In all transparency, I could not stand when that would happen because I felt like every other person was calling themselves a life coach. This is nothing shady against coaches as I have met some incredible coaches who truly have a fantastic gift but I never felt that I would ever be a “coach.” Part of me felt slightly inadequate to be and the other felt that I was more than another “coach.” It’s funny how we may think we know it all and then life shows us differently.
And then this happened…
I knew I had a gift of inspiring others to live purposefully, but I never knew exactly how I would translate that into all the millions of ideas in my head of how to do so into one solid platform. My first instinct is to pray on it. I’m telling God “Hey, you started this journey so you show me how to use my gifts to create solid platforms to add value to the lives of others because I’m a little lost here.”
On one of the last days of the year in 2013, I went out to dinner with friends who always tell me that I should coach. I sat on the thought, went home, opened my Facebook timeline and there was a teleclass from a powerhouse entrepreneur I admire, Sandi Krakowski, on “Starting Your Own Coaching Business.” Coincidence? I think not. I know God enough to know He doesn’t repeat Himself for no reason. I signed up for the class with no expectations, still claiming to not be a coach, and I told myself that I would just check the class out to see what all this “coaching”‘ business is about. I’m thinking that I’m more of a midwife and not a coach (I’ll explain more later).
I take the course and after (2) long hours and four pages of notes, to my surprise I realized that I indeed am a coach. Honestly, I did not want to be because I did not know what would make me different from all the other self-made coaches out there and I didn’t think people would actually pay for what I had to offer. I realized it was more of a fear of rejection I was dealing with. This is me being completely transparent with you. On that call and after months of research into coaching, I learned what a coach actually is.
A coach does NOT tell you what to do. A coach is to help you lead your own life and draw out the gifts that God has already given you. Circle back to me being a “midwife” to your legacy. I call myself that because I believe my gifts are to help birth and draw out the gifts, talents and abilities that have already been placed there by God which is exactly what a coach does.
On top of that, God strategically aligned me getting a coach of my own and that changed the game! But I noticed that I had to be willing to speak my truth with my coach, I couldn’t tell her half of my truth and expect her to help my vision forth. I spoke candidly about where I was which is something that I would have never done a year ago out of fear of being judged. When I spoke my truth about my business, my intention and most importantly my story, she elegantly pieced together a vital piece to the Embrace Her Legacy puzzle that was missing. All of this is an hour! (I will share more on this soon.)
So why am I telling you all of this?
Count how many times I’ve referred to truth in this message. I’m purposefully using phrases like honestly, in all transparency and truth is. That is all intentional. If I had not been willing to embrace how I really felt then I would not have gotten to this point of clarity where I’m comfortable and proud to be considered a coach. Even though, I like to call it “Midwife to Your Legacy.” If I wasn’t comfortable in allowing someone to see inside of me and my business, I would have missed out on a great opportunity to not only be coached but have my vision go from regular to fantastically fantastic and clear! Be willing to honor your truth and accept where you are in life.
Furthermore, I want to encourage you to make room for newness on your journey. You may start out thinking that you’re one thing but you may blossom into another along the way and that is fine!
Having a coach is about taking your life from where it is now to the optimal place and empowering you to lead and direct your own life. Perhaps you need clarity for your vision or career-life balance or better dating skills, there is much breakthrough in investing into yourself with a coach.
We spend money on eating out, happy hours, clothes, vacations but yet fail to invest into ourselves. I’m not telling you to get a coach, but I am encouraging you to invest into your optimal life.
Whether it be a coach, session with a therapist (and there is nothing wrong with that), registering for a conference in your desired field, what is it that you can do to take your life to the OPTIMAL place? What investment can you make into yourself within the next (30) days to propel into your optimal life where you are beautifully leading your life to the place you want it to be? Don’t listen to the fear that holds you back. Fear is the second most powerful human emotion and love is the first. Love will drive you to be fearless, love your self and your life enough to start investing into YOU. If you don’t, who else will?
Think about that and let’s all get to it!