We were coaching each other and it was surprising how quickly we opened up – what was going on?! I hadn’t felt so optimistic in ages!
Doing the course wasn’t just about learning how to coach. It turned into a journey of self-discovery. I was learning how to help others assess their issues and find ways to overcome them. I watched as they found answers, became braver as they made plans and took steps to make their goals a reality. I celebrated with them as I watched them grow in confidence and triumph where they had thought there was no solution.
Unbeknownst to me at first, I started to take this approach in my own life. Suddenly I was daring to think about what I could achieve. The “what ifs” started to become the “What can I do to make that happen?”
When I started doing the course, I was a completely frazzled, working full time and spending three hours a day travelling. I knew I really wanted to do something to help people not feel as stuck as I did and to encourage them to work towards the things that really mattered to them, to believe in themselves and go after the life they wanted with gusto – and to enjoy it!
I threw myself into the coaching course. As far as I was concerned, I had signed up for the full 4 modules, so every issue I brought for the peer-coaching that we did throughout the course was something real and relevant to me at the time.
Two years later, I’ve changed my job, my working hours, am starting my own business and even managed to squeeze in a little bit of time for myself now and then (still working on that bit admittedly but things have definitely improved!).
When I entered the world of coaching, I knew that I wanted to do something different with my life, to help people see and reach for the positives in theirs. Not once did I think that I would experience the benefit of coaching in my own life too. I’m still on a learning journey, but I’ve become a braver person and rediscovered what makes me tick. Coaching changed everything!