The coaching process is one of reflection, which takes you a long way into the journey of true self-discovery. We’ll find things that will serve us, hinder us, motivate us, strengthen us and give us the ability to do something about it. Coaching is for those who are not afraid of the outcomes of what they may find in the process of searching for their answers. It is all about expanding our own awareness and taking action. Coaching is not for the faint-hearted!
Rewind – The Time Before My Journey With Ignite Global
In February 2017, I flew down to Melbourne from Sydney to spend 4 hours in a self-discovery workshop with a Life and Career Coach as I was at a point where I wasn’t sure about how I wanted to move forward in my career. I went in and started telling her my stories as if she was my counsellor or a therapist. I kept waiting for her to give me advice and tell me what I needed to do as I continued on.
But to my surprise that never happened. We started working on a few exercises to identify my needs, values and have conversations around what I really wanted to do with my life in general. Some things were new to me but most things were not, I always knew about my strengths, my values and things I liked to do – but I was begging for an answer to a bigger question.
Almost 3.5 hours in and she never gave me a single piece of advice about what I should go back and be doing. I kept waiting and then she asked me to do a visualisation exercise with her. That exercise took me off my chair and the next thing I knew, I walked out of her office imagining that my life was going to be exactly like her 20 years from then.
Pause
Then I forgot all about it. Life happened and I started a new job, got married and eventually had kids. Everything was going great in my life and I had never been happier. Yet, there was always something that was missing that I could never put my finger on. I wanted more and most importantly I wanted to do more.
Then
In February 2020, one of my best friends was on the phone with me while I was driving and she said “I think you’ll make a great Coach!”. I was surprised but was curious so I asked where that came from. Then she shared with me how she has met this incredible human being who is an amazing Coach and she connected both of us.
In my first conversation with Fernando, Ignite Global Founder and I was clueless about coaching who went on saying things like “Everyone is a Coach”, “Coaching is so overrated”, “Why would someone hire a Coach” and the list just went on. Fernando was very kind and patient as he listened to me about all the misconceptions I had about Coaching – including coaches giving out advice, solving your problems as well as telling you how to move next.
He knew that I really wanted to be a Coach and I knew that I was using timing as my excuse for not starting or finding the right path forward. The fabulous Coach that Fernando is, never once interrupted me or corrected me for my misunderstanding and completely understood my personal situations, both home front and work front.
I felt like our conversation ended very vaguely because I wasn’t ready to take on this challenge. In some way, I wasn’t entirely convinced if this was something I wanted to do. In my head, I am already putting Coaching into the same space as every other Creative project I have ever put my hands on because I start them so well but never get around to completing them.
Moment Of Truth
Well, in all honesty – I didn’t forget about the visualisation of becoming a Coach, I did look around a few times about becoming a Coach but I never really found anything that would click with me. However, that one conversation with Fernando created some new awareness in me and I found myself inclined towards signing up for the upcoming Professional Coaching Mastery Certification (PCMC) being offered by Ignite Global.
I thought to myself that it was worth the try and if nothing else, I’ll at least gain some Coaching skills that I could apply in my day-to-day life. Very little did I know back then that this decision would turn out to be the best decision I have ever undertaken in my professional life.
Our first class started in June 2020, and 6 weeks in, I was already a better listener and became more aware of things going on inside and around me. I started appreciating giving silences to people while they talked. I heard less and listened more. I gave more space to people to reflect when they are being asked a question. I became more conscious and that really helped me in being a conscious parent who was present for her kids.
Sometime around the end of July, I woke up in the middle of the night with this intense conviction that I was going to start my own coaching practice. I started coining with the idea and within a couple of weeks, I had a practice name and a logo to move forward. Nothing in my life ever happened at that speed with so much clarity.
This was the first time that I felt like everything I have learnt and gone through in my life was beginning to come together, making sense to me and completing me while the void created by lack of purpose was filling up.
To me, it seemed like Coaching was the shift that created alignment in my inner workings – all my gears now fitting together perfectly for me to start seeing things more clearly. I needed that one push and it all came from one practice coaching session that enabled this alignment. By the time I finished our 12 weeks journey, I was ready with a plan to begin my own coaching practice and obtain the credentials from ICF (International Coaching Federation).
I shared this wonderful space with the most amazing people, our Ignite Tribe, there is unconditional love and support from each and everyone who has gone through this together.
Fast Forward To Today
I have done close to 200 hours of coaching, I completed my Professional Coaching Mastery Certification Group and Team Coaching course and accomplished my first ICF credential as Associate Certified Coach (ACC). I am also a better human in my personal as well as professional life because of the skills I have acquired through this process and for that I am grateful for that one call that I had with Fernando that enabled a pathway for me to find my passion and the way to use my creativity magically.
Thank you, Fernando, Ignite Global and Ignite Tribe. For without you, my awareness will still be lost and wandering around without purpose and a sense of fulfilment.
This article was originally published on igniteglobal.online.
