Sarah’s* story – how career coaching helped her
* not her real name.
Sarah was feeling fed-up, stressed and unhappy.
She’d been doing the same thing in the same organisation for years and no longer liked it.
She didn’t really know why.
Also, her role had recently moved into a new department and she’d been told it would come to an end. She didn’t know what to do – she was worried about being pigeon-holed, and worried about losing her job.
Sarah had a free, 45 min Discovery Session with me
In her free discovery session, Sarah had a light bulb moment. She realised that if she left her current organisation, she was scared she’d be a failure. She really ‘got’ how deep this ran: it was there in the tentative way she sometimes spoke; how she relied on others to take her ideas forward; and how she kept her real interests hidden. If only she could get past this fear.
She signed up for my silver coaching programme. Here’s what happened:
- First off, she filled in my on-boarding questionnaire, telling me how she liked to think, feel, make decisions. This set us up for five months of powerful & efficient work together.
- She realised her fear of failing stemmed from her parents pushing her hard to do well at school.
- She came to appreciate her values and strengths, and how these set her apart from others. She realised she could talk about these things as her Unique Selling Points.
- She connected emotionally with just how much she was scared of being truly seen as herself – a very human fear that many of us have. She came to realise how much this was preventing her from doing what she really wanted to do.
- We did my Perfect Day visualisation exercise together. I prompted Sarah to imagine herself living out her ideal day in her mind’s eye. She saw and felt herself being truly happy. She realised she wanted to work with like-minded people on something that really mattered to her and matched her values.
- This vision motivated her to make changes and move forward.
Sarah said:
“I was feeling very drained of energy and stressed about my career. I was going through a rough time at work, my contract was ending, and I also felt my work was not very meaningful to me. I had no clue how to move forward: do all I could to hold onto my job even though it was not fulfilling, or to do something more fulfilling, but what? I knew I had potential to do more but I did not know what. I was waking up with anxiety attacks, and felt my self-esteem declining rapidly. I got an email from Jo about a free Discovery Session, and I thought this might be a sign, especially as her email seemed to describe my problem.
I had 5 sessions with Jo. They really helped me out of my rut. We focused on finding what I wanted to do because that was my biggest problem. I realised I had the answers inside of me, I just needed to go inside and search. Six months later, I have focused on projects that are more meaningful to me, and more importantly focused on my vision to publish my book and connect with similar minded people. If I hadn’t worked with Jo, I would still be clueless as to what I wanted to do, and what I am passionate about at this stage in my life. Thankfully, I now have a vision to inspire me and work towards.”