Getting a life coach

Well, I did it.  I jumped on the life coaching bandwagon. Yup, look at me go! Lol.

Full disclosure: I thought life coaching was highly overrated and just a lot of hot air.

Now, I think it is totally underrated and that everybody needs one.

I had a life coach recommended to me, specifically actually, for NLP (neuro-linguistic programming), by my accountant actually, and I called her, with some hesitation.

I can say that I’ve now had 3 sessions with her and, oh my gosh it is soooo refreshing and empowering. Note that this is from someone who has always believed in the actual benefits of therapy, counselling and that sort of thing. And also, I’m not one to be ashamed of the fact that I’ve dealt with mental disease most of my adult life. And if you can relate, I hope you too are not ashamed of it. There is no reason to be. It’s as common as chips, really. Unfortunately a lot of people hide it and struggle so much alone.

So, I struggle with anxiety. Ugh. Just that word irks me. If you know the struggle, you feel me. I also deal with Depression.

I read recently that the World Health Organization reckons that about 264 million people worldwide have some kind of anxiety disorder.  Doesn’t that just break your heart? This is clearly not a rarity.

But I digress.

Ok so, I believe in chatting to a pro as often as needed and of course, taking the right meds. Now thát can be a hard journey – finding the right meds. That said, I have found that life coaching is a very different kind of therapy indeed and, I really like it.

Now, the lady I see also offers hypnotherapy, which I am yet to try. But just the coaching so far has absolutely given me so much of the beginnings of a mind shift in so many areas of how I’ve always viewed and defined myself. What a breath of fresh air to find hope for change in things I never even thought possible. It’s like getting off a dark and dusty, ugly road and walking into the light of a soft, sandy beach path to a beautiful sunrise. If that makes sense!

What she does is help me clarify my core values. I mean do we really know what our actual values are?

She makes me question things that I consider set in stone – at this age. She helps me find answers to why I hold on to certain beliefs and whether those actually still bring me any good. She causes me to have paradigm shifts – and those are hard alone.

I hope this sounds good to you, ‘cause I can vouch for it.

I’d say, the difference between traditional therapy and life coaching is, the latter is outcome-based and finite. Meaning we don’t carry on regurgitating the same old painful issues for weeks/months/years and end up with them as crutches. (Not that that is always the case.) We make changes from deep within and they work. Your beliefs are challenged and modified where needed and you make those decisions. It’s very practical and it starts with asking yourself new questions.

I recommend it to all.

And please remember: do not be ashamed of your mental and emotional struggles, they are probably so much more common than you realize. And there is help.